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SOFTLY, SOFTLY
The Barcelona World Race is off to a gentle start, but is perhaps no less demanding on the skippers than a gale would have been. The weather situation is complex and difficult to decipher with light, fluky winds making the early part of this race a potential minefield.

The entire fleet of nine IMOCA 60s came through its first 24 hours at sea in good condition, with each team reporting in to say they had experienced no major difficulties.

Sailing in light conditions since the start has meant the top three boats are within three miles of each other (on the 16:00 GMT poll). The fleet split around the island of Ibiza, with the leaders sailing to the east of the famed island, while Veolia Environnement, Mutua Madrilena and Delta Dore staying closer to the Spanish mainland. This has put them nearly 20 miles behind the top boat.

Ensconced in the top group of three, Estrella Damm co-skipper Jonathan McKee says he doesn't feel particularly smart in making that decision regarding Ibiza but he's happy with how it turned out:

"It was a hard decision and it wasn't one made with a lot of confidence...I think all of the other boats would tell you the same thing. For some reason, the weather models are having a difficult time dealing with the conditions right now," he said. At the time, Estrella Damm was sailing in close company with Paprec-Virbac 2 and PRB, making about 6 knots of speed in 6 knots of wind.

16:00 GMT Positions with distance to go

1. Paprec-Virbac 2 - 24428.6
2. Estrella Damm - 24430.5
3. PRB - 24431.2
4. Hugo Boss - 24440.0
5. Temenos 2 - 24443.2
6. Veolia Environnement - 24446.1
7. Delta Dore - 24446.6
8. Mutua Madrilena - 24451.7
9. Educacion Sin Fronteras - 24519.7

Polling data is kept from the sailors and the public overnight, in order to allow teams to make tactical breaks, without their rivals watching their every move. The first public position report each day will be at 06:00 GMT.

www.barcelonaworldrace.org

EXHAUSTING & DEMANDING RACE
This Transat Jacques Vabre is a really demanding race which, at the moment, it is not about boat damage or huge low-pressure systems threatening the fleet. This edition of the race requires constant manoeuvering on deck to adjust or change the sails to catch the slightest puff or shift of wind. The competition has forced the crews to spend much more time than usual making decisions at the chart table for a race that is considered slow and not only from the point of view of the sailors that have been sailing multihulls for years. As a consequence, onboard some of the boats they are starting to ration their food for the remaining days at sea.

Who chose the best option in the Imoca Class at the approach of the Cape Verde Islands? The question should be partially answered in the next 72 hours for the seven front runners, after they have dealt with the Cape Verde Islands passage. They are actually spread across 250 lateral miles between the Rhumb Line and the African coast. Ecover 3 increased her lead by 36 miles at 4 p.m. (against 25 miles at 12:00) over Safran who was back in 2nd in front of Groupe Bel 3rd.

The next step after the Cape Verde Island is to make the right decision on when to gybe to enter the Doldrums. After that it will be a speed race to the finish line.

The last two days in gales and nasty sea left the crews on the 3 leading trimarans exhausted, with little sleep as they had to cautiously manage their sail configurations while cruising in pitch black nights. The conditions are improving gradually for Groupama 2, which should be totally out of the Doldrums today. They are sailing on the Rhumb Line (direct route) to Bahia and should reach 20-25 knots of consistent easterly winds (the trade winds) with less than 1,000 miles to run to the finish.

* Retirements in the class 40 fleet:

Speaking to Team HQ only a few minutes ago, Alex Bennett informs us that Fujifilm has had to pull out due to alternator failure.

This problem means they would have been unable to operate any of the electronics systems on board for the remaining 3,000 miles of the race.

The boys are safe, but the tough decision to pull out of the race was made with safety in mind.

They are currently heading to Lanzarote where they will make the necessary repairs before heading back the UK.

* Ocean Warriors / Kazimir Partners pulls out of the race

It is therefore with great regret that I inform you of my decision to withdraw from the race...

Good afternoon, we have sustained some damages in the bay of Biscay and have tried some repairs and unfortunately, they are not good enough to keep going another 3000 plus miles. It is there fore with great regret that I inform you of my decision to withdraw from the race, it has not been a easy decision as my brother and I have wanted this for a very long time. We will stop in the canaries or south Portugal.

We are unable to fly anything off the bowsprit, and cannot fly any spinnakers which is critical in this race,additionally the tie rod between the rudders is badly bent,we have repaired it but cannot sail as we would like and need to keep boat speed down.

www.jacques-vabre.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php

CARBON TOP WINCH POPULAR WITH OPEN 60'S AND VO70'S
Lewmar's low-profile, three-speed, Grand Prix (GP) 82 Winch comes with a tuck-down gear package that allows for a lower drum height. This in turn reduces both windage and weight, making the winch a big hit among 2008's elite racers. The GP 82's wide drum diameter improves line handling and increases line speed. The winch also comes with a new "smack down" first gear button and, when connected to a pedestal, a 1st and 2nd gear lock for high line speed and power. To find out more, visit Booth #01.361 at METS or www.lewmar.com

REMEMBERING VETERANS IN A SPECIAL WAY
What is the connection between one of the world's oldest living persons and one of the world's premier sailing regattas for women and Veterans Day / Remembrance Day?

Amy Carlson, a crewmember on Susan Mattis Turnham's Stellar Jay, is the great-granddaughter of Henry Allingham, the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force who was recently honored as Britain's oldest citizen. Born in 1896, Allingham gave his great-granddaughter a special gift after he received the Pride of Britain award in October to take with her to the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship.

Carlson brought with her the burgee of Britain's Narrow Seas Yacht Club, located in Burnham on Crouch, Essex, where her great-grandfather sailed for many years, as a symbolic nod to her family's love of sailing passed through the generations to her. It is being flown on the Stellar Jay this week in honor of Henry Allingham.

Henry was a charter member of the Narrow Seas Yacht Club, where he belonged from 1932 to 1953. He sailed on his boat, Teal, with his daughter, Jean (Amy's paternal grandmother), and that love of sailing has been passed down through each generation in her family. In April 2007, Henry was named Honorary Skipper of the club, and given the current burgee. Henry then gave Amy the flag, telling her she should have it since she was actively racing.

He served in WWI as an aircraft mechanic and seeing action at the Battle of the Somme and Jutland. After the war he worked as an engineer for Ford Motor Company, retiring to the seaside town of Eastbourne in the early 1950s. He now resides outside of Brighton at a home for ex-servicemen, but remains actively involved in honoring fallen veterans and educating schoolchildren about The Great War. -- Dana Paxton

VITORIA BRASIL SAILING CUP
12 teams including 4 of the top 5 from the current Tour leader board, the current World Tour leader, the current ISAF No 1 ranked skipper and three teams representing syndicates from the 32nd America's Cup are entered in the Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup with starts this Wednesday 14 November:

Ian Williams (GBR) - Team Pindar
Mathieu Richard (FRA) - Saba Sailing Team
Paolo Cian (ITA) - Shosholoza
Magnus Holmberg (SWE) - Victory Challenge
Bjorn Hansen (DEN) - Team Apport.net
Eric Monnin (SUI) - Meister Ropes
Philippe Presti (FRA) - Luna Rossa Challenge
Alvaro Marinho (POR) - Seth.pt Team
Daniel Glomb (BRA) - Team Bravissimo
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) - Morvan Match Racing
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) - Torvar Mirsky Team
Winner of the Vitoria Brasil Women's Cup: Sally Barkow (USA)

This is the second edition of the Brasil Sailing Cup, which this year, has moved to a new venue in Vitoria in the state of Espirito Santo, one of the fastest growing Brazilian states. The racing will be held close to the shore between Ilha do Boi and the Ilha do Frade in Vitoria. North of Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo has 400km of coastline offering beautiful beaches and stunning scenery. The Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup is preceded by the Brasil Women's Cup which has just been won by Sally Barkow (USA), with a prize fund of $50,000. Both events are using the SM40's shipped from Portugal. The prize purse for the Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup is $150,000.00, with $50,000 for the winner.

www.worldmatchracingtour.com

HOLMATRO CUSTOM HYDRAULICS AT METS
At METS 2007 Dutch manufacturer Holmatro Marine Equipment will show a selection of custom-built rigging hydraulics for superyachts. Holmatro is able to produce custom-built boom vangs, cylinders, mechanical lock cylinders and double acting cylinders ranging from -60 up to -320. All products are designed according to customer specifications and are available in stainless steel or aluminium. Check out our capabilities regarding custom hydraulics for superyachts at METS in Amsterdam.

You will find us at stand number 01.547. www.holmatro-marine.com

ISAF ANNUAL CONFERENCE
After deciding the ten events for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition yesterday, the Council focussed on the remaining Submissions during their third day of meetings today.

The ISAF Sailing World Cup was one of the key topics under discussion. ISAF Vice-President David Kellett explained that this was still an important goal. "The Executive Committee consider the World Cup a desirable and important concept," he said. The Executive Committee withdrew Submission 036-07 and in its place made a recommendation to the Council on the ISAF Sailing World Cup, which was unanimously accepted. The key text of the recommendation stated, "The ISAF Sailing World Cup will be established as a series of events, selected with a geographical spread, to commence in 2009 or later when sufficient suitable events are available."

The Executive Committee will now appoint a World Cup Management Group and report back to the ISAF Council on progress made at the Mid-Year Meetings in May 2008. With the Council supporting the ISAF Sailing World Cup, Submissions 123-07 and 126-07, to hold the ISAF Sailing World Championships every two years instead of every four, were deferred to May.

A key issue at every ISAF Conference is boosting participation and increasing the spread of nations at ISAF Events. These were key reasons cited around the Council table as deferred Submission 085-06 was approved, changing the list of possible equipment for the Boys' One Person Dinghy event at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship to the Laser Radial (previously it was Laser Standard or Laser Radial). With a smaller rig, the Radial favours sailors with a lighter bodyweight, opening up the championships to a greater number of participants.

The equipment for 2010 Youth Worlds, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, was confirmed as the Laser Radial for the boys' and girls' one person events, 420 for the boys' and girls' two person dinghy events, the RS:X with 8.5m2 rig for the boys' and girls' windsurfer events and the Sirena SL16 for the open multihull event. The Council also approved Zadar, Croatia as host of 2011 Youth Worlds and Lysekil, Sweden as the hosts of the 2009 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship.

The Council approved two new member nations, Kyrgyzstan and Oman, increasing the number of ISAF MNAs to 125. The number of ISAF Classes has also increased. The Musto Skiff had its status upgraded from Recognized to an ISAF International Class. The RS Tera, O'pen Bic Sport, Ultimate 20, Laser SB3 and TP52 all become ISAF Recognized Classes.

sailing.org

INDUSTRY NEWS
* Kelvin Hughes has been acquired in a 52m GBP transaction by ECI Partners LLP. 48m was paid in cash on completion of the purchase with the remaining payment of up to 4m depending on certain conditions being satisfied.

The company is the world's largest supplier of nautical charts and publications for commercial and leisure use.

Its product range also includes radar sensors and display technology, voyage data recorders, electronic chart systems and highly advanced integrated bridge systems. The company says it will increase its investment in technological innovations and constant product development to strengthen its position at the forefront of naval and commercial navigation technology.

Senior members of Kelvin Hughes management invested alongside ECI, becoming shareholders in the business, and ECI is backing the existing management team, led by MD Russell Gould. The growth of the business will be driven through both organic expansion and acquisitions. -- Boating Business, www.boatingbusiness.com/archive/2007/december/news/kelvin_hughes_acquired_in_52m_deal

* Groupe Beneteau is predicting a six per cent increase in sailboat sales and 10 per cent increase in powerboat sales in 2008 following busy Autumn boatshows and the release of strong financial results for 2006-2007.

In September sales were up 22.7 per cent (1,013.7 million Euros) for the group, whilst operating income for the year came to 135.3 million Euros, up 30.1 per cent and representing 13.3 per cent of sales, compared with 12.6 per cent last year.

On boat sales (Beneteau, Jeaneau, CNB, Lagoon and Wauquiez), operating income is up 18.4 per cent to 117.9 million Euros, representing 14.8 per cent of sales, compared to 13.7 per cent last year. In light of this result, the 15 per cent profitiability target initially set for 2010 is expected to be reached by 2008.

The high level of operating cashflow (132.9 million) has made it possible for the group to comfortably finance all of its investments, including the acquisition of IRM. Net cash is up 45.2 million to 224.4 million at August 31, 2007 (excluding treasury stock).

Follwoing these results the management board has decided to put forward a proposal at the general meeting on February 1, 2008 to raise the dividend to 0.39 per share, which would represent an increase of 31.8 per cent on the previous year. -- International Boat Industry, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20071008164806ibinews.html

* The Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show announced today that National Express will be an Official Transport Partner of the show.

National Express will provide transport to London for the Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat show from over 1,000 departure points across the country. As part of the agreement, National Express is promoting the Earls Court Whyte & Mackay Boat Show to its 500,000 members. In addition, the Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show has reduced the entry price for all National Express customers visiting the show. National Express customers will receive a discount of 30% off the entry price for the Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show when they book in advance. Tickets purchased through the Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show website will cost 11.20 pounds instead of the standard price of 16.00. -- www.earlscourtboatshow.com

* North Sails has announced the purchase of Cuben Fiber Corporation, a leading-edge manufacturer of specialized sail cloth headed by physicist Dr. Heiner Meldner and composites engineer RJ Downs. Both Downs and Meldner will bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to North's technical team while continuing to develop Cuben Fiber sail cloth.

First developed and used on Bill Koch's winning America's Cup boat, America3, in 1992, Cuben Fiber continues to be one of the lightest and most technologically advanced sail cloth materials on the market today. Since Koch funded Cuben Fiber's development more than 15 years ago, Downs and Meldner have incorporated higher performance fibers, including carbon, and better base materials to make Cuben Fiber an extremely popular sail cloth among high performance sailing yachts.

Cuben Fiber will continue to be manufactured at its current facility in Mesa, Arizona

* Marine electronics manufacturer Garmin (Europe) Ltd has added two new members of staff to its marine team. Chris Boyle joins the company as marine product director, while Nigel Craine takes on the role of marine OEM sales manager Europe. The positions are based at the company's UK headquarters in Southampton.

Prior to joining the company, Boyle worked at Raymarine and Navico and has more than 20 years' experience in the boating industry. Craine, who also worked for Raymarine and Navico in the past, has extensive OEM sales experience across the European markets.

Both Boyle and Craine complement Garmin's existing marine sales team, which is led by Dawn Ramsey, UK sales manager for the automotive, outdoor and fitness and marine sectors. -- IBI, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20071005124943ibinews.html

CORK WEEK ONLINE ENTRY
Drawing on years of experience, both as a competitor at and organiser of events, Dave Meagher, Chairman of the Cork Week Race Committee, has designed an on-line entry system for next year's event, which takes place from July 12th to 18th 2008. "Effectively, all you need is your Sail Number and a credit card and you're on your way to competing at the world's friendliest Regatta," says Meagher. The on-line system automatically picks up boat details from the IRC Database.

For those entering before February 29th 2008 , the Organising Committee have decided to maintain the 2006 Entry Fee. "Many of our competitors have been coming to Cork Week for many years and we see this as a way of recognising their loyalty to the event," Dave continued, "as a Committee, we are always looking for ways to facilitate our visitors and as an added bonus this year, we have decided to offer FREE entry to the 100th on-line entrant. "

Check out www.corkweek.ie for on-line entry and we also invite you to register to the Cork Week 2008 Newsletter in order to receive future updates.

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 Chris Bull: The article about Shosholoza is incorrect in stating that the 80-foot Nicorette won the 2000 Sydney-Hobart on handicap. The winner on corrected time was SAP Ausmaid, a Farr 47 owned by Kevan Pearce of Adelaide under sailing master Roger Hickman of Sydney. I know - they beat me into second place on Quest, the Nelson-Marek 46 which I chartered for the event.

* From John Frazer: Clearly the organisers are worried about number of finishers for this race as now boats can stop and pit stop without incurring penalties until after Australia.

Are they permitted ashore ?

Can they have assistance ?

If the answer is yes to either, this race does not measure up to the likes of the Vendee.

Another point to consider is that not all boats were qualified by the closing date for qualifications. So, one rule for the establsihed teams and another for new racer on the block.

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THE LAST WORD
I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content. -- Lin Yutang

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 Artemis 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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