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THE PERFECT LEGAL STORM?
Valencia Sailing is reporting that Alinghi/SNG have changed lawyers in New York and plan to appeal Judge Cahn's decision to invalidate CNEV as a valid yacht club and hence invalid to be the Challenger of Record for the next America's Cup

From Alinghi:

"We confirm that we have hired a new firm of lawyers in New York, with the revision of the Deed of Gift in mind, and we are still considering all options as we still haven't received the court order".

According to an article that appeared in today's El Mundo, Alinghi/SNG changed their lawyers in New York. According to information from the court, the new lawyers representing the Defender of the America's Cup is the firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (STB).

That news could have passed unnoticed if it weren't for the imminent (always according to the El Mundo newspaper) presentation by STB of an appeal to Justice Cahn's decision. -- valenciasailing.blogspot.com

* The move comes after previous claims by the head of Alinghi, Ernesto Bertarelli, that he would win the case bought by Golden Gate YC because 'we've got the best lawyers'. Clearly there has been a change of thinking on that issue.

Far from seeking to shorten and hasten the next Match, Desafio Espanol's club, CNEV, is supporting moves by the Defender to both Appeal the Decision, and if that is unsuccessful to delay the multihull Match until May 2009.

If SNG were the successful in their Defence, then that would see a properly organised Match, with full Challenger participation in 2011 or later. -- Richard Gladwell, www.sail-world.com

* Russell Coutts called on his former team Alinghi to clarify their intentions for the next America's Cup before thinking about ambitious revamps of sport's oldest running competition.

"We need an answer now, yes or no to an America's Cup in Valencia in 2009," Coutts told Reuters by telephone from the Dubai Gold Cup, the last leg of the 2007 championship of the new RC 44 class that he started.

"Maybe he has a long-term vision, but we've been asking for clarity about what's happening now.

"All the different stakeholders should be consulted -- the teams, the sponsors, the television companies. We are not against discussing change. But this should involve everyone."

"We still want a conventional America's Cup in 2009. If we face a Deed of Gift race then we must build a multihull boat for that, which takes time. And time is running out." -- New Zealand Herald, www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=531&objectid=10482305&ref=rss

BARCELONA RACE
It's been another cold, difficult day for the race leaders in the Barcelona World Race as they battle the elements deep in the southern ocean. Race leading skipper Jean-Pierre Dick on board Paprec-Virbac 2 has confirmed that he and co-skipper Damian Foxall are taking turns on the wheel during the day, with shifts of up to four hours on deck.

"It's very difficult to be out there for so long - you have to have all the gear because it's so cold," Jean-Pierre said. "It's freezing.the sky is very grey and the waves quite chaotic, seas coming from everywhere."

The reason they are pushing so hard is to stay ahead of Veolia Environnement and Hugo Boss, both of whom are keeping the race leaders honest by pushing along at a relentless pace.

Further back, both Temenos II and Mutua Madrilena have found some good breeze over the past 24 hours, and are averaging speeds near 15 knots. And Mutua Madrilena crossed through the fourth scoring gate today. But event at this improved pace, they are dropping miles to the leaders. And today, Educacion sin Fronteras escaped the clutches of a high pressure system. On the 16:00 poll, they were the second fastest boat in the fleet.

The Delta Dore shore team has dispatched a motor vessel to rendezvous with the race boat. The boats should meet in about 48-hours and Delta Dore will either take on more fuel, or if the conditions are suitable, be towed back to South Africa.

* Having arrived in Cape Town last night (2140 GMT), Estrella Damm skippers Guillermo Altadill and co-skipper Jonathan McKee were welcomed back on dry land after 32 days at sea by their shore crew, before getting onboard to quickly begin the preliminary work of repairing the rudder system and sorting the other work that the team will also try to fix during this pit-stop. The have removed the two rudder cassettes off the boat so they can be worked on independently.

This morning the skippers and the shore team met again to discuss the time-line involved of making the repairs and getting back into the race, the team will continue to assess this time-line and as soon as feasible make a decision as to whether to continue in the Barcelona World Race or not. Every minute that passes sees the remainder of the fleet sail further and further into the distance, as does the possibility of Estrella Damm reaching the podium which is one of their main objectives.

Day 33 - December 13, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. Paprec-Virbac ! 2 - Jean Pierre Dick / Damian Foxall - 0
2. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain / Jean Luc Nelias - 136
3. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson / Andrew Cape - 221
4. Temenos 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele Paret- 1011
5. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso / Pachi Rivero - 1730
6. Estrella Damm - Guillermo Altadill / Jonathan Mckee - 2400
7. Educacion Sin Fronteras - Servane Escoffier / Albert Bargues - 2494

Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien Josse
Abandoned - Delta Dore - Jeremie Beyou / Sidney Gavignet

www.barcelonaworldrace.com

HIT THE 2008 RACING SEASON WITH SPEED
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For more information on the technology and advantages of "FiberPath" or to get a quote from our highly experienced sailmakers, contact your local Ullman Sails loft and visit www.ullmansails.com

PEYRON WINS TRANSAT B TO B
This just in minutes before press time:

Race winner : LoickPeyron (Gitana Eighty) *****NEXT ARRIVALS (EST: FRIDAY 14th, between 3:00 and 6:00 ***** FINISH LINE: It is an imaginary line between the Beg Meil signal station and the Concarneau harbor. The boats crossing the finish line can be watched from the shores. Afterwards, the boats shall be berthed in the Port-La-Foret harbour, where many attractions and activities shall be open to the public on Dec 14th, 15th and 16th.

Kito de Pavant has just taken second place in the Transat Ecover-BtoB by crossing the finish line in Port la Foret, Brittany at 02 hours 22 minutes 49 seconds UTC this Friday. He concedes three hours, nine minutes, forty nine seconds to the event winner, Loick Peyron. Michel Desjoyeaux is set to arrive an hour later.

Whilst Loick Peyron was approaching the finish line off the Beg Meil signal station, NW France, the coastguard indicated to the Race Management of the Transat Ecover-BtoB that Foncia had hit a little boat off Penmarc'h.

Michel Desjoyeaux is fine and the only thing he could see that was broken was his leeward outrigger (carbon tube which holds the mast laterally). The mast is still in place but the solo sailor can no longer tack, due to the risk of the tube dropping into the water. For the time being Foncia is making towards the finish line off Port la Foret without assistance and the skipper has opted to sail slightly upwind of the direct course in order to retain some room for manoeuvre should the wind change. He should finish under these conditions around 0300 UTC. -- with thanks to Kate Jennings for translations and the last minute headsup...

www.transatecoverbtob.com

ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE STRONG ON OVERSEAS ENTRIES
The strong 85-boat fleet gathering in Sydney for the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race includes nine overseas entries; six from the UK and one each from the USA, Mexico and New Zealand.

Two of the visitors, Mike Slade's Cityindex Leopard from Great Britain and Bill Buckley's Maximus from New Zealand, are expected to strongly challenge Australian entries Wild Oats XI (Bob Oatley) and Grant Wharington's Skandia in the battle of the canting-keeled maxis (98ft, 30m overall length) at the head of the fleet for line honours in the 628-nautical mile race to start on Boxing Day, December 26.

The Reichel/Pugh-designed Wild Oats XI, which set a new race record in 2005 taking line honours as well as winning on IRC handicap, and again took line honours in the 2006 race, has been fitted with a new stiffer carbon mast by Southern Spars to replace the one she broke at the Rolex Maxi World Cup at Porto Cervo, Sardinia in September.

And with new carbon rigging in place of PBO used on the previous mast, the complete rig is 100kg lighter than the old. Wild Oats XI will also be carrying more sail area: a square-topped mainsail adds 15 per cent upwind, as well as larger gennakers flown from the longer bowsprit that add 20 per cent to her downwind sail area.

She has sacrificed some of her IRC rating and the chance of another handicap win to concentrate on a line honours win against the tougher competition at the head of the fleet.

Skandia, the 2003 line honours winner, with a longer waterline and fuller hull shape aft, was only three miles behind Wild Oats XI, two-thirds of the way down the course in Bass Strait in last year's race when her forward canard fin broke off, ending her chances.

She has been fitted with a new re-configured keel for this year's race with the fin shaved down for a more efficient shape and a reduction of 1200kg in weight. Wharington says the boat in total is one and-a-half tonnes lighter than last year.

Both Cityindex Leopard and Maximus were designed and built primarily for long offshore passage races, capable of surviving the roughest conditions, while Wild Oats XI is aimed at inshore regatta sailing as well as offshore racing.

www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

* Quantum Racing's bid for the coveted line honours win in the Sydney to Hobart has started with a bang while the Kirribilli's Sydney to Coffs Harbour campaign is already over after a drama-packed day of action off Sydney Heads yesterday.

A crewman aboard the UK yacht Jazz was also nursing a headache after being hit by the boom during the opening day of the Rolex Trophy series, which turned into a costly demolition derby for Ray Robert's 50-footer Quantum Racing and Bob Steel's 52-footer Quest after both sustained damage in a collision.

Quantum skipper Steve McConaghy said the boat lost steerage when its jib back-winded, throwing it on to port tack and into Quest.

"We hit them mid-boat and brushed them down the side. It was lucky we didn't snag anything," McConaghy said after the accident, which saw their bowsprit break off the yacht.

"We were only doing three knots.

"Fortunately it's not race-threatening for the Hobart."

A frantic phone call to a boatbuilder in New Zealand will see a new spinnaker pole flown to Australia overnight so Quantum can resume racing today, while Steel is confident he can patch up the two holes in the side of his new yacht so he and his crew can also rejoin the regatta.

"We have a hole under the waterline and one above it but we can fix them," said Steel, a former winner of the Sydney to Hobart who has decided to bypass the race this year.

"We saw them coming but there was nothing we could do about it." -- Amanda Lulham in Australia's Daily Telegraph: www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22920022-5001023,00.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 1st 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,"

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.

TEAM OMEGA DOMINATES DAY 1 OF THE DUBAI GOLD CUP
The first day of the Dubai Gold Cup exceeded the sailors' expectations, with three races sailed despite the light wind forecast. Indeed, a fairly regular sea breeze started blowing after lunch time, allowing the eight strong RC 44 fleet to set sail and compete in light but good conditions.

Clearly on great form, Vittorio Codecasa, the 65 years old helmsman onboard Russell Coutts' Team Omega - and President of the Swan 45 Class - took the best start in the first race. He was also first to reach the windward mark and set the trend: he was not going to let any competitor sail a single mark ahead of him throughout the afternoon!

Team Omega leads the Dubai Gold Cup with three points, ahead of team Hiroshi - Citta di Milano (10 points) and Team Beecom (12 points).

The professional sailors will be back at the helm tomorrow for a match racing round robin.

Results:

Team Omega (1, 1, 1) 3 points
Team Hiroshi - Città di Milano (4, 3, 3) 10 points
Team Beecom (2, 6, 4) 12 points
Team Ceeref (6, 2, 5) 13 points
Cro-A-Sail, (8, 4, 2) 14 points
Team ES Bankers Dubai (5, 5, 7) 17 points
Team Aqua (3, 8, 6) 17 points
Team Organika (7, 7, 8) 22 points

www.rc44.com

SUPERYACHT CLUB
The weather provided plenty of variation for the Superyacht Cup fleet for the first race of the three day series in Antigua. Yanneke Too sailed an excellent race making the most of the strong wind conditions, big swells and with conservative preparation for the final squall they crossed the line first, winning the Camper & Nicholsons International Race by 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Second was Patient Falcon, and third Sojana. The first three boats finished within less than 6 minutes.

As the fleet headed up the final beat, a huge black cloud darkened the Antiguan skies, and as the heavens opened the wind picked up with gusts of up to 45 knots. "I didn't want to even look at the instruments in that squall but I did briefly glance up to see 45 knots," commented America's Cup sailor Mike Toppa of North Sails Florida, sailing onboard Yanneke Too.

Although several boats suffered minor breakdowns and 'technical hitches' in the rough conditions, all are planning to be ready to head out again for the second race for The Superyacht Cup Antigua 2007 which will start at 12.00 local time, December 14th.

www.thesuperyachtcup.com

THE 22ND ARC IS MARRED BY TRAGEDY
The Directors of World Cruising Club express their deep sorrow at the death of John Thompson, 54, the skipper of the yacht Avocet that was participating in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC 2007).

John Thompson, a lawyer from Bangor, Northern Ireland, sustained serious head injuries in an accident onboard his yacht late on Friday 7 December 2007.

The incident occurred mid-Atlantic whilst the yacht was at position 15˚28N 43˚59W, 980 nautical miles East of St.Lucia and 1090 nautical miles West of the Cape Verde Islands, well beyond the range of any land based assistance.

The Maritime Rescue Control Centre (MRCC) in Martinique diverted a cruise ship, the Costa Mediterranea, to attend the scene and at first light on Saturday 8 December John was transferred onto the ship. His son Daniel who had been sailing with him accompanied his father. Early on Monday morning (10 December) John was transferred ashore once the ship reached Barbados, where he received immediate hospital treatment.

Regrettably, John did not recover from his serious injuries whilst in hospital, and died late today (Thursday 13 December); his family were with him at the time.

The yacht Avocet, with 4 remaining crew, all of whom are very experienced, has continued on to St.Lucia, with an expected arrival date of Friday 14 December.

www.worldcruising.com/arc

THE LOWEST DRAG OF ALL SAILBOAT PROPELLERS
Gori propeller is the chosen brand of propeller for high performance multi hulls and grand prix yachts, including GROUPAMA III, which is now preparing for an assault on the Jules Verne Record for fastest non-stop circumnavigation.

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

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 John Reed, Secretary to the World Sailing Speed Records Council:

The WSSR Council announces the ratification of a new World Record:

RECORD: Dakar to Guadeloupe. 20ft Sport World Record.
Yacht: 20ft Open Catamaran
Sailed by: Benoit Lequin FRA and Pierre-Yves Moreau FRA
Dates: 28th November to 9th December 2007.
Elapsed Time: 11 days 11 hours 25 minutes 42 seconds
Average speed for 2700nm was 9.8 kts

Previous record: Andrea Gancis/Matteo Miceli ITA 13d 13h 58m 27s, 8.28kts in January 2005

* Contrary to what was announced in Scuttlebutt 2495, the World Sailing Record Council has not as yet ratified the 24 hour claim of Hugo Boss.

(WSSRC has a new website, see sailspeedrecords.com . John Reed and your humble narrator built it. The search function -- bottom menu bar -- is great records research tool. )

* From Jim Champ, re Kirt E. Simmons's letter: ...and will then immediately secure the Challenger of Record position.

As I understand it he can't do that. Rumour has it that SNG held one and only one annual regatta some years ago on an arm of the sea and hasn't held one since. They don't qualify as a challenger any more than CNEV did... And I think we can look forward to a future where all challengers are required to comply with deed of gift conditions, not just the COR so that we don't get in this mess again... If he wants to continue in the game (which frankly I doubt) EB will have to find another compliant yacht club, although I guess he can probably do that with lots of "sponsorship" cash...

* From Jenny Howells, IRC Manager: The IRC 2008 forms, Rule & fees are now available on our website at www.rorcrating.com

If you hold an IRC 2007 certificate which expires on the 31st December, you will be invited to renew this certificate for 2008. For those boats in the UK the revalidation forms will be sent out from the RORC Rating Office in the New Year, along with a copy of the 2008 yearbook; for those outside the UK this revalidation process will be administered by your local IRC Rule Authority, see the list on our website for contact details.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, and good sailing in 2008!

FEATURED BROKERAGE
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Brokerage through YachtsAndCruisers.com: www.yachtsandcruisers.com

Complete listing details and seller contact information at www.yachtsandcruisers.com/boat/Sunbeam/18188/

THE LAST WORD
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. -- Yogi Berra

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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