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LIMPING TOWARDS AUSTRALIA
Aboard Temenos II, a better wind on the other tack and the creation of a zone of calm below Australia have forced Michele and Dominique to put a little southing into their course by gybing overnight. Though the two co-skippers will be doing everything they can to avoid sailing in strong winds so as they can preserve the keel of their boat as best they can, getting stopped in high pressure was far from the best solution for the duo either.

A short message was sent from onboard in the early hours by Michele: "We've just finished a gybe, the second of the night. With this cold you end up with numb fingers every time. The quickest way I've found of warming your hands up is to light the stove and pass your fingers over the flame, being careful not to get too close to it all the same!

We have dropped down to 53 degrees South, and have lost the few little degrees we gained yesterday. The water, air, man, everything gets cold very quickly as soon as you head towards the Antarctic.

On port tack, we have the damaged side of the keel exposed again. For the time being it looks relatively stable, but it's difficult to measure to the nearest millimeter as there is permanent spray over that area. I'm avoiding thinking about it too much but I must go and take a look at it about ten times a day, and I see Dom doing the same, without referring to it any more than me. -- translation by Kate Jennings.

* Meanwhile, out on the race course, Hugo Boss has put on a powerful and impressive display of speed. Skipper Alex Thomson has clawed back over 90 miles in the past 24 hours as Hugo Boss chases Paprec-Virbac 2 up to the Australian safety gate. Both are expected to pass the gate! later today before bearing off and heading for Cook Strait; and this afternoon, it's clear the pace of Hugo Boss is making skipper Alex Thomson very happy.

"We've made up loads of miles. It's a mixture of it being the right conditions for this boat and Paprec in front of us have had less wind," said an understated Alex Thomson. "But we haven't really been pushing very hard. It's been pretty relaxed. Been getting lots of sleep and watched a great movie last night.We were shocked and disappointed to hear about Veolia this morning. It's a stark reminder of how fragile we all are out here."

It's a different story on board the race leader, Paprec-Virbac 2, where co-skipper Damian Foxall sounded tired and more than a little frustrated.

"We're pushing water uphill," he said. "For a couple of days now we have been sailing along a very slow moving front and there's nowhere we can go apart from straight forward. There are light winds ahead and there's fresh wind coming in from behind with Hugo Boss.we've really got a race on our hands."

Day 38 - December 18, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean Pierre Dick / Damian Foxall - 0
2. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson / Andrew Cape - 38
3. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain / Jean Luc Nelias - Dismasted
4. Temenos 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele Paret- 1295
5. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso / Pachi Rivero - 1950
6. Educacion Sin Fronteras - Servane Escoffier / Albert Bargues - 2702

www.barcelonaworldrace.com

GLENN BOURKE DEPARTS AS CEO OF VOLVO OCEAN RACE
Portsmouth, England: Glenn Bourke has resigned from his position as CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Forty-seven-year-old Bourke's decision, a very difficult one he said, was taken for family reasons. He has held the position since November 2002 and helped establish the Volvo as the world's leading offshore ocean race.

Bourke will relocate from England to take up a position in his native Australia in the New Year.

"Glenn has done a fantastic job for the Volvo Ocean Race and for Volvo since 2002 and it's very sad to see him leave," said Gerry Keaney, Chairman of the Board of Volvo Event Management and Senior Vice President of Volvo Car Corporation.

"We understand his wish to be closer to his family and children in Australia. We realise that it will be very difficult to find a replacement for Glenn," Keaney added.

Bourke said he weighed up several factors in coming to what he said was a very difficult decision.

"It's no secret to those people who know me well that being so far away from my family for so many years has been stressful at times. My children are now at an age where I feel I need to be spending more time with them. Ultimately they come first on my list of priorities.

Prior to taking the role of CEO, Bourke held a similar position with illbruck Challenge, the winner of the 2001-02 race.

As a sailor he won three Laser world championships and competed for Australia at the Olympic Games in a Finn in 1992, and again in 1996 as Australian coach.

He made the switch from competition to event management by becoming venue and competition manager of the sailing venue at the Olympic Games in his hometown of Sydney in 2000.

He has seen action on both sides of the America's Cup - as defender, trimming for Kookaburra in 1987, and as challenger, calling tactics for OneAustralia in 1995. He was also coach of Team Dennis Conner, the New York Yacht Club's challenger for the 2002-3 Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup in Auckland.

Bourke has also been CEO of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. -- Lizzie (Green) Ward

www.volvooceanrace.org

PHENOMENAL RESULTS FOR A TRUE THOROUGHBRED
Ranger - The J Class Built by Danish Yacht in Skagen

Ranger has arrived in Antigua at the end of a successful 2007 season, after extensive crew training and performance analysis.

She was built by Danish Yacht at their superyacht yard in Denmark in 2003, using all the skills of the design and build team. Her exquisite interior and exterior woodwork was carried out by joiners in the Danish Yacht yard, and the highest standards were adhered to in the fit out.

At the Superyacht Cup in Palma Ranger finished 3 places ahead of her rival, Velsheda. In the Maxi Cup, Ranger achieved 4 firsts and a third, winning the IRC Cruising division and one of the coveted Rolex watches.

Her successful season closed with a fifth overall in the very competitive Modern Division of the IRC A Class in Les Voiles de Saint Tropez.

www.danishyacht.com

59 MINUTES SLOWER THAN ORANGE II
For the last 24 hours Francis Joyon and IDEC2 have been enjoying 25 knot westerly winds and have been gybing downwind. This point of sail doesn't make for the fastest speeds, but still some highly respectible averages around the 19-21 knot mark and most importantly, sees IDEC2 still piling on the miles over Ellen MacArthur's relative position - Joyon is now more than 2,500 miles ahead of Ellen.

Over the course of tomorrow the high currently to his north over the Tasman Sea is forecast to extend south and IDEC2, to the southeast of this area, will see the wind back to the SSE, again putting her on to a fast point of sail. However the forecast for 48 hours time still has the area of high pressure moving across the race track and unless Joyon opts to dive down to around 56°S he is likely to get trapped by it. This area of high pressure is forecast to lurk around off south New Zealand until the end of the week.

At 9:06 French time this morning, IDEC2 crossed the line of longitude running south from South East Cape in Tasmania, marking the transition from the Indian to Pacific Oceans. Thus Joyon's time for the Indian Ocean is a mere 9 days, 12 hours and 3 minutes or three days six hours and 54 minutes less than Ellen MacArthur.

Perhaps more impressive is that Joyon's crossing of the Indian Ocean is just 59 minutes slower than Bruno Peyron and crew managed on their 125ft maxi-cat Orange 2 when they set the present Jules Verne Trophy record. -- from TheDailySail.com, the only site doing regular English language updates on Joyon

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'LIGHTNING STRIKE' THIS MORNING, GALES TONIGHT
Less than 24 hours after leaving Ushant, the maxi-trimaran Sodeb'O has already left Cape Finisterre in its wake and is currently skirting around a depression to the West of Portugal. At 1530 hours UTC, the trimaran had covered over 400 miles, at an average speed of 21.9 knots.

Lightning strikes the mast
Despite the demands of the weather window chosen by Thomas and his team, the 105 foot trimaran has traced a perfect diagonal through the Bay of Biscay, in an ENE'ly wind, oscillating between 17 and 31 knots. Added to the short seas and the shipping, the skipper hasn't slept and most importantly got a massive shock at daybreak: "around 05h30 UTC this morning, we passed under a big cluster of clouds with 45 knots of wind in the squall and the head of the mast was struck by lightning! It 'scorched' the mast wand but a fuse protected the electronics and the instruments. I can't understand why but it could have been a lot worse. I will climb up and change the mast wand as soon as conditions allow."

Hand to hand combat in view
A calm spell enabled Thomas to sleep for the first time this afternoon and prepare for the approach of a centre of depression, which he is rounding off the Portuguese coast. The wind may gust to 50 knots, with a gybe necessary in the middle of the night: "the temperature has risen to 14 degrees, so it's more pleasant now. I'm currently charging the onboard batteries. I'm going to sleep again this afternoon and my meal for this evening is already prepared. From the start of this record, we knew we'd have two difficult nights ahead of us before finding a more classic weather situation again. This will influence a number of things on the next stage of the course." -- translation by Kate Jennings

www.sodebo-voile.com

FOR THE RECORD
The WSSR Council announces the ratification of 2 new World Records:

RECORD: Outright World Kite Sailing Speed Record
Board: Windsurfer F1 custom. 6.5 F1 Bandit kite
Sailed by: Alexandre Caizergues FRA
Dates: 9th October 2007.
Time: 20.24 seconds over 501 metres at Luderitz, Namibia. (.2kts current variation)
Speed: 47.92 knots.

Previous kite record: Olaf Marting, NAM, Walvis Bay. Nam, Oct 2005, 41.79kts

RECORD: Outright World Women's Kite Sailing Speed Record
Board: Windsurfer Cape Doctor custom. 5m Naish Helix kite
Sailed by: Sjouke Bredenkamp RSA
Dates: 9th October 2007.
Time: 22.89 seconds over 501 metres at Luderitz, Namibia. (.2kts current variation)
Speed: 42.35 knots
This is the fastest speed ever recorded by a woman sailor

Previous kite record: Sjoukje Bredenkamp, RSA, Walvis Bay. Nam, Oct 2006, 37.24kts

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council
sailspeedrecords.com

TEAMORIGIN AIMS FOR 2011
TEAMORIGIN, Britain's Challenge for the America's Cup, is modifying its plans to aim for competition in 2011. Originally planned for 2009 this date is now seen as the most likely date for an America's Cup event with multiple challengers.

"Over the past 12 months Team Director Mike Sanderson and I have assembled what we believe to be an incredibly strong team in TEAMORIGIN. Today that team is made up of over 100 people and numbers amongst them the best sailors, designers and shore side management in the business. With the work accomplished so far we were on track to race the new AC90 class competitively for the America's Cup in 2009. However, our assessment now is that a 2009 America's Cup Match that TEAMORIGIN could compete in is extremely unlikely and that 2011 is now the most likely timing for the next America's Cup with multiple challengers," explained Team Principal Sir Keith Mills.

Certain members of the team have less of a rush on their hands now in terms of getting racing yachts ready for a competition in Valencia originally scheduled for 18 months from now.

"Up until today the design team, run by Juan Kouyoumdjian, Andy Claughton and Mickey Ickert, had been working flat out to design the first of the team's AC-90 yachts. TEAMORIGIN's shore crew and boat builders had been making all arrangements to build this boat in time for a June 2008 launch in Valencia. We now see a longer period ahead of us before a race-ready yacht is required and so have taken this opportunity to change our approach. To keep these original plans in place now would be wasteful and as a result TEAMORIGIN is lowering its current level of activity and re-focusing on planning for a 2011 event. The team is however always prepared for any eventuality and it has the flexibility to quickly escalate the programme and plans in case the America's Cup situation changes again," said Team Director Mike Sanderson.

When Sir Keith Mills first announced his intentions to challenge for the America's Cup 11 months ago it was without knowing the dates, venue or format of the first event a British team could race in. Although initially expecting to be able to race in the 33rd America's Cup, announced in July of this year to be run in 2009, the ongoing litigation between the Swiss Defender and San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club has brought into question the dates and format of the next event.

www.teamorigin.com

COLLINS STEWART LONDON BOAT SHOW
London's largest annual event, the Collins Stewart London Boat Show, will take place at ExCeL - the heart of London's entertainment district - from 11-20 January 2008. Now in its 54th year the Show promises to offer something for all, and will welcome some 140,000 people, encouraging visitors to take to the waters.

Visitors to the Show have a plethora of exciting features to explore and enjoy such as Start Boating, Deck Games, an interactive Watersports Zone, Anchor Watch, Classic Boats and the Guinness Bar. There will also be a chance to climb aboard the HMS Exeter, the very first Royal Naval Destroyer to the Show.

www.londonboatshow.com

AINSLIE RULES SUPREME
Ben Ainslie (GBR) has cleaned up in the Finn class at the Sydney International Regatta which finished on Sydney Harbour this afternoon.

Ainslie won two of today's three races, finishing ninth in the middle Race 7, which was used as his race drop for the series.

The triple Olympic medallist across two classes won six of the nine race series hosted by Woollahra Sailing Club, beating nearest rival Jonas Hoegh Christensen (DEN) by a whopping 17 points. The bronze medal went Finn world champion Rafael Trujillo - just. The Spaniard finished the regatta on equal 30 points with another Brit and Olympian in waiting, Giles Scott, who missed out on countback.

Ed Wright, Ainslie's rival for the British Olympic place, had a mixed day, his best result a second in the final race 8 for a fifth place overall, 22 points behind Ainslie. It does not bode well for his Olympic chances. -- Di Pearson

www.nsw.yachting.org.au

RAGTIME LOOKS SOUTH TO TAHITI
Ragtime is restless, and maybe a little homesick. With a record 14th Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii fresh under its wooden hull, the 65-foot ocean racing icon will return to the South Pacific waters of its birth in the 13th Tahiti Race starting next June from San Pedro.

Owner/skipper Chris Welsh of Newport Beach, Calif. said the resurrection of the race after a 14-year hiatus was too tempting to pass up.

"For a West Coast sailor, Tahiti is Everest," Welsh said after filing his entry. "I felt it was compelling, like here's the race, you've got the right tool to do it, and who knows how many times in your life you'll have that all at once?"

Other early entries are Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80, from Long Beach, and Allen Hughes' Open 60, Dogbark, Seattle. Another high-end Long Beach boat, Bob Lane's Andrews 63, Medicine Man, is verbally committed.

The 3,571-nautical mile race will start Sunday, June 22, at 1 p.m. off Point Fermin in San Pedro, cross the equator and finish at the historic Pointe Venus lighthouse on the north end of the island of Tahiti, six miles east of Papeete.

The race has been run intermittently a dozen times from 1925 to 1994. The record is 14 days 21 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds---an average speed of about 10 knots, modest by current standards---established by Fred Kirschner's Santa Cruz 70, Kathmandu, in 1994, the last time the race was run.

Ragtime, long admired for its sleek and black low-profile hull, was built in New Zealand in 1964 by the late John Spencer. Originally christened Infidel, it was brought to Long Beach in the early 70s, renamed and in 1973 sailed by a local crew of eight that stunned a skeptical racing community by snatching Transpac's Barn Door prize from the record holder, Windward Passage, by 4 minutes 31 seconds---still the closest first-to-finish in race history---and followed that with another win in '75.

The Notice of Race and online entry form are posted at www.transpacificyc.org

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* From Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: In response to hearing the news of Veolia Environnement's dismasting, Clipper Ventures Chairman Sir Robin-Knox Johnston, currently in Fremantle with the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race fleet, offered any assistance he could provide to the French team.

"I would like to offer any assistance that I can to Roland and Jean-Luc. I was also in Fremantle last year with my very similar Open 60, and the facilities here at the Fremantle Sailing Club are excellent. In fact it is the place that we choose to lift our ten-strong fleet of Clipper 68s during the biennial Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for routine maintenance. If the team bring Veolia Environnement here, they will be very well looked after," Sir Robin said. The ten-strong Clipper 07-08 fleet will remain in Fremantle over the festive period until the restart on New Year's Day. Race 5 of the ten-month series will take the fleet from Fremantle to Singapore.

* From Charles Nankin: It is encouraging to see the offshore trimarans realising the value of slimmer, longer hulls and wave-piercing bows. This has been just one benefit of having a more open measurement rule as afforded by the completely open criteria for The Race's G-class and other circumnavigation attempts.

Although the introduction of various monohull box-rule classes is encouraging, this should just be a stepping stone to more open design rules, for which the 52's have already been hankering.

The thing is: any limit on LWA or LOA will result in the stubby boats we have seen for the past 50 years - boats that can´t go to windward and which invented the profession of railmeat.

We need to cut to the chase and put fewer limits/penalties in rating rules, allowing the fastest boat for a given "size" to evolve.

What is the best way to do this? There is Mr Komoudjian's off-the-cuff suggestion of fixing only sail area (the original square metre rule). Or Mr Nivelt's to fix only sail area and hull/deck surface area. These would carry the caveat of having to be set to a certain ocean route or regatta circuit or type of conditions. However this is certainly feasible in the context of the high-profile events, where most of our sport´s trickle-down R&D flows from.

Too simple? But what a pleasure to see the millions of hours and dollars, that have up to now been spent in achieving increases in ugliness and lack of speed, redirected to advancing our sport by creating purer, truly-fast and sensible designs.

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THE LAST WORD
It's one of the tragic ironies of the theatre that only one man in it can count on steady work -- the night watchman. -- Tallulah Bankhead

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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