In this Issue:
Mini Transat Report
Featured Brokerage: Beneteau 35.5
Vanguard 15 Nationals Preview
Melges 24 Nationals Preview
Women's International Match Racing
Torresen Sailing School announces 2000 Plans

For more Sailing News see
Sailing Daily
Recent topics included:
Rolex Women's Regatta and Sydney Harbour
Analysis
See http://www.torresen.com/sd/september99

Mini Transat
Note: The Mini Transat is a singlehanded race for boats 
of 6.5 meters (21 feet) in length. The fleet is currently sailing the 
first of two legs from France to the Canary Islands.
Sunday saw the 70 boat Mini Transat fleet start in Concarneau 
France a small fishing village. Winds were SW 15-20, and the added 
threat of a nasty Bay of Biscay depression.
First over the line was Nick Maloney. However, the initial 
turning mark came off station. So another start was mandated. During 
this time Maloney was hit by another boat. He had to return to shore 
to make repairs.
By Monday morning 20 boats had returned to port. Winds were 
nearing 30 to 35 knots, with the 21-foot boats on the wind. Some 
returned due to equipment failure, others due to concern over the weather. 
Then Tuesday one of the race favorites suffered a devastating
failure. Andrew Cape sailing his self designed Aberdeen Asset 
Management suffered a steering system failure. Although this incident 
kills Cape's hope of overall victory not all is lost. Many of the boats 
are in port awaiting better weather and Cape should be able to leave 
with them.
Upon reaching port Cape elaborated on the situation: "I was 
smokin' along when the rudder box broke, caused by a problem I had 
mended earlier in the day. It's my own fault, I'm the designer!" 
It took Cape 36 hours to reach La Trinet France, during which 
he hand steered. After anchoring Cape was fined by French customs 
officers as his paperwork was not in order. 
Italian sailor Francesco Pelizza is also out of the race. 
Wednesday morning he set off distress beacons. By 1107 Spanish 
authorities had him safely ashore. No further details on this incident. 
Pelizza was 3rd when this occurred.
Currently in the lead is defending champion Sebastian Magnen. 
Second is French sailor Erwin Tabarly. Other pre favorites and their 
positions are: Alex Bennett 12th, Nick Maloney 31st.
One of the unique points of 'mini' racing lies in the 
communications. Most major extreme sailing events are now very 
communications oriented. Sailors carry satellite phones, laptop 
computers to access the Internet and watch DVD movies. The Mini is 
the opposite. Once the sailors start they are soloists in all aspects 
including meteorology and tactics. No contact with shore, or outside 
weather routing is permitted. 
So unlike with many events today we are not privy to the 
thought process behind certain situations. For instance Paul Peggs 
sailing the British Mills designed entry Blue One seemingly has made 
an error by heading south. However, without the communications typical 
of today's extreme sailing one can't know why the decision was made. 
The position reports will tell the results of the call.
With this added element of isolation the first days of the 
race have likely been quite difficult for the solo sailors. Upon 
reaching shore contestant Andrew Cape said of the conditions: "The 
weather out there was atrocious and anyone who is still battling it 
out is a hero to me."
Torresen Sailing Site will continue to follow the Mini Transat. 
Several other quality mini related websites are: 
www.offshorechallenges.com & www.team6-5.com.

Featured Brokerage 1989 Beneteau 35
This weeks featured boat is different than our usual offerings. 
'China Light' stands out from most boats on your dock. Beneteau's, while 
popular the world over, are not a common site on the Great Lakes.
Sail control is via four Lewmar winches. The sail inventory has 
been updated in the last 3 years. The genoa furls via a Harken furling 
system.
China Light is a rare opportunity. If you wish for a high 
quality, well-maintained and updated sailboat China Light should be on 
your list. China Light will soon be in winter storage at Torresen 
Marine. Contact the sales department at 231 759 8596 or via e-mail 
brokerage@torresen.com.
Pictures of China Light are at:
http://www.torresen.com/brokerage/ben35

Vanguard 15 Nationals
Vanguard 15 Fleet 43 will host the National Championships of 
the Vanguard 15. Dates will be 2-3 October. 
Racing will take place off Chicago Yacht Club's Belmont Station. 
Six races are planned for Saturday, with four more on Sunday. Time 
limit for the races is 60 minutes. When 6 races are completed a discard 
will be allowed.
40+ boats are entered. Along with a heavy dose of sailors from 
hometown Fleet 43, seven other states are represented on the entry list.
For more information see: 
http://chicagoyachtclub.com/v15/1999.htm

Melges 24 Worlds
Alamitos Bay Yacht Club will host the World Championships of 
the Melges 24 class. Dates will be 1 to 10 October.
The event is broken up into two events. Since many of the 
boats come from Europe and various parts of the Western Hemisphere a 
6 race Pre Worlds regatta will be run 2-3 October. This will allow the 
sailors to acclimate themselves to the race venue off Long Beach CA. 
The regatta that will name the world champion will be a 10-racer running
from 6-10 October. 
The entry list is at 46. Notable names on the list are:
Dave Ulman, Buddy Melges, Brian Porter and Vince Brun.
For more information see:
http://www.melges24.com/worlds99/worlds99.htm

Women's International Match Race Championship
Fresh off the Rolex International Women's Keelboat regatta, 
women sailors will again be contesting a major regatta. Host for the 
event is Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead MA.
11 teams representing 8 countries will race. After a day of 
practice, racing will see double round robins taking place Thursday 
through Saturday. The semi-finals and finals will be sailed on Sunday 3 
October.
The sailors competing range from the top ranked women's match 
racer Shirley Robertson of Great Britain to the 28th ranked sailor 
Jane Moon of the Cayman Islands. Paula Lewin of Bermuda is the events 
defending champion and is ranked 2nd. Reigning US Rolex Yachtswoman of 
the Year Betsy Alison carries a # 6 ranking into the event. Christine 
Brian of France is ranked 12th and competed in the just completed 
Rolex event.
Racing will take place in Sonar's, a 23 foot keelboat. The 
Sonar's will be equalized with sails made exclusively for this event.
To follow the regatta see: 
http://easternyc.org/99reedbarton/

Torresen Sailing School News
For those of you who subscribe to Around the World of Sailing 
in an effort to educate yourself about sailing this announcement could
be important. Torresen Marine Inc. operates an American Sailing
Association certified Sailing School.
Each summer hundreds of students come to our school to learn 
to sail. If you want to become involved in sailing we invite you to 
come sail with us in 2000!
May 1st will be the opening day of our school. Normally 
instruction takes place in keelboats around 20-35 feet in size.
To have a complete experience we offer you the option of 
staying on board the school's boat (this also helps keep the cost down). 
You almost never lose a day to weather as the Torresen Sailing School
can sail on either Muskegon Lake or Lake Michigan.
We invite you to visit http://www.torresen.com/school.htm for 
more information. Reserve your dates early as weekend dates will fill 
extremely quickly.