Around The World Of Sailing

The Transat: Several OCS

AN ADRENALIN-PUMPING TRANSAT START FOR THE 37 SKIPPERS IN LIVELY CONDITIONS...

* NUMBER OF BOATS OVER THE LINE AT THE START RESULTING IN TIME PENALTIES...

* YVES PARLIER'S RADICAL CATAMARAN A LATE STARTER ALONG WITH ALAIN GAUTIER'S FONCIA...

* MICHEL DESJOYEAUX (GEANT) AND MIKE GOLDING (ECOVER) REACH EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE FIRST IN THEIR CLASSES TO CLAIM OMEGA SEAMASTER PRIZE...

* 'BREAKING NEWS' NOW LIVE FOLLOW THE ENTIRE RACE VIA THIS POP-UP WINDOW THAT UPDATES AUTOMATICALLY...

* FLEET APPROACHING LIZARD (SEE IMAGE DOWNLOAD) BEFORE HEADING OUT INTO NORTH ATLANTIC AND 2800 MILE RACE TO BOSTON...

See the official Omega clock showing race time http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

Grey skies, rain that varied from drizzle to torrential and a brisk 20 knot wind were the conditions the 37 competitors taking part in The Transat enjoyed as the historical single-handed race the 'wrong way' across the North Atlantic got underway at 1400BST today from Plymouth Sound.

The first casualty prior to the start was Yves Parlier's new catamaran Médiatis Région Aquitaine who returned to port at 1230 her skipper reporting that there was a problem with his boat's autopilot system. Some water had seeped into the electrics, but after 20 minutes of intense work by Parlier's shore team, the radical catamaran was heading out to the race course again.

Also before the start Alain Gautier's Foncia was forced to return to Plymouth Yacht Haven with a broken fitting in her rudder system. This was rapidly fixed by her shore team who sent her on her way at 1640.

Watched by a sizeable spectator fleet braving the bleak conditions, the fleet started simultaneously, but on a line divided in three with the ORMA 60 multihulls the furthest east, the IMOCA Open 60 monohulls in the middle and the 50s westernmost, close to Penlee Point. Marking the divide between ORMA and IMOCA fleets was the Committee Boat, the Royal Navy's HMS Tyne. From on board here the start gun was fired by Omega ambassador, Anna Kournikova accompanied by the 2000 monohull winner Ellen MacArthur who had taken the Russian tennis star and sailing earlier this morning.

Hot competition in the monohull fleet saw five boats over the line prior to the start including Conrad Humphreys on Hellomoto and Nick Moloney on Skandia. The first non-premature starter was Swiss Around Alone race winner Bernard Stamm sailing Cheminees Poujoulat-Armor Lux.

Meanwhile on the multihull start line Marc Guillemot's Gitana X was penalised for a start line infringement and the first boats legally across were race favourites Franck Cammas' Groupama and Vendée Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant.

The first mark of the course was the Eddystone Light eight miles south of the start line. Despite a lightning performance by Marc Guillemot's Gitana X she was beaten to the Eddystone by Michel Desjoyeaux's Geant. Gitana X was forced to stop off the Eddystone for 40 minutes as penalty for her premature start.

Among the Open 60 monohulls there was a breakneck fight between New Zealand skipper Mike Sanderson on Pindar AlphaGraphics and Mike Golding's Ecover. In the end Golding edged ahead by a nose and was first round. Like Desjoyeaux, Golding wins an Omega Seamaster watch for arriving first in his class. Omega will be awarding watches to the skipper who sets the 24-hour record and to each class winner on arrival in Boston.

Since the start race veteran Mike Birch has chosen to bring his boat back into Plymouth to make repairs to his autopilot. The sistership to his trimaran Nootka, Great American II of Boston-based skipper Rich Wilson has also returned with a broken main halyard.

The latest positions show Michel Desjoyeaux's Geant leading the multihulls and Mike Sanderson on Pindar AlphaGraphics first in the monohulls.

Hellomoto OCS

At 1400 hrs BST today under Bank Holiday heavy rain and overcast skies, HELLOMOTO took pole position amongst the 15 strong fleet of Open 60 monohulls at start of the 2,800 mile Transat race. With 2 reefs in the mainsail and staysail set in a gusty 22 knot south westerly, skipper Conrad Humphreys drove HELLOMOTO upwind through the 4 metre swell to cross at the pin end of the line ahead of all his rivals in a fighting manoeuvre to win the start.

Conrad remained in the top 5 of the pack as they headed out towards Eddystone Lighthouse 9 miles offshore, however, moments later the Race Organisation declared that HELLOMOTO was one of 5 Open 60’s which were in fact declared over the line (OCS) at the start. Along with Skandia (Moloney), Pro-Form (Thiercelin), UUDS (Laurent) and PRB (Riou), HELLOMOTO incurred a 20 minute penalty and had to remain stationary for this penalty time in a ‘box’ area off the Lighthouse. It was Mike Golding in Ecover who rounded the Eddystone first, followed closely by Mike Sanderson on Pindar.

Talking just after the start at 1545 hrs GMT, Conrad was frustrated but still really positive. “I thought I might have been early but PRB & Pro-From were on the pace so I hauled in the sails to get up speed for the line. I must have been a fraction over as I thought it looked okay on the line. It’s all very well being a glory boy for one second but this OCE cost me more than 20 minutes as the wind shifted an hour after the start and so the boats up front got a jump down the course. The wind has veered to the West, we’re hard on the wind towards Falmouth and I’ll tack soon to lay The Lizard, which is 25m away.”

Conrad will now be heading upwind in increasingly heavier squalls and big seas to a waypoint position approximately 5 miles off The Lizard before heading out into the North Atlantic. Conrad expects a very tactical 72 hours of racing after the start with plenty of sail changes and is concentrating on staying awake in the busy shipping lanes and remaining on the right side of any wind shifts. The first day or two will be raced in classic Transat conditions and Conrad will be analysing closely the complex weather pattern which is forecast in order to plot the best route.

Positions at 1500 GMT

1 Pindar – 2721m DTF
2 Skandia – 0.9m behind leader
3 PRB – 1.4m behind leader
11 HELLOMOTO – 7 miles behind leader

HELLOMOTO positions will be posted on the new Race Console section launched from the homepage from tomorrow morning Tuesday 1st June.

This morning at Plymouth Yacht Haven, Conrad was in a very confident and relaxed mood, going around all the Open 60 boats to wish the other skippers a safe race and give them a miniature bottle of Plymouth Gin to sustain them on their voyage to Boston. At 1000 hrs sharp, he said his final farewells after completing last minute interviews with television crews, and slipped the docklines first of all the boats. Out on the water 150 boats watched the race start itself, and many were supporting our local skipper as he left his home port on his first solo Open 60 race.

“I am really looking forward to getting out there and racing, the last few months have been incredibly busy in preparing HELLOMOTO and myself for this race, and we've been successful in our mission to be on this start line ready and prepared. So thank you to everyone, especially my shore team, for all the hard work.”

WEATHER POINT – see The Transat web site for more details

The south west to westerly winds this afternoon and overnight will create difficult and slow progress upwind for their first night at sea. Wind speeds of up to 18 to 24 knots are expected ahead of the rain, although they should ease off to between 12 and 16 knots as the wind veers to the south west in the afternoon. The good news is that winds shall continue to veer overnight, as a ridge of high pressure builds behind the front and pushes the low to the east of the UK. West to north westerly winds of 14 to 20 knots can be expected by the early hours of Tuesday morning. The boats shall use the WNW wind to make ground to the west, to reach the south westerly winds on the western side of the ridge.

The Transat: Pre Start Report

IN BRIEF:

* CAUTION AT THE START FOR THE 37 SKIPPERS FACING A LARGE SPECTATOR FLEET AND DIFFICULT WEATHER CONDITIONS...

* OMEGA AMBASSADOR ANNA KOURNIKOVA TO OFFICIALLY START THE TRANSAT AT 1400 BST...

* 'BREAKING NEWS' GOES LIVE TOMORROW AT 1200 FOLLOW THE START AND ENTIRE RACE VIA THIS POP-UP WINDOW THAT UPDATES AUTOMATICALLY...

See the official Omega countdown clock counting down to the 1400hrs start at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

CAUTION AT THE START:
With under twenty-four hours to the start of The Transat 2004 race, all 37 competitors are studying weather formations on the American coast in an attempt to maximise their use of the low pressure systems rolling eastwards across the North Atlantic - a scenario that Mike Golding, skipper of Open 60 Ecover described as: "Not uninspiringly nasty." The analysis of various weather models will influence any early tactics and the projected course of the yachts and Golding remarked that the current weather "presents the fleet with lots of options...a perfect platform for the start of The Transat."

Will the skippers head north after clearing Lands End - the western extremity of mainland Britain - and benefit from the easterly winds spinning anti-clockwise around the upper edge of the depression, or will any decisions be moderated by the likely area of tricky and variable conditions found between Monday's low pressure system and the next depression? Conrad Humphreys, skipper on 60ft monohull, Hellomoto, expects a very tactical, initial 72 hours of racing: "I'm concentrating on staying awake and remaining on the right side of any [wind] shifts."

The semi-static, mid-Atlantic 'Azores High' system is predicted to influence any conditions between the low pressure systems and is expected to bring NW winds, backing to SW, from 3-15 knots and a successful interpretation of the additional affects of this ridge of high pressure will be vital to all skippers. Nick Moloney, Australian skipper of 60ft monohull Skandia, expects to meet the ridge early on Wednesday morning: "The ridge is a major focus for me. The conditions are going to be fresh, but not out-of-control fresh." Although the start conditions off Plymouth are of immediate importance and a predicted southwest breeze of 15-20 knots seems almost definite Moloney is cautious about the start: "A collision at the start would be really demoralising and sustaining damage early on would be devastating," adding "I'll be more than happy when we open-up and start to divide."

There will be a large number of vessels present near the start line between Penlee Point and Stadden Heights at 1400 BST tomorrow to watch the fleet begin their transatlantic challenge and Moloney is wise to be cautious; in the 1980 edition of this race (then called the OSTAR), American competitor Tom Grossman on 56ft trimaran Kriter VII, left the helm and went below to fetch his stop-watch minutes before the start and collided with a Spanish yacht entered in the race. Grossman returned to Plymouth and - after some hasty fibreglass repairs - restarted the race and finished 10th overall.

OMEGA AMBASSADOR ANNA KOURNIKOVA TO START RACE:
As one of the official calendar events of the Entente Cordiale's 100th anniversary, The Transat start line will be marked by the Royal Navy's HMS Tyne and her counterpart from the French Navy. There is just one start line for the the entire fleet divided into three zones for the ORMA 60 class, IMOCA Open 60 class and the 50ft class. Omega ambassador and tennis star, Anna Kournikova, will officially start The Transat at 1400 BST from the HMS Tyne to send the 37 skippers off on their 2800 mile solo race to Boston. The fleet will cross the start line and pass the Eddystone Lighthouse to starboard (the first skipper to pass the Eddystone Lighthouse will be rewarded with an Omega Seamaster watch) and then head west to a waypoint position approximately five miles off The Lizard before heading out into the North Atlantic bound for Boston. If any of the boats incur any damage, the skippers are permitted to return to Plymouth for up to three days after the start to make repairs.

Bostonian ready for lone Atlantic voyage home

The Wells Fargo - American Pioneer yacht will hoist its sails and take off on the grueling 3,000-mile Transat race today when the fleet of 37 high-tech racing yachts are signaled by tennis ace Anna Kournikova at 14:00 local time. Today’s launch marks the first time in history that this classic transatlantic solo yacht race will land in Boston, Massachusetts, making it particularly significant for American Joe Harris as he will be racing home. It will also mark Harris’ very first attempt at a solo transoceanic voyage.

The Transat’s international fleet of solo sailors will begin their grueling journey from England to America in the waters directly off the Plymouth breakwater, crossing an invisible line marked by the HMS Tyne from the British Royal Navy and a French Royal Navy ship. The sailors will head west to the Eddystone Lighthouse, which must be kept to starboard, and then on to round a mandatory waypoint five miles off The Lizard, the most southerly point on mainland Britain. From there they head directly into the vast and challenging North Atlantic.

Joe Harris will skipper the 50-foot Wells Fargo – American Pioneer yacht through its rigors of crossing the fierce North Atlantic. He has created quite a partnership with the vessel, having lived and slept aboard her for 22 of the last 60 days. Wells Fargo-American Pioneer is designed for fast, rough, hard sailing. It is the most powerful open-class yacht ever designed by famed French naval architect, Jean-Marie Finot. The yacht has reached speeds of more than 30 knots and covered 345 miles in a 24-hour solo run, the fastest ever aboard a 50-foot monohull.

“I am preparing for the task at hand and it is easy to get psyched out,” said Joe Harris as he made final preparations to the boat in Plymouth. “I am trying to stay focused on weather and routing strategy. My family has been here for the last few days and their support has been wonderful. From here on out systems are a go.”

Joe Harris is married to portfolio manager and working mom Kimberley and has two young sons, Griffin, 6, and Emmett, 8 months, who reside in Hamilton, Massachusetts. As Harris races across the Atlantic to the finish line, he finds comfort in knowing that his family, friends and colleagues will be there in Boston Harbor to greet him after 3,000 miles alone.

This year’s Transat event is the largest professional fleet of racers that the race has ever seen. Divided into classes based on boat configuration, the race includes the radical ORMA 60s (trimarans), IMOCA 60s (monohulls) and 50-foot class (both monohulls and multihulls). Harris is competing in the 50-foot monohull class and faces tough competition from fellow American Kip Stone. Sailing a brand new Open-50 racing yacht called Artforms, Stone has just completed a rigorous training schedule sailing her nearly half-way around the globe to the start line. Like Harris, Stone has been largely working in an office for the last dozen years and this race marks his first foray into the pro racing environment. The competition is certain to be fierce amongst these two characters – Harris with an older proven steed and Stone on a brand new thoroughbred.

The Transat race began in 1960 and is held every four years. This year’s race marks the 41st anniversary of what has become the largest and oldest of extreme solo sailing competitions, attracting some of the most well-known, highly regarded sailors.

To follow Joe across the Atlantic and to get daily updates from the Wells Fargo-American Pioneer yacht, please visit www.gryphonsolo.com. Joe will be feeding the site with diary entries and photos taken aboard the yacht. Graphic depictions and footage of Joe and his adventures at sea are available upon request.

The Transat: 37 Starters

IN BRIEF:

* SAFETY CHECKS OF TRANSAT RACE FLEET COMPLETED AT 1800 YESTERDAY...ALL 37 BOATS CLEARED FOR RACE START ON MONDAY, 31ST AT 1400HRS

* FINAL CHECKS TO CLS ARGOS BEACONS THAT WILL PROVIDE TRACKING DATA THROUGHOUT THE RACE...

* CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION AS CONRAD HUMPHREY'S HELLOMOTO IS CHRISTENED...

* NICK MOLONEY & MIKE SANDERSON BRING AN 'ANTIPODEAN' ELEMENT TO A RACE PREDOMINANTLY DOMINATED BY EUROPEAN SAILORS...

* SEE THE DAILY SAIL'S FORM GUIDE FOR THE OPEN 60 CLASS PUTTING MIKE GOLDING ON ECOVER IN POLE POSITION
http://www.thedailysail.com

See the official Omega countdown clock counting down to the 1400hrs start at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

At this morning's 07:30 UTC race organisation meeting, the head of the team from UNCL, Sylvie Viant, confirmed that she is entirely satisfied with the yachts entered in The Transat and has declared all multihulls and monohulls fit to race. In compliance with the race organisation's rigid safety standards, all yachts activated their CLS Argos MAR YX beacons yesterday afternoon and checks to ensure that the satellite tracking system is operative will continue today. UNCL are currently testing all the competitor's Iridium satellite telephones to test the network's effectiveness and ensure that all 37 competitors entered in The Transat are able to communicate with the race office.

All the yachts entered in the race are now restricted to the marina at Plymouth Yacht Haven and any further test sailing is now forbidden. As all the yachts are now static, the marina's staff had a busy day on the pontoons as spectators and visitors flock to witness this extraordinary collection of high powered race boats. The christening of Conrad Humphrey's Motorola-backed Open 60 Hellomoto this afternoon provided a spectacle for spectators. Denied any opportunity for test sailing, all the competitors attended a skippers briefing at 08:30 UTC - possibly the last time they will assemble en-masse until the yachts meet on the start line at 14:00 UTC on Bank Holiday Monday.

THE ANTIPODEANS:

They may both be two of only four countries ever to have won the America's Cup over its 153 year history, but historically New Zealand and Australia have generated precious few top single-handed ocean racers.

This looks set to change through the participation of Nick Moloney and Mike Sanderson in the Open 60 class in The Transat. While the traditional French route into the ultimate solo sailing class is graduating up through smaller boats like the Figaro and Mini, both Moloney and Sanderson both have backgrounds in the elite realms of fully crewed racing - offshore in the Volvo Ocean Race and inshore in the America's Cup.

Sanderson in particular has excelled in both disciplines, winning the 1993/4 round the world race as part of Grant Dalton's New Zealand Endeavour crew and coming second with Dalton four years later. During the last America's Cup he held the responsible position of mainsheet trimmer on Oracle BMW Racing making it to the final of the Challenger series. However, while he is one of the world's top sailors when it comes to fully crewed racing, single-handing a boat of a size that he is more used to sailing with a crew of 13 presents an entirely new challenge.

In fully crewed racing each person on board has a specific role and their skills compliment others in the crew to form a team. Single-handing, the skipper is the team and must perform all the roles - steering, trim, manoeuvring the boat, navigating, doing the met, while at the same time finding time to sleep, eat and drink.

Sleep deprivation is usually the principle concern of those tackling solo offshore racing for the first time, but Sanderson doesn't think this will be his main issue. "My problem will be sending myself to bed even though I am not really comfortable with how it is all going. What will be tough is when there is 40 knots of wind and you should be steering. But you aren't going to make it if you drive all the way to Boston."

His main fear is what his result will be. "I haven't been lying awake about the sleep or the food. I worry about putting on a good show mainly for Pindar AlphaGraphics having put up the money and the guys who've been working all hours for this."

For The Transat Sanderson has taken over the helm of the Open 60 Pindar Alphagraphics from Emma Richards. Winner of the 50ft class in the race four years ago, Richards has retired from single-handed ocean racing. She has been helping him with some of the techniques specific to solo offshore racing.

"I did the qualifier and I've done a couple of overnighters on my own and then we've done quite a lot where we've gone out with four of us but I do the manoeuvres on my own. Emma has taught me lots of things, but we are so different in size that we end up doing things differently."

As to how he sees his performance in The Transat, Sanderson says Pindar Alphagraphics is narrower than the latest generation boat, but will have his day in the sun. "Lighter airs..downwind. It would be good for me if the race is tricky. If it is a power race or even if it is 30 knots downwind I am under no illusion that I am going to hang on with Bernard Stamm."

Sanderson is also unique among the Open 60 sailors in The Transat that he is not taking part in the Vendée Globe. Instead he and Richards have teamed up and are 100% focussed on getting the funding for a campaign for next year's Volvo Ocean Race.

Nick Moloney is under equal pressure to Sanderson. While Ellen MacArthur now has a new 75ft trimaran for breaking ocean records, Moloney has taken over the reigns of her famous Vendée Globe boat Kingfisher. In MacArthur's hands the boat had the most magnificent of track records - second in the Vendée, first in both The Transat four years ago and the single- handed Route du Rhum in 2002.

Compared to Sanderson, Moloney has now been sailing shorthanded for almost five years, since he acquired and then raced Ellen's boat in the 1999 Mini Transat. On the Open 60 he scored a sixth in the Transat Jacques Vabre and a fifth place in the single-handed return race, the Defi Atlantique.

Over the winter Moloney's team has been busy 'turboing' Skandia. The size of the headsails used on board have all been enlarged and they are now flying masthead spinnakers. Down below has been 'de-Ellenised' with more room to move around, a revised sleeping area and special paint job around his chart table area that mood specialists have told him will engender 'calm'.

He says in the build-up to The Transat he has been out training against Sanderson and is impressed by the Kiwi's speed. "He’s quick as... And he's a very smart sailor and well supported. Mike has participated with it and he’s going to be very strong. And he is a very solid sailor - you can't underestimate his capability."

Among the Open 60s he thinks Ecover and Virbac will be the boats to watch while Sanderson will be the wildcard. "If it were an 18 hour race he'd stay awake, drive the whole way and kick all our butts. But he's never done this before. The fatigue does funny things to your mind and how your body operates and the decisions you make, so it will be interesting to see how we go after five or six days. That will be the telling factor. It doesn't take too many mistakes to break things and then you fall behind with downtime fixing things."

As to why Australia and New Zealand have been so successful in some sides of yacht racing, but not this, Sanderson thinks this could again be as the budgets are of a scale that are unaffordable to New Zealand companies, while Moloney feels that having to move to Europe to race competitively puts off potential Australian competitors.

Things to do: The Transat

Courtesy of the Motorola Ocean Racing Team

In exactly one week's time, our Open 60 HELLOMOTO will be lining up against 16 other competitors for the 2004 Transat. Yesterday afternoon my shore team and I were a few miles off the breakwater in Plymouth Sound testing electronic equipment and making final preparations. I feel calm and at ease with our preparations, in fact so much so that last Sunday morning Vikki (my wife) and a friend donned our frog suits to clean the bottom of the boat and a surprised camera crew commented that it was the first time they had seen a skipper in the water scrubbing his boat – I said we were having a “relaxing” Sunday morning!

Open 60 Hellomoto. She used to be Group 4.

With just a week to go until the start, we would normally be under intense pressure to be ready. This time we have stayed comfortably in control of the programme after an incredible few months of intense activity. A little over three months has passed since we signed a new two-year contract with our long term sponsor, Motorola. In those three months a lot has had to happen. We have secured one of the top flight generation Open 60’s and carried out an extensive refit to improve her performance, built a new team that look after core aspects of the programme from race preparation and communications to finance and logistics. We have a new base here in Plymouth Yacht Haven and several new Plymouth business partners have joined our newly formed Motorola Ocean Racing Team. I'm often asked how do you prepare for a transatlantic race like this? "Self-belief and the courage to take a few risks” is how I often reply.

In a project like this you are often faced with insurmountable mountains to climb and obstacles to clear. I am very lucky to be surrounded by a team of people who just don't see them. "Keeping it simple" is one of our key attributes we all adhere to, and one where I feel we have a distinct advantage over some of our competitors. I have maintained quietly throughout our preparation that my experience in this class is perhaps our biggest opponent. Therefore we have focused on making HELLOMOTO easier to sail and using the power of the yacht more efficiently. Three months ago, I had a wish list for optimising HELLOMOTO that ran over several sheets of A4. The reality is that with just eight weeks to complete a full refit, we tackled just a few key aspects that would greatly increase my ability to race the boat closer to its full potential. If we had taken on too much, I think we would now be running around like a bunch of headless chickens without the resources to be ready. We will continue our optimisation after the Transat, but for now HELLOMOTO sits in Plymouth Yacht Haven ready to race in her seventh transatlantic. Her record is a good one; she has finished every race inside the top three. This year is Vendeé Globe year and we are using this race to qualify. To do that we have to complete the course. This is my primary goal, the result will follow.

Motorola and our new Plymouth partners Vospers Ford, Plymouth Yacht Haven, Yacht Parts Plymouth and Noakes & Habermehl Opticians have given us the chance to raise our game and compete with the very best Open 60 sailors in the world in one of the most exciting and dynamic fleets of grand prix racing yachts to grace our oceans. We would not be here without your generous support. We would not be here at all without some individuals taking a few risks, and as the publics perception of grand prix ocean racing maybe that it is a sport not without risk, let me just say that often the risks taken by skippers and their teams to reach the start line of these historical races sometimes far outweighs the physical risk of the competition. Every skipper has a story to tell about the limits they have gone to just take part in a race as special as this. None of us could have done this without the foundations of a strong team. For me, I am indebted to my wife, Vikki for having the strength to keep believing in me as we push aside the obstacles and keep our dreams on track.

This is my first diary piece for 2004 and it would not be complete without saying thank you to Plymouth for all your support. I’m looking forward to sharing this fantastic adventure with you mile by mile and I hope for those of you in Plymouth that you will visit the race village over the bank-holiday weekend and come and watch the start at 1400hrs on Monday.

In the meantime take a look at your “things to do list” and with a little self-belief and courage make them happen. Conrad

Conrad Humphreys

The Transat: Girl Racer

GIRL RACER : KARINE FAUCONNIER

For boy racers, there are few more gripping experiences on the ocean wave than roaring along in an ORMA trimaran. 60ft long 60ft wide and with their towering 100ft tall wingmasts, these ocean dragsters are capable of sailing at 18 knots upwind, 30+ knots off the wind and are by far the fastest sailing boats of their size. Racing them single-handed without their normal 12 crew is one of the biggest challenges available in yachting.

Among the twelve brave ORMA 60 skippers taking the start line of The Transat on Monday, is a lone woman. Although this will be her first time in The Transat, Karine Fauconnier, 32, is no stranger to the race. Her father Yvon won it in 1984 aboard the 53ft long trimaran Umupro Jardin V and this year the Fauconnier family are celebrating the 20th anniversary of his win.

In 1984 the young Karine was in Newport for the finish of The Transat and helped her father deliver the boat up to Quebec for the start of the Quebec-St Malo race, standing watches despite being just 12 years old.

"It was really wet and really fast and really uncomfortable, but a good boat," says Karine of her time on her father's race winner. "Now it is still wet, still uncomfortable but it is faster. It is less wet at 20 knots than it was before. Then extreme high speed was 20-25 knots and it was really exciting. But now we can go at 35 knots and sometimes you don't even notice it when you are only sailing at 20 knots."

Sixty-foot trimarans such as Fauconnier's Sergio Tacchini are terrifying boats to sail, particularly single-handed. "This boat doesn't accept any mistakes," says Fauconnier. "You cannot have too much sail. You cannot make a steering error. You cannot hit something at 25 knots. You can capsize and not come back like a monohull will with the keel. Anything can very quickly become a big problem."

The skill in racing fast boats single-handed is a complex one. Firstly, skippers must find the correct level of compromise between driving themselves and the boat to the maximum, while maintaining the minimum of risk. Normally in a fully crewed race a boat is pushed to 100%. Single-handed the skipper has to find time to sleep, eat, drink, navigate, look at the weather forecast, communicate with the shore and a multitude of other tasks and whenever they focus on these rather than trimming or steering, the boat will not be sailing at the optimum. "When you are on your own you are tired and you have to rest," says Fauconnier. "Sometimes you have to leave the boat on it's own. So the most frustrating thing is you cannot drive it to the full potential."

For example, on The Transat Fauconnier says that she will survive on two hours sleep each day, although admits four is better, but in a fleet of 12 competitive boats getting that extra two hours is certain to cost her places. While she will be verging on exhaustion, sleep will still be far from easy. Sixty foot trimarans are fast but exceptionally uncomfortable especially upwind in waves when their three hulls can be passing over wave peaks at different times and the whole structure feels like it is shaking itself apart.

There is also the ever present fear that if her autopilot fails while she is asleep her boat could go off course, pick up speed and capsize.

Her energy expenditure is also an issue. Sixty foot trimarans are highly complex boats with foils in their floats, trim tabs on their centreboards, wingmasts that rotate, cant and move fore and aft aside from their numerous sails. While it is possible to handle all this efficiently with a full crew it isn't single-handed. Thus again Fauconnier must prioritise, manoeuvring her boat as quickly as she can on her own and in the fastest but most efficient manner. Sergio Tacchini has been tailored to her size, but she employs a host of techniques to conserve her energy. For example, if she anticipates the wind is going to increase to reduce sail earlier than later when the wind has built.

While Sergio Tacchini is competitive with a full crew how well Fauconnier is able to manage herself on board is likely to have a more profound affect on her result. She has sailed considerable miles single-handed both on Sergio Tacchini and in other classes such as the Beneteau Figaro one design and is well versed in the necessary techniques.

Fauconnier also holds the advantage over her competitors in the ORMA class that, like her father, she is sailing a British designed boat. In this case her boat is the only one in the fleet drawn by Nigel Irens who, with his colleague Benoit Cabaret, has designed every race winner in The Transat since 1988.

http://www.sergiotacchini.com

50 foot sailors Speak

IN BRIEF:

* IDENTICAL BOATS...DIFFERENT APPROACH

* NO APOLOGY BY BRUNEEL FOR TRILOGIC'S SHORT MAST...

* POLAR OPPOSITES IN THE 50FT MONOHULL FLEET...

IN DETAIL:

At 09:00 UTC this morning, a press conference was held onboard the race organisation's hospitality vessel, the square-rigged schooner, Swan Fan Makkum. All ten skippers competing in the 50ft monohull and multihull fleet attended the meeting, as did a large number of journalists from the international press keen to take advantage of the one occasion when these busy skippers will gather en-masse.

During the conference American skippers Rich Wilson (Great American II) and Canada's Mike Birch (Nootka) - both competing on almost identical, Nigel Irens designed trimarans - described how their individual projects differ dramatically in all other respects. Birch, who finished second in the 1976 edition of the race on trimaran The Third Turtle, indicated a lack of comfort with the modern communications available to today's racing yachtsman and reminisced over the earlier race during an era when satellite technology was limited to space programmes and nuclear weapons systems. Fifty-four year old Wilson, by contrast, has fully embraced advances in technology and throughout the race the skipper will be in contact with a number of American educational projects vis his SitesAlive! website while also contributing to a string of US newspapers.
http://www.sitesalive.com

Eric Bruneel, French skipper of Trilogic, is racing the newest of the 50ft multihull fleet - a Joubert-Nivelt/Marc Lombard design launched only last year. Bruneel admits that his yacht has possibly the shortest mast in the fleet but makes no apologies. Expanding on the subject, Bruneel explained that the spar was manufactured when the 2001 Route du Rhum, single-handed race was in progress and, alarmed by the dramatic casualty rate, commented: "Every time another trimaran capsized we cut a metre off the mast!"

Crêpes Whaou! is one of the hotly-tipped 50ft trimarans and her highly experienced, versatile skipper Franck-Yves Escoffier will push the boat as hard as he can to achieve a good result. This will be Escoffier's second Transat and although he will compete on Crêpes Whaou! fully-crewed in the Quebec-St. Malo race and return the yacht to France, this race will be his final, solo race on a yacht he knows well: "She does not like light conditions and I need strong winds to make her fly."

In the 50ft monohull fleet two polar opposite approaches to The Transat became evident during the press conference. French skipper Jacques Bouchacourt rescued his yacht Okami from abandonment in a boatyard in 1999 discovering that the previous owner had run out of funds and commitment shortly after the boat's keel was laid in 1994. Entirely self-funded, Bouchacourt completed the boat's build himself and, armed with a brand-new set of Elveström sails, declared: "I will race the best race I can and when I finish, if there is someone to meet me...it will be good!" Racing against Bouchacourt in Open 50 Wells Fargo-American Pioneer, Joe Harris, a resident of Boston, has no such fears over a quiet reception at the finish. With a well-funded and superbly organised racing project, the American's main concern is his lack of experience in solo, transatlantic racing: "I've competed in a number of Newport-Bermuda races, but these are a milk-run compared to The Transat." With over 25,000 miles of offshore experience, Harris will be an Open 50 to watch.

The Transat: Last Minute Deal

The long, unbroken ten-day period of fine weather conditions in Plymouth finally changed late yesterday (Thursday) afternoon bringing overcast, breezy conditions and the imminent threat of rain. Although the official, local forecast predicts twenty-four hours of heavy rain and around 15 knots of breeze, some members of the local security team hired by the race organisation to patrol Plymouth Yacht Haven using their local knowledge feel that such a bleak outlook is unlikely and that much of the rain will be pushed further north allowing shore crews to continue pre-race preparations relatively unhindered.

Mike Birch, veteran Transat competitor and last minute entry to the race, has just secured a sponsorship deal with Omega - the official principle partner to the race. This will assist the Canadian in paying the race entry fee for his 50 foot trimaran, Nootka. Until yesterday Birch was intending to fund his entry in the race personally.

Yesterday French skipper, Anne Liardet, was given the green light to compete in The Transat race after her Open 60, Quiksilver Edition, underwent a 90š incline test in Corporation Wharf near the race marina - under the IMOCA Class rules all the Open 60's must complete this test. Timing was essential as the dock provides only 4.6 metres of depth at high water and Liardet's yacht draws 4.5 metres, requiring that the test was postponed until high water at 23:00 UTC. One of the race officials conducting the test remarked that this was possibly the first time such a complex examination had been undertaken in pitch darkness. Although, technically, Quiksilver Edition failed the test by a very narrow margin, it was felt that the boat was undoubtedly capable of racing in The Transat and the issue was subsequently put before the other IMOCA skippers in the fleet. After a vote was taken and it was decided that Liardet should be allowed to race; an indication of the esteem and support felt for this experienced, forty-three year old skipper.

Nick Moloney's Sleeping Accomidations

Note: I became intriuged by Nick's formual 1 inspired chair and sleeping accomidations. Offshore Challenges supplied me with images of this new age sleeping system. Nice, but expensive. Nick will test his minimalist accomidations in the Transat.

* After an extensive refit over the last four months Nick Moloney saw his Open
60 'Skandia' exit the boat shed for the water...

* The Open 60 Skandia has undergone many modifications since its last competitive races at the back end of 2003 (the Transat Jacques Vabre, with team mate Sam Davies and the Defi Atlantique solo Vendée Globe qualifier)

* The primary focus is now on The Transat race starting 31st May...a solo race across the North Atlantic battling against the prevailing wind and elements

* Moloney's quest for his ultimate goal is the solo, non-stop round the world Vendée Globe race but there are hurdles to climb in securing necessary backing before Nick can cross that start line...

Visit www.nickmoloney.com for further information

IN DETAIL:

At the Offshore Challenges base at Cowes Waterfront - Venture Quays in East Cowes, skipper Nick Moloney and his shore team gathered to watch as the Open 60 'Skandia' left the boat shed in her new livery to be craned gently into the water. It has been a long four months of hard work for the team following a major refit that has included some big modifications to a boat that was custom-built for Nick's Offshore Challenges team-mate, Ellen MacArthur.

"It was an emotional moment to see this awesome boat - looking just fantastic in her new Skandia colours - leave the boat shed and reach the water where she belongs," said Nick. "The team have done an amazing job and it has been a long slog to get to this stage. We have just completed the first performance re-fit on this boat for over 20 months and are looking forward to the Transat to test the modifications. Our focus has been to gear up for The Transat but we have kept the Vendée Globe clearly in mind which, of course, is our major goal for 2004-2005 and really the major goal in my life."

The quote of the day came from Offshore Challenges Managing Director, Mark Turner: "Here we go again. We must be mad!"

Moloney, along with his shore team headed up by John Hildebrand, have spent many hours working on the modifications to the Open 60. The boat originally built for 5' 4" skipper Ellen MacArthur has undergone a total refit. "I have already raced this boat many times, in the EDS Atlantic Challenge, the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre and solo in the Defi Atlantique. In fact, I have already sailed this boat the round the world distance already and during that time I imagined the different ways we could modify the boat to suit my build. I have drawn on the experiences of my competitors, friends and past races to assist in the planning and final decision making. I have a great deal to learn and the hundreds of thousands of miles that I have already raced on various boats in the past do not really reflect the demands and stresses of this final challenge."

How Nick Will Sleep

The modifications have included:

* Increasing overall sail area both upwind and downwind in order to make the boat more powerful.

* Moving furniture below deck in order to make the whole internal living area more comfortable and practical for my leg length and height, especially in the nav centre.

* Altered various features like the orientation of the grinding pedestal to create better ergonomics and larger winches for faster manoeuvres. Changing the navigational seat which is based on a Formula 1 racing car seat that can rotate, recline and move across a semi-circle track spanning the nav table.

The Racing Car Seat

* New simplified electronics, navigation, media and comms system.

"I believe that we have taken a healthy step forward in our fight against weight aloft and overall drag for better efficiency. We have gone to great lengths to assist my mental well being whilst enduring the demands of solo racing with visions of sustaining high tempo for around 95 days during the Vendée Globe. The placement of many items have been relocated to save unnecessary effort thus burning less energy. More comfort for better results from 15 minute cat naps and resting periods and a reclining racing car seat that allows me to sleep feet forward which is better for body and mind when sailing through regions of known debris in the water like logs off Brazil and ice in the Southern Ocean. We have even researched a mood colour to paint the chart table and nav center. The colour does not complement our sponsors branding but it has been decided upon after three independent sources looking into a colour that will help the boat feel warm in the South and assist any possible mood swings throughout the emotional roller coaster that comes with endurance ocean racing, alone and fighting fatigue," concluded Moloney.

The Open 60 will be officially launched on 17th May in London before heading to Plymouth for the start of The Transat. Prior to this the boat's mast will be stepped this week before Nick starts an extensive boat testing period before his compulsory 750 mile qualification for the solo transatlantic race.

Nick@ Nav Station

Moloney's ultimate and final offshore sailing goal is to race in the Vendée Globe will be a culmination of three goals he set himself in 1995 after his second Americas Cup; to race with a crew around the world (1997-98 Whitbread on board Toshiba) and to be part of a crew attempting to set a non-stop round the world Jules Verne record which was achieved in 2002 when the giant catamaran Orange' setting a record of 64 days, 8 hours and 37 minutes, 24 seconds.

Nick's sleeping demo

Women's Championships Day 2 Analysis

After 2 days Yale has taken the lead by 8 points over Navy. This means on Day 2 Yale gained a total of 18 points to take 1st from Navy.

Yale's A team gained 12 of the points. In race 8 they were 1st with Navy 9th taking 8 points. Yale's B squad finished 3 places ahead of Navy in each of the last 2 races, gaining 6 points for the day.

Stanford moved up to 3rd place while ODU which had been in 3rd dropped to 11th.

Hawaii despite winning races in both divisions sits in 5th.

Michigan State's B team of Laura Schmidt '06\Erin Holcomb '07 were 4th in B division race 8. This is the highest finish by a MCSA team.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Spa Regatta, Foerster/Burnham lead 470, Galliard 6th

News It's been a bad day

Great Lakes Sundew arrives

College Sailing Women's Nationals Day 2. The final schools we preivew are Texas which qualified for co-ed dinghies + Brown (2nd at NEISA elims) and Eckerd (2nd in district elims)which will compete in team racing.

Women's Championships Day 2

2004 NA Women's Championships
Gerald C. Miller Trophy
May 26-28, 2004

7:58 PM 5-27-04
PROTESTS PENDING

Thursday:
The day started with light rain and no wind, followed by more light rain and still no wind. Sailors stayed busy playing cards, Frisbee and constructing vehicles out of dollies and racing them down the hill. Sailing finally started with B division at 4:35. Conditions were raining and breeze was 5-10 knots from the west for the first race, with lighter wind for the second one. A division’s first race had light winds also from the west. A’s second race started with a general recall and then the wind picked up to 10-12 knots. B headed back out for 2 more races in similar conditions. B division sailed 4 races, A sailed 2, bringing both to a total of 8 races sailed in the event.
Standings are tight, with Yale taking the lead from Navy, but only leading by 8 points. The fleet is close with places 3-11 separated by only 28 points. Friday should be an exciting day of racing with just over half of the races left to sail. Racing resumes Friday, with report time at 9AM and racing starting at 9:45.

A division = 8 Races
B division = 8 Races
A B TOT

1. Yale University 42 35 77
2. US Naval Academy 45 40 85
3. Stanford 66 42 108
4. Dartmouth College 59 53 112
5. U. of Hawaii 56 59 115
6. Harvard 63 55 118
7. Connecticut College 64 56 120
8. Tufts 49 76 125
9. Georgetown 60 71 131
10. Boston College 48 84 132
11. Old Dominion 54 81 135
12. Charleston 85 69 154
13. Hobart William Smith 76 96 172
14. U. of Washington 102 96 198
15. U. of Wisconsin 127 111 238
16. TAMUG 120 126 246
17. Michigan State 132 119 251
18. U. of Michigan 121 131 252

A division = 8 Races
TOT
1. Yale University 42 Molly Carapiet '06\Jenn Hoyle '05
Julie Papanek '05
2. US Naval Academy 45 Alexa Bestoso '04\Monica Meese '05
3. Boston College 48 JulieWilson '05\ Jen Doyle '05
Lizz McAlpine'06
4. Tufts 49 AJ Crane'04\Kristin Tysell '04
Gretchen Curtis '07
5. Old Dominion 54 Anna Tunnicliffe '05\Christabelle Fernandez '05
6. U. of Hawaii 56 Jennifer Warnock '05\Shandy Buckley'07
Cassie Harris '07\Blaire Ladd '06
7. Dartmouth College 59 Lauren Padilla '05\Liz Hyon '05
Clementine James '05
8. Georgetown 60 Derby Anderson '06\Barbara Hall '05
9. Harvard 63 Genny Tulloch '06\Laura Schubert '05
Diana Rodin '04, Clemmie Everett '04
10. Connecticut College 64 Amanda Clark '05/Amanda Calkins '05
Erin Riley '06
11. Stanford 66 Jennifer Porter '04\Anna Vu '06
Liz Shearer '04
12. Hobart William Smith 76 Mora O'Malley '04\Kate Brush '07
Emlie Barkow '05
13. Charleston 85 Alana O'Reilly '06\Emily Qualey '04
14. U. of Washington 102 Hayley Siegenthaler '07\Laurel Siegenthaler '07
15. TAMUG 120 Robin Roger '05\Maureen Frerichs '06
Kristen Coons '06
16. U. of Michigan 121 Christina Falcone '07\Meredith Cochran '07
Katie DeWitt '07
17. U. of Wisconsin 127 Anne Porter '05\Kari Sachs '04
Anna Bargren '07
18. Michigan State 132 Mary Vorel '05\Jaime Ziegler '04
Meghan Walter '06

B division = 8 Races
TOT
1. Yale University 35 Emily Hill '07\Meghan Pearl '06
Sarah Himmelfarb '06
2. US Naval Academy 40 Katherine Whitman '07\Lindsey Magee '07
Catherine Long '07
3. Stanford 42 Liz Rountree '06\Julie Pitts '05
Margia Corner '04
4. Dartmouth College 53 Emily East '06\Amo Loring '04
Allison Swindell '04
5. Harvard 55 Sloan Devlin '06\Mallory Greimann '06
6. Connecticut College 56 Emily Whipple '06\Kate Bogart '05
E. Anderson'07, K. Barton '05, E. Colburn '06
7. U. of Hawaii 59 Renee DiCurtis'05\B.J. Clausen '07
Sarah Reed '04
8. Charleston 69 Sara Wilkinson '04\Elizabeth McCarthy '05
9. Georgetown 71 Eliza Ryan '04\Emilie Lincoln '04
10. Tufts 76 Lindsay Shanholt '05\Katie Shuman '04
11. Old Dominion 81 Maureen Castruccio '06\Cara Gibbons-Neff '04
Cara DiSanti '07
12. Boston College 84 Maura Winston '06\Joy MacDougall '05
Leland McManus '06
13. U. of Washington 96 Kim Kishi '04\Heather Baird '06
14. Hobart William Smith 96 Augusta Nadler '06\Emlie Barkow '05
Alexis Rubin '04
15. U. of Wisconsin 111 Kelly Ferron '06\Christina Weber '04
Elizabeth Prange '07
16. Michigan State 119 Laura Schmidt '06\Erin Holcomb '07
Jaime Ziegler '04
17. TAMUG 126 Jen Cate '05\Amber Tull '06
Julie Svaton '05
18. U. of Michigan 131 Caitlin Delphin '06\Erin Burke '06
Lisa Vandenboussche '07

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TOT
1
Yale University A 5 7 10 2 1 12 4 1 42
B 1 4 3 7 3 8 3 6 35
6 17 30 39 43 63 70 77 77

2
US Naval Academy A 7 1 5 4 4 7 8 9 45
B 6 1 5 2 8 3 6 9 40
13 15 25 31 43 53 67 85 85

3
Stanford A 11 10 13 12 3 1 6 10 66
B 2 2 10 9 7 5 2 5 42
13 25 48 69 79 85 93 108 108

4
Dartmouth College A 2 12 6 7 6 5 13 8 59
B 14 7 8 1 1 10 4 8 53
16 35 49 57 64 79 96 112 112

5
U. of Hawaii A 12 5 1 14 13 4 1 6 56
B 12 6 1 DNF 6 6 8 1 59
24 35 37 70 89 99 108 115 115

6
Harvard A 3 4 15 8 7 DSQ 5 2 63
B 8 3 13 DNF 2 2 1 7 55
11 18 46 73 82 103 109 118 118

7
Connecticut College A 8 11 4 5 2 10 12 12 64
B 3 13 2 3 5 11 7 12 56
11 35 41 49 56 77 96 120 120

8
Tufts A 4 2 2 3 8 8 18 4 49
B OCS 12 6 10 9 4 5 11 76
23 37 45 58 75 87 110 125 125

9
Georgetown A 9 9 3 10 11 6 9 3 60
B 5 11 14 11 12 7 9 2 71
14 34 51 72 95 108 126 131 131

10
Boston College A 6 6 7 9 10 3 2 5 48
B 11 14 9 DNF 16 1 11 3 84
17 37 53 81 107 111 124 132 132

11
Old Dominion A 10 3 11 1 5 2 7 15 54
B 4 9 4 5 18 14 10 17 81
14 26 41 47 70 86 103 135 135

12
Charleston A 14 16 9 6 17 13 3 7 85
B 9 5 7 4 4 13 13 14 69
23 44 60 70 91 117 133 154 154

13
Hobart William Smith A 1 8 12 11 9 11 10 14 76
B 13 10 15 8 10 12 18 10 96
14 32 59 78 97 120 148 172 172

14
U. of Washington A 13 15 8 15 16 9 15 11 102
B 7 15 11 6 11 16 17 13 96
20 50 69 90 117 142 174 198 198

15
U. of Wisconsin A 16 17 14 17 15 15 16 17 127
B 10 8 17 DNF 17 9 15 16 111
26 51 82 118 150 174 205 238 238

16
TAMUG A 17 13 17 18 14 14 11 16 120
B 18 18 12 DNF 15 17 12 15 126
35 66 95 132 161 192 215 246 246

17
Michigan State A 18 18 18 16 18 17 14 13 132
B 16 17 16 DNF 13 18 16 4 119
34 69 103 138 169 204 234 251 251

18
U. of Michigan A 15 14 16 13 12 16 17 18 121
B 17 16 18 DNF 14 15 14 18 131
32 62 96 128 154 185 216 252 252

Bostonian to Solo Home

Joe Harris has sailed since the young age of four, yet he has never crossed the horizon alone with the daunting task of traversing an ocean. On Monday, May 31, as we kick-back for a picnic on Memorial Day in the United States, Joe Harris will be taking a large step forward in his life aboard Wells Fargo-American Pioneer, to accomplish a dream of sailing solo around the globe. The Transat race is Harris’ first hurdle in a marathon goal to compete in the next 5-Oceans event, a grueling solo sprint around the world in 2006-7. He will be cutting his teeth in an elite arena of the world’s best solo sailors, with 37 pros on a course that spans the chilly North Atlantic, a region known for brutal winds often exceeding 50 knots and littered with icebergs. The Transat starts at 14:00 local time on Monday, May 31 in Plymouth, England and ends 3,000 miles to the southwest in Boston, Massachusetts – Harris’ home town.

How does one prepare for their first solo ocean passage in such a competitive environment?

“This is no impulse voyage,” said Harris. “More than four years ago, I saw the opportunity to begin my planning and prep for The Transat. I purchased an Aerodyne 38 and started using her as a trial horse with dozens of solo and short-handed sails. I then prepurchased Brad Van Liew’s winning Open-50 race boat as he finished the Around Alone and recruited Brad for some offshore training, his wife for sponsorship and PR, and a top notch shore support team for the boat. I also began training with Dr. Claudio Stampi on sleep deprivation and Ken Campbell at Commander’s Weather on weather analysis. In my mind I am taking a calculated risk with all the best training and preparation that one can attain in this unpredictable and risky sport.”

Harris’ realistic view and impeccable planning are no surprise coming from a real estate financier, Brown University grad, MBA and Chief Financial Officer. He has spent 13 years honing his skills in the boardroom negotiating multi-million dollar real estate deals. Now he will face a new test of survival skills at sea, alone. As a solo sailor Harris will have to fulfill the role of helmsman, navigator, communicator, sail trimmer, electrician, cook, repairman, and weather analyst.

The lifestyle onboard is extremely challenging. Harris will sleep in mini-naps of twenty-minutes and dine on AlpineAire dehydrated food. He will download satellite weather imagery using Iridium services with Telenor equipment, and analyze his performance using Raymarine instruments and software. The racecourse is sure to bring challenges that Harris has never faced before, but he has his eyes wide open to the battle ahead.

“No job is too small,” said Harris. “No job is too big. People have said that getting to the start line of a major solo race is the hardest part, and I now understand their remarks. I’ll be able to tell you in a couple weeks if the statement is true.”

To follow Joe across the Atlantic and to get daily updates from the Wells Fargo-American Pioneer yacht, please visit www.gryphonsolo.com. Joe will be feeding the site with diary entries and photos taken aboard the yacht. Photos and video are available upon request.

The Transat

In The Transat race each sailor skippers his or her craft alone from Plymouth, England to Boston, Massachusetts. The race is known as the oldest and most prestigious solo sailing race in the world and only the most serious sailors with the highest proven stamina and mental toughness venture to participate in this extreme challenge. This race is the original, and arguably the toughest of trans-ocean races, taking competitors nearly 3,000 miles upwind across the treacherous, North Atlantic.

Joe Harris

Joe Harris, 44, is an accomplished businessman and experienced sailor who has set his sites on competing in several professional offshore races including the grand task of 5-Oceans, a solo race around the globe previously known as Around Alone. Harris currently holds the position of Chief Financial Officer at New Boston Fund, a $1.5 billion real estate investment and development company. His primary sponsors include Wells Fargo Bank, Goulston & Storrs, and New Boston Fund. He is also a husband and father of two young boys.

Transat Lead Up

IN BRIEF:

* OPEN 60 SKIPPER JEAN LE CAM ALSO ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL OF BONDUELLE...

* FINAL ON-WATER TESTING FOR RACE FLEET AS DEADLINE FOR SAIL TESTING LOOMS...

* TRANSAT RACE VILLAGE PREPARES TO WELCOME TWO HISTORIC BOATS...TABARLY'S PEN DUICK II AND VI...

See the official Omega countdown clock counting down to the 1400hrs start at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

Another sunny day in the Plymouth has seen some of the boats taking part in The Transat head out to sea this afternoon for their final checks. Under race rules 1800hrs today is the final occasion prior to Monday's start that the boats are allowed to leave the dock.

However, the main news is again focussed on the IMOCA Open 60 Class. Following the withdrawal from The Transat yesterday of Roland Jourdain's brand new Open 60 Sill, so this afternoon her sistership Bonduelle has also been forced to pull out.

While the withdrawal of Sill was disappointing for Jourdain, the decision for Bonduelle skipper Jean le Cam has been more traumatic still. Sill was forced to pull out of The Transat after experiencing severe cavitation problems with her keel, that the fitting of a newly cast keel bulb last week failed to solve. In contrast Bonduelle has retired despite to date having experienced no keel issues.

"We never had a problem with Bonduelle, but exactly the same boat did have a problem, so we don't want to take the risk," commented designer Marc Lombard. "It is something that is very nasty and which never happens on sailing boats. It is something you find on aircraft bombers and is called 'fluttering'. But we are not even sure it is exactly this problem because it is very difficult to analyse."

With uncertainty over their boat's reliability, Jean le Cam in conjunction with his sponsor Bonduelle have announced their retirement from the Transat in order to allow them time to find a solution without endangering skipper and boat and to focus on their primary objective – November's Vendée Globe.

Their decision comes despite Bonduelle winning her first ever race, the 1000 Milles de Calais, just three weeks ago. The team point out that this race was held in light conditions and Bonduelle has yet to sail in the heavier conditions in which Sill experienced the severe vibration. Lombard says on Sill the vibration in the keel occurred when the boat was sailing in excess of 20 knots.

Aside from the technical issues competing in The Transat was thought to be essential if le Cam was to comply with the qualification requirements for the Vendée Globe. Denis Horeau, the new Race Director of the Vendée Globe says that a new Notice of Race for the non-stop single-handed round the world race will be published this coming Tuesday and will include details of the qualification procedure for his race. There is a possibility this will allow Sill and Bonduelle to qualify by sailing their own 'race' as was allowed for Javier Sanso and Bernard Stamm prior to the Vendée Globe four years ago.

Fifteen IMOCA Open 60 boats will now take to the start line of The Transat on Monday, 31st May starting at 1400hrs amongst a fleet of 37 boats in total.

The Transat race this year is the 40th anniversary of the late Eric Tabarly winning the second OSTAR. Tabarly won not only the 1964 event but subsequently was the first person to win it for a second time when he competed on board his maxi Pen Duick VI in 1976. Tabarly single-handedly was responsible for the generating interest in the sport of single-handed offshore racing in France and is the reason why France is the dominant force in this sport and 26 of the 38 entries in The Transat are French.

To celebrate the great man and his historic victories this both Pen Duick II, his 1964 winner and the Pen Duick VI will be arriving in Plymouth tomorrow and will be present at the start of The Transat. Pen Duick II, is normally based at the French Ecole Nationale de Voiles in Quiberon, while Tabarly's famous maxi is based in Lorient and is part of the Pen Duick Academie, a charitable association that aims to preserve the history and philosophy of Tabarly.

The 44ft ketch Pen Duick II was the first purpose-built boat to win the OSTAR (as The Transat was known) and included unusual features such as an internal steering position and a 'fishbowl' in the deck through which to see. However, Pen Duick VI was not designed to be sailed single-handed. Prior to the 1976 OSTAR Tabarly had raced his maxi around the world with a crew of 18 in the Whitbread Round the World Race. To handle a boat of this size single-handed, let alone win the OSTAR, was a superhuman feat.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Pace's day

News Cayard @ Spa.

Cayard & Trinter at Spa
Photo Peter Bentley

Great Lakes Lake Express damaged

College Sailing Women's Nationals Day 1 Navy leads.St. Mary's & USC will sail team and dinghies while South Florida will compete in dinghies only.

Women's Nationals Day 1

Pace Leads ACI Cup

On a day of predominantly light winds, Bertrand Pacé of France overtook Australian Peter Gilmour for the overall lead at the ACI HTmobile Cup, an event of the Swedish Match Tour.

With Round Robin 1 and the first two flights of Round Robin 2 complete, Pacé leads the event with a 10-2 record.

“It’s still very early,” said a wary Pacé, the slated helmsman of potential America’s Cup syndicate Team France. “There are eight more flights to sail before the semifinals. Anything can happen.”

Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg lies second with a 9-3 record, the same as Gilmour, the Day 1 leader. The two have split their round-robin matches, but Holmberg owns the tiebreaker due to his victory in Round 2 (Flight 13 overall).

Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen is fourth with an 8-3 record, and followed by New Zealander Gavin Brady of the Oracle BMW Racing syndicate for the America’s Cup, at 7-5.

Frenchman Mathieu Richard, the world No. 2-ranked match-race skipper, is sixth with a 6-5 record. Team New Zealand’s Kelvin Harrap is 5-7, and owns the tiebreaker for seventh over Sweden’s Mattias Rahm, also at 5-7.

Finland’s Staffan Lindberg, who returned to racing a day after undergoing a procedure to repair a broken facial bone, moved up to ninth with a 3-9 record, followed by Croatians Frano Brate, 2-10, and Mate Arapov, 1-11.

Today’s racing at the 18th annual regatta was held in lighter winds than Day 1. While the Race Committee, led by Alen Kustic and Tonko Petesic, rolled off eight flights and 40 matches yesterday, today they were able to complete just five flights and 25 matches.

Pacé has been on a roll. The champion of the inaugural Swedish Match Tour in 2000 had won six straight races before losing to Gram-Hansen in his final match of the day.

With the west/southwesterly wind down to 6 knots, the Jeanneau One-Design 35s were a bear to handle. The boat’s heavy displacement (8,000 pounds) and short-chord length keel means it side-slips dramatically.

“If you have no speed there’s a lot of leeway,” said Pacé.

That did in Pacé in his match against Gram-Hansen when he hit the pin end at the start.

“There was a lot of tide running,” said Pacé. “We misjudged the layline and the time and distance to the pin. It was a very (crappy) start, to be very clear about it.”

The lighter winds forced a different mode from the crews when compared to yesterday’s 15-knot breeze. Sweden’s Rahm explained that it requires a more tactical mindset than when there’s more pressure.

“You have to be more focused and concentrate harder,” Rahm said.

Rahm relied on a bit of experience in the light winds to help him beat Gilmour in the last flight of Round 1.

“I felt they were similar to last year,” said Rahm, who placed seventh last year. “When the wind dropped in the afternoon, there was a big right-hand shift.”

Anticipating the shift, Rahm opted for a split tack start with Gilmour. He pushed the Aussie toward the pin end, and then tacked to port just before the gun.

The two sailed to opposite corners of the racecourse, and met for the first time at the top of the initial beat.

“When we came together we were ahead by about 100 meters, and that was basically the race,” Rahm said.

After winning his first seven races yesterday, Gilmour stumbled today when he won two of five matches. He lost his first match of the series in today’s first flight, when he faced Gram-Hansen.

With the winds between 3 and 5 knots, Gilmour entered the start box on port and Gram-Hansen on starboard. Former Swedish Match Tour champion (2002-’03) Peter Holmberg feels entering the start box on port in light air is akin to being in jail, and Gilmour found himself penalized for a port-starboard incident with Gram-Hansen when he had no forward momentum.

Gram-Hansen rode a zephyr to Gilmour, who was essentially stopped dead in the water, and lined him up perfectly for the penalty.

Gram-Hansen got a second penalty on Gilmour just after the start of their match, when Gilmour tacked too close in front of the Dane. Forced to perform one of the penalty turns immediately, Gilmour was behind and had little chance of passing in the light winds.

The light winds were welcome by Lindberg. The 32-year-old skipper from Mariehamn, Finland, was knocked to his knees two days ago when hit on the right side of his head by the boom during a practice jibe. Lindberg said he saw stars while on the cockpit floor.

Today, however, the 6-foot, 5-inch tall sailor said he didn’t feel too bad after undergoing surgery yesterday to repair the broken bone. “I feel fine,” Lindberg said. “It doesn’t hurt at all. I have no problems with vision or dizziness.”

Lindberg proved his resiliency by going 3-2 on the day to move up to ninth overall.

Lindberg underwent surgery at the City Hospital of Split to repair the zygomatic arch, the arch of bone that extends along the front or side of the skull beneath the orbit, on the right side of his face.

Dr. Vladimir Ivancev, M.D., the attending physician, explained that the surgeon, Dr. Pavicic, made a one centimeter vertical incision, inserted a hook and pulled the arch back into place.

“It was a simple procedure,” Ivancev said. Lindberg had just two stitches closing the wound.

Last night, Lindberg was measured for a special mask that was delivered this morning. Ivancev emphasized to Lindberg that he should wear the mask to protect the damaged arch in the event of another accident.

Lindberg was a bit hesitant to wear it. “I can’t see that well out of it,” he explained about the inhibited periphery vision. “And I might not be able to see the boom if it comes across again.”

Navy Leads Day 1 of Women's Championships

While many folks in the Pacific Northwest would be inclined to spend a gray and dismal day inside by the fire, women sailors from 18 colleges around the nation were demonstrating they had better things to do with their time. They were in the Gorge for the first of their three days of racing for the 2004 ICSA (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association) Women's North American Championship title.

The competitors faced an exciting afternoon on the Columbia River after both A and B divisions got in three races in breeze of 8-10 knots. Sailing FJs, the teams were in their fourth race when a squall brought rain and 15-20 knots of breeze, capsizing more than half the fleet. Once all the boats were righted and a short break taken, A-Division resumed racing in 10-15 knots and light rain. Those teams completed two additional races before calling it a day.

The US Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) holds the overall lead in the combined scoring on 42 points, with Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) second, 10 points back. Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.) is third with 54 points.

Defending champions Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) are first overall in A-Division after the consistent performance of skipper A.J. Crane (Warwick, Bermuda) and Kristen Tysell (Richmond, Calif.), both seniors, along with freshman crew Gretchen Curtis (Marblehead, Mass.). In B-Division, Navy+IBk-s freshman team of Katherine Whitman, Lindsey Magee and Catherine Long placed first overall after four races.

Women's College Nationals Day 1- Analysis

The US Naval Academy qualified for one of the three Spring College Sailing Championships. On the 1st day of the 1st championship-womens- they maximized their impact. The lead the regatta by 10 points, with the B division team 1st, and their A division team 1st.
Each division scored a 1st and neither posted a score in double digits.

Tufts leads A division but a 7th place B division team pulls them down to 7th overall.

2nd overall is Yale, trailing by 10 points. Most of the deficit comes from A division, while Yale's B trails the Navy B squad by only
1 point.

ODU is 3rd. ODU's A team skippered by Anna Tunnicliffe is 3rd despite a 10th and 11th.

Each race in A division was won by a different team. Race winners were: Hobart William Smith, Navy, Hawaii, ODU, Yale, & Stanford.
There was also a different winner in the 4 B races sailed. Winners were: Yale, Navy, Hawaii and Dartmouth.

Hawaii despite winning races in both divisions is only 8th. Both of their crews were 12th in their first race and then both bounced
back to win the 3rd races and then posted more deep finishes.

The fact that wins were spread out and that the top teams won while avoiding too many bad races show that as is typical consistency
will place high.

Sill Out of The Transat

IN BRIEF:

* ROLAND JOURDAIN'S NEW OPEN 60 SILL HAS WITHDRAWN FROM RACE WITH KEEL PROBLEMS...

* QUESTION MARK NOW HANGING OVER JEAN LE CAM'S BONDUELLE (SISTERSHIP TO SILL DESIGNED BY MARC LOMBARD)

* MAJORITY OF FLEET NOW SAFETY CHECKED...

* FRENCH OPEN 60 SKIPPER, ANNE LIARDET, MUST COMPLETE 90 DEGREE INVERSION TEST TO RACE...

* ORMA 60 SOPRA MAKING REPAIRS TO DELAMINATION...

See the official Omega countdown clock counting down to the 1400hrs start at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

With five days to go before they set sail upwind across the North Atlantic, the very last thing teams wish to discover are severe structural problems with their boats. However, this is exactly what has been experienced by three of the teams due to take Monday's start of The Transat.

In the Open 60 class for the last two weeks there has been major concern about the canting keels of the brand new Marc Lombard designs Sill and Bonduelle. Since their launch within the last month the keels on both boats have developed an alarming vibration when being pushed hard. During the recent 1000 Mille de Calais race concern over their keel's integrity was enough to prompt Roland Jourdain on board Sill to retire from the race. Ironically her sistership, Jean le Cam's Bonduelle, went on to win the race.

Since then both Sill and Bonduelle have been taken out of the water to have their keels fully checked. It appears the vibrations are occurring due to their keel foil twisting when the boat is powered up. After discussions with designer Marc Lombard and the structural engineer Herve Devaux they have attempted to solve this on Sill by casting a new keel bulb and fitting it to the foil, but in a position further aft to alleviate the twist. However this modification has not worked and the team are now back to square one. As a result Sill has been forced to withdraw from The Transat.

"It is not a question of taking the risk," commented skipper Roland Jourdain. "This transatlantic race is already hard enough with a perfect boat. To do it with a boat that is not 100% reliable is foolish."

Significantly Jourdain competed in the 2000 Vendée Globe and so does not have to take part in The Transat in order to race qualify for November's single-handed round the world race. "I prefer that my team and the architects and Herve Devaux work together to solve this problem. Of course it is frustrating, but it is the wise choice," says Jourdain.

However, for Bonduelle the situation is much harder as under the present qualification requirements for the Vendée Globe, she must complete in an officially sanctioned qualification race and The Transat is the last of these prior to the start of the race. Le Cam and his team are currently in discussion with the Vendée Globe organisers to see if there is a solution or if the only solution is to take Monday's start.

It is not only monohulls that have suffered structural problems. On Philippe Monnet's red trimaran Sopra Group the crew have discovered a 3sqm area of hull on the outside of her port float where the core has sheared. Most state of the art race boats are built in layers of carbon fibre and epoxy resin with a sandwich core of Nomex (a lightweight resin impregnated honeycomb material) in between. It is the Nomex core in this area which has broken. It is believed that the damage may have occurred during the 60ft trimaran's recent Grand Prix in La Trinite, or during the qualification for The Transat when the boat was hit several times by large cross seas. To make a repair the Sopra shore team must cut a hole to gain access to the inside of the hull. They will then cut away the inner layer of carbon and the broken Nomex and replace it. The crew hope to have the damaged section fixed by Sunday.

This morning forty-three-year-old French skipper Anne Liardet and her two-man shore crew are removing many of the non-essential contents from her Open 60, Quiksilver Edition. This decision is not linked to clearing the boat in final, pre-race preparation but in response to a recent decision by IMOCA - the 60 ft monohull class association - to insist that the fifteen-year-old yacht undergoes a 90 degree incline test before competing in The Transat as a legitimate entrant. Unless a successful incline test is completed before the start on Monday 31st May, IMOCA are likely to withhold issuing Liardet with that vital racing certificate.

The former Mini Transat and Solitaire du Figaro competitor and Vendée Globe hopeful is pragmatic about this recent development: "The boat made a 360 degree test in Le Havre before racing in the Transat Jacques Vabre last year (sailed, on this occasion, by Canada's Mike Birch) and we thought everything was okay." Technically, though, the boat was unqualified and IMOCA now intend to redress the situation.

At 19:00 UCT this evening Quiksilver Edition will motor across the Cattewater to Commercial Wharf, divers will then attach a spectra strop to the yacht's keel bulb and a crane will cant the boat on her side. Officials in a race organisation RIB will immediately place load measuring equipment to the top of the horizontal mast and calculate the forces produced by the yacht's unassisted attempt to right herself. Liardet is positive that her Open 60 will exceed the test's requirements claiming: "The boat is fully prepared, the boat is ready to race and so am I."

AC Act I

With space limited to just eight slots due to space restrictions, five teams have already confirmed their intention to race in the first Act of the 32nd America's Cup in Marseille in September.

Just three spots remain open for the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act after two French teams, as well as a team from South Africa, signed on to participate in the first three Acts of the 32nd America's Cup.

The Defender of the America's Cup, the Swiss Alinghi team, and the Challenger of Record, the U.S. Oracle BMW Racing team, will also race in Act 1.

The French teams, Le Défi and the K-Challenge, will both race in front of a home crowd in Act 1, the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act, beginning the 5th September, 2004, while South Africa's Shosholoza team will make its first appearance in America's Cup racing in Marseille. The teams will then come to Valencia, Spain, for Acts 2 and 3, beginning on the 5th of October.

Stephan Kandler, the CEO of the K-Challenge says he sees these first races as being very important to his team.

"We want to race this year for two reasons," Kandler said. "First, we want to show our current sponsors and our potential partners what the America's Cup has to offer in Europe. We want to give them a taste of the Cup, and whet their appetite for more. Secondly, it's an ideal opportunity for us to evaluate some of the personnel we are recruiting, and to train our sailors. We're very excited about it."

Luc Gellusseau, the Operations Manager for Le Défi agrees.

"We want to be part of this. The America's Cup is in Europe and it is important for us to demonstrate what this means to our partners. With the first Act being sailed in Marseille, it was a very easy decision to make."

Gellusseau says the team will be sending one of its boats, FRA-69, to Valencia early in summer, and plans to be sailing and training off the coast of the host city of the 32nd America's Cup by the end of June. The team will set up a 'mobile' base there to conduct operations this year.

For South Africa's Shosholoza team, the racing this year will be the first opportunity for many of its sailors to experience America's Cup Class competition.

"We've been out training on the boat off Cape Town since early April," said Captain Salvatore Sarno, the head of the South African team. "I think these first races in Marseille will remind our team of how much work we still have to do!"

AC Management, the organiser of the 32nd America's Cup will ship each team from Valencia, Spain, to Marseille, France, and back again. AC Management will move the race boat, ship's tender, three gear containers, and two masts as part of a package of logistics and shipping assistance to each America's Cup team registered in all three Acts.

Act 1 of the 32nd America's Cup, the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act, runs from the 5th through the 11th of September combining Fleet and Match Racing. The opening of the event park, a parade through Marseille's Vieux Port, and practice racing will take place on Saturday the 4th September.

Act 2 of the 32nd America's Cup, the Valencia Louis Vuitton Act, is a Match Racing event from the 5th through the 12th October.

Act 3 of the 32nd America's Cup, the second Valencia Louis Vuitton Act of 2004, is a Fleet Racing event, from the 14th - 17th of October.

Racing for the 32nd America's Cup will continue in 2005 with four more Acts in Europe and America.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Gilmour's 7-0 start. Nationals Begin

News OP. PFD Forum. Transat thoughts

Great Lakes Science under Sail

College Sailing ODU is the 4th ranked women's team going into the women's championship that starts today. Anna Tunnicliffe the women's solo champion is the team's leader. Boston College is the 13th ranked women's team . They were the final NEISA team to qualify. By qualifying for the women's nationals Michigan State will be making it's first trip to women's nationals since the seventies, and our first trip to nationals since the 80s. Skippers are Senior Mary Vogel and Junior Laura Schmidt. Nationals Day 1 forecast

College Sailing Spring Championships

What do you get when you take college sailors from 25 schools, put three North American championship titles on the line, and stage the competition in one of the most talked about places to sail in the USA? A week of thrills, spills and intense racing! Starting this week the Northwest Intercollegiate Sailing Association will host the much-anticipated Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) North American Championships in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The ICSA North American Women's Dinghy Championship will run from May 26-28; the ICSA/Layline North American Team Race Championship from May 30-June 1; and the ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship from June 2-4. All three events will be sailed in FJs from Marine Park, where all of the racing in the Columbia River Gorge can be seen from shore.

For those who can’t get to the Gorge in person, Windtopia – the windsports-focused media and entertainment company – will package digital video, produced by T2Productions, for a show that will air on CSTV (College Sports TV) sometime in July.

Each of the 25 colleges participating will field separate A and B division teams for both the women’s and dinghy events. District eliminations qualified 18 colleges to compete in the women's championships; 14 qualified for the team racing championship; and 16 qualified for the dinghy championship, which also includes two teams selected at-large. Of the 25 colleges qualified for these championships, nine schools qualified to send competitors in all three championships: College of Charleston, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Hobart/William Smith Colleges, Texas A&M Galveston, University of Hawaii, University of Michigan, University of Washington, and the University of Wisconsin.
Additional championship information is available online at: http://www.collegesailing.org/nwicsa/na/default.htm

ICSA AWARDS - ICSA will recognize the achievements of its members at a banquet in Cascade Locks on June 4, 2004, when it names the College Sailor of the Year, Sportsman of the Year, Student Leader of the Year and the 2003/2004 ICSA/Ronstan All-America Sailing Team. The Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the college with the best combined record from the six collegiate championships (including last fall’s ICSA / Vanguard North American Men's Singlehanded Championship, ICSA / Vanguard North American Women's Singlehanded Championship, and the ICSA Sloop North American Championship) will also be awarded. Additionally, the College Sailing Hall of Fame will induct post-graduate leaders in the categories of Volunteer Leadership, Professional Leadership and Lifetime Service. Those honorees will be selected based on their service specifically to college sailing. The Quantum Female College Sailor of the Year award will be presented at the conclusion of the 2004 ICSA North American Women's Dinghy Championship.

To learn more about ICSA, visit www.collegesailing.org. For additional information on the sponsors of these championships, please visit them online: www.gillna.com, www.layline.com/, www.quantumsails.com, www.ronstan.com and www.teamvanguard.com. Event website: www.collegesailing.org/nwicsa/na/

Teams Qualified are as follows:

May 26-28, 2004 ICSA North American Women’s Dinghy Championship
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
Connecticut College (New London, Conn.)
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)
Michigan State University (East Lansing, Mich.)
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.)
Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)
Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.)
University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)
U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.)
Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)

May 30-June 1, 2004 - ICSA/Layline North American Team Race Championship
Brown University (Providence, R.I.)
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)
St. Mary's College (St. Mary’s City, Md.)
Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)

June 2-4, 2004 - ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)
St. Mary's College (St. Mary’s City, Md.)
Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.)
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.)
University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
University of Texas (Austin, Texas)
University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)
Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
At Large:
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)

New World Champions

Recent World Champinship winners:

2004 Hobie 16 Open World Champions - Axel Silvy & Pauline Jupin (FRA)

2004 Hobie 16 Women's World Champions - Pamela Noriega and Martha Noriega
(MEX)

2004 Hobie 16 Youth World Champions - Jerome Legal and Vaik Delevaux (FRA)

2004 IMS Offshore World Champions - Meridiana-Italtel - Vasco Vascotto
(ITA)

2004 J/22 World Champions - Alec Cutler, Max Skelly and Paul Murphy (USA)

2004 Laser World Champion - Robert Scheidt (BRA)

Gilmour 7-0

Peter Gilmour of Australia and the Pizza-La Sailing Team of mixed nationalities streaked to the early overall lead today at the ACI HTmobile Cup, an event of the Swedish Match Tour.

Gilmour and crew Rod Dawson (NZL), Mike Mottl (AUS), Kazuhiko Sofuku (JPN) and Yasuhiro Yaji (JPN) – the runaway leaders of the Swedish Match Tour Championship Leaderboard – won all of their races today enroute to a 7-0 record after the first eight flights of the 18th annual event off Split Harbor.

Frenchman Bertrand Pacé and Team France trailed close behind at 6-1, and there was a tie for third between Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg and the SeaLife Rangers crew and Team Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen, both at 5-2.

“It was beautiful sailing conditions today,” said Gram-Hansen, who has placed fifth at this event twice before. “Our team was working well and we had some luck, which you need.”

New Zealand’s Gavin Brady and the Oracle BMW Racing team stand fifth at 5-3, and are followed by Mathieu Richard (FRA, 4-3), Mattias Rahm (SWE, 3-4), Kelvin Harrap (NZL, 2-5), Frano Brate (CRO, 2-6), Mate Arapov (CRO, 1-7) and Sweden’s Daniel Wallberg, who filled in for an injured Staffan Lindberg of Finland, but was 0-7 on the day.

After a 68-minute postponement this morning due to light winds, the race committee took an aggressive approach to conducting racing.

The southwesterly breeze started at 6 knots for Flight 1, but by Flight 2 it had increased to 10 knots. The wind would gust up to 16 knots throughout the afternoon, and the race committee ran eight flights, 40 matches overall in a bit more than seven hours, over the standard windward/leeward, twice-around course.

“I think it was very clever of them to get that much racing in,” said Gilmour. “I’ve been at these events where they knock off at 5:00 and then there’s nothing later in the week.”

“For us it’s like this 65 to 75 days a year,” said Event Director Emil Tomašević, who this morning predicted a classic seabreeze, one that builds in strength and veers right after a windless morning. He was spot on.

The conditions were in stark contrast to yesterday’s blustery northeasterly for practice and crew training in the Jeanneau One-Design 35. The wind topped out around 20 knots, and took its toll on two Scandinavian skippers.

Sweden’s Rahm and Finland’s Lindberg both suffered injuries during practice. Rahm suffered a cut on his head that required a trip to the hospital for cleaning and dressage, but Lindberg’s injury was more serious.

This morning the 6-foot, 5-inch tall skipper underwent surgery to repair his orbital bone and cheek bone under his right eye. The injury occurred during a practice jibe.

“I was pulling the boom across and he didn’t stand back far enough,” said Lindberg’s mainsail trimmer Wallberg, 24, of Marstrand, Sweden. “The boom hit him under the eye.”

Rahm also suffered his injury during a jibe. The 6-foot tall Swede didn’t duck low enough during a jibe and the boom swept across his head. He reported having a scrape on his head, but not one that kept him from racing today.

Rahm said that both his and Lindberg’s crews practiced last week for this event on DS 37 Match-Racers in Sweden, the boat used at the Swedish Match Cup and the Danish Open.

“The boom on that boat isn’t as long as the one on this boat,” said Rahm, comparing the practice boat to the race boat.

Wallberg will fill in for Lindberg on the helm until he is ready to return. Wallberg, who has crewed for Lindberg the past year, began match-racing in 2000. Also joining the crew is local Croatian Ivan Kljaković Gašpić.

The International Jury, headed by Chief Umpire Bo Samuelsson, has cleared the way for Lindberg to return to the helm when, and if, he feels ready.

“We took the opinion of the skippers at the umpires’ meeting and they were in favor of us granting Lindberg the permission to return,” said Samuelsson.

Pressed into service at the last minute, Wallberg, who sailed a Soling briefly in 2000 before match-racing was removed from the Olympics, had a rough day on the helm and left the water with a 0-7 record.

“Next time I’d want to have some more practice,” Wallberg said at the end of the day with a laugh. “It got better as the day went on. At least we figured out where the start line was.”

With the match-racing specialists able to establish a rhythm due to the rapid racing (flights were taking approximately 35 to 45 minutes, with no more than 10 or 15 minutes in between), by Flight 6 the fireworks were on display.

Brady was on the unlucky side of Gram-Hansen’s luck in the final flight of the day. Brady led Gram-Hansen around the first lap and, with a penalty against Gram-Hansen for tacking too close in the pre-start, seemed on his way to a sixth victory.

On the second beat, however, Gram-Hansen was able to get past and held a slim half-length lead heading into the second windward mark.

Both boats were shy on the port-tack layline and had to perform two extra tacks to round the mark. Gram-Hansen got around cleanly, but Brady got mixed up with the windward mark.

Brady’s hitting the windward mark canceled out Gram-Hansen’s penalty, and the Dane sailed away to win by about two boatlengths.

“There was a bit of tide running and it must have pushed him onto the mark,” said Gram-Hansen.

“It wasn’t a very good day for us,” said Brady, clearly frustrated at the end of the day.

Two matches in Flight 6 – Gilmour vs. Pacé and Brady vs. Richard – were particularly entertaining. Gilmour and Pace were the only undefeated skippers at the time, and the winner would take sole possession of first place early in the event.

In the Gilmour- Pacé match, the Frenchman got the better of the Aussie in the pre-start, forcing him to port tack with less than 10 seconds to the start an no more than three boatlengths from the committee boat.

Gilmour had to tack back to starboard at the gun and had little speed off the start line, while Pace started on starboard mid-line.

At the first meeting Gilmour tacked to port on Pacé’s leebow, which gave the Frenchman a slight advantage that he would carry around the first lap. The two were never more than two boatlengths apart.

At the second windward mark, Gilmour was still on Pacé’s transom. Both crews had equal sets with their spinnakers billowing at the same time in the 15-knot winds.

Gilmour, though, got his bow to leeward of Pacé and, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Gilmour had gained a leeward overlap.

Although he couldn’t luff Pacé in that situation because he had gained the overlap from clear astern, Gilmour could prevent Pace from jibing to starboard to get back toward the center of the racecourse.

Gilmour would take a small dig to the center of the course, and then jibe back to port to keep Pace on the left side of the run. He won the race by no more than 5 seconds.

“I was surprised he didn’t defend earlier on the run,” Gilmour said. “Rod (Dawson) was calling the puffs to leeward of him. So we did a coupld of jibes, caught a few puffs and waves and surged to even with him.”

Another entertaining match pitted Brady, the helmsman for Oracle BMW Racing, against Richard, the world No. 2-ranked match-race skipper.

Richard led Brady around the first windward mark and down the first run. As they passed the halfway point of the run, that’s when it got exciting.

With both boats on port jibe, Brady was to leeward of Richard and separated by about a boatlength. Richard deemed it enough room to jibe to starboard and did so.

On Brady’s boat, they deemed it not enough room and raised their voices along with their Y flag, asking for a foul from the on-water umpires, but they green-flagged the incident.

“They gave him the benefit of the doubt there,” Brady said. “He was leading. We just tried to stay clear. You don’t want to put it in the hands of the umpires.”

With both crews on starboard and Richard to leeward, he took Brady well past the port layline to the leeward mark

The crews raised the jibs and the spinnakers were lowered. Brady swung his boat onto port in a furious maneuver, and sailed toward the leeward mark with jib flying while Richard tried to reach up from leeward as his bowman gathered their spinnaker out of the water.

Brady nearly rolled over Richard but the Frenchman still had a tenuous inside position, which forced Brady to a wide turn. But Richard was slow coming out of his turn and Brady was able to power away and to his fourth win.

After meeting Gilmour, Pacé had to face Sweden’s Holmberg, who seemed to be sailing with more confidence after a rough regatta at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman two weeks ago. Holmberg, second overall on the Swedish Match Tour, placed eighth at that event and was down about his performance.

Holmberg went into the match against Pacé at 5-1, including four wins in a row, but came out at 5-2. Pacé started to windward of Holmberg, but the two were close aboard. A long drag race ensued to the port layline, when both tacked.

Holmberg felt like he was getting to Pacé, pinching up from leeward, but simply ran out of racecourse before having to tack. Then, on port tack, his outhaul broke, which helped give Pacé the victory.

“I felt good about our performance today,” said Holmberg, a past champion of the Swedish Match Tour. “We have more room to improve.”

ACI HTmobile Cup Standings
(After eight of 22 scheduled flights)
1. Peter Gilmour/AUS, Pizza-La Sailing Team 7-0
2. Bertrand Pacé/FRA, Team France 6-1
3. Magnus Holmberg/SWE, SeaLife Rangers 5-2
= Jes Gram-Hansen/DEN, Team Denmark 5-2
5. Gavin Brady/NZL, Oracle BMW Racing 5-3
6. Mathieu Richard/FRA 4-3
7. Mattias Rahm/SWE, Team Stena Bulk 3-4
8. Kelvin Harrap/NZL, Team New Zealand 2-5
9. Frano Brate/CRO 2-6
10. Mate Arapov/CRO 1-7
11. Staffan Lindberg/SWE 0-7

Transat: Theircelin & Birch

IN BRIEF:

* MARC THIERCELIN ON PRO-FORM ARRIVED IN PLYMOUTH LAST NIGHT AND THIS MORNING EXPLAINED HIS 'MINIMALIST' APPROACH TO RACING...

* MIKE BIRCH, A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF SOLO SAILING, RETURNS TO THE TRANSAT FOR THE SIXTH TIME...

* BIRDS EYE VIEW OF THE RACE FLEET...check out the latest webcam images of the race fleet dockside in Plymouth at http://www.thetransat.com

See the official Omega countdown clock counting down to the 1400hrs start at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

Yesterday, in light winds, French skipper Marc Thiercelin motored his IMOCA Open 60 Pro Form for the final six miles to Plymouth and arrived at the race marina at 21:30 UTC. This brings the total number of IMOCA yachts assembled to fifteen - only two monohulls, the Marc Lombard designed Bonduelle of Jean Le Cam and Roland Jourdain's Sill, have yet to arrive and complete The Transat fleet.

This morning Thiercelin and his two shore crew are fully occupied with final preparation details on the six year old boat (ex-Whirlpool/ex-Tiscali) in the continuing fine weather that is providing all teams with near perfect working conditions. The French skipper's priorities with the yacht are strength and simplicity: "I have always chosen a minimalist approach with my boats - simple systems that function well and will withstand hard racing." Pro Form's interior and cabin space are extremely austere and Thiercelin has allowed no margin for comfort and prefers the increased mobility afforded by the extra space down below. He does, though, plan to sleep in a hammock (a long standing, personal preference) slung beside the yacht's bleak and functional nav station. However, weather and sea conditions that he may well encounter during the transatlantic crossing will mean the 44 year old skipper will be forced to wedge himself into one of the yacht's two small pipe cots.

Pro Form has recently been re-fitted with new winches while the skipper is rightly proud of his state of the art communications system provided by the European Space Agency (ESA). Thiercelin has also focused on stripping the boat of unnecessary weight in the hope of remaining competitive with the more recent generation of super-fast monohulls. He is also aware that during his three-year break from Open 60 racing (since an impressive fourth place in the 2000-2001 Vendée Globe) many of the skippers entered in this race have continued to increase their single-handed experience and further develop their individual boats. On this basis, the Frenchman considers Mike Golding and his Owen Clarke Design Open 60 Ecover (launched last year) as the monohull to watch.

Thiercelin has no difficulty confronting the reality that his boat has suffered five dismastings: twice with Catherine Chabaud as Whirlpool and three times as Tiscali under the ownership of Italian solo sailor, the late Simone Bianchetti. Touching on this subject the highly contented skipper declared confidently: "The mast is simple and strong...perfect."

MAJOR PLAYER : MIKE BIRCH

A major player in the history of single-handed transatlantic racing sailed into Plymouth last weekend in the form of Canadian Mike Birch. While the majority of the competitors in The Transat this year have never sailed in the race before Birch first sailed the single-handed race the 'wrong way' across the North Atlantic in 1976. Sailing his tiny Val 31 trimaran The Third Turtle in that race, Birch finished an impressive second over the line, a day after Eric Tabarly's 72ft maxi winner Pen Duick VI and almost two days ahead of Alain Colas' giant four-master Club Méditerranée.

Twenty-eight years later Birch has returned to Plymouth. Since 1976 the start of the race has moved from Millbay Docks (now the Brittany Ferries terminal) gradually eastwards across Plymouth to Queen Anne's Battery marina and this year the fleet in its entirety is moored in Plymouth Yacht Haven. The line-up has also changed dramatically. The 1976 race saw 126 starters - its biggest ever entry - ranging from the 236ft long Club Méditerranée to tiny 20 footers. Immediately following that race the maximum length of entries was limited and has since stablised at 60ft. While boats as small as 30ft were allowed in the previous race, The Transat is now limited to 60 and 50 footers only. Then the race finished in Newport, Rhode Island, today the course remains much the same, but finishes in Boston.

What remains consistent is the challenge of racing across the inhospitable North Atlantic single-handed and the lure of this is as great as it always has been for Birch. "I love to prepare a boat and sail it and seeing if it works," he says. "But a lot of it is also seeing people I haven't seen for a long time." Despite his 72 years, Birch still looks exceptionally fit.

His entry in The Transat followed a conversation back in December with the owner of his boat, Claude Develay, head of Fuji France who originally sponsored Birch's Fujicolor 60ft trimaran campaign in the late 1980s and early 90s (the Fuji sponsorship was subsequently taken over by Loick Peyron, who went on to win the 1992 and 1996 races. "Then the idea was that I was going to find a sponsor and I have someone who has been looking for sponsorship for me, but he wasn't able to find a sponsor, so I am sort of sponsoring it myself at the moment," Birch says.

At the start of the year the boat was 53ft long and had to be shortened to get into the 50ft size limit of The Transat's Class 2. "I came over in February and cut off the stern," Birch says. He also moved the staysail stay forward and added one of Fujicolor's old spinnaker poles. Unfortunately, unsponsored, funds are short and Birch says he could do with some new sails.

Aside from racing The Transat, Birch is also looking forward to sailing in the Quebec-St Malo race. Currently his home is in Quebec.

His Nigel Irens-designed trimaran Nootka, has two sisterships one of which, Rich Wilson's Great American II, is also entered in The Transat. While this will be good for competition Birch says Great American II has an advantage. She was the third of the series to be built and compared to Nootka has around 2m more beam, larger volume floats and is generally a more powerful boat.

2004 Big Dogs

This year's Mackinac Race will see at least two boats of over 80 feet on the starting line in Chicago.

Genuine Risk is an 89 footer built and just launched in Australia.

Genuine Risk is one of the new breed of maxis featuring a keel that cants from side to side. She also has rudders both forward and aft. Owner Randall Pittman has sailed a J 160 in past races.

The Devos family will once again have a first to finish contender. As usual the boat will sail under the Wind Quest name.

Wind Quest was formerly known as Zephyrus V. She was the first of the Max Z 86's to launch. In early 2003 the RP design set a record in the Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay race.

Before contesting the Mac races Wind Quest will be sailing the Bermuda race.

As has been typical in recent years, race records are at risk, maybe even a genuine risk.

Rescue Medal Awarded

Competing for an international sailing championship title is quite a prestigious feat, particularly if it’s the US SAILING Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship, the largest women’s keelboat championship in the world. But the crew of Peter Pirate (Norfolk, Va.) didn’t let a potential victory get in the way of rescuing a fellow competitor out of cold and choppy waters. For making an extraordinary rescue, the Peter Pirate team of skipper Corrie Clement and crew Ali Sharpe, Anna Tunnicliffe, and Nataleigh Vann have been awarded US SAILING’s Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal.

The incident occurred in the midst of intense competition at the 2003 US
SAILING Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship, held in October
in Annapolis, Md. The weather was particularly rough on the fourth day of
racing with 30 knots of wind and cool 55-degree air. The J/22 Gorilla Girls,
skippered by Terry Schertz (Conifer, CO), was going downwind in fourth place
to the finish line when a surprising gust broached the boat, dumping the
three crew members overboard and pinning the skipper on the low side.

Peter Pirate was following closely and observed one of the Gorilla Girls
crew in the water, wearing an inflatable personal floating device. The
strong winds made it difficult for the Peter Pirate team to stop the light
boat long enough to pull the victim aboard. But after several attempts,
they finally were able to physically lift the victim out of the water. The
victim had been in the water for more than five minutes, becoming
dangerously close to suffering from hypothermia. The three remaining
members of Gorilla Girls were ultimately rescued by nearby official event boats.

Peter Pirate continued to finish the race and successfully filed for redress
to recover finish points lost during the rescue. For unselfishly rescuing a
fellow competitor, the crew of Peter Pirate was presented with US SAILING’s
Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal during an athletics awards banquet at Old
Dominion University on April 27, 2004. The presentation was made by US
SAILING Board of Directors member Mitch Brindley (Smithfield, VA).

About US SAILING’s Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal
The US SAILING Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal is given to skippers of
pleasure boats or race support vessels who affect rescues of victims from
the water. The award is made for rescues in U.S. waters, or in races that
originate or terminate in a U.S. port. The Rescue Medal has been in
existence for 14 years and is administered by US SAILING's Safety at Sea
Committee (SASC).

The Rescue Medals recognize exemplary acts of seamanship, but the award
process is also a vital part of US SAILING's effort to gain more education
about rescues at sea. The data and stories of award nominees are studied
carefully by the SASC for the common practices that contribute to, or deter
from, the success of a rescue operation.

Inflatable PFD Maintainence

Wearing a life jacket, aka a personal flotation device is one of the best ways to sail smarter and safer.

Inflatable PFD's are more and more common. They come in two broad types, automatic and manual inflation.

The automatic inflatable has some cons against it. Sailors
who get immersed occasionally but don't necessarily need a
PFD may not want an automatic. Under prolonged wet
conditions auto-inflaters will go off below decks or on deck
when you are immersed, but still on deck and not in the
water.

The manual inflatable's problem can come with the ripcord.
For instance, a fanny pack PFD's ripcord can catch on a
winch or boat fitting and inflate.

Like any other gear or equipment inflatable PFD's need proper maintenance so they'll work when needed.

First look at the outer jacket which covers the actual
flotation device. Look for tears and abrasions. Check the
adjustment straps and their buckles for wear and corrosion.

An important piece of information is to know whether the
vest has any leaks when inflated. If you're a northern
sailor, manually inflate the PFD in the fall, and leave it
inflated until spring. This is a good leak test, and also
helps to prevent cracking that can occur if the unit is left
folded for extended periods.

Another way to leak test is as follows. Inflate the jacket.
Stop when you get to a point where you can squeeze the
jacket and have your fingers just touch. Leave the jacket
for 24 hours and squeeze it again. In either case if you
find a leak, contact the manufacturer for advice and
service.

Other items to check on the inner jacket include reflective
tape, whistle and light. Tape can come unstuck. Either
re-adhere it with contact cement or replace it. Test the
whistle. Check the light for operation and expiration date.

Check the vest for abrasions. These may occur when the
jacket is folded for long periods of time.

Next on your checklist is the inflation cylinder. These
can corrode and rust allowing gas to leak out. Remove the
bottle and weigh using an accurate scale. Make sure the
reading matches the amount on the bottle. Coat the cylinder
with Vaseline to prevent corrosion. Cover the cylinder with
a rubber glove finger to stop chafing.

Another item that needs checking is the inflator. These may
vary by manufacturer so check the information that comes
with your PFD. Generally you are looking for a green,
rather than red, pin or tab indicating the unit is ready.
You also are looking for an exposed red stripe, which could
indicate an empty gas cylinder. As always, green means go.
If you see red either your inflator needs repair, or you gas
cylinder needs to be renewed.

Buying an inflatable PFD ups your safety factor and maintaining keeps the factor high.

Boat Smart: Are Boaters Overlooking Safety

Boat Smart

Spring-Time Surge finds boaters overlooking safety

By Senior Chief Tom Rau, Coast Guard Group Grand Haven, Mi

Lake Michigan’s limited window of opportunity in which to comfortably enjoy the marine environment creates a sense of urgency that finds boaters and beach goers itching to hit the water when the warm weather arrives. Boaters paying winter storage fees and monthly boat payments jump at the opportunity to launch as soon as the first spring flowers bloom.

This springtime exuberance often finds anxious boaters overlooking important details, which can lead to mishaps and vessel breakdowns. During the 2003 season 51-percent of the Coast Guard’s case load around the Great Lakes involved disabled boats. Many were the result of simple maintenance oversights, resulting in needless breakdowns. Coast Guard boarding officers at Station Muskegon report that one third of the vessels they have inspected so far this spring failed to carry the appropriate number of life jackets or flares. Why take such unnecessary risks?

My Coast Guard cohorts at the Group Grand Haven and Milwaukee Rescue Coordination Centers advise me that, usually in mid- to late-spring, they witness a surge in boat breakdowns and requests for assistance. Most of these calls for assistance result from boaters failing to properly prepare their boats after winter storage. Some, however, can’t even wait until winter ends. Chief Jim Ellison, Officer In Charge, Coast Guard Station Kenosha told me about a canoeist in mid March 2003, struggling to work his canoe through the ice in the harbor while outbound to the lake. “He was jabbing at the ice with a pole and rocking back and forth to make headway. People at standing in the parking lot at a nearby Holiday Inn were hollering at him to turn back.” What perplexed the chief was that their rescue boat wasn’t in the water and this ice-breaking buffoon’s only destination, should he have capsized, would have been a frozen grave.

I recall several years ago talking with the coxswain of a 47-foot motor lifeboat about a rescue he performed in mid-May off Grand Haven involving a 37-foot power boat. According to the coxswain, the captain had run out of fuel and couldn’t understand why, since he had fuel in the tanks when he stowed the boat in fall. That he failed to check fuel levels in spring before launching did not surprise us.

His story brought to mind a rescue I performed on Lake Michigan off Muskegon harbor a year earlier in the spring. A thirty-nine foot sloop went aground just north of Muskegon Harbor in fog. I located the boat with my radar. Mild seas allowed me to approach the sailboat in shallow water and hook up. I towed it to its moorings in Muskegon Harbor. My crewman and I conducted a boat inspection for safety gear, which is routine procedure after a search and rescue case. There were nine people aboard, including an infant, but not one life jacket. The owner had sailed over from Wisconsin and in his haste had failed to re-stow lifejackets that he removed from the boat in fall. Needless to say he was abashed, and I don’t know whether it was the early morning sun’s rays or embarrassment that tinted his face bright red.

I cited him for failure to carry lifejackets and in the comments section of the boarding form noted his cross lake trip without lifejackets. What the Coast Guard hearing officer did with that information, or how much he fined the skipper I have no idea. I do know this, however, that too many boaters, when the spring-time boating urge strikes, strike OUT when it comes to boat preparation.

Coast Guardsman Mitch Muehlhausen, a veteran search and rescue coordinator at Group Grand Haven, who has processed hundreds of search and rescue cases, offers the following advice to boaters. Incidentally, Muehlhausen was aboard Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa during the “Perfect Storm” when its crew snatched four Air National Guard airmen from 90-foot seas after the their Jayhawk helicopter ditched off the Massachusetts’s coast, 70 miles south of Long Island, New York. This ole seadog’s advice is certainly seaworthy.

Side Bar

Pre-departure Checklist

Before departure, assure your vessel is in good working condition and properly equipped for emergencies. Avoid inconvenience and potential danger by taking a few minutes to do the following:

Check weather forecast and sea conditions.

Prepare a float plan and share it with friends/family.

Install drain plugs and close sea cocks.

VHF marine radio (tested prior to departure).

Carry fully charged fire extinguishers and keep them readily available and secured.

Check familiar GPS waypoints to assure system is properly tracking.

Carry lifejackets for each person (properly fitted, worn and fastened).

Carry a throwable floatation device with flotation line.

Carry a sound producing device (air horn, whistle, bell)

Carry currently dated visual distress signals (flares, orange flag, signal light).

Carry sufficient fuel & oil for trip (1/3 out, 1/3 return, 1/3 reserve).

Ensure the battery is fully charged (terminals covered & battery secured).

Check the bilge pump and manual pump, carry a portable bailing device.

Check power exhaust blower air port for air discharge.

Occasionally check engine spaces while underway.

Carry tools and spare parts (battery, fuses, spark plugs, belts)

Ensure navigation lights function properly (carry extra bulbs).

Ensure vessel is loaded properly and gear secured to prevent shifting.

Ensure original vessel registration certificate is onboard.

Ensure anchor system is in intact and properly stowed with sufficient line.

Carry Paddle/oars.

Pack food, drinking water, and spare clothing (to keep dry).

Pack a first Aid Kit.

Review emergency procedures and equipment locations with passengers.

At night, carry a night illumination device & whistle on life jackets.

Don a life jacket at the first hint of trouble or bad weather

Call the Coast Guard at the first sign of trouble- don’t hesitate.

Distress Calls: Use VHF Channel 16

Coast Guard Emergency (Great Lakes): (800) 321-4400.

National Boating Safety Hotline: (800) 368-5647.

National Boating Course Line: (800) 336-2628.

NRC: Report Oil & Chemical Spills: (800) 424-8802.

Terrorist Hotline: (800) 424-8802

Note. New website addition. The Boat Smart web site now offers Boat Smart Advisories. These are short safety messages addressing recent rescue cases with valuable lessons learned.

AC in Newport

With just one month until the start gun fires off Fort Adams at Newport, RI, for Race 1 of the UBS Trophy, preparations are well underway in Newport.

The UBS Trophy, sponsored by UBS and co-sponsored by BMW, will showcase America's Cup-style match racing at Newport between old rivals Team Alinghi and ORACLE BMW Racing, from June 19-26. Up to three races may be scheduled daily, weather permitting, starting at 1:30pm. The regatta will sail professional and owner-driver races on a short course. The owner-driver series will be raced on June 24 and 25, with the official lay day scheduled for June 23.

To ensure that the racing is accessible to everyone, the regatta has been specifically designed to bring the racing close to shore, with starts and finishes off Fort Adams.

ACI Cup Crew Lists

ACI HTmobile CUP
An event of the SWEDISH MATCH TOUR

CREW LIST

Skipper Mate Arapov (CRO)
Crew Ivan Bulaja, Luka Radelić Ognjen Uljević, Stjepan Vitaljić

Team Oracle BMW Racing
Skipper Gavin Brady (NZL)
Crew John Kostecki, Craig Monk, Robbie Naismith, Brad Webb

Skipper Frano Brate (CRO)
Crew Boris Bakotić, Zvonko Jelačić, Denis Stanojević, Mirko Ukas

Team Pizza-La Sailing Team
Skipper Peter Gilmour (AUS)
Crew Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku, Yasuhiro Yaji

Team Team Denmark
Skipper Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN)
Crew Michael Arnhild, Christian Kamp, Rasmus Kostner, Chresten Plinius

Team Team New Zealand
Skipper Kelvin Harrap (NZL)
Crew Andy Hemmings, Jeremy Lomas, Grant Lorentz, Chris Ward

Team SeaLife Rangers
Skipper Magnus Holmberg (SWE)
Crew Peter Anderson, Martin Krite, Lars Linger, Stefan Rahm

Skipper Staffan Lindberg (FIN)
Crew Johan Karlsson, Daniel Mattsson, Johan Mossberg, Daniel Wallberg

Team Team France
Skipper Bertrand Pacé (FRA)
Crew Benoit Briand, Tanguy Caidou, Fabrice Levet, Romain Troublé

Team Team Stena Bulk
Skipper Mattias Rahm (SWE)
Crew Johan Barne, Claes Dahlberg, Pontus Meijer, Henrik Valderyd

Skipper Mathieu Richard (FRA)
Crew Greg Evrard, Olivier Herledant, Alexis Ponsot Pierre, Yannick Simon

Linky Sailing News

Racing ACI Day 1 postponed

News J22 Worlds Winner

Great Lakes 9th District command changes. Beach safety week. Future water levels

College Sailing Tufts is ranked 7th & is the defending women's champion. Bermudian AJ Crane will lead the Jumbos title defense. Yale's Molly Carapiet an honorable mention all american last year will lead the Yalies in both the women's and dinghy regattas. Navy will sail the women's regatta with a blend of experience and youth.

Melges 24 V. J125

The Transat Safety Checks

IN BRIEF:

* HOW MANY BOATS WILL FINISH? PAST STATISTICS PROVIDE SOME INDICATION....

* RACE DIRECTION TEAM CARRY OUT OBLIGATORY SAFETY CHECKS OF THE RACE FLEET...AS A FEW OF THE SKIPPERS CLOSELY GUARD SOME OF THEIR ON BOARD SYSTEMS...

* UPWIND SPECIALISTS, GOLDING & HUMPHREYS DISCUSS THEIR PROPSECTS IN THIS RACE AGAINST THE PREVAILING WINDS...

Check out the official Omega countdown clock to the start of the race at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

All the boats have now arrived at the Plymouth Yacht Haven with the exception of the new Open 60s Bonduelle and Sill and Marc Thiercelin's Pro-Form. Since last week Bonduelle and Sill have been making good some teething problems with their keels, while Pro-Form, the sistership to Roland Jourdain's previous Sill, has also been late with her refit. All three boats will be making their qualification passages for the Transat en route to Plymouth.

Statistics from the past eleven editions of The Transat indicate that (based on averages) slightly less than three quarters of the race fleet will cross the finish line in Boston. For those entered in this year's race there is a probability that seven of the yachts will not complete the course due to retirement forced by equipment failure or injury sustained by a skipper, abandonment of a yacht or disqualification for an infringement of the race rules.

Since 1968, when 50% of the fleet failed to complete the course, advances in boat design and technology have been matched by an increased focus upon the importance of safety measures onboard competing yachts. Britain's Department of Transport first became involved in formalising the regulation of safety equipment on transatlantic race yachts in 1972 and today the role of ensuring that the current race regulations are met rests on the shoulders of The Transat Race Direction team. The monohulls and multihulls are also regulated by their independent class associations - ORMA for the 60ft multihulls, IMOCA for the 60ft monohulls and FICO the for 50ft fleet.

The Transat Race Direction team is working alongside UNCL. This highly experienced, French team of four UNCL officials led by Sylvie Viant, have been active since Saturday 22nd May and are entirely satisfied with the fifteen yachts examined so far. Sebastian Duclos commented this morning that the scrutineering team have been highly impressed with the level of attention to detail that all skippers and preparation crews have displayed and many have exceeded their obligations to comply with the rules and requirements, particularly in the field of emergency communications equipment. Duclos and the team's other members, Isabelle Jacquet and Didier Drust, spend approximately two hours on each yacht before a decision is made to declare that it can be raced in The Transat. Attention is paid to safety equipment on deck - jackstays and attachment points for harness tethers - and the escape hatch system and liferaft deployment methods while the supplies of flares, emergency rations and drinking water stowed in the vital 'grab bag' carried onto a liferaft in the event of an abandonment are rigorously checked.

Duclos also remarked that the French teams entered in the race now approach the preparation and provision of safety equipment in a manner that was, until relatively recently, witnessed only on British IMOCA yachts and it seems that an awareness of this important aspect has dramatically increased. The scrutineering team has also encountered a heightened level of secrecy over some systems on many of the yachts inspected, although this has had no negative outcome on the effectiveness of the safety inspections. Shore crews and skippers of all nationalities have become tight-lipped when asked to explain the function of a few features on their yachts; on Open 60 Skandia, skippered by Nick Moloney, Duclos met a reticence to fully discuss the new ballast system fitted in the yacht and when scrutineering the Farr Yacht Design monohull Virbac of French skipper Jean Pierre Dick, any attempt to enter and study the aft compartment of the boat was discouraged.

A concentrated and thorough preparation for this transatlantic race is essential and all the teams will be continuing to run checks on their boats during the final days before the start on Monday 31st to limit any risk of damage or equipment failure contributing to a competitor's retirement from The Transat. Lloyd Foster, a member of the race committee until 1989, warned: "There are still some who think they can throw the whole thing together in a few months, or even weeks, and get the odd gullible reporter to cover, for the benefit of a sponsor, that they have a good chance of success."

UPWIND SPECIALISTS

Mike Golding and Conrad Humphreys are inextricably linked in their Open 60 campaigns for The Transat and this November's single-handed non-stop round the world race, the Vendée Globe. Humphreys' Open 60, the Motorola-backed Hellomoto, is none other than the former Team Group 4/Ecover that Mike Golding sailed to third place in The Transat four years ago. Both skippers are also previous winners of the gruelling BT Global Challenge, sailing westabout round the world with amateur crews. Golding finished first aboard Group 4 in 1996-7, the second time he had skippered a boat in the event, while Humphreys won four years later on LG Flatron.

A feature the BT Global Challenge shares with The Transat is that both events are upwind against the prevailing winds whereas a majority of races like the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum and Transat Jacques Vabre, largely follow more forgiving trade winds routes. In comparison going against the direction of the weather systems in The Transat, skippers will see greater fluctuations in the wind and weather conditions but the main difference is that for much of the race the boats are likely to receive a punishing as they are sailed hard upwind.

Although The Transat will be his first single-handed race in an Open 60, Conrad Humphreys sailed this course as part of Mike Golding's crew in the 2001 EDS Atlantic Challenge. During this they experienced a prolonged bone shaker of a ride in 35-40 knot headwinds.

"I wasn't sure if I was sleeping well," recalls Humphreys from that event. "We were banging upwind, slamming off these waves, the boat jarring, everything felt like it was going to explode. The only way you could sleep was if you gripped the bunk. I had this dream where I was getting pummelled in a boxing match. When I woke up I realised that I had been banging my head against the bunk side. I had a big bruise on my head." Since acquiring Hellomoto Humphreys had modified the sleeping arrangements below to ensure he will not be thrown around as much.

In big upwind conditions the skill will be in skippers being familiar enough with their boats to know how hard they can be pushed without breaking. "Essentially what is most important for us is to nurse the boat carefully in the tough upwind stuff. It is the most likely occasion when you start to break bits of kit," says Humphreys. "I feel pretty confident knowing how we punished the boat in the EDS and that gives you a lot of confidence when you are punching upwind."

For Mike Golding, the hull shape of his new Ecover is not as flat as his old boat but the ride will still be far from pleasant upwind. In big conditions, modern Open 60s such as Ecover have the ability to take on water ballast, giving them extra weight with which to punch through the waves. One of the few positives of sailing upwind is that you do nor have such large sail area to manage.

While the race is renowned for being upwind, typically only part of it is likely to be so. Had the start of The Transat been today the first week of the race would have been downwind, whereas the long term forecast shows the start will be a classic upwind affair. Launched last summer, Ecover has already competed in two transatlantic races, and Golding says he has been spending much time getting used to sailing his new boat having covered so many mile aboard his old one. "Last year we were struggling to adjust to a different style of sailing. You assume when you step across that you will sail it the same way. There are things like when you load ballast, because the boat is so naturally stiff we don't need to load ballast quite so quickly." Ecover is one of several boats capable of taking monohull line honours. In last year's Transat Jacques Vabre, she was the fastest boat upwind and this bodes well for The Transat assuming the weather conditions are typical. Owen-Clarke, Ecover's designers, were also part of the team that created Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher, the 2000 winner. "I am genuinely looking forward to the OSTAR. I am quite excited about it," Golding says. This will be the third time he has competed in this event, the first was in 1988 when he sailed the tiny trimaran Gazelle. Golding feels some of the weight of the 44 year history of the single-handed transatlantic race. "It is the event from which all others began from this genre. It is a very important race and clearly this year there is a very high quality entry. It will be hard to win."

The Transat Preview Part II

May 31st for the 12th time The Transat will start from Plymouth England. This will be the race's 5th decade and 2nd millenium. The course takes the lone sailors across the Atlantic east to west. This year the finish is in Bost Massachussets after 2800 miles of sailing against prevailing winds.

This second preview installment carries predictions for the IMOCA Open 60 mono hull class. 12 of these twitchy high tech machines will line up. I've listed who I think will fill the podium, plus others in with a chance. Full info is at The Transat site.

Record Rains

From the National Weather Service ... Record rains across southwest lower Michigan...

Through the first 23 days of may... rainfall totals have exceeded or
are approaching record levels in the cities of Grand Rapids...
Lansing and Muskegon. Here are the monthly totals (through midnight
on the 24th)... along with normals for those cities:

May total may normal

Grand Rapids 8.28 inches 3.35 inches
Lansing 9.61 inches 2.71 inches
Muskegon 7.43 inches 2.95 inches

The Grand Rapids total now stands as the 4th wettest may on
record... Lansing is the wettest may on record... and Muskegon is the
second wettest may on record. The Muskegon total is only 0.02
inches away from the record.

Here are the previous top ten wettest Mays (in inches) for Grand
Rapids... Lansing and Muskegon. May 2004 is not included in this list.

Grand Rapids Lansing Muskegon

Amount/yr amount/yr amount/yr

10.01/2001 7.97/1943 7.45/2000
9.59/2000 7.42/1945 6.48/1990
8.29/1981 6.98/2000 6.20/1904
7.18/1911 6.57/1912 5.72/1905
6.83/1942 6.57/1989 5.62/1933
6.63/1976 6.07/2001 5.62/1984
6.49/1956 5.92/1892 5.26/1921
6.31/1929 5.72/1938 5.25/1945
6.25/1938 5.65/1883 5.11/1976
5.97/1905 5.59/1880 4.94/1956

Linky Sailing News

Racing J22 Worlds

News Transat Prep. Percy to Italian team?

Great Lakes BBS Spring Series. Lakes continue to rise. Ferry visitis Muskegon

College Sailing Stanford is ranked 9th & will compete in the dinghy and women's contests. Brian Haines is a team leader. Kings Point will sail the dinghy regatta only. They were 3rd in their district elims. Texas A&M Galveston has qualified for all 3 events. Sr. Bill Self excelled at their district qualifer.

The Lake Express enters the Muskegon Channel Saturday.

Transat: Boats Begin to Form up for Start

* THE OCEAN-GOING GREYHOUNDS BEGIN TO ARRIVE IN PLYMOUTH AT FIRST LIGHT THIS MORNING TO MEET BOAT ARRIVAL DEADLINE OF 1200 TOMORROW...

* FROM NOON TOMORROW (SATURDAY, 22ND MAY) THE TRANSAT RACE VILLAGE IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC WHO CAN ALSO GET A UP CLOSE VIEW WITH THE ENTIRE RACE FLEET AT THE PLYMOUTH YACHT HAVEN...

* ELEVENTH HOUR ENTRY FROM LEGENDARY CANADIAN SAILOR MIKE BIRTH...

* BRIT ALEX THOMSON RETIRES FROM RACE AS DOES FRENCH SAILOR ANDRE JANTET...

* THE 2000 EDITION OF THE RACE SAW THE UNDERDOG AND THE UNKNOWN CLAIM VICTORY...

Check out the official Omega countdown clock to the start of the race at http://www.thetransat.com

IN DETAIL:

This weekend will see roughly £40 million worth of ocean racing yachts arriving in Plymouth ready for the moment when at 1400BST on 31st May Omega ambassador and Russian tennis starlette Anna Kournikova will fire the start gun marking the departure of The Transat, single-handed race to Boston.

This morning the 60ft mutlihulls of Franck Cammas (Groupama), Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tachini), Marc Guillemot (Gitana X) and Lalou Roucayrol (Banque Populaire) sped into Plymouth. Already all the American entries are tied up in their berths at Plymouth Yacht Haven as is Hellomoto, the Open 60 of Plymouth-based skipper Conrad Humphreys. The spectacle of what will be one of the most impressive racing yacht fleets ever assembled in the UK will grow over the next 24 hours as under rules for The Transat all the competing 60 and 50ft long yachts must be gathered in Plymouth Yacht Haven by 1200 on Saturday 22nd May.

Members of the public have the opportunity to view the boats on the pontoons at Plymouth Yacht Haven from 22nd May through until the start, although pontoon access will be restricted on the day of the start. The Transat Race Village will be open to the public from 22nd May to 31st May and will house a multitude of exhibitors. The Royal Navy display will feature a submarine simulator and Renault will be displaying one of their Formula 1 racing cars alongside many exhibitors from the British and French marine industry.

Traditionally there are always last minute surprises in The Transat. This year it is the 11th-hour entry of Canadian veteran solo skipper Mike Birch. Originally a delivery skipper, before that a cowboy, Birch first competed in the OSTAR (as The Transat was then known) in 1976. In that race he astounded race spectactors by bringing his tiny The Third Turtle home in second place ahead of monohulls and multihulls twice the size of his 32ft long trimaran. Birch entered the history books when he performed a similar stunt in the first running of the French equivalent of The Transat, the Route du Rhum in 1978. Sailing another small trimaran, Olympus Photo, Birch pipped Michel Malinovsky's giant monohull Kriter V within sight of the finish line, arriving first by just 1 min and 35 seconds. In typical low-key fashion Birch was using the race as a delivery trip to the States!

Birch subsequently graduated up to bigger multihulls and was responsible for the construction of the 75ft maxi-catamaran Formula TAG in which he set a 24-hour record in 1984. Ten years later the boat became Peter Blake and Robin Knox-Johnson’s round the world record breaker ENZA New Zealand. Over the years Birch has finished fourth in the 1980 OSTAR, second in the OSTAR's two-handed equivalent, the TwoSTAR in 1986 and last competed in the OSTAR in 1988 when he hit a whale rupturing the hull of his 60ft trimaran Fujicolor. A seaman to the last, instead of abandoning the boat Birch steered her, full of water, back to France, not eating for the last three days because he had run out of food.

For The Transat Birch now aged 72 has borrowed Nootka, the 50ft trimaran of Fuji France boss Claude Develay and at present is carrying out a last minute qualification passage. Nootka is a sistership to Rich Wilson's Great American II.

Today, British skipper Alex Thomson has announced that he has withdrawn his entry from the Transat due to a lack of funding. "I'm extremely disappointed at having to withdraw from The Transat at this late stage but in the absence of a title sponsor it's just not feasible for me or the boat," said Alex Thomson. "I wish all the competitors good luck." French sailor Andre Jantet who was entered in the 50ft monohull class has also retired.

At present entries stand at: 12 ORMA 60ft multihulls, 17 IMOCA Open 60s, six 50ft multihulls and four 50ft monohulls a total of 39 boats in all.

Elsewhere in the Open 60 class, the qualification deadline has been extended for the two newly launched Marc Lombard designs Jean le Cam's Bonduelle and Roland Jourdain's Sill. Both boats have been delayed as they have had to have work carried out on their keels. Their qualifications passages will take place en route to Plymouth.

Meanwhile for the teams the clock is ticking prior to the start in Plymouth Sound (check out the new Omega countdown clock at www.thetransat.com).

ELEVENTH EDITION : 2000

The 2000 Europe 1 New Man STAR brought a smile to many faces as it saw two completely unexpected winners.

Prior to the start the class one fleets of Open 60s and 60ft trimarans had been shoehorned into Queen Anne's Battery Marina where each team's shore crew carried out last minute jobs. Away from the crowd on a mooring off QAB was Francis Joyon's 60ft trimaran Eure et Loir, the oldest boat and least heavily funded in the trimaran fleet where the skipper worked alone preparing his boat for the race. Of course as spectators waited for the first finishers in Newport, the first boat to arrive was not one of the heavily sponsored race favourites such as two time Route du Rhum winner Laurent Bourgnon, but Joyon the underdog.

The story was similar in the Open 60 monohull class where a young girl from Derbyshire was making her single-handed race debut in the Open 60 class. Once again the race was being used as a warm-up for the Vendée Globe the following November and 19 boats were entered. The line-up included many of the world's top single-handers such as Michel Desjoyeaux, Roland Jourdain, Mike Golding and Yves Parlier. In the event, the race was won by Ellen MacArthur. At the time Ellen was 23 and although her boat, Kingfisher, was brand new it was the first time she had raced it. Ellen had lined up on equal terms with the world's top solo sailors and won - an exceptional result that was the first proof to the sailing world of her special talent.

Lake Express Visits Muskegon

Lake Express cataman ferry on it's innaugral voyage to Muskegon.

Coming down the channel

Lake Express

Lake Express crew members

Muskegon's Rainy May

Normal rainfall for Muskegon in May is 2.9 inches. This May Muskegon has already received 5.18 inches of rain.

Proportionally the normal rain amount to the 21st of May is 1.9 inches. This means Muskegon has been 205% rainier than normal with another 10 days left to raise this percentage.

The Costliest Gear

Outside Magazine printed a tongue in cheek quiz on people's 'gear habit'. The final question asked based on the gear involved which activity appeals most. The choices were: Jogging, competitive singlehanded offshore racing, and quarters. Choosing singlehanded sailing got you the most points towards a rating of gear obsessed.

I did a little looking at Open 60's currently for sale. For if you want to be competitive and go offshore these are on of your better choices.

Prices ranged from $ 189,000 for a 1989 Open 60. It's even a historical craft having won the inaugural Vendee Globe.

To be the most competitive you can be you may want to purchase Roland Jourdain's Sill which is on the market at $ 1.4 million.

So, yes, all in all if you picked going offshore solo you deserve 2 points towards you rating as a gear obsessed person!

Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point- Measurements in Inches

Difference from Chart Datum +5
Difference from last month +7
Difference from last year +9
Difference from long term average for May -14
Difference from Record High -44
Difference from Record Low +17
Forecast for 21 June 2004 +4

Click for information on other lakes.

Linky Sailing News

Racing IMS Worlds.

News ORCA. Bermuda Entries. Which countries are in the Olympics?

Great Lakes New Chicago Boats. Toronto ferry take.

College Sailing Between now and the 28th we'll preview all the schools that will compete in college sailing's spring nationals. Today we check out 3 of the 9 schools that will be in all three events. Hobart/William Smith is ranked 6th Their dinghy team was 2nd at their district eliminations and is led by Senior Ed Norton. # 8 in the rankings is Georgetown, with a strong team race unit. Wisconsin is the MCSA's strongest team. Anne Porter is a leading sailor for all their teams.

This dark and forboding sky brings 'the heavy stuff' to Muskegon

New Boats

One questions all sailors ask each other is what new boats will be on the water come the season. UK Sailmakers helps us answer this question with a report on a pair of new Chicago based boats.

While much of the Chicago racing fleet was stuck in boat yards because of repairs to the locks between the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, several boats did get out for some pre-season tuning. Shown above are the brand new EAGLES WINGS (Grand Soleil 44) and the Sydney 38 HOWL. HOWL is shown with her new Carbon/Kevlar UK ULTRA main and Code 2 genoa, while EAGLES WINGS is flying Carbon Fiber Tape-Drives.

EAGLES WINGS is John Gottwald, Jr.'s third boat that he has campaigned on Lake Michigan . He and his family grew up racing on his parent's boats, the last being FIRECRACKER. John is the second generation of the Gottwald family to be a customer of UK Sailmakers Chicago; we take pride in building long-lasting relationships. UK was, and is, involved in all aspects of set up for the Grand Soleil 44 -- most specifically sail plan and rig optimization. We were able to tweak proven designs from the UK lofts in Europe for conditions on Lake Michigan to provide extremely fast sails right out of the box.
The work has already paid off as John and the crew of EAGLES WINGS won their first event of the year -- the Columbia Yacht Club's Commodore's Invitational with 1, 3 finishes. Congratulations to John and crew and hope there will be many more.

ORCA

A new rating rule initiative named Offshore Racing Club of America (ORCA) has been launched in the United States, led by a consortium of clubs, race organizers, marine industry leaders and sailors with support from US SAILING. The immediate mission is to coordinate the different levels of offshore racing in the U.S. with specific focus on rule(s) targeted for the more competitive owners and sailors. These will include development of what is commonly referred to as a grand prix rule.

An earlier ORCA was created in the mid 70s. According to member Terry Kohler: “ORCA was established to communicate the interests and objectives of offshore racers to further the sport of sailboat racing.” That mission is part of the new ORCA as well.

The growing membership of this new U.S. initiative includes Stan Honey, Pete Reichelsdorfer and Jim Teeters of the former international rule working party, as well as John Winder, chairman of the Bermuda Race Organizing Committee, Bill Lee, designer and rule-maker (Transpac 52 and MaxZ86 classes), Dan Nowlan of US SAILING and Barry Carroll, lately of Carroll Marine. Teeters and Winder are co-chairing the effort. Discussions are being held with numerous clubs, race organizations and individuals to identify what is working and not working for their sailors and then put together a rules program based on those needs.

The board of the Cruising Club of America (CCA), co-organizers of the Newport Bermuda Race, last week renewed its own commitment to developing rating rules. Commodore Truman Casner: “The CCA strongly believes in the goals of the ORCA initiative and hopes that other clubs will join in and provide support.” It should be noted that the CCA, in it history, has been centrally involved in rating rule development, particularly the CCA and MHS Rules.

ORCA has reached an agreement with the Transpac 52 Class to embrace that growing fleet as central to its grand prix rule. These boats embody much of what grand prix racing is about: fast, fun and seaworthy boats with close racing and simple scoring. Moreover, this is where the market is and where it is going. New boats have hit the water this year and class events will be held at the NYYC spring regatta, Chicago/Mac Race and 9 boats expected for St. Francis Big Boat. At least 4 TP 52s will compete in the Newport Bermuda Race.

Emphasis is on following the market and supporting existing high level sailing as much as on developing any new rules or re-tooling old ones. The initial response from the US professional community is overwhelmingly supportive, with a strong desire to back the initiative.

Although ORCA is a US-based organization, it also believes that an international rule with broad acceptance would be a boon to sailors worldwide. We will keep our colleagues at ORC, RORC and other international organizations informed of our progress.

by Jim Teeters and John Winder

Mendenblatt 2jnd at Worlds

The USA’s representative to the 2004 Summer Olympics in the Laser class, Mark Mendelblatt (St. Petersburg, Fla.), has won the Silver Medal at the 2004 Laser World Championship. It is a "personal best" for Mendelblatt who previously finished sixth out of 171 boats at the 2003 Laser World Championships; and eighth out of 142 boats at the 1999 Laser Worlds in Australia.

Mendelblatt’s performance over the 10-race series saw him place out of the top four only twice: posting a 25 in the second race of the series, and a eighth in the seventh race of the series, both of which he was able to discard from the overall scoring. With six finishes in fourth or better, and the win of race four, Mendelblatt was in the leader’s pack with class phenom Robert Scheidt (BRA) and Michael Blackburn (AUS) throughout most of the event. Going into the final day of racing, and with a historic seventh world title on a silver platter all but engraved with Scheidt’s name, Blackburn and Scheidt were targeting each other in the race for the championship. Mendelblatt finished fourth in the penultimate race, while Scheidt took a DNF and Blackburn finished seventh. In the final heat of the series, Scheidt finished second to Mendelblatt, who led from start to finish. Scheidt claimed the championship, with Mendelblatt finishing one point ahead of Blackburn for the silver medal.

The Harken Laser World Championships were sailed in Turkey from May 12-19, with 145 boats competing in the final Olympic qualifying event for the class prior to the Athens Games. Eight countries qualified to be among the 32 nations who will have a competitor in Athens; CHN, CYP, CZE, IRL, KOR, MAS, SIN and URU. Andrew Lewis (Honolulu, Hawaii) was the only other American at the championship. He finished 57th overall.

Learn more about Mendelblatt,

The Transat Preview Part I

May 31st for the 12th time The Transat will start from Plymouth England. This will be the race's 5th decade and 2nd millenium. The course takes the lone sailors across the Atlantic east to west. This year the finish is in Bost Massachussets after 2800 miles of sailing against prevailing winds.

This first preview installment carries predictions for the ORMA 60 trimaran class. 12 of these twitchy high tech machines will line up. I've listed who I think will fill the podium, plus three others with varying chances. Full info is at The Transat site.

Ex-Cuppers Do Well at Laser Worlds

Two of the America's Cuppers turned single handed Olympians fared well at the just concluded Laser Worlds. American Mark Mendenblatt finished 2nd winning the 4th and final races. New Zealander Hammish Pepper ended up 4th .

They were beaten by Brazillian Robert Scheidt now a 7 time Laseer world titlist. His full list of titles and venues is below:

• 1995 Spain
• 1996 Australia
• 1997 Chile
• 2000 Mexico
• 2001 Ireland
• 2002 Massachusetts
• 2004 Turkey

Linky Sailing News

Racing Laser Worlds: Mendenblatt 2nd

News AC RI

Great Lakes Bayview Mac in real time. Water up.

College Sailing Between now and the 28th we'll preview all the schools that will compete in college sailing's spring nationals. Today we check out 3 of the 9 schools that will be in all three events. 3rd ranked Hawaii. They swept the PCIYRA elims. They were 2nd at Dinghy Nationals last year and the team of Lake/Warnock is experienced and successful. Washington is ranked 15th . They are a young team -scheuyled to graduate only 3 of 19 sailros with sophomore Brendan Fahey one of their best. Another young team is Michigan. Of the 9 sailors that won the MCSA Team race title 0 are seniors.

North Sails Race Week

Early entries are arriving at the offices of Golison & Golison and another strong fleet is shaping up for this Southern California classic.

The depth of sailing talent on the West Coast always brings excitement and
close competition. Bruce Ayers, a perennial contender in the Melges 24
class, was 3rd at their 2004 National Championship last month in Santa
Cruz, California. The Farr 40 class will feature some of the world's best
as they prepare for their September World Championships in San Francisco.
Philippe Kahn, John Kilroy, Steve Howe, Chuck Parrish and John and Deneen
Demourkas are already entered. Last year's 26 boat J/105 class is expected
to build on those numbers with the likes of Steve Flam, Scott Birnberg,
Jack Franco and Dennis Case among the pre-regatta favorites.

The first entry deadline is June 1 (for no late fee) and the final entry
deadline is June 21. The list of entries to date, Notice & Conditions of
Race, entry application and event details are available on the regatta web
site: http://www.Premiere-Racing.com.

"The 20th anniversary is a meaningful milestone for this regatta," said
event founder Bruce Golison. "The traditional hallmarks of the event -
great one design and PHRF competition, professional race management and
continuous innovation - will be on display again next month."

Invited one-design classes at Race Week include the 1D35, Farr 40, J/120,
J/109, J/105, J/80, Melges 24, Santana 20 and Schock 35 classes. Pacific
Coast Championships are on the line for the Farr 40s, Schock 35s and
Santana 20s. Other one-design classes may petition for a class start and
will be considered based on the number of boats and the event classes that
are established.

Owners of PHRF boats from 24 to 75 feet have been enjoying this elite
competition for two decades now. PHRF sailors have the option of selecting
windward / leeward or random leg racing. Handicap racing will benefit by
the creation of classes that match boats with similar performance
characteristics with rating, length, displacement and sail area considered.
'Like racing' leads to races being decided by seconds, not minutes. Random
leg class races will be run on Saturday and Sunday (one race each day).
Also available for PHRF entrants will be the opportunity to put together
yacht club teams of four PHRF boats each to compete for the "Yacht Club
Challenge Trophy."

Croatian Match Race Preview

Can he be stopped? Can any of the world class competitors on the Swedish Match Tour halt or at least interrupt Peter Gilmour’s relentless march toward the Tour Championship?

That’s the question being asked heading into the third to last event of the 2003-’04 Swedish Match Tour schedule, the ACI HTmobile Cup, May 24-29, in Split, Croatia.

Having amassed 97 points after five events, Gilmour’s Pizza-La Sailing Team seems destined to win the Tour Championship. With crewmembers Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Yasuhiro Yaji slated to sail in Croatia, they hold a 48-point lead heading into the final three events.

The crew has placed in the top four at every event they’ve attended, and history would suggest that they’ll fare well in Croatia. Gilmour is the event’s most decorated champion with four titles to his credit (1993, ’94, ’95 and ’97).

Featuring a prize purse of $40,000, and $12,000 for the winner, the ACI HTmobile Cup is one of the oldest events on Tour. Founded in 1987, the event is full of repeat winners.

The organizing authorities are the Yacht Club Croatia – Opatija and the Adriatic Croatia International Club of Opatija. This year marks the 18th edition of the event, but the list of winners is just 10 names long. Five skippers have won it a total of 12 times.

“I remember the local people really enjoying participation by everybody during the event,” Gilmour said. “I remember their genuine warmth and hospitality.”

Gilmour’s goal of a fifth title won’t be easy. Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg and the SeaLife Rangers crew, placed second on the Tour, and New Zealand’s Gavin Brady of the Oracle BMW Racing crew, who is placed third, are looking to close some ground on the Tour leader. They trail Gilmour by 48 and 52 points, respectively.

The lineup features Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen, (third overall on last year’s Tour), Team New Zealand’s Kelvin Harrap (looking to add a top finish to his pair of fifths on the Tour), and Italian Paolo Cian (who is lined up with the fledgling Italian Challenge for America’s Cup 2007).

France will be well represented by Bertrand Pacé (the 2000 Swedish Match Tour champion), and Mathieu Richard (fourth at last year’s match-racing world championship).

Sweden’s Mattias Rahm (eighth at the Congressional Cup) and Finland’s Staffan Lindberg (eighth at the Nippon Cup last November) also will be on hand.

A pair of Croatians, Franco Brate and Mate Arapov, plan to defend the locals’ honor against the foreigners.

Racing will be conducted in Jeanneau One-Design 35s, designed in the early 1990s by Daniel Andreiu for Jeanneau Yachts. Racing will consist of a double round-robin, followed by semifinals, final and petit final.

“We’re looking forward to going there,” said Gilmour. “The ACI Marina is what the event is all about. They’re a fabulous conglomerate of marinas along the Adriatic coast. They really give you a great sense of what Mediterranean sailing is about.”

Gilmour and Brady recently have been the two most active skippers on Tour. Both competed in the Congressional Cup last month and the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman two weeks ago.

Gilmour placed fourth and second, respectively, and has a combined 32-10 record in those events. Brady scored a pair of thirds and a combined 30-12 record.

Head-to-head, Brady owns a 3-1 advantage, including two straight dating back to the Petit Final of the Congressional Cup.

After Croatia, the Swedish Match Tour rolls into Germany for the penultimate event to the 2003-’04 schedule, Match Race Germany, June 8-14, on Lake Constance in Langenargen, Germany.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Laser Worlds. J22 Worlds

News Kournikova to sail. Designer sails

Great Lakes Lake Express arrives in Milwaukee. Lake Michigan sailor dies.

College Sailing Between now and the 28th we'll preview all the schools that will compete in college sailing's spring nationals. We'll begin with the 9 schools that will be in all three events.

17th ranked Charleston is a perennial entrant led by Senior John Bowden. # 4 Dartmouth won the NE Dinghies led by Amo Loring. Harvard has been frequently ranked # 1 and is the defending champion in dinghies and team racing. Cardwell Potts is team captain

Designer Merf Owen steers Ecover an Open 60 he designed

Clipper Turns 100 & Other Ferry News

The Milwaukee Clipper is celebrating it's 100th anniversary!

Meanwhile the Lake Express ferry will arrive in Milwaukee today.

Finally the City of Milwaukee will move to it's new home in Manistee.

Laser Clinic

This Saturday Torresen Marine and Vanguard will sponsor a Laser Clinic at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club in Holland.

All levels of Laser sailors are welcome. Start time is 9:00 AM with the instructional portion in the morning and practice racing in the afternoon so sailors can apply their new techniques asap.

The instructor will be Ben Richardson Olympic trials race winner

Fee for this learning opportunity is $ 25.00.

For more information contact Peter Blacklock via email, or call 231 759 8596.

Cuppers to Olympians

That's a picture of Dean Barker on what was not a good day. Barker was the skipper of Team New Zealand in the prior America's Cup. He and his team were beaten soundly. Hamish Pepper was Barker's tactician for part of the series. Pepper was banished from the boat part way through the series.

Hammish Pepper at the Worlds

In an interesting twist both Barker and Pepper have turned to Olympic single handed classes as their next sailing venture. Barker recently qualified in the Finn class, while Pepper will represent New Zealand in the Laser class.

In 1996 prior to their AC involvement both sailors mounted Olympic efforts. Pepper qualifiedfinishing 10th in 1996. Barker lost out to Craig Monk who finished 13th.

Now these two talented sailors are back to single handing after their less than ideal America's Cup time. It's a path perhaps opposite of the usual one which would be Olympics to the Cup with out a look back.

This same path has been take by America's Laser and Finn representatives Mark Mendenblatt and Kevin Hall. They both sailed with One World Challenge.

Kevin Hall

Mendenblatt was 3rd in the 1996 US Laser Trials, 2nd in 2000 and won last fall. Hall competed in the 1992 US trials in the Finn, the 1996 trials in Laser, and in 2000 was part of the 2nd place 49er team. Additionally Hall is a survivor of testicular cancer.

Although the Americans did not have the America's Cup ignomy to live down they both had past Olympic trials failures, and in the Olympic trials 2nd is failure, to overcome.

Mark Mendeblatt

The amateur days of the America's Cup and the Olympics are long gone. Still it is interesting that these 4 world class sailors have chosen to step into a less lucrative environment into the world of world class single handed sailing. They'll have world champions and gold medallists such as Ben Ainslie and Robert Schedit to compete against just as they have had Russell Coutts and Chris Dickson to sail against in the America's Cup.

P.S. To read about when amateur sports were a reality I suggest the Perfect Mile about the quest to break the 4 minute mile.

Commodore's Cup Nears

With just over two months to the start of this biennial event, the 2004 team line up looks highly competitive.

The current holders, France - so ably led in 2002 by Gery Trentesaux a RORC Rear Commodore - will be returning to the fray in force. There is a real prospect of three French teams on the start line. The selection process began at Spi Ouest weekend in April with the final decision on team composition being made after the Cowes-Dinard Race in July. Contenders for two of the teams include Codiam (an IMX45 owned by Jean-Claude Nicoleau and helmed by a previous 505 world champion Nicolas Loday) and Gonzague Dubois's IMX45 Pretexte in Class 1, Courier d'Ile de France - a Grand Soleil 45 helmed by Gery Trentesaux - and Jean-Yves le Goff's IMX 40 Fastwave 3 in Class 2 with the Class 3 entries being the J109 Pen Azen owned by Philippe Delaporte and helmed by Figaro expert Laurent Cordell and Christian Guyader's JPK 960.

>From the Netherlands, winners of the Admiral's Cup in 1999, there are plans to enter two teams. One will comprise the Grand Soleil Holmatro (winner of IRC 1 in last year's Rolex Fastnet Race), the BH41 Checkmate and the HOD35 Havoc. Not to be outdone by its neighbours, Belgium - another strong supporter of the Rolex Commodores' Cup - is putting together an entry led by Francois Goubau in his Beneteau 47.7 Moana.

The Irish, a perennially strong force in Solent sailing, promise to live up to their reputation with a Dublin-based team of Eamon Crosbie's new Ker 32 Voodoo Chile, Velvet Glove and a new DK46. A second team is also being considered.

The British yachting community plans to enter four teams and the RYA selectors under the chairmanship of David Aisher are looking at a minimum of two English teams with the possibility of a team from each of Wales and Scotland. There is a long list of interested owners, which includes Kit Hobday on his Farr 52 Bear of Britain, Peter Rutter and his latest Quokka (an Elan 37), and John Shepherd with his new Fair Do's VI, another Ker 32. The trials comprise a series of inshore races in early June, the RORC Myth of Malham race and the MeesPierson Yachting IRC Championship later in the month, with the teams being announced on 22 June.

The RORC is quietly confident that the event will exhibit a quality field across the board and anticipates 12 teams in total, as it continues its efforts behind the scenes to assist National Authorities from Scandinavia, Spain and Russia to put forward entries. The continued use of IRC has allowed Authorities to choose from a wide selection of competitive yachts. The reintroduction of banding will mean that like yachts race against like yachts, adding to the overall attraction of this event.

The Rolex Commodores' Cup will be held off Cowes, Isle of Wight, from 25th July to 1st August. Entries close on Monday 21st June.

Team quotes:

Gery Trentesaux, France: " It will be very difficult to defend our title, but the team instructions will remain the same - sail properly and enjoy the event on land as well as on the water!"

Dave Atkinson, RYA: "We have some strong contenders for the GBR team places. With a good breadth of experience in both the Solent and offshore racing, we are look forward to some close racing against some great competition".

Linky Sailing News

Racing Laser Worlds.

News VOR. Full Pelt. Coronet.

Great Lakes Rochester Ferry Thoughts. Pictured Rocks plans. Wreck tours.

College Sailing Hawaii update

USA Women Qualify in 470 Class

With the conclusion yesterday of the 470 World Championships, the final Olympic qualifying event for the class, the USA has now qualified its entry in the 470 Women's event at the Olympic Regatta in Athens. Katie McDowell (Barrington, R.I.) and Isabelle Kinsolving (New York, N.Y.) placed eighth overall in the 53-boat fleet, their best finish at a world championship.

The 470 World Championship, held in Zadar, Croatia, allowed five previously
unqualified nations to earn their Olympic berth in the 470 Women's division.
ARG, CAN, BRA, and ITA joined the USA in qualifying through this event. The
result by McDowell/Kinsolving also means that the USA will send a full
sailing team of 18 athletes in 11 events to the Games of the XXVIII
Olympiad. Only six other nations - AUS, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, and ITA - have
qualified to send an entry for all of the sailing events. Greece, as host
country, receives an automatic entry in every event.

Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) with Sarah Mergenthaler (Colt's Neck,
N.J.) finished 22nd overall in the women's fleet.

In the 470 Men's division, Olympic medalists Paul Foerster (Rockwall, Texas)
and Kevin Burnham (Miami, Fla.) finished 14th in their 101 boat fleet. Stu
McNay (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) and Arthur Kinsolving (New York, N.Y.) placed
66th overall.

The 470 World Championships also qualified the final six countries for the
470 Men's Olympic event: TUR, POL, BEL, KOR, HUN, AUT.

1st Aid Kits

There are many types of first aid kits and many sources for
lists of what should be kept in a first aid kit. According
to Coast Guard boating accident statistics the most common
type of boating injuries include: lacerations, broken bones,
hypothermia, and contusions. This article discusses items
needed to treat these injuries and methods of treatment.
Training options are also covered.

Laceration is another name for a cut. Cuts can have smooth
or jagged edges and are usually caused by sharp objects.
Severity can vary with more pain if nerve damage occurs.

Items to have on board for lacerations include: rubber gloves
to provide a barrier between aid giver and blood, sterile
dressings such as gauze pads used to apply pressure and keep
germs out, and bandages to cover the wound. Larger bandages
such as roll and triangle bandages can also be used in
treating broken bones.

If you suspect a broken bone a splint maybe necessary. You
should splint the injury in the position you find it and
cover the areas above and below the injury. There are
numerous types of splints. Items such as sleeping bags,
pillows and the above mentioned bandages can be used in
splinting. You may also want to consider carrying
a ready made & versataile SAM splint.

A contusion is damage to soft tissue under the skin. When
the damage occurs tissues discolor and bruising may occur.
Typically such situations do not require special care.
Having a ready-made cold pack in your 1st aid kit will allow
you to apply cold to cut down swelling.

Third is hypothermia. Hypothermia can occur if a person spends time sailing in wet or cold weather. Heat can be lost via conduction between a hot body and a wet deck. Convective heat loss can occur via wind chill. The third way to lose heat is via radiation. For instance, not wearing a hat can cause heat loss to radiate out of the head area. Evaporative heat loss occurs when perspiration occurs.

The other type of hypothermia is immersive, ie falling in the water. Both types are preventable. Heat loss hypothermia via dressing properly. For instance wear a hat, use clothing that is breathable to cut down on perspiration and wear wind proof clothes so the wind doesn't cut down your heat. Avoid immersive hypothermia via good seamanship, such as one hand for the ship, one for the sea. Consider wearing a safety harness and a PFD.

Should hypothermia occur, some simple steps can lead to rewarming. Replace wet clothes with dry. Give the person a hat to wear. Get them out of the wind. Then provide them with insulation such as a sleeping bag, give them hydration and slowly warm them. Applying too much heat too fast can lead to shock or burns.

The list of injuries and supplies is not inclusive. You
should carry a comprehensive first aid kit that covers
general situations and any situations specific to your crew
such as diabetic care or bee sting allergy. Use the links
below to learn about what should be in your first aid kit.

The above info covers many of the situations that come at
the end of ABCH, a first aid mnemonic that goes airway,
breathing, and circulation and hemorrhaging.

The first 3 (ABC) can be learned by taking a CPR course.
This will give you skills to deal with airway obstructions,
breathing emergencies and loss of circulation such as in heart
problems.

To enhance safety you should be First Aid and CPR trained
so you can handle situations while you await professional
help. A time investment of 8 hours will pay off in a 3 year
First Aid certification and a 1-year CPR certification and
help prepare you for the unexpected.

Even if you receive training you should consider stocking some
reference materials on board. If you are the only trained person
and you are injured, these reference materials can help provide care.

There are two items available from the Red Cross that are
excellent for this purpose. One is a pocked sized booklet
'First Aid Fast'. This booklet covers breathing trouble (P.
11-15), Cardiac Arrest (P. 24-29) and bleeding (P. 72-73).
The booklet also contains step by step instruction on skills
such as CPR and rescue breathing.

The Red Cross also offers skill cards, which cover things
such as CPR. These come laminated in plastic. The cards
show how to perform skills with illustrations and text, and
can be folded out to large size. A good place for one of
these cards would be on a bulkhead or in your boats head so
the knowledge can be seen. These products are available from your local Red Cross.

Muskegon One Design Regatta

10 J24's and 10 Melges 24's sailed 5 races on Muskegon Lake over the weekend. They competed in the Corona One Design Regatta.

Bavari II won the J24 fleet via a 1st in race 5 which gave them the tie breaker advantage over Stirred Not Shaken. Red Eye Express was 3rd.

Flying Toaster was the Melges 24 winner by 6 points over Wicked Feet with Snow Pile Express 3rd. The Corona One Design regatta was the first event on the Melges 24 Midwest Championship circuit.

Skandia funds Moloney

Skandia, the international long-term savings company, today (Monday) unveiled the yacht that international yachtsman, Nick Moloney, will race in this winter's Vendée Globe. Three leading international fund management companies, Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore Investment Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, have signed up with Skandia to create the Skandia MultiManager campaign which will fund Moloney's decade-long goal to complete a historical hat-trick in round the world sailing.

Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers are partners in Skandia's pioneering MultiManager investment programme that is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year.

All four companies are now partners in the first entry by an Australian into the Vendée Globe; a three-month solo non-stop circumnavigation starting from Les Sables d'Olonne in France on November 7th 2004.

Moloney's Open 60 was named 'Skandia' today and carries the colours of Skandia as well as those of Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, who will also benefit from corporate hospitality and marketing opportunities through their distribution partnership with Skandia.
This combined investment has allowed Moloney to acquire the four-year old boat once campaigned by Briton Ellen MacArthur to second place in the last edition of the Vendée Globe in 94 days and four hours; still the third fastest solo time around the world.

A thorough three-month refit means Moloney, 36, feels he has a boat capable of claiming a top 5 position against an expected fleet of 20 Open 60s, including five new designs. In the Vendée nothing is sure, and just to finish in itself an enormous achievement, but to have a boat capable of a good result is a great boost for Moloney: "I'm the proudest skipper in the world at the moment".
"It's hard to describe how honoured and indebted I feel to Skandia, Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers for this opportunity and how nervous I am to justify the huge trust they've put into this project and me. The Vendée is the Everest of sailing, and for me it will certainly be the biggest challenge of my sailing career," he said. Moloney's professional sailing career includes the Whitbread, now Volvo, Race and the America's Cup.

Skandia's association with the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team - the company that manages Moloney's Vendée programme, began last year with their three-year sponsorship of Nick's team-mate Sam (Samantha) Davies. Sam competes full-time on the solo Figaro circuit.

Skandia then co-sponsored Moloney and Davies to compete in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race from France to Brazil last November on the Open 60, then named Team Cowes.

"We have been hugely impressed with the commitment and professionalism of both Nick and Sam," said Andre Oszmann, Skandia's Group Marketing Director. "Not only in their pursuit of achieving their sailing goals, but also in their dedication to helping others enjoy the sport.

"Skandia has been a long supporter of international sailing at all levels and a key aim of our Skandia Set Sail sponsorship programme is to give aspiring sailors the chance to realise their dreams. Nick has proven his determination over and over again and we at Skandia were equally determined to ensure he competes in the 2004 -'05 Vendée Globe.”

Skandia had already provided sufficient funds for Moloney to secure the Open 60 for the year, to prepare her for racing and to compete in The Transat starting on May 31. "We are delighted that the Skandia MultiManager campaign is now in place and with our three partners we can confirm Nick's participation in the Vendée Globe," added Oszmann. "We wish him a fast and safe journey."

Skandia's livery

Credit: Jon Nash & DPPI

Moloney's first test on 'Skandia' will be the 2,800-nautical mile Transat, starting on May 31. Leaving from Plymouth, England, Moloney will race solo across the harsh north Atlantic arriving in Boston, USA, two weeks later.As the prevailing winds blow from America towards Europe, this race sends competitors into westbound gales and currents and through dense fog and icebergs off the Newfoundland coast.

Virtually all of the yachts Moloney will race against in the Vendée are using The Transat as a qualifier or final test of form. "Competing in The Transat will be a real feather in the cap for us," says Moloney. "It's an extremely tough race, both physically and mentally but it will give me a lot of confidence in Skandia in her new form. I can start the Vendée knowing no stone will be left unturned."
Should Moloney complete the Vendée Globe, it will be a monumental and record-breaking triple in round-the-world sailing and the final of three ambitious goals he set himself at the age of twenty-five.

The first was to compete in a fully crewed round the world race with stops. This he did when he was selected to race on Dennis Conner's (of America's Cup fame) entry Toshiba in the 1997-98 Whitbread Race.

The second of his massive goals was completed when, two years ago in 2002, he won the Jules Verne Trophy for the quickest non-stop lap of the planet. Moloney was the only English-speaking crewman on the giant French 110-foot catamaran Orange when she set a blistering time of 64 days. That record stood until April this year.

His third, and most challenging goal is a non-stop solo lap of the planet. By finishing the Vendée, he will be the first person to circumnavigate the world in these three different events. "The Vendée is the final pinnacle for me and I am prepared to give it everything," he added.

Moloney has also competed in two America's Cup campaigns in 1992 and 1995. His CV boasts nine sailing world speed records and one Guinness World Record for becoming the first (and still the only) person to windsurf across the Bass Strait from mainland Australia to the Island of Tasmania. Nick Moloney was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for services rendered to the sport of sailing

New Records

Round Britain and Ireland, all islands, non-stop, monohull
"Solune "
P Chomette/Cesar Dohy and a crew of 3
3rd May to the 10th May 2004.
Start time, Lizard: 16. 55. 30 GMT
Finish time, Lizard: 21. 41. 52. GMT
Elapsed time: 7 days 4 hours 46 minutes 22 seconds.
10.34 kts

The WSSR Council has ratified 3 new records achieved during the St Maries
de la Mer event in France.

WORLD RECORD

New A Class Women's Record
Windsurfer
Marianne Tertian FRA.
29th April 2004.
26.36 kts.

(Previous record: 17.81kts Caroline Ducato USA in 1992 at Brest)

NATIONAL RECORDS.

British National Sailing Speed Record
Windsurfer
Eric Beale
30th March 2004.
42.63 kts

Dutch National Speed Sailing Record
Windsurfer
Martin van Meurs
30th March 2004
42.22 kts

Hatfield Choses Hardware

Derek Hatfield, Canada's premier solo ocean racer, recently announced that Spirit of Canada, the Open 60 he will pilot in the 5-Oceans Solo Round the World Yacht Race in 2006 will be fitted out with Frederiksen hardware and Marlow rope. Ronstan International acquired Frederiksen in 2001 and is the exclusive US distributor for Marlow’s leisure marine cordage.

Peter Dowdney, Ronstan International’s Chief Executive commented, “(We’re) proud to have been chosen once again, to partner with Derek in his assault on the 5-Oceans challenge. We accompanied Derek (during) the last Around Alone race as his principle hardware supplier and are excited to have been invited to go round again.”

Commenting on the 2002 Around Alone race, Derek Hatfield said “In order for the Open 40 ‘Spirit of Canada’ to be competitive, I felt there was no other choice but to specify Frederiksen hardware and the Frederiksen full batten car system for the mainsail. The hardware worked perfectly… All running rigging on ‘Spirit of Canada’ was specified to be Marlow. The rope works beautifully in all applications and exhibits a lot less chafe than any other rope that we used.”

Frederiksen and Marlow will be exclusive suppliers for Hatfield’s new Open 60. These racing machines are among the fastest boats in sailing - built of carbon fibre using the latest hi-tech structures, they are designed to be as light and as fast as possible but strong enough to withstand the worst the seas can throw at them.

5-Oceans is the newly branded name of Around Alone, sailing’s ultimate solo challenge. The 5-Oceans race is billed as “the toughest challenge any professional sailor can set themselves; namely to sail round the world on their own, pushing their boat and themselves to the extreme.” Not surprisingly, hardware and lines are critical components in the long distance sailor’s kit. Marlow’s Cordage Group Director Simon Petit said, “Marlow continues to produce and develop products that perform at outstanding levels of strength and durability. We recognize that the 5-Oceans is one of the world’s harshest proving grounds and everyone at Marlow is proud to be an integral part of Derek’s team.”

Derek Hatfield was the 2003 Canadian Rolex Sailor of the Year and is one of only 126 sailors in history to finish a single-handed race around the globe. Competing in the Open 40 “Spirit of Canada,” he finished in 3rd place overall in Class II in the 2002/03 Around Alone race, despite a life threatening and catastrophic capsize near Cape Horn.

Since first appearing on the scene in the late eighties, Frederiksen fittings have set new standards in the design and manufacture of sailboat hardware, establishing a reputation among sailing professionals as the equipment of choice when there is no room for compromise. Frederiksen products have been selected by many of the world’s leading racing syndicates and have played a significant role in their successes in such events as the Volvo Race Ocean Race, the Jules Verne Trophy and The Race.

Linky Sailing News

Racing US Women's 470 team qualifies. Laser Worlds. Finn Euros. Yngling Worlds.

News Kahn interview. Sailing Alchemy

Great Lakes Cruise the lites. Badger begins. Pictured Rocks

College Sailing Rankings

US Bronzes at Yngling Worlds

It would seem fitting that on the day the Preakness Stakes were run, the U.S.A.’s representatives to the Olympics in sailing’s newest discipline ­ the women’s keelboat event ­ would earn comparisons to the legendary racehorse “Silky Sullivan.” The Yngling team of Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.), Liz Filter (Stevensville, Md.) and Nancy Haberland (Annapolis, Md.) have been competing at the 2004 Yngling Women’s World Championship in Santander, Spain.

When they were last in Spain, just eight months ago, for the 2003 Yngling Women’s Worlds, they finished a respectable, if not dazzling, 14th overall. This time around, they rebounded from a painfully slow start ­ much like “Silky Sullivan” ­ in the 37 boat fleet. Day one of the series saw them place 31 and 20. On day two they wracked up some sizable points with an alphabet score for crossing the starting line early. But the 10-race series was far from over: the trio rebounded with two first-place finishes, plus three more postings in the top
10. Like the infamous horse that started out slow, Cronin, Filter and
Haberland recovered to a bronze medal win.

Compounding the usual pressures of a world championship, this event was the
final country qualifier for the Olympic Regatta, with several nations
counting it as part of their athlete selection trials as well. For Cronin,
Filter and Haberland the bronze medal performance is perfectly timed; with
this their best performance at a world championship, they have answered
those who were taken by surprise when the trio won the U.S.A.’s selection
trials. With Opening Ceremonies exactly 90 days hence, Cronin, Filter and
Haberland are heading to Athens with the validation from this performance
which will surely have opened the eyes of competitors and observers alike.

Finishing one place out of the medals were Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wisc.),
with Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.);
while 2003 Yngling Open Worlds Champions Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), Lee
Icyda (Stuart, Fla.) and Suzy Leech (Avon, Conn./Annapolis, Md.) finished
14th overall in the final standings

The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Canada will join the 12 previously
qualified nations on the start line at Athens: Spain, Germany, U.S.A.,
Bermuda, Denmark, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, France, Australia and The
Ukraine. Greece, as host nation, receives an automatic entry.

Transat News

* JUST OVER TWO WEEKS TO GO UNTIL START OF TOUGHEST SOLO NORTH ATLANTIC RACE... and less then 10 days until Transat fleet arrive in Plymouth in preparation for start

* CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSAT START VILLAGE STARTS NEXT WEEK...open to the public from 22nd-31st May

* FINAL ORMA 60, ALAIN GAUTIER'S FONCIA, COMPLETES QUALIFICATION ALONG WITH DOMINIQUE WAVRE'S TEMENOS...only four remaining IMOCA 60s left to qualify

* THE NEW IMOCA 60 BONDUELLE STEALS A MARCH ON THE OTHERS IN HER FIRST OUTING

Visit http://www.thetransat.com for further information

IN DETAIL:

Just 17 days are left before the starting signal from the Royal Navy's HMS Tyne will mark the start of the 12th single-handed transatlantic race on Bank Holiday Monday, 31 May.

At the Plymouth Yacht Haven, a short ferry ride across the Cattewater from downtown Plymouth, construction starts on The Transat Race Village next week. Under race rules, the competing boats in The Transat are required to arrive in Plymouth on or before Saturday, 22 May - the contingent of American skippers Rich Wilson, Kip Stone and Joe Harris are all already berthed safely in Plymouth following their trans-oceanic delivery trips. With eleven 60ft trimarans and one 60ft catamaran along with 18 Open 60 monohulls making up the bulk of the entries, the race fleet will take up considerable acreage and will be one of the most impressive gatherings of the world's fastest and most advanced ocean racing machines ever seen. This is the only occasion in the four year offshore yacht racing cycle that these two classes of boat gather in the UK and it will be a spectacle not to be missed.

The Transat Race Village will be open to the public from 22nd May to 31st May and will house a multitude of exhibitors. The Royal Navy display will include a submarine simulator and Renault will be displaying one of their Formula 1 racing cars alongside many exhibitors from the British and French marine sector.

More qualification passages for The Transat have now been completed, the latest being Alain Gautier's trimaran Foncia and Temenos, the Swiss Open 60 of Dominique Wavre. The only remaining boats still to carry out their obligatory qualifiers are the Open 60s Bonduelle, Sill, Pro-Form and Quiksilver - skipper Anne Liardet departed last night on her qualifier.

This week has seen six of The Transat's IMOCA Open 60 fleet competing in the 1000 Milles de Calais crewed race. The event started last Sunday afternoon from Calais and saw the boats head west down the Channel across the Celtic Sea, rounding the Fastnet Rock off southern Ireland before returning to Calais. The event has been the race debut for the two brand new Marc Lombard-designed Open 60s Bonduelle and Sill, respectively of former trimaran skipper Jean le Cam and Roland Jourdain - both favourites for a monohull win in The Transat. The boats are an evolution of Jourdain's previous Sill and feature a rotating wingmast with deck spreaders, a canting keel and twin asymmetric daggerboards, a unique chine in the aft quarters of their hull, transom hung rudders and a much modified cockpit layout.

After a race-long battle with Mike Golding's team on Ecover, it was the bright yellow form of le Cam's Bonduelle that arrived first in Calais - an excellent result for her first race. Sill, launched just 12 days before the start, was less fortunate and retired with keel problems. As with the results from the ORMA grand prix the weekend before, little can be read into these results because the race was fully crewed whereas the Transat is single-handed.

TENTH EDITION : 1996

Unusually this ran in a similar fashion to the race four years earlier with Loick Peyron, once again, taking line honours in the 60ft trimaran class aboard Fujicolor followed by Paul Vatine taking second on board his Region Haute Normandie but this time by a much closer margin than in 1992 - only four hours separated the two boats.

The surprise in the French trimaran race for line honours came from Francis Joyon who chose a route not used by anyone since Blondie Hasler in 1960 - the Northern route. Joyon went far to the north passing over the top of the depressions that were slowing his adversaries on the direct route. He had more than 300-mile lead by the time he had reached the Newfoundland Banks and nothing seemed capable of stopping him from breaking the record for the passage. But with just over 400 miles to go to the finish, his Banque Populaire trimaran capsized. A similar fate befell Laurent Bourgnon on Primagaz soon after.

Peyron went on to win line honours, the only person since Tabarly to have won the race twice (Philippe Poupon won in 1988 and crossed the line first in 1984 but lost the race on a time penalty).

Linky Sailing News

Racing 470 Worlds. Laser Worlds. Finn Euros. Bonduelle a winner

News NYYC& TP 52's. Farr thoughts. Our 2004 team. 88 year old sailor/treveller

Great Lakes Rouge Light

College Sailing Wisco's success

Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point- Measurements in Inches

Difference from Chart Datum +3
Difference from last month +5
Difference from last year +7
Difference from long term average for May -17
Difference from Record High -47
Difference from Record Low +14
Forecast for 14 June 2004 +3

Click for information on other lakes.

Spring Safety Update

National Safe Boating Week, May 22-28 the theme of which is 'Wear It' as in your PFD. Statistics. One statistic in support of this is that 78% of the people involved in boating fatalities were not wearing PFD's.

This fact was brought home by a recent story about a boating related drowning on Lake St. Clair. The victim wore no PFD.

Then I received an email from Tom Rau who informs me that his Boat Smart Column will return the week of May 24th. He's added a new feature this year Boat Smart Advisories. One of his 1st advisories concerned the fact that 7 boating related drownings have already occurred in Michigan! None of the people wore PFD's.

With water temperatures still in the 40's it is a good idea to don a PDF when on your first sail of the season. Your sea legs may not have made it through the winter. If you happen to get in the water a PFD will help you out. It also might help you turn over a new safety habit.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Finn Euros. Yngling Worlds. 470 Worlds. 1000 Miler.

News 25 years.

Great Lakes Racing begins.

College Sailing South Florida is a nationals qualifier

Kiwis at Finn Euros

At the end of day 3 of the Finn European Championships sailed off La Rochelle, the Kiwis moved further up in the top ten positions on the leader board. Dean Barker heads the Kiwi charge, positioned in 6th position, with Clifton Webb in 7th position and Peter Fox in 8th position. Only three points separates the Kiwi’s.

Two races were sailed on day 3. Peter Fox had the best day on the water among the Kiwi’s, notching up a 14th and 6th placing, with Barker scoring an 18th and a 10th placing. Webb, who went into day 3 leading the Kiwi’s had a 9th place in race 4 but was disqualified in race 5 as a result of being over the line at the start.

It’s the mid way point in the regatta and with it being New Zealand’s final selection trial regatta, Barker is clearly out in front of his compatriots in the selection process. The consistent placing’s Barker notched up in the Princess Sofia regatta, which was the first of the two selection regatta’s, have given him a definite edge over Fox and Webb going into this regatta.

Mateusz Kusznierewicz from Poland continues his awesome form to be top of the leader board at the European Championships, with current World Champion, Ben Ainslie from Great Britain, in second position.

In a fleet of 90 sailors, the awesome Kiwi performances demonstrate the fine calibre of these Kiwi yachties racing off La Rochelle and it will put the winner of the selection trial in very good stead for the Olympics.

The European Championships is a nine race regatta, with one drop allowed. Racing concludes on May 15th.

The selection trial points as they stand for the Kiwi’s:

Princess Sofia Regatta:
Points Total
Dean Barker 21 9 21 20 15 3 (24) 12 15 11 127
Clifton Webb 11 14 3 32 34 (37) 6 28 21 15 164
Peter Fox 2 19 12 (42) 33 17 32 10 32 30 187

European championships:
Dean Barker 4 37 6 18 10
Clifton Webb 3 9 19 9 BFD
Peter Fox 6 15 35 14 6

Note: The winner of the trials is determined by the race results from both regattas being combined as one series. The total number of drops across that series is applied to any of the races. The competitor with the lowest total points wins the right to be considered.

Star Sailor on Letterman

On May 13, Star crew Phil Trinter (Lorain, Ohio) will be one of 10 athletes to participate in the taping of that evening's Late Show With David Letterman. The athletes will each announce one item of Letterman's Top Ten. The program airs at 11:30 p.m. ET. Check local listings and set your VCR.

Transpac News

Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race organizers have taken action to allow that the battle for the Barn Door in next year's race will be more than a two-boat duel between maxZ86s.

But with other changes in the wind, the big guys may have a tougher task
beating out their smaller rivals for overall honors on corrected handicap
time.

The Transpacific Yacht Club board of directors has approved a 2005 race
rating limit intended to equal "the speed of a canting keel maxZ86 on the
Transpac Course," according to the text of the rule, that will "allow both
maxZ86s and non-maxZ86s to compete for shortest elapsed time, as well as the
overall fleet handicap trophies."

The rating limit will consider such speed factors as sail area, weight
displacement and waterline length. Boats exceeding the limit must adjust
their sailing configurations to conform.

The rating limit also states: "Yachts which have an IMS age date of June 30,
2004 or earlier may have an LOA [length overall] up to 30 meters. Yachts
which have an IMS age date later than June 30, 2004 are limited to
essentially the length of a maxZ86."

The 30-meter limit will apply only to boats with Barn Door potential. The
age definitions are meant to level the competition for maxZ86s and other
modern monohull designs rapidly merging on the sailing scene and at the
same time leave older boats a reasonable opportunity to be first past
Diamond Head.

Historically, a handful of entries pursue the Barn Door, the unique slab of
koa wood awarded to the monohull with the fastest elapsed time. Philippe
Kahn's Pegasus maxi sleds have won the last two, while Roy Disney's former
Pyewacket holds the record of 7 days 11 hours 41 minutes 27 seconds, set in
1999.

But in 2005, as always, any boat will be eligible to win the King Kalakaua
perpetual and Governor of Hawaii take-home trophies for best corrected
handicap time overall---and the chances of smaller boats outscoring the
marquee entries may be getting better.

The actual course distance between Point Fermin and Diamond Head is 2,225
nautical miles, which is also the rated handicap distance. Because of
anomalies such as the Pacific High, race boats usually avoid the light winds
and sail a longer course, anyway, so Transpac is considering some changes,
including stretching the official handicap distance. The length is yet to
be determined, but it should give the higher handicap boats more track to
eat away at the faster boats' times.

Sailing statistician Peggy Redler ran models of recent races for increased
distances with the purpose "to determine if it is feasible to adjust the
course handicap distance to improve the smaller boats' opportunity to win
overall trophy awards . . . based on the assumption that a longer handicap
distance favors the smaller boats."

Redler ran several models based on recent races and found that if the 2003
course had been rated at 2,300 nautical miles, Stan and Sally Honey's Cal
40, Illusion, would have moved up from third to second overall ahead of Karl
Kwok's Transpac 52, Beau Geste.

"It is possible that Illusion performed equal to or better than Beau Geste,"
Redler said.

The board will pursue that issue at a future meeting.

As for the Barn Door battle, two recent developments made an update in the
rating rule necessary. Early in 2002 Transpac agreed to allow the three
maxZ86s then planned or under construction to race in 2005 if all three were
to start.

But while the first maxZ86, Zephyrus V, was committed to a water ballast
configuration, Disney's new Pyewacket and Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory
switched to the faster canting ballast, twin foil (CBTF) technology.
Zephyrus V's new owner, Dick DeVos, still plans to race the renamed
Windquest but is targeting handicap honors in Division I instead of the Barn
Door.

Transpac Commodore Jerry Montgomery said, "To eliminate uncertainty and to
assure some competition at the top end of the fleet, the Transpac Board and
the 86 owners agreed that Transpac would relieve the 86s of the need to have
three boats on the start line. But, in exchange for that, other boats that
were not maxZ86s could compete so long as they rated no faster than an 86."

In recent months owners of non-maxZ86 boats of similar size have expressed
interest in racing to Honolulu in 2005.

Montgomery said, "The board believes that its 2005 Transpacific Yacht Club
Rating Limit Rule offers the opportunity for non-maxZ86s to competitively
race for the Barn Door while at the same time keeping faith with our 2002
commitment to the maxZ86 class."

Ratings for this limit shall be determined by a secret formula administered
by US Sailing. Yachts or designs are permitted trial ratings to see whether
they rate faster or slower than this limit and to help potential entrants
conform to this rating limit. A complete text of the new Rating Limit was to
be posted at transpacificyc.org.

All boats, including Barn Door contenders, must obtain a TPYC rating. The
purpose of ratings is to reward boats that are sailed nearest their
potential.

Honey, who navigated Pyewacket's record run in '99, has said it's important
to "give good sailors reasons to go on small boats."

New Zealand Olympians

The New Zealand Olympic Committee has recently confirmed the selection of the 6 sailors that were nominated by Yachting New Zealands selectors.

Those sailors are:
Board Men: Thomas Ashley
Board Women: Barbara Kendall
470 Men: Andrew Brown & Jamie Hunt
Single Handed Men: Hamish Pepper
Single Handed Women: Sarah Macky

Linky Sailing News

Racing Yngling Worlds. 470 Worlds. Finn Euros. Bonduelle leads 1000 miler. Another miss for Geronimo

News Twain's river.

Great Lakes No PFD drowning. Wreck search.

College Sailing MAISA qualifier

25 Years of Sailing

Twenty-five years ago, most sailing yachts were built of fiberglass or aluminum, Ted Turner was at the top of the sport of sailing, and a fledgling cable television network named ESPN was just beginning. A quarter century later ESPN Classic will premiere 25 Years of Sailing, presented by Rolex on May 19 at 9 p.m. ET.

The one-hour program celebrates 25 years of history in the sport of sailing and ESPN's coverage of it. Gary Jobson, the face of sailing on ESPN since 1986 and himself a member of the 1977 America's Cup-winning team, produced the program and serves as host.

25 Years of Sailing will examine how the sport of sailing has seen dramatic technological advances, a host of larger-than-life personalities, historic races and shifts in power. The America's Cup has seen the likes of Ted Turner, Dennis Connor and others; America, Australia, New Zealand, and most recently, Switzerland have traded power over 25 years -- each having periods of dominance; sailing boats are faster as new materials such as carbon fiber propel craft to unprecedented speeds. 25 Years of Sailing will look at these and other developments in the sport, while looking back at races and historic moments such as: the powerful frontal system over the Irish Sea during the 1979 Fastnet Race, preventing all but 87 of the 303 boats involved from finishing, and tragically taking 15 lives;1983 America's Cup Race 7, when Australia II defeated Liberty; the San Diego Yacht Club's successful defense of the Cup in 1992 and its loss to New Zealand in 1995; the victory in 2003 by Switzerland's Alinghi, piloted by the same core crew that led New Zealand to victory in 2000.

More progress has been made in the last 25 years in the development of sailing than the previous 200," said Jobson. "Is it the sailor, the equipment, or both? This look back on 25 year's of sailing history will try and answer that big question." In addition, the program will examine other aspects in the past 25 years of sailing, including: around-the-world racing; sailing records; the disasters that have affected competitive sailing; grand-prix racing; polar sailing.

25 Years of Sailing, presented by Rolex will be re-aired at 9 p.m. PT.

Beyond Required Equipment

This week's safety article will look at equipment that you
are required to have on board your boat. Both the federal
and state governments set equipment requirements.

Just because your boat conforms to these regulations does not mean you are
ready to cast off.

Still, I was having trouble conceiving of a thorough set of
equipment regulations. Then I came across an article by
John Rousmaniere who said use the ORC Special Regs.

These regulations are used in racing, whether it's an around
the world race (Category 0) or an in sight of land buoy race
(Category 4 or 5). These regulations are also used in
conjunction with the annual Mackinac races. What this means
is that these regulations can be of use to just about any sailor, allowing you to customize equipment to your
situation.

Using these regulations as a jumping off point here are what
the Regulations advise in certain areas.

Bilge Pumps: For Category 4 (close to shore in daylight)
the ORC regs call for "one manual bilge pump". Electric
bilge pumps are fine, but electricity and water are not
always good for each other. A manual pump adds reliability
and if portable can reach many areas of the boat. Manual
pumps are available as hand portable models or larger
permanent models.

Navigation Lights: For all types of sailing the regulations
read, "Navigation lights shall be mounted so that they will
not be masked by sails or the heeling of the yacht." If
you've added a larger headsail, or have a recently installed
roller furling unit you may want to verify your lights
visibility. Another option is to install a mast head tri
color light which should solve your visibility problems.

Charts: For all categories, "Navigational charts (not solely
electronic), light list and chart plotting equipment shall
be provided." To me failing to have charts onboard is
inexcusable. Charts are readily available and Torresen
Marine stocks numerous Great Lakes charts. You can now
update these charts with Local Notice to Mariners which
are now wholly electronic.

Anchors: Requirements range from 1 anchor readily
accessible up to anchors with rope and chain. Both the
anchor and it's rode are equally important. For anchoring
information see last June's theme series which begins at

Personal Equipment: Section 5 of the regulations has an
excellent list that individual sailors should peruse.
Areas covered include flashlights, PFD's and more.

Investing time in studying the regulations can lead to
further safety improvements on board your boat.

The Importance of Engines

The new breed of canting keel maxi monohulls such as Pyewacket, Genuine Risk are no doubt fast and exciting. They are also no doubt engine dependent. Funny how these lightning quick sailboats have so much need for engines.

The reason engines are so imporant are the cantin keels. These can swing from side to side in 10 seconds or under. To do so powerful engines are required.

The recently launched Andrews 80 Maginitude 80 actually has a stern drive typically used on power boats. Further it retracts into the hull.

To move a keel like the one pictured above- fire up the diesel

Others have Yanmar diesels with turbos. So as these boats tack, or gybe, the keel is moved by engine power. There are backup systems that are electric and even other secondary systems than can be powered by winches. But the main part of the show is engine powered.

It's truly funny that these boats are so fast and yet so engine needy. They even go as far as to retract the engines as if they are hiding in shame. Yet without them dragging that lead bulb around beomes a major issue.

Eventually these boats will desire to set a record. Current rules of the WSSRC read, "Mechanical power may be used for charging batteries, pumping bilges, loading, unloading or transferring water-ballast or for weighing anchor." One might think that canting keels are one of the successor to water ballast the engine powered keels will not be a problem.

Wherever they fall rules wise I think at least some purity is taken away with the importance of engines. Then again perhaps it just adds to sailing's variety...whether racing a Sunfish or a maxi the purpose is the same although the methods maybe different.

TP 52's to do the Mac

Six Transpac 52's are scheduled to sail the Chicago to Mackinac Race.

Three of the boats are based on a new Farr design and are being built by Goetz Custom boats.

Esmeralda which has recently been launched and is sailing.

Bright Star currently under construction

with the third boating being Sjambok scheduled to launch in May

Beau Geste a Farr design that debuted in the Transpac.

Rosebud which had a successful 2003 Chicago mac.

Trader which is currently being built in Brazil to a Donovan design.

Speed-wise, 52 is a bit of a misnomer, these boats sail as fast or faster than boats 20 feet longer.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Bonduelle & Ecover duel in 1000 miler. 470 Worlds Day 1. Yngling Worlds. Finn Euros. Tybee 500

News New engine regs. Olympic outlook. New TP 52

Great Lakes Training Cruise. Wreck to stay

College Sailing NE dinghies Wisco profile

Mike Golding & Crew On Ecover

New Record

Subject to WSSR ratification there is a new Round Britain and Ireland, non
stop, crewed, monohull record.

"Solune", the 60 ft monohull skippered by JP Chomette crossed the Lizard
finish line at 21.41 last night, the 10th May 2004, to claim an elapsed
time of 7 days 4 hours 46 minutes and 22 seconds for the 1787 nm course.

This exceeds the existing record held by Alex Thomson by over 3 days

Miami Beach Race Week

Premiere Racing announced their Miami Beach Race Week dates and a Biscayne
Bay component to the 2005 event today. The Miami Beach Marina is the
Official Site, hosting the two ocean courses, while the new Shake-A-Leg
sailing facility in Coconut Grove will be the host site for racing on the
bay.

"The response from racing boat owners, the performance sailing industry,
and the greater Miami community has been overwhelmingly positive," reports
event organizer Peter Craig. "We took a lot of time to poll interested
parties before setting the dates and are confident that March 10-13 is the
most favorable timeframe."

One design interest in Miami Beach Race Week is strong. At press time, the
following classes are invited: Farr 40, Mumm 30, J/105, Melges 24, J/80 and
the International Etchells. The Melges 24s and Etchells will race on the
Biscayne Bay course over three days, March 11-13. Numerous other one design
classes have expressed interest and will be announced on the event web site
as 2005 racing schedules are finalized and classes are accepted.

Handicap racing will be a major component of the 2005 regatta. Renewed PHRF
and IMS interest has been expressed by past participants and PHRF
organizations. PHRF handicapping and class assignments will follow the
highly successful models developed by Premiere Racing as part of its
renowned Terra Nova Trading Key West event.

There has been significant progress with boat logistics and planning
issues. Premiere Racing representatives recently completed a Miami tour and
planning trip. Logistical issues including dockspace, boat storage, mobile
marina operations, deep draft slips and crew housing are being addressed
with ample, affordable options coming available. The event web site will
present a comprehensive menu regarding event logistics later this spring.

Founded in 1941, the SORC enjoyed a rich history and created sailing
legends over the years. The founding yacht clubs recently discontinued
their management of the SORC event and reached an agreement with Key West
event organizer Premiere Racing to produce a new event that will continue
the tradition of great racing in this popular South Florida venue.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Coutts is the winner. Open 60 1000 miler

News Oryx Cup. Plastic in the oceans.

Great Lakes 50 years of The Bridge. Shipping Security

College Sailing Michigan qualifies in Team Racing

Russell Coutts after a comeback win

Michigan Wins MCSA Team Race Championship

Saturday:
The wind for Saturday was light to non-existant and shifty on Baseline lake.
A double round robin was attempted but not completed so one round of 21 races
was scored for the 7 team fleet.

Sunday:
A double round robin final four was sailed on a beautiful, sunny day. The
wind was ESE shifting to SE with light and puffy conditions. All 12 races were
sailed with only minimal delays due to the constantly shifting wind. The
Modified Observer System was used for this event and was rather effective at
minimizing protests.

The competition was tight between Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota for the
2 berths to the ICSA Team Race Championship. The regatta was actually decided in a sail-off between Wisconsin and Michigan for who would be first and second for the event, with Michigan winning the sail-off in a very tight race.
Congratulations to both Michigan and Wisconsin for qualifying for the ICSA
Team Race Championship at Cascade Locks, OR.

Special Thanks to our observers volunteering their time this weekend:
George Griswold
Ali Bell
Joe Harris
Chris Kent
Clark Chapin

Also thanks to all the Michigan Sailing Team members who helped make this
event a success as well as our volunteer PRO Tom Vickers.

Place Team Wins Losses Total Points
1 Michigan* 9 3 121
2 Wisconsin 9 3 109
3 Minnesota 7 5 126
4 Northwestern 5 7 124
5 Notre Dame 2 4 74
6 Ohio State 1 5 78
7 Ohio U. 0 6 79
*Michigan Wins Tie Break from winning the sail-off against Wisconsin

***Note a mistake was made in the Day 1 Results in that the races that werer
thrown out weren't eliminated from the teams' records until this morning.

1. Michigan
Matt Vanderpool '06/Katie Dewitt '07
Chris Granger '07/Thomas Martin '05, Lisa Vandenbossche '07
Christina Falcone '07, Michael Rohde '05/ Meredith Cochran '06, Lisa
Vandenbossche '07

2. Wisconsin
Matt Schmidt '07/Carolyn Soling '04
Joe Zechlonski '06/Chrstine Wiedziela '04,Kelsey Kramer '07
Anne Porter '05/Anna Bargren '07

3. Minnesota
Zach Coelius '04/Jenny Wilson '06, Jason Hertz '07
Alex Symes '05/Oren Lambert '07
James Egberg '05/Jason Hertz '07, Jenny Wilson '06

4. Northwestern
Brian Sabina '05/Asa Chruch '07
Ward Detwiler '06/ Trevor Lee '07
Niko Ehrensberger '06, Aaron Lasher '05/Mary Weaver '06, Ashley Metz '06

5. Notre Dame
Mike Stephens '04/Erin Elser '06
Katie Roney '04/Katie Thompson '05
Andrew Lapin '04/Meghann Finerghy '04

6. Ohio State
Bryan Parker '04/Tiffany Bunting '04
Dave Alvarado '07/Austin Smith '06
Brad Koinis '06/Adam Schmidt '06

7. Ohio University
Karl Felgar '06/Anna Rice '05
Mark Paisley '06/Katie Davies '07
Eric Milliman '06/Andy Mulford '06

Coutts Comeback Win

Staging a massive comeback from deep in the standings, New Zealander Russell Coutts, the record-setting America’s Cup skipper, won the third annual Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman, an event of the Swedish Match Tour.

Coutts, the skipper of America’s Cup champion Alinghi Team, defeated Australian Peter Gilmour and the Pizza-La Sailing Team, 2-1, to claim the championship of the Euro 100,000 event (approximately $118,000), the fifth event on the 2003-’04 Swedish Match Tour.

At the end of racing on Thursday, May 6, Coutts was last in the field of 12 crews with a 1-5 record. After sailing 22 races, the maximum number possible, he has become the champion and won Euro 35,000 (approximately $41,600).

“I felt a little uncomfortable for a while there,” Coutts said dockside amid a throng of fans and media. “We didn’t do any practice for this event and we almost paid for it.”

Coutts’s crew consisted of Rodney Arden, Josh Belsky, Warwick Fleury, Lorenzo Mazza, Dean Phipps and Peter Van Nieuwenhuyzen.

“I really enjoyed the racing,” Coutts said. “The conditions were difficult and tricky.”

Although Gilmour lost, he still won Euro 25,000 (approximately $29,700) for second place and has the Swedish Match Tour Championship Leaderboard in a stranglehold.

Gilmour added 20 points to his scoreline by finishing second. With a total of 97 points, he is 48 points ahead of second-placed Magnus Holmberg (SWE/SeaLife Rangers) with three events remaining.

Gilmour’s crew consisted of Rod Dawson, Mike Mottl, Mark Newbrook, Alan Smith, Kazuhiko Sofuku and Yashuhiro Yaji.

“To my guys, I’m sorry I messed up the last start,” Gilmour said.

By winning, Coutts added 25 points to his total and leaped to fifth on the leaderboard from a tie for 13th.

The conditions for the final were as glorious as yesterday, when the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds were raced. The winds were out of the east/southeast between 8 and 12 knots.

With the championship score tied at one-all, the decisive moment came in the pre-start of the third race. Both crews were deep in the start box and on starboard tack, with Gilmour to windward.

He tried to get across Coutts’s bow, but Coutts luffed and tagged Gilmour’s port push-pit, bending it inward.

“He set a nice trap and got a penalty on us,” Gilmour said. “We were overlapped, and he gave us a sharp and fast luff. I think it could’ve gone either way.”

Coutts won the first race in the final, a nail biter. The two veteran crews were never more than two boatlengths apart. Gilmour was to leeward of Coutts at the start and forced him to the right side.

Gilmour would leebow Coutts twice, sending him back to the right side. But that worked in Coutts’s favor.

Near the top of the one-third mile leg Coutts got a little more pressure on the right and was able to cross Gilmour at their third meeting. The slight advantage was all he needed, and he won by approximately 10 seconds.

Race 2 was Gilmour’s turn to work the right side of the beat. To windward of Coutts in close-quarters off the start line, he tacked to port when Coutts luffed 10 seconds into the race.

Gilmour was happy with that development, as he found more pressure on the right side. When they met again he held a one and a half boatlength lead and stretched it out to about four boatlengths at the finish.

“I made a couple of mistakes in the pre-start of Race 2,” Coutts said. “It was very close racing. You have to be careful not to get too complacent.”

The final was a wonderful climax to a week that started with loads of frustration for competitors and organizers alike. Bad weather on the first three days threw the regatta schedule off track. The weather turned favorable on Friday and continued to improve throughout the weekend.

Like yesterday’s quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, today’s final on a sunny spring day attracted hundreds of spectators along the shoreside to watch the racing held just hundreds of yards away on the Bay of Porto Azzurro. The spectators couldn’t have been any closer if the event were staged in a stadium.

“I’d like to compliment the race committee and the organizers,” Gilmour said. “A few days ago I didn’t think we could get this series in. But they did a great job.”

Coutts got into the final after he defeated New Zealander Gavin Brady of the Oracle BMW Racing Team, 3-2, in the semifinal.

Brady led Coutts 2-1 coming into today after yesterday’s racing, but Coutts won today’s two matches to advance. In their fourth match, Brady was penalized twice.

The first penalty came in the pre-start on a port-starboard situation, when it appeared that Brady, on starboard, didn’t give Coutts enough room to keep clear.

The second penalty came on the run to the finish, when Brady held the lead. Still saddled with a penalty, he went hunting for Coutts to try and cancel the penalty.

Both crews had doused their spinnakers and were on starboard jibe, with Brady overlapped to leeward. But when Coutts broke the overlap Brady failed to head toward the finish and was penalized.

Now with two penalties he was forced to perform one 270-degree turn immediately, and that gave Coutts the room to sail to the finish unopposed.

“If we don’t hit in that pre-start there’s probably no penalty, and maybe we go on to win,” said Oracle BMW tactician John Kostecki.

The deciding match between Coutts and Brady was somewhat anti-climatic. The winds had lightened to 8 to 10 knots and looked even lighter on the right. Kostecki chose the left side of the beat, but it proved to be the wrong call.

“I didn’t see anything on the right,” Kostecki said. “Coutts’s crew said they wanted the left, too.”

The Oracle BMW Racing team gained redemption in the Petit Final when they defeated Poland’s Karol Jablonski and the Toscana Challenge team 2-0.

Coutts and Gilmour are two veterans of the match-race circuit. Each has won three match-racing world championships and they’ve staged many epic battles in the past.

The last time they met was in Bermuda last October, when Gilmour pulled out a 3-1 victory in the quarterfinal round. Gilmour went on to win that event while Coutts placed fifth.

Given Coutts’s rough, 1-5 start to the regatta, Gilmour seemed a good bet in the final. But Coutts, who has won three straight America’s Cup Matches and 14 straight races in the Cup Match, both records, showed his mastery once again.

“He has an ability to make something out of nothing,” Gilmour said.

The next event on the Swedish Match Tour is the ACI HTmobile Cup, May 24-29, in Split, Croatia.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Jablonski leads match race event

News Roberts writes

Great Lakes Inland Seas sked. Sturgeon Bay Marina controversy.

College Sailing Washington wins NWICSA women's, Team race & Co-ed dinghies

The Transat Update

* ORMA 60 FLEET SHAPE-UP IN THEIR FIRST GRAND PRIX RACE OF THE SEASON BEFORE THE BOATS ARE RECONFIGURED FOR THE SOLO TRANSAT RACE...

* SHAKEDOWN FOR SIX OF THE IMOCA 60 BOATS IN THE 1000 MILLE DE CALAIS RACE STARTING THIS WEEKEND...

* FIRST ARRIVALS IN PLYMOUTH FOR THE TRANSAT START THAT IS JUST OVER THREE WEEKS AWAY...

* BT BROADBAND ON BOARD AS COMMUNICATIONS PARTNER...

* SONY UK ON BOARD AS IT PARTNER...

* 1992 EDITION OF THE RACE SAW LOICK PEYRON CLAIM HIS FIRST VICTORY AS YVES PARLIER SET A NEW MONOHULL RECORD THAT STILL STANDS TODAY, IN A SPRINT THAT PROVIDED PLENTY OF DRAMA...

Visit http://www.thetransat.com for further information

IN DETAIL:

SHAPE-UP FOR ORMA 60s:
'To finish first, first you must finish...' is an old adage in ocean racing and during the Transat's 2800 mile course from Plymouth to Boston there is a good chance the boats will come in for considerable punishment as they sail upwind into gale force conditions. Aware of this the skippers and their shore teams are spending much time prior to the race attempting to ensure their vessels can withstand the rigours of sailing the 'wrong way' across the North Atlantic and do not have to limp home prematurely through gear failure.

There are few better ways to shake out any bugs and weaknesses than to go racing and last weekend off the Breton haven of La Trinite-sur-Mer the ORMA 60ft trimarans had their first Grand Prix of the season. Held over three days this eight race series proved to be a two-way battle for first place between Karine Fauconnier's Sergio Tacchini and Franck Cammas' all conquering Groupama. Going into the final race Fauconnier's trimaran held a three point lead, but after a disastrous start they finished eighth handing victory conclusively to Cammas.

In the regatta Sergio Tacchini and Groupama won all the races with the exception of the coastal race on Saturday afternoon in which Michel Desjoyeaux's Geant came out on top. During this action-packed race the wind piped up to 25-30 knots and the trimarans were clocking peak speeds of more than 35 knots, their crews hanging on for their lives as they were blasted by water flying off the leeward bow. If there were any weaknesses in the boats, then this is when they would come to light and sure enough Alain Gautier's Foncia was forced to retire with a split mainsail.

The Grand Prix demonstrated Sergio Tacchini and Groupama to have a fractionally better turn of speed than their eight competitors (Yves Parlier's new catamaran did not take part in the regatta). Sergio Tacchini in particular have improved their upwind ability over the winter through lengthening their daggerboard and this will prove an advantage come the Transat. While useful, this performance advantage when sailed fully crewed will be less relevant come the Transat as single-handed the performance of the boats will rely much more on the ability of the skipper to keep the boat going in the right direction at maximum speed without breaking.

SHAKEDOWN FOR THE IMOCA 60s:
Six of the Open 60s will be undergoing a similar test when on Sunday [9.5.04] they set sail in the 1000 Mille de Calais race from Calais to the Fastnet Rock and back via Dover. Again, this race is fully crewed and will be a good shakedown for The Transat starting in a little over three weeks. The race will include Britain's Mike Golding on Ecover and will be the first outing for the Marc Lombard designed Sill and Bonduelle, skippered by Frenchman Roland Jourdain and Jean le Cam respectively.

Meanwhile the qualifications for The Transat continue. This week has seen many of the leading Open 60s complete their 750 miles passages including Vincent Riou's PRB, Around Alone winner Bernard Stamms Cheminées Poujoulat-Armor Lux, Sébastien Josse' VMI, and Jean-Pierre Dick's Transat Jacques Vabre winner, Virbac.

50-FOOT ARRIVALS:
Following the arrival of Kip Stone's 50-foot mononhull 'Artforms' in Plymouth which the skipper sailed halfway around the world from New Zealand, most of it solo, Joe Harris' Wells Fargo-American Pioneer is now only a few hundred miles from the English coast and should arrive in Plymouth this weekend.

TWO NEW PARTNERS:
Two new partners supporting The Transat are announced this week, in the shape of BT Broadband and Sony UK. Sailing has long been a sport that embraces and advances high-tech communications.

BT Broadband
Official Communications Partner
http://www.bt.com
BT Broadband are providing communications support at The Transat start events in Plymouth to include the provision of dedicated ADSL and ISDN lines. BT Broadband will also provide communications support during the race at the main Transat 'race control' office in Cowes, Isle of Wight.

Sony UK Ltd
Official Supplier of IT equipment
http://www.sony.co.uk
Sony will provide Sony VAIO laptops to allow The Transat management team to track the race across the North Atlantic ocean and will also provide Sony WLAN access cards that will give the media and race teams wireless internet access.

Sony plasma screens around the media centre and race village will show interviews with skippers, and display information on the expected route, including up-to-date weather analysis. In addition, SONY Video-Conference Units will link the start venue in Plymouth to Race Control in Cowes, a media information point in Paris, and the finish venue in Boston.

NINTH EDITION : 1992
Of the 67 boats that started the 1992 Europe 1 STAR the race for line honours was among a competitive group of 60ft trimarans, all with French skippers. In the late 1980s the larger 75ft and 85ft multihulls were phased out due to escalating costs and 60-footers had become the new Class 1.

The all-star cast in the trimaran fleet included Loïck Peyron on Fujicolor, Florence Arthaud on Pierre 1er, winner of the 1990 Route du Rhum, the previous winner Philippe Poupon on his new Fleury Michon and rising start Laurent Bourgnon on Primagaz. Equally capable of winning, were Philippe Monnet back from his single-handed sail round the world, Paul Vatine on the 1988 winning trimaran now renamed Haute Normandie, Francis Joyon on Banque Populaire, Jean Maurel and Hervé Laurent.

With harsh conditions following the start the trimaran fleet divided with Joyon heading north, Vatine south and Bourgnon and Peyron taking the middle course. Over the course of the first week, the conditions took their toll with Bourgnon, in the lead, suffering a broken mainsheet track, while Arthaud capsized off Newfoundland and Poupon had long since dropped out because of a broken daggerboard. Peyron, meanwhile, put his foot down near the finish and came in with a 30-hour lead over Vatine's Haute Normandie.

One of the surprise performances of the race came from Yves Parlier, sailing Cacolac d'Aquitaine, formerly Christophe Auguin's BOC Challenge winner, who impressively finished just over a day after the trimarans setting a new monohull record of 14 days, 16 hours and 1 minute.

Jablonski leads Swedish Match Tour Event

Karol Jablonski and Gavin Brady remained the pacesetters after Day 3 at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman.

Jablonski, representing the Toscana Challenge for the America’s Cup, and Brady, the helmsman for Oracle BMW Racing, both won all of their matches today at the Swedish Match Tour event and are the only remaining undefeated skippers.

“There’s still a long way to go,” a tired Jablonski said after stepping off his boat at 8:00 p.m. “Every day is a new day.”

The third day of the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman went much smoother than the first two days. Today was supposed to be worse than the first two days when rain and uncooperative winds aggravated racing, but event organizer Antonio Nappi refused to believe the dire weather forecast that called for Force 7 winds.

Nappi was duly rewarded. The winds were light and shifty early in the day, between 6 and 8 knots from the south/southeast. By mid-afternoon a strong westerly filled and the race committee completed six flights, 19 matches (including a re-sailed match) overall.

The race committee, however, was forced to move the racecourse all over the area of Porto Azzurro. The light southerly winds early in the day forced the racecourse outside of the bay. When the westerlies filled they were able to move the course inside the bay, parallel to the shorelines. Then the final flight of the day was sailed out of the bay.

Brady won all four of his matches today, beating Ed Baird (USA/Team Musto), Jesper Radich (DEN/Team Denmark), Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team) and Magnus Holmberg (SWE/SeaLife Rangers).

His third win of the day came when Coutts had to perform a penalty turn on the finish line. That allowed Brady to roll past for the win. After that victory, he sat shoreside for up to three hours before returning to the water for the fourth match, and nearly paid for it.

“There’s a certain amount of downtime,” Brady, 6-0, said. “It’s tough to manage. The teams that manage it well might win one more race than the teams that don’t. And that could be the difference between advancing or not.”

In his last match against Magnus Holmberg (SWE/SeaLife Rangers), Brady trailed around the racecourse by as much as 40 seconds in his estimation until he rolled Holmberg at the finish.

“He (Holmberg) went the wrong way once, and we were back in it,” Brady said.

Jablonski also continued his fine sailing by winning all three of his matches, which were held in the afternoon. He defeated Holmberg, Coutts and Baird.

“Our crew work is going well, and Jes is doing a good job calling tactics,” Jablonski said, referring to Danish tactician Jes Gram-Hansen, who finished third overall on last year’s Swedish Match Tour.

“It’s very shifty out there,” Jablonski continued. “Sometimes you have to leave the competition and sail to a shift. But you never know how it’ll end up. Sometimes it (the shift) can disappear pretty fast. You don’t want to risk the big splits.”

Among the highlights in the first three flights of the day involved Peter Gilmour’s Pizza-La Sailing Team, which won three of four matches. They improved their record to 4-2 and hold third place in the standings.

Gilmour beat Coutts in the first match of the day and Pacé in the second flight, rallying for come-from-behind victories each time. All three skippers are veterans of the Swedish Match Tour and have a combined seven world match-racing championships to their credit.

Against Coutts, Gilmour trailed by three boatlengths at the windward mark. But he and his crew pulled off a quick jibe while Coutts and his Alinghi Team did a bear-away set, which allowed Gilmour to roll Coutts.

Gilmour rounded the leeward mark just ahead of Coutts, but then extended on the next beat to win by three lengths.

Against Pacé, Gilmour received a pre-start penalty which he carried around the course. On the racetrack, Gilmour and Pace were very evenly matched. They sailed within two boatlengths of each other until the final run.

At the top of the second beat as the two tacked to port for the windward mark, Gilmour held the inside position. Instead of bearing away, Gilmour held Pacé head-to-wind, luffing. Gilmour broke away first and had a clean set, opening a two-length lead with the run to the finish ahead.

Gilmour added another length to his lead in the 7-knot winds, but still had a penalty to complete to win the match. As he approached the line, his crew raised the jib, lowered the spinnaker and performed their 270-degree penalty turn as Pacé closed from behind.

Pacé was too far behind, however, and Gilmour pulled off the win.

Jablonski, Brady and Gilmour are the only three skippers in the field of 12 with winning records. Radich is even at 3-3, but the rest of the field has losing records.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is Coutts, who is in 12th place with a 1-5 mark. His one victory came against Baird. Coutts has been off the Tour for a while and says he is here just to have fun. But for a three-time America’s Cup champion, losing is no fun.

Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow.

Around Bahrain

The World Sailing Speed Record Council has granted A Performance Certificate for Around Bahrain, singlehanded, with assistance. Details as follows:

Sami Kooheji
Laser dinghy
1st to 2nd April 2004
Elapsed time 27 hours 1 minute 22 seconds.
Distance 86.4 nm

An extract from the WSSR Commissioner's report:

"Situated in the south-western corner of the Persian Gulf, between the
coasts of Saudi Arabia and the State of Quatar, Bahrain is an archipeligo
of 36 islands with a total land area of 706 sq. km.

The name is derived from the two Arabic words "thnain bahr" meaning "two
seas". This refers to the phenomenon of sweet water springs under the sea,
which mingle with the salty sea water. The water in this area of the Gulf
is in general very shallow with coral reefs just below or at the surface in
many places. The tidal range being seldom more than one metre the use of
even small escorting power boats for such a circumnavigation must be
undertaken with great circumspection."

So a larger, faster boat may have to travel a much larger distance

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council

1000 Miler for Open 60's

In five days time, there will be six Open 60 footers and 30 sailors setting off from Calais bound for the mythical Fastnet lighthouse. The lack of quantity will be more than recompensed by the high quality of the competitors participating in the first event in the IMOCA season, the "1000 milles de Calais".

The crème of the 60 footer skippers For the Open 60 footer racers, the main event circled on this year’s calendar is the Vendée Globe. And in anticipation of this great single-handed loop of the world, the « 1000 milles de Calais » have a lighter, crewed race : a return trip between Calais and the Fastnet, a technical and tactical race to get the season off to a cracking start.

Golding, Dick, Jourdain, Riou, Seeten, they were all amongst the top ten in the IMOCA world championship 2003 and will all be taking the start of the « 1000 milles de Calais" on Sunday 9 May. Joining them will be a newcomer to their « club » who is far from being a raw recruit in the world of ocean racing : Jean le Cam, who will have the naming ceremony for his brand new monohull, Bonduelle, the day before the start.

The six skippers and their four respective crew have an eloquent track record. The Brit Mike Golding, was always amongst the top three in 2003, and took line honours in the Défi Atlantique; Jean Pierre Dick is the recent winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre; Roland « Bilou » Jourdain made the podium in all the events in 2003 and won the Route du Nouveau Monde; and finally, Vincent Riou won the Calais Round Britain Race last year, while Joé Seeten took third in the last Route du Rhum. As for Jean le Cam, he is a triple winner of the Solitaire du Figaro and has raced his last miles aboard his ocean-going trimaran Bonduelle whilst managing a fine third place in the Challenge Mondial Assistance.

The generation gap. All will not be raced on a level pegging in Calais with the varying generations of boats making for an all the more poignant success. Firstly there will be the state-of-the-art yachts which were worn in last season like Ecover (Mike Golding) and Virbac (Jean Pierre Dick).

Then there will be the 60 footers which date back to the Vendée Globe 2000, starting with the winner, PRB (Vincent Riou) and the most ancient of the fleet, Arcelor Dunkerque (Joé Seeten). Finally, the "1000 milles de Calais » will be the first race for the two sisterships fresh out of their moulds, Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) and Sill (Roland Jourdain).

A natural balance should come into play as the skippers tease out the superior performances of the most recent 60 footers and the assured reliability of the older models. Everything is geared up for a 1000 mile roller coaster of a regatta spanning four to six days.

Crew list for the « 1000 milles de Calais » :
Arcelor Dunkerque
Joé Seeten/ skipper
Luc Meurisse
Gilles Colubi
Elie Canivenc
NC

Bonduelle
Jean Le Cam/skipper
Ronan Le Goff
Henri Daden
Pascal Dourlen
Yann Regniau

Ecover
Mike Golding (GBR)/skipper
Merfyn Owen (GBR)
Brian Thompson (GBR)
Graham Tourell (GBR)
Bruno Dubois (BEL/CAN)

PRB
Vincent Riou / skipper
Yann Eliès
François Laurent
Jean Marc Failler
Albert Barguès (ESP)

Sill
Roland Jourdain /skipper
Gaël Le Cléach
François Scheek
Bruno Béhuret
Hugues Destremau

Virbac
Jean Pierre Dick/skipper
Nicolas Abiven
Luc Bartissol
Laurent Delage
Jean Yves Gau

Linky Sailing News

Racing Elba Cup Day 2

News Volvo Baltic Race . Hall Spars expands. Speak sails

Great Lakes Next for the Mackinaw. Nugent ruling delayed.

College Sailing Rankings

The newly painted Mirage awaits launch.

Olympic Qualifiers in Star Class

Following some problems with the scoring of the Star World Championship that delayed the final results, results have now been released and those nations who have qualified for an entry to the Olympic Sailing Competition confirmed.
Although still to be ratified by ISAF, the following four nations have qualified: Spain, Denmark, Germany and Canada. The ISAF ratification will confirm that the athletes who qualified the above nations meet the nationality requirements as set out in the Qualification System for the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The results mean that Spain and Germany now join Australia, France and Great Britain as the only nations to have qualified in every sailing event in Athens. They will be sending a full team of sailors along with Greece, who as host country automatically qualify in every event.

List of qualified nations

Elba Cup Day 2

Poland’s Karol Jablonski holds sole possession of first place at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman with a perfect 4-0 record after winning his two matches today at the Swedish Match Tour event.

New Zealand’s Gavin Brady, helmsman for Oracle BMW Racing, the America’s Cup Challenger of Record, and Denmark’s Jesper Radich, the reigning Swedish Match Tour champion, are also undefeated at 2-0. (See racing schedule and results.)

After too much wind to open the event yesterday, today’s weather continued to wreak havoc on the event. Principal Race Officer Giorgio Laura postponed, started and abandoned matches due to the ever-changing winds. The day’s racing ended around 7:30 p.m.

“We’re happy with our results and to be leading,” said Jablonski with a crazed laugh after disembarking his boat at 7:55 p.m., concluding a five-hour day and two matches. “The conditions are tough. Not just for us, but the race committee also.”

The regatta schedule calls for a 22-flight round robin followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and final. After the first two days only six flights have been completed, putting the schedule in jeopardy and turning tomorrow’s scheduled lay day into a race day.

Despite looking weary, event organizer Antonio Nappi maintains a positive attitude.

“At this point we still have tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday,” Nappi said. “So I’m hopeful we can get all the racing done. We’ll review it tomorrow based on the weather.”

Tomorrow’s forecast is the worst of the week. A series of low pressure systems have been sweeping across the Mediterranean Sea, and tomorrow they’re predicted to produce Force 7 to 8 southwesterly winds, between 28 and 40 knots.

Today started benign, with the Bay of Porto Azzurro nearly becalmed at 9:00 a.m. The start of the day was postponed to allow for some maintenance work on the boats and the breeze to fill.

At 12:00 p.m. PRO Laura lowered the postponement signal and sent the crews to the bay as a 6- to 8-knot southeasterly filled. By the time he began the starting sequence for Flight 4 an hour later, the wind had dropped to 4 knots and eventually died away to nothing by the start of the second match. With no breeze, he was forced to abandon the flight.

Around 2:00 p.m. Laura moved the racecourse to the mouth of the bay to conduct racing. A 5-knot south/southeasterly breeze gusted to 8 knots, but the winds were so shifty that it made for difficult match-racing. A boat two lengths to windward of another would be sailing 20 degrees higher.

Laura began Flight 4 at 2:30 p.m., but the right side of the racecourse was so heavily favored that whoever won the committee boat end of the line won the match, as Peter Gilmour (AUS/Pizza-La Sailing Team), Brady and Radich were able to do.

Radich, who won last week’s Garda Trentino Open Match Race at Lake Garda, Italy, beat three-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team) in this manner. The third match of the flight, their first beat was nearly a fetch as the wind had veered right up to 50 degrees.

Radich won the boat end and led all the way around the course. On the first leg they tacked once, to lay the windward mark. The second windward mark was moved to account for the wind shift, but there were still 20-degree oscillations.

“The start was the key,” said Radich.

The skewed course infuriated Coutts, now 0-2, who said that it’s nearly impossible to run a regatta in between a 500-foot hill and a 1,000-foot mountain range, which line the northern and southern sides of the bay.

Jablonski, a successful sailor with multiple world championships to his credit, including the match-racing worlds in 2002, has yet to win on the Swedish Match Tour. In 11 events his best finish is a second at last year’s Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand, Sweden, which helped him place fifth overall on the Tour.

With Swedish Match Tour competitor Jes Gram-Hansen of Denmark calling tactics, Jablonski beat Michael Dunstan (AUS/OzBoyz Challenge) and Philippe Presti (FRA/le Defi) today.

“We had a bunch of problems,” Jablonski said. “We had to replace two jibs because of the luff tape and we also had winch problems.”

They also had problems with the race committee work in their final match of the day against Presti. Rounding a leeward mark the race committee changed the course to the next windward mark.

The signal boat was out of place, which made it impossible for Jablonski to acknowledge the change.

“We couldn’t hear the signal or see the change of course flag,” Jablonski said. “The onboard umpire couldn’t hear or see it either. They (the signal boat) were downwind of us.”

The Jablonski-Presti match was re-sailed, and Jablonski beat Presti by more than a minute, in his estimation. “We were able to get a penalty on him in the pre-start and then extended away on the course.”

While Jablonski’s group has completed four flights (12 matches), the other group of six skippers has completed two flights (six matches) in two days.

Safety: Requiremed Equipment

The following is a list of required safety equipment. These requirements are a minimum and should not be considered comprehensive. Later this month we will look at additions this list.

Toscana Elba Cup

In rotten sailing conditions suited more for luck than match-racing, three flights were completed on the first day of the third annual Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman, an event of the Swedish Match Tour.

Intermittent rain coupled with huge wind shifts and gusts made for a radical day of sailing. No lead was safe.

“It was puffy, it was shifty, it was crappy,” said John Cutler (NZL/Mascalzone Latino) who went 1-1 on the day. “But it was what it was.”

Karol Jablonski (POL/Toscana Challenge), the 2002 match-racing world champion, won both of his matches and heads the leaderboard. The only skipper at 2-0, his record is due more to the fact that his group of six crews completed two flights while the second group of six completed just one.

Gavin Brady (NZL/Oracle BMW Racing), Jesper Radich (DEN/Team Denmark) and Bertrand Pacé (FRA/Team France) won their Flight 3 matches and stand at 1-0.

Paolo Cian (ITA/Riviera di Rimini Sailing Team), Magnus Holmberg (SWE/SeaLife Rangers), Michael Dunstan (AUS/OzBoyz Challenge) and Cutler are all 1-1.

Peter Gilmour (AUS/Pizza-La Sailing Team), Ed Baird (USA/Team Musto) and Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team) are 0-1. Philippe Presti (FRA/le Défi) is 0-2.

The race committee postponed racing this morning at 9:00 a.m. due to strong winds blowing 25 knots and gusting to 28 knots. Weary of damaging the boats and hindering the racing schedule, the committee decided to postpone until 1:00 p.m.

The first flight finally got underway around 2:30 p.m., and it quickly became apparent that the skippers and crews were going to have a taxing day.

Cutler and Dunstan were first to start. Cutler, a veteran America’s Cup campaigner since 1992, got the better of the rookie Dunstan in the pre-start and, with the wind blowing around 18 knots and gusting to 21, quickly opened a comfortable 100-meter lead in the first minute of their match. But by the windward mark Dunstan had climbed back into contention.

“We were trailing by 100 meters in the first race but were able to close to 20 meters on a huge shift and him sailing into a hole,” said the 22-year-old Dunstan, who lost the match.

A similar scenario played out in Flight 3, when Brady staged a huge comeback over Gilmour. Trailing by about four boatlengths around the leeward mark, Brady used a shift and more pressure to take the lead and the victory, which he chalked up to luck.

“He (Gilmour) rounded the leeward mark and hesitated,” Brady explained. “That gave us the right side. We got a shift, but it wasn’t too big. It was more pressure, and he sailed into a hole.”

Holmberg may have been the luckiest person on the day, but it wasn’t due to a windshift. Leading Presti in his Flight 1 match, Holmberg broached on the first run in a 20-knot puff and 30-degree shift, and wound up well to the right side of the leeward mark.

Presti sailed through and took a 10-boatlength lead. He also had a penalty against Holmberg for a pre-start incident. With a comfortable advantage and a penalty against his opponent, Presti should’ve been home free.

But he inexplicably rounded the leeward mark to begin a third lap in the two-lap race. Holmberg sailed toward the finish, performed his penalty turn and won the match while Presti sailed upwind.

Racing resumes tomorrow with the first warning signal scheduled for 11:00 a.m. A full schedule of flights is planned, weather permitting.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Match racing

News Swan layoff's. Macarthur to New York. Work List

Great Lakes PWC bill. Protection

College Sailing Charleston

Change of Cutters

This spring the US Coast Guard is seeing a changing of the cutters on the Great Lakes. The Sundew is ending her Coast Guard service having been commissioned in August 1944. The cutter has been home ported around Lake Michigan. Home ports have included: Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Sturgeon Bay and Charlevoix.

The retirement of the Sundew will leave the Acacia as the only ship of her type operating.

Amongst her many duties have been rescue, towing, aids to navigation, ice breaking and transporting lighthouse keepers when lights were still manned.

The Sundew will remain in Duluth Minnesota where she has home ported since 1980, as a maritime museum. Her replacement will be the Alder.

While the Sundew's career ends, the Hollyhock is was officially commissioned in Port Huron MI.

The Hollyhock is part of a class of ships known as 225' sea going buoy tenders. She was built at Marinette Marine on the Great Lakes. The Alder is a sister ship of Hollyhock.

These new ships will help the Coast Guard better accomplish their ever expanding task list. The Sundew will continue to serve by teaching people about maritime history while serving as a museum.

Alternator Facts

A frequent request from customers is bigger alternators for their diesel engines. This is such a frequent question we even have published articles on the entire alternator upgrading process.

Recently then I came across an article by respected author Don Casey on alternators.

Casey makes some interesting points. He is skeptical of whether you really need a bigger alternator. Unless you have 4 or more batteries he says there is "no benefit to having an alternator larger than 25 or 30 amps."

If you do have a 4 battery set up then an alternator of 110 amps will help. Casey says that a high ouptut 110 amp alternator will recharge 4 house batteries that have been 50% discharged 20 minutes faster than a normal alternator. There's your difference 1/3rd of an hour.

High output alternators improve charging time about 15% according to Casey. It's not so simple that a 100 amp alternator will charge batteries in 1/2 the time of a 55 amp unit.

In a way this information helps me justify my thoughts about adding a new alternator. They help, but they don't help that much.

Facts are often unpopular and this maybe the case for this alternator info. Our need it, want it, demand it now culture carries over to sailboats. We want our juice and we want it now!

These facts go to show that as with other things in sailing, it just takes awhile....

Linky Sailing News

Racing US needs to qualify

News Tri photos. US Olympic Sailing team. Star thoughts

Great Lakes Sand Dune Defenders Day. Commissioning.

College Sailing NE team racing champs. Hawaii sweeps

Sand Dune Defenders Day May 19

Sand Dune Defenders to be Honored on May 19

On May 19, Michigan's second annual Sand Dune Day, the Lake
Michigan Federation will announce three inductees into the first ever Sand
Dune Defenders Hall of Fame. Induction in the Sand Dune Defenders Hall of
Fame is a high honor that recognizes persons that have made a significant
and enduring contribution to protection of the Lake Michigan coastal dune
system. The Sand Dune Defenders Hall of Fame honors activists, volunteers,
government officials, politicians, authors, artists, and community leaders.

The new inductees and Michigan's ecologically unique sand dunes will be the
focus at a celebration and award ceremony during the second annual Michigan
Sand Dune Day at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon. In a proclamation
that cites the dunes' international prominence, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is
urging the public to join in "recognizing the significant contribution of
sand dunes to Michigan's heritage, economy and future prosperity."

The event, sponsored by the Lake Michigan Federation, will feature the Sand
Dune Defenders Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony, a social hour, children's
activities, and a guided sunset dune hike. More dune hikes, presentations
and events are scheduled from May 16-22 at various locations up and down the
coast of Lake Michigan.

Sand Dune Day is meant to draw attention to the vulnerability of Michigan's
treasured dunes and increase public action on their behalf. Home to the
world's largest concentration of freshwater sand dunes -- some of them
towering up to 300 feet -- the state and its residents preside over a
special legacy, says Tanya Cabala, associate director for the Federation

"The dunes are breathtaking, yet more fragile than they appear. Those who
love them and value their contribution to our region have a responsibility
to help make sure they are here for generations to come," says Cabala.

In past years, Michigan's citizens have pushed state action to protect the
dunes. Public pressure prompted passage of the Michigan Sand Dune
Protection and Management Act in 1976, providing a framework to regulate
mining of the dunes, and in the 1980s, regulations for building on dunes.
Yet, they remain under siege to this day from continued mining and
development pressure.

The Lake Michigan Federation (www.lakemichigan.org) is a Great Lakes
citizens' organization that works to restore fish and wildlife habitat,
conserve land and water, and eliminate pollution in the watershed of
America's largest lake through education, research, law, science, economics,
and strategic partnerships.

470 Worlds: US needs to Qualify

In Zadar, Croatia forty three nations will contest the last of the 2004 470
Class Olympic Qualification regatta's starting this week at the S.C.
Uskok, Zadar Croatia. With 6 Olympic Slots to be decided in the Men's
division and 5 in the Women's, competition among the 140+ Teams will be
hot from the start.

Sailors from around the World including 8 teams from China and 11 from
Japan will also be contesting their National Olympic Selections in Zadar.

Qualifying rounds for the 34th Worlds Championship will start on the 10th
of May with Finals beginning on the 13th of May.

Many eye's will be on the dominant Women's Greek team of Sofia Bekatorou &
Emilia Tsoulfa to see if they can secure their record breaking 5th World
Championship in a row. This would certainly be a good omen for the Greek
pair looking to "Grab Gold" in their home country's Olympic Games come
August.

In the Men's Championship, competition has never been tougher with 15 or
more teams possible Title winners. Just 10 points separated the top 6
places at the recent Princess Sofia regatta. But favourites must come from
the Australian's Nathan Wilmot & Malcolm Page , ranked at number 1 in the
ISAF Rankings, Johan Molund & Martin Andersson from Sweden (Winner of the
2 Pre-Olympic regattas) or Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield of Britain (winners
of the Princess Sofia) .

The USA's women's team of Katie Mcdowell and Isabell Kinsolving still need to secure an Olympic berth. This means they must finish in the top 5 amongst nations already qualified. They have already won the US Olympic Trials.

May Notes and Events

From the World Almanac Newsletter:

May 4 1494 Christopher Columbus discovers Jamaica.

May 7 1915 The British ship Lusitania, traveling from New York to Liverpool, is torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland.

May 8 World Red Cross Day...learn 1st Aid and CPR in honor of this day

May 25-26 National Geogrphaic Bee...learn navigation early

Michigan Women Also Qualify

ICSA President Mitch Brindley announced to the ICSA list that because SAISA did not have five teams participating in its District Championship it will forfeit its second berth. He noted that the MCSA, being next in line to receive a berth will get a third berth to the 2004 Women's Championship.

Michigan finished third in the MCSA Women's Championship and is eligible go to the ICSA Women's North American Championship along with Wisconsin and Michigan State. Congratulations to the Michigan Women's Sailing Team.

Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point- Measurements in Inches

Difference from Chart Datum +1
Difference from last month +4
Difference from last year +7
Difference from long term average for April -15
Difference from Record High -46
Difference from Record Low +17
Forecast for 30 May 2004 +4

Click for information on other lakes.

April Weather Report

A warmer than normal April has followed a warmer than normal winter-at least in Muskegon. April was 2.7 degrees above normal temperature-wise. Warmest day was the 18th when we hit 77°. This was during a stretch from the 15th to the 19th when temperatures average 8° above normal with summer like highs in the 70's and lows in the 40's and 50's. This warm streak came after the 9th to the 14th when temperatures were below normal as lows were below freezing and 50 was as warm as it got. The monthly low was earlier in the month- 24 degrees on the 5th.

While it was warm there wasn't much rain or snow to go with the warmth. 1.83 inches of rain fell, over an inch under the norm. On the 17th nearly 1/2 an inch of rain fell. No snow fall was recorded. Despite this the water level rose 4 inches and is 7 inches above 2003.

The lack of precipitation meant that there were 13 clear days, and only 3 cloudy ones, with 14 in between partly cloudy days.

Average wind speed was 11.2 knots. The 29th was the windiest day with an average of 23.1 knots. The 7th saw a wind average of 4.9 knots, the monthly low.

Year to date Muskegon's temperatures stand at 1.6 degrees above normal. This is better than 2003 when temperatures were actually below normal but is below the preceding 3 years.

The last two Mays have seen below normal temperatures. Hopefully the first month of the northern sailing season will be warm in 2004.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Swedes win Star Worlds Cayard/Trinter 5th. Bermuda Race Week. Radich Match Race win.

News Coutts starts to work up. STD

Great Lakes Hollyhock begins, Sundew ends. PH Mac history

College Sailing Wisconsin wins MCSA Co-ed dinghies.

New Zealand Qualifies in Stars

Rohan Lord and Andrew Taylor finished in 18th place at the Star Class World Championships sailed off Italy and have qualified the Star Class for New Zealand. Lord and Taylor were 41st in the last race but their solid results in earlier races enabled them to secure the 4th and final qualifying spot. Other nations to qualify were Denmark, Canada, and Germany.

The Swedish team of Frederik Loof and Anders Estron sailed an impressive regatta to win the World Championship. Switzerland’s Flavio Marazzi & Enrico De Maria finished in 2nd place and Great Britain’s Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell in 3rd place. Loof and Estron are showing excellent form in their build up to the Olympic's, after also winning the European Championships this year.

In a very strong fleet of highly regarded sailors, such as America’s Cup veterans, Paul Cayard and Torben Grael, along with former World Champions and Continental Champions, Lord and Taylor showed they could match it with the best of them. Racing in a fleet of over 100 yachts, Lord and Taylor spent most of the regatta in the top ten, only to slip back into 18th position on the last day of racing.

The Kiwi duo only teamed up last year but it would seem that their combination is exactly what’s needed. Lord is a top dinghy sailor and Taylor is one of the most experienced keelboat sailors around, having been part of New Zealand’s two winning America’s Cup teams.

Simon Wickham, Yachting New Zealand’s CEO, considers that ‘It’s fantastic that they’ve qualified and now have the opportunity for selection. It’s a very good result for such a new combination’.

The Star Class has been a medal winning class for New Zealand at past Olympic Games, where in 1992, Rod Davis and Don Cowie won a silver medal.

MCSA Dinghy Championships

MCSA Co-ed Dinghy Championships
University of Wisconsin
May 1-2, 2004

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:
Saturday:
Winds started out at 10mph and diminished in the afternoon. Temperatures
were in the 40s early on and warmed up to the mid 50s. Thirteen races were
completed. "A" division sailed 7 races and the "B" division sailed 6 races.
Windward-leewards twice around courses were sailed in the morning, and once
around as winds diminished. Four protests were filed.

Sunday:
The day started with winds out at 10-12mph with temps in the low 30s. The
wind became light with heavy snow showers. The snow ended at 11am. Then
winds died completely, and it became sunny with temperatures in the mid 50s.
Only 1 "A" race was completed in the morning. Races were postponed from
11am-1pm for no wind. Two "B" races were sailed in the afternoon with light
variable winds. Windward-leeward once around were sailed. No protests were
filed.

Thank you to Chip Mann and Dave Schmidt for being on RC. Also thank you to
our judges George Griswold, Andy Kiener, and Don Glasell.

MCSA Co-Ed Championship
University of Wisconsin
May 1-2, 2004

FINAL RESULTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TOT
1
Wisconsin A 5 2 4 6 2 2 2 1 24
B 2 5 2 1 3 2 3 5 23
7 14 20 27 32 36 41 47 47

2
Michigan A 3 7 1 1 1 1 5 4 23
B 3 8 6 5 5 9 7 9 52
6 21 28 34 40 50 62 75 75

3
Minnesota A 1 1 2 3 10 5 6 2 30
B 4 11 9 2 2 5 9 4 46
5 17 28 33 45 55 70 76 76

4
Indiana A 4 11 10 2 4 7 1 3 42
B 7 9 3 7 1 7 2 2 38
11 31 44 53 58 72 75 80 80

5
St. Thomas A 2 3 8 9 11 10 7 6 56
B OCS 3 1 4 6 6 1 6 40
15 21 30 43 60 76 84 96 96

6
Northwestern A 6 4 3 4 6 6 11 10 50
B OCS 4 8 10 8 1 4 1 49
19 27 38 52 66 73 88 99 99

7
Marquette A 7 5 9 11 3 3 8 7 53
B 5 2 4 6 9 10 6 7 49
12 19 32 49 61 74 88 102 102

8
Michigan St A 10 6 5 10 9 9 10 11 70
B 1 1 7 3 12 4 5 3 36
11 18 30 43 64 77 92 106 106

9
Ohio A 8 10 12 5 7 4 3 8 57
B 9 7 10 11 10 12 8 11 78
17 34 56 72 89 105 116 135 135

10
Ohio State A 9 8 6 8 5 8 12 9 65
B 10 10 BKD 12 7 11 11 8 79
19 37 53 73 85 104 127 144 144

11
Notre Dame A 11 9 7 7 8 11 9 5 67
B 6 6 11 9 11 8 DNS DNS 77
17 32 50 66 85 104 126 144 144

12
Iowa A 12 12 11 12 12 12 4 12 87
B 8 DSQ 5 8 4 3 10 10 61
20 45 61 81 97 112 126 148 148

A division = 8 Races

TOT
1. Michigan 23 Matt Vanderpool '06
Katie DeWitt '07
2. Wisconsin 24 Matt Schmidt '07 / Anne Porter '05
Carolyn Soling '04 / Anna Bargren '07
3. Minnesota 30 Zach Coelius '04
Jenny Wilson '06
4. Indiana 42 HJ Richardson '05
Buz '06
5. Northwestern 50 Ward Detwiler '06
Cassie Vinograd '06
6. Marquette 53 Christopher Williams '06
Jim Blackwood '06
7. St. Thomas 56 Parker Zanios '07
Jackson Dalton '06
8. Ohio 57 Karl Felger '06
Anna Rice '05
9. Ohio State 65 Bryan Parker '04
Tiffany '04
10. Notre Dame 67 Mike Stephens '04
Erin Elser '06
11. Michigan St 70 Mary Vorel '05
Cory Schoenherr '06
12. Iowa 87 Josiah Ball '08
Jennifer Springsteen '04

B division = 8 Races

TOT
1. Wisconsin 23 Joe Zechlinski '06
Christine Niedziela '04
2. Michigan St 36 Rob Linden '06
Meghan Walter '06
3. Indiana 38 Barrett Rhoads '07
Mike Schmidt / Kate Fredericks
4. St. Thomas 40 Dan Shinosak '05
Jen Impola '07
5. Minnesota 46 Alexander Symes '04
Jordan Jones '05 / Andy Goodreau '07
6. Northwestern 49 Niko Ehrensburger '06
Mary Weaver '06
7. Marquette 49 Hunter Ratliff '05
Chris Acker '07 / Kate Muller '06
8. Michigan 52 Chris Granger '07 / Christina Falcone '07
Thomas Martin '05 / Meredith Cochran '06
9. Iowa 61 Josiah Fricton '04
Kristen Martin del Campo '04
10. Notre Dame 77 Katie Roney '04
Meghann Finerghty '04 / Katie Thompson '05
11. Ohio 78 Mark Paisley '05
Katy Davies '07
12. Ohio State 79 Brad Koinis '05
Matt Nunn