After a highly charged day’s racing on the Clyde in some of the trickiest conditions of the week, Giovanni Coccoluto (ITL) and Erika Reineke (USA) have been crowned the new Laser Radial World Youth Champions.

The upper reaches of the Clyde just to the north of Cumbrae, provided the perfect stage for the final two races of this very competitive and enjoyable series, allowing competitors to really push to their full potential.

In tricky, shifty, light to moderate winds reaching no more than 8-15kts, 16-year-old Reineke from Fort Lauderdale, FL won the event with a race to spare, which is exactly what she set out to do when she left the shore this morning.

In what turned out to be her last race, she had a fairly conservative first beat but this bubbly, determined yet incredibly cool young sailor kept her head when the going was tough and worked her way to the top of the fleet finishing in fourth place, which was enough to secure the overall world championship title. The winner was Evgeniya Kuznetsova (RUS) who sailed an impressive race to take her first win of the week, followed by Amalie Riou (FRA) and Chiara Steinmueller (GER) in second and third respectively.

Manami Doi (JPN) managed to retain her second place overall with a seventh in the last race, while Michelle Broekhuizen (NED) had to settle for third.

Today’s 7th and 37th may have ranked among his worst results of the week but the extremely cool-headed Italian – Giovanni Coccoluto from Circolo Della Vela Muggia – still managed to pull off an exceptionally impressive series to win the Laser Radial Youth Boys’ Championship.

Coccoluto, fresh from winning bronze at the recent ISAF Youth World Championship in Turkey, and winner of the 2009 Laser 4.7 European championship in Helsinki, bagged some consistently good results earlier this week which helped secure the overall title. He won the regatta by a margin of just two points over second placed Tadeusz Kubiak (POL). Kubiak who comes from Szczecin, Poland had a fifth in the first race of the day but not surprisingly, was controlled by Coccoluto in the final race of the series.

Boys Overall Results (after 10 races, 2 discards)
1 Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) 61pts
2 Tadeusz Kubiak (POL) 63pts
3 Luca Antognoli (ITA) 64pts
4 Stefano Mazzaferro (BRA) 74pts
5 Mitchell Kiss (USA) 76pts
6 Ioannis Beginas (GRE) 77pts


Girls Overall Results (after 11 races, 2 discards)
1 Erika Reineke (USA) 22pts
2 Manami Doi (JPN) 49pts
3 Michelle Broekhuizen (NED) 53pts
4 Chiara Steinmueller (GER) 68pts
5 Julia Vallo Arjonilla (ESP) 72pts
6 Tiril Bue (NOR) 72pts

Quotes:
Erika Reineke (USA): “It feels amazing because I’ve never won a world championship. I think it’s a good start. I won the bronze at the ISAF worlds, I finished second at the Youth Europeans in Copenhagen. I started sailing in Optimists from Lauderdale YC. Actually I was hoping to win in Turkey but got the bronze so I came here all fired up to win. I knew I had to fight even harder to do well because I really wanted the gold.”

“When I return home I’ll take a couple of weeks off but then I’ll start training again with an aim of doing the US Olympic trials. Paige Railey is an amazing sailor and I aspire to be like her, and Anna Tunnicliffe of course, so I hope to give them both a good trials. My ultimate aim is to race the Olympics.

“I have a great coach back home – Brad Funk – he has been working and training with me and he has really brought me a long way. As far as day to day training goes, I go to the gym three or four times a week, Saturdays and Sundays I sail Lasers, and Wednesdays after school. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I sail for High School. So, basically I sail every day except Friday when I’m usually travelling to regattas.”

Manami Doi (JPN): “I am very happy indeed to have finished second in this highly competive fleet. If anything the wind was a bit strong today in the last race so I am pleased that I managed to finish seventh in that one. I managed to stay in the boat today too, which was also a big advantage!”

Tadeusz Kubiak (POL): “I was buried in the first race but on last upwind in the I lost two places which is why I am second overall. It’s a great disappointment for me. Overall however, I have had a good week and I’ve learnt a lot. The competition here was high and it was difficult to do well consistently.”

Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA): “I am very happy, I feel lost for words. I had a poor last race because it was very shifty but I managed to control the Polish sailor, Tadeusz Kubiak, who finished 29th in that race. I had to cover him quite a lot and it worked out for me in the end. It’s been a great regatta, and I’ve really enjoyed it. The competition here was exceptionally high which made it difficult to do well. Once I’ve celebrated here, I’m going back to Italy to compete at the Italian national championship which I’m looking forward to.”

Elliot Hanson (GBR): “I’m pretty disappointed overall, with my black flag mainly. It’s a fine line but you have to push it. Unfortunately I pushed it a bit too far and got caught out and had to count it in my overall scoring. I feel I could have done a lot better but looking on the bright side, I have learnt a lot this week and last week at the senior event. It’s only my third major Laser event so it’s been a big learning curve. This is also my last Radial event because I’m going in to Standard rig from now on where I’ll hopefully get into the Laser Youth Squad.”

Charlotte Greenhalgh (GBR): “I had two very good races today with a first and a second which leaves me winning the Silver fleet Girls. It was quite challenging so it was important to keep eyes out the boat looking for wind and pressure, and to be on the right side of the fleet in case the wind changed. Getting the start right today was also important. This is my first world championship so I am really happy with my results.”

Rhianna Pavey (GBR): "I didn’t have such a good day today and I found it quite hard. I was leading the Silver fleet overnight but I didn’t want to get black-flagged again because that was already my discard, so I didn’t push the line too much and ended up second overall. Basically I had a bit of a bad start and couldn’t improve that much."

21 Jul 2010
There was no racing for the TP52 Series fleet today due to winds which were too light while Islas Canarias Puerto Calero won the GP42 Series Practice Race

Only the GP42 Series’ official practice heat was completed today, the first scheduled racing day of the Camper Regatta – Conde de Godó Trophy – Barcelona.

The 11 strong TP52 Series fleet representing 10 different nations, were left waiting, poised and ready for their first ever points racing off Barcelona, but the light breezes proved insufficient to get competition under way.

Around five hours in the hot summer Mediterranean sunshine, tracking the fickle breeze proved to be in vain for the TP52 teams who watched closely to see what they could learn from their smaller GP42 cousins as they took part in a slow, shifty practice race.

But the breeze all but evaporated before the second windward leg was completed and their race was shortened before the final downwind.

For the GP42’s the light airs practice was considered a good chance to get attuned to the kind of conditions which are expected to prevail for some of this regatta. Their practice race today started in a promising 8 knots, but soon degraded to less than 6 knots with many light air zones and shifts in direction down.

Even though AIRISESSENTIAL (ITA) had an enormous lead around the first top mark, they fell prey to the fickle conditions and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) was able to take and hold the lead into the finish.

This must be promising for the Canarias team, as light air has not been their strong suit in previous stages.

Madrid Caser-Seguros (ESP), runner-up in the practice race today and a sistership to Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, has been aggressively changing their boat set-up to optimize for light air. They did this by removing some heavy items on board and adding corrector weights to get to the absolute bare minimum all-up weight (4200 kg) which was verified by class measurer Jorge Flethes (ESP) on a crane scale yesterday. This and “a few rig and sail changes,” says helmsman Paolo Cian (ITA), “will make us a little faster in the light air. But overall we feel really good for this regatta.”

While they retired today, another team to watch in the light air will be Iberdrola (ESP), who won handily in the first day’s light air at the last stage in Marseille. They have an older generation Botin Carkeek design that has proven to be a good overall performer, and in the light they seem to have an edge on the newer Botin Carkeek designs.

And if only through sheer will, Peninsula Petroleum (GBR) will be strong in their quest to dig out from the points deficit.

Opening party
Last night the Audi MedCup Regatta village for the Camper Regatta – Conde de Godó Trophy – Barcelona on the Moll de la Fusta came alive for a huge opening party which drew more than 700 invited guests, including many local Barcelona celebrities and VIP’s.

Three races are scheduled for the both the TP52 Series fleet and the GP42 Series fleet tomorrow (Thursday) with this evening’s forecast seeming to offer the prospect of a racing breeze.

Follow all the racing live on Audi MedCup TV which starts broadcasting daily at 1250hrs (CET).

Matt Belcher and Malcolm Page. photo Thom Touw

16 July 2010
Mother nature played ball for the last day of the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship taking place in The Hague, with brilliant sunshine and a 12 knot southwesterly breeze for the Men's and Women's medal races, held directly off the beach at the Hague.

In the Men's race Australians Matt Belcher and Malcolm Page had secured gold through their 20 point lead yesterday to claim the Men's World Championship title. 'This is my fifth World Championship win and every one of them has been hard," commented Page. Belcher added: 'This year our goals were to win one event outside of Europe, one grade 1 event and to win the World Cup and to medal at the Worlds. This has been a marathon and by day three it felt like we had run 30km already..." They have more than achieved on their objective for in addition to their latest title, Belcher and Page have also sewn up the 2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup, with an event to spare.

With gold secure, the fight was fully on for the remaining podium positions between six boats. In the end it was France's Beijing bronze medallist Nicolas Charbonnier, sailing with Baptiste Meyer Dieu, who won the men's medal race to take the silver, passing the medal race's early leaders, Croats Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, who took bronze. Second going into the medal race, Greece's Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis came home ninth, dropping them to fifth overall behind Skandia Team GBR's Nic Asher and Elliot Willis.

'We were thinking we could win if it was light, but finally we got second and it was quite windy - we were thinking we weren't that fast in those conditions," said Charbonnier. 'That is new for us and we are really happy about this - it is good for the future."

While Fantela and Marenic were first around the top mark, the French team gybed early and pulled into the lead on the first run, never relinquishing it.

'It was a difficult race," admitted Fantela. 'We had a good start and first upwind." But on the run they chose to continue on starboard gybe. This took them closer to the beach where in theory the tide against them at this point should have been less, but according Marenic this proved not to be the case and contributed to Charbonnier and Meyer getting through.

'We are very pleased," concluded Fantela, the out-going World Champion. 'Any medal was a success for us."

However the class act of this regatta has been the newly crowned Australian World Champions, Beijing Gold medallist Malcolm Page and his new helm Matt Belcher.

'They are really good, especially when it is windy," said Charbonnier. 'We have a lot of work to do if we want to compete with them." This view was shared by Fantela and Marenic. 'They sail really consistently with good speed and good tactics and strategy. If they didn't start well or the first upwind isn't good, they can really pass many more boats than anyone else. And Viktor has many many medals," confided Fantela, referring to Viktor Kovalenko, the Australian team's Ukrainian coaching legend, who has been dubbed 'the medal maker' thanks to the part he has played in five Olympic gold 470 medals.

While Belcher and Page were secure in first place going into today's medal race, the case was the opposite in the Women's medal race where leaders New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie were one slender point ahead of the powerful Dutch defending World Champions, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout.

In the end, the Dutch got a good start off the pin end of the line while Aleh and Powrie were forced to tack away early and duck transoms. The Dutch pulled into the lead on the first run with the New Zealanders mid-fleet and while the two boats match raced up the second beat this was not enough to bring the New Zealanders back into contention. The run saw the Dutch overtaken by France's world no1 Ingrid Petitjean and Nadège Douroux and third placed Italians Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol, but the Dutch still had four boats between them and the New Zealanders. Victory was theirs, their second 470 World Championship win as a team, and Lobke Berkhout's fifth, a record that now exceeds the four wins of Greece's Sofia Bekatorou and Emilia Tsoulfa.

Even before they had reached the finish line the celebrations had begun on the Dutch boat, as it had in the spectator fleet, jubilant that their sailors had taken Gold. 'Winning a title in our own country in home waters was definitely something extra," said Berkhout.

While disappointed not to have won, Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie were more than satisfied with second, given that their objective had been a top five finish in this World Championship. Aleh reckoned the Dutch had got away from them on the first run. 'We got in a lane but were then held up by a few other boats," she admitted.

Going into the medal race, Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol were reasonably secure in their bronze position, a second place finish in the medal race making little impression on the outcome. So disappointed/happy? 'Both of them," said Conti. 'I am happy to get third, which is a great result; disappointed because of the disqualification yesterday which took us out [of contention for gold]. But still I am pretty satisfied and if I had to mark myself out of 10, I would give myself 9."

Winning the medal race caused France's Ingrid Petitjean and Nadège Douroux to knock Skandia Team GBR's Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clark out of fourth place. The French team, like the Italians, were hard hit with a black flag penalty for being over the start line early yesterday in race 10. 'We didn't train too much in the wind this year - in fact we didn't train too much at all," admitted Petitjean. 'Usually we love strong winds, it is just we were not so comfortable."

This is the first major championship The Hague has hosted since the International Sailing Centre has opened. However the city is gunning hard to host the ISAF World Sailing Games prior to the 2016 Olympic Games.


Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout. photo Thom Touw

photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

12 July 2010
Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship
Istanbul, Turkey

250 boats were rigged in the dinghy park in the blaring Istanbul sun early in the morning of the second day of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, waiting for a sea breeze to form.

Competitors had to wait until 16:30hrs local time for the breeze to fill and then when the gun went a blaze of dinghies sailed off into the early evening sunshine to try and get at least one race completed. The breeze filled to around seven knots on the three courses but it remained puffy and made for a long day on the water for the race officials trying to set their courses as well as around 350 young sailors.

The RS:X boys and girls did complete two more races and the 29ers likewise but the Laser Radial fleets and the SL 16 Sirena cats only managed one race as did the 420 boys and girls who had to be towed ashore as darkness fell across the Marmara Bay.

Two more races for the RS:X fleets today in the light and shifty conditions. Yesterday’s leader Ofir Halevy (ISR) continues to show her opposition a clear pair of heels scoring another bullet and a third to open up a comfortable six point lead. She has now won three out of four races. Charalambia Antonatou of Greece also had a good day with a win and a second to jump into second overall.

Four time Olympic medallist Alessandra Sensini (ITA) watching from a coach boat advised, “There was quite a bit of current on the course, it was gusty and shifty, it was very important to get a good start and choose the right side of the course.”

The young windsurfers had to work very hard almost constantly pumping their sails to push their boards around the course. In the boys division Wonwoo Cho of Korea was joined at the top of the scoreboard by Mateo Sanz of Spain level on 10 points. RS:X Youth European bronze medallist Omer Sofer of Israel holds onto third spot.

The two 420 classes had the farthest distance to travel to get to their start and after a number of course changes only managed one race in the fading breeze returning under tow after dark at 21:00 hrs local time.

The Austrians Lara Vadlau and Hannah Hanke came second to take the lead in the 420 girls, whilst the Swiss girls Linda Fahrhi and Maja Siegenthalter hold onto their second spot with the French girls Maelenn Lemaitre and Aloise Retornaz advancing up the leader board to take third spot on the podium.

There was no real change in the top section of the 420 boys division with the Japanese boys Hiroki Yamaguchi and Tetsuya Isozaki holding onto their lead three points ahead of the Spanish crew of Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp and the Portuguese pairing Jao Villas Boas and Tomas Camelo.

In the SL16 Open multihull event one of the pre-event medal favourites, Chase Lurati and Paul Darmanin of Australia have taken a narrow lead with consistent placing’s from the Danish pair Daniel Bjornholt and Nicolaj Bjornholt and the French team of Antoine Dljou and Guillaume le Croq.

The 29ers raced two races closer to the shore and having completed five races are able to discard their worst result. This has had an effect on the overall placing’s with the USA crew of Antoine Screve and James Moody dropping a 15th in race three and counting top three positions in all their other races. Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet (FRA) won the first race of the day and followed up with a second in race two to keep the pressure on the Americans.

Gael Jaffrezic explained, “We went to the pool to relax until we were called to go out. We had to concentrate hard during the race. It was difficult because it was very shifty. If we are down in around 10th place or higher we have to focus to find ways to overtake the fleet.”

In the Laser boys class the local local nation’s representative Levent Ahiskali (TUR) has opened up a commanding lead in the Laser boys event with a second in the only race of the day. Herman Tomasgaard (NOR) started well and held the lead all around the course to win today’s race and jump from 10th to second overall with Ard Van Aanholt all the way from Netherlands Antilles claiming the bronze position. Apart from Ahiskali most of the sailors counted a double digit placing so the testing conditions are obviously proving tough for the biggest fleet on the racecourse.

Tomasgaard explained his improvement today, “I like light winds, I go fast because I am light in weight. I had a really good start and the right side of the course looked good so took it and led the fleet around the top mark, I just needed to cover the fleet.”

The Laser girls had a very close finish in their only race of the day with a big bunch of boats crossing the finish line at the same time keeping the race officials on their toes. Despite finishing 20th in the only race of the day, Chiarra Steinmuller (GER) holds onto a narrow lead from Michelle Broekhuizen (NED) who jumps up from eighth yesterday. The biggest surprise of the day was the winner of today’s race Maria Cristina Boabaid from Florianopolis in Brazil who won having recorded a 35th and 15th in the first two races yesterday, scored a bullet in today’s race.

Maria explains, “I started well to round the first mark in second and just had to chase down the other competitors. It was light and shifty but I like these conditions, they are similar to where I sail at home and I hope for the same after the layday tomorrow.”


photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race


photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race


photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race


photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race


photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

12 July 2010
Conditions transpired against the possibility of racing on the opening day of the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championships, taking place off the Hague, Holland.

The final tally of entries taking part in this resort town, best known for being the home of the International Court of Justice, comes to 119 men and 62 women. Chilean sailors, Aurelia Zulueta and Josefina Eluchans have had to stand down, but there has been an 11th hour entry in the 470 Men's class from India in Pushparajan Muttu and Nijeesh Bhaskaran so there are still 39 nations competing.

After a delay ashore until 2pm (local), the Men's and Women's fleets ventured out into a near mill pond, as they did their best to not be thrown around too much by the tide. But with storm clouds looming and no start looking possible, the fleets were sent back ashore - just in time. The lack of wind this afternoon proved to be the calm before the storm for at around 5pm suddenly the heavens opened and there was driving rain and 40 knot gusts. Just over half the fleet had made it safely to land when this struck, but some weren't so lucky. This included the Swedes Anton Dahlberg and Sebastian Östling, who last Wednesday moved into the no.1 position in the new ISAF rankings.

Dahlberg explained what happened: 'When the wind came we were being towed and we were doing a change in the towing. The wind caught us by surprise and we ripped our sails. So we are looking for new sails at the moment. It wasn't the best way to come into the Worlds..."

After a consistent season so far that has seen them finish on the podium at three regattas leading up to the Worlds, so Dahlberg, who typically sails from Stockholm or Gothenberg, says they were hoping for similar success this week.

'It is really big for us - it is like a goal you had in your life and suddenly it is there," he adds of their ranking. 'It has been a really good season. Our consistency has been the best. We have been focussed."

For others the sudden violent downpour came as more of a surprise. Pakistan's entry in the 470 Men, Xerxes Avari and Mehboob Rafiq, have been sailing in the class for eight years and this is their third World Championship. 'We do get rain in Pakistan, but let's hope we get a better day tomorrow," said Avari.

Avari and Rafiq usually sail out of Karachi where they are currently trying to coax more of their compatriots into racing them the Olympic doublehander. 'At the moment there are only two 470s and the other guy doesn't come out very much!" states Avari. 'So we mostly sail on our own, but we are trying to get a few more people involved."

In terms of local competition they have competed in Pakistan for the right to go to the Asian Games, where they finished 'way, way down" according to Avari, who adds they are keeping their fingers crossed for a mid-fleet result this week off the Hague. 'It is good fun, but it is very competitive."

So will there be racing tomorrow? According to Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship Event Director Edwin Lodder the forecast for tomorrow should be better than today. However they do have some flexibility. There is no time limit on when they can start racing, and Lodder says that if conditions prove awkward again this week they have the option of keeping the boats out into the evening. 'We want people back before 9pm We don't want to finish them in the dark or having them back in the harbour after dark."

The forecast has the wind veering through 180 degrees tonight into the northeast. During the day it is supposed to build steadily from 5-10 knots at lunchtime to 10-15 later in the afternoon.

Ainslie winner of the Stena Match Cup Sweden 2010, Marstrand-Sweden. World Match Racing Tour. photo Loris von Siebenthal - myimage

Marstrand, Sweden – 11 July, 2010
During a penalty flag festooned semi final today on the last day of Stena Match Cup Sweden Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team smoked Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Sigma Racing Team 3-0. Living legend Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN dominated Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team going through to the final on 3-1. The ultimate show down came between Ainslie and Radich with Ainslie storming through with 2 comprehensive wins over Radich in light, twitchy conditions. The Brit got what he wanted today becoming 2010’s ‘Maestro of Marstrand’. Holmberg kept in the picture wining 2-1 over Mirsky appearing on the podium in 3rd place.

Ainslie kept his foot on Radich’s throat at all match moments today giving Radich Racing Team no room to breath. There was a constant dialogue onboard TEAMORIGIN, this tight team sailed smart and fast without any inkling of these professionals freezing up under pressure. Boat on boat contact was registered between Ainslie and Radich during the final stages of the pre-start to match 2. The umpires were quick to act and gave Radich a red flag penalty requiring him to take it immediately. The ball was then very firmly in Ainslie’s court as he took clear advantage and led right round the course.

A forward thinking Ainslie is looking into building a solid World Match Racing Tour campaign for the final half of this 2010 Tour season. “It looks like we can do a couple more events now, we can do the Argo Group Match Cup in Bermuda and there’s the new Qingdao Match Cup event so it gives us the opportunity to hopefully get enough scores in. I think it’s going to be hard because we’re not doing as many events as the others, so the strike ratio for us has to be a lot higher”.

The Tour will be rewarding Marstrand’s organisers for their branding efforts during last year’s event at the Closing Ceremony dinner this evening. Stena Match Cup Sweden was awarded the ‘ISAF World Match Racing Tour Best Branding Award’ to highlight their commitment to on site event branding during the 2009 Tour event. With such a successful event 2010 could also be an award winning year for this highly organised venue.

At the beginning of Sweden Ainslie and Radich were equal in the WMRT standings at 7th with 20 points. After Ainslie’s win today he now overtakes Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing and moves up into 5th place. Radich now actually drops down into 8th position overall even though he was 2nd this week. The rise and falls in the standings demonstrates how every point counts. Richard still remains out on top 17 points clear of Mirsky.

The first half of this year’s 10 event World Series has provided World Match Racing Tour teams with ample racing travelling round Europe and to Asia. The teams will now be analysing the first half of their 2010 Tour and strategising for the final half which kicks off at St Moritz Match Race towards the end of August with the Tour culminating in Malaysia at the Monsoon Cup during December.

Stena Match Cup Sweden 2010 Overall Standings
1 Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 25 Points
2 Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team 20 Points
3 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Sigma Racing Team 15 Points
4 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 12 Points
5 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 10 Points
6 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 8 Points
7 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 6 Points
8 Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 4 Points
9 Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team
10 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
11 Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
12 Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
13 Reuben Corbett (NZL) Black Sheep Racing
14 Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team
15 Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing
- Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team

2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings
(After Stage 5 of 10)
1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 77 Points
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 60 Points
3. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 54 Points
4. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 52 Points
5. Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 45 Points
6. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 43 Points
7. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 41 Points
8. Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team 40 Points
9. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Sigma Racing Team 29 Points
10. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 16 Points

Florian Trittel and Lucas Trittel from Spain competing in the 29er class on day 1 of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships 2010, in Istanbul, Turkey. photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

11 July 2010
In contrast to the wet and unstable conditions of the practice race the opening days racing provided a light breeze of 5 – 7 knots from the north-west and warm dry conditions once the early clouds had dispersed.

The first starts were scheduled for 12:00 local time (15:00) UTC but most fleet were only able to complete two races with the breeze fading during the afternoon. The 29ers however did manage to complete the schedule of three short races.

At the end of the day there are eight different nations leading each of the eight classes and the battle for the Volvo Trophy for the best performing nation is very close between Poland, Spain, Denmark and Great Britain.

The two RS:X windsurfing fleets were the first to return ashore after two races. In the RS:X boys division. Wondoo Cho of Korea has started his campaign in great form winning both races.

“It was very light winds, the first race about seven knots but dropping in the second. I finished first in both races so I am very happy”

“In the first race I broke a batten but managed to fix it. I have been getting good starts. We have the same conditions in Pusan where I come from so I like these conditions.”

At the end of day one, second spot overall is held by the Spaniard Mateo Sanx who scored two second places and third position by the current RS:X Youth European championship bronze medallist Omer Sofer (ISR).

In the girls RS:X fleet it was another young Israeli sailor, Ofir Halevy, the current RS:X Youth European champion, who sailed two commanding performances to score two bullets in the light conditions. Coming from Telaviv she also enjoyed similar sailing conditions as she is used to at home.

“I won the first race and the second, for me its perfect conditions, the races were really long and I am tired but I am ready for tomorrow.”

Izzy Hamilton (GBR) who battled with Ofir all the way down to the wire for the title at the recent RS:X Youth Europeans, sits in silver position here in Istanbul with two second places. Making up the podium is Laerke Buhl-Hansen from Denmark.

In the 28 boat 420 girls fleet, Khairunnisa Mohd Afendy and Ameira Izla Zulkefli of Malaysia came ashore quite surprised by their opening day, skipper Khairunnisa explains,

“I have just trained with my new crew for one week, we didn’t come here to win medals or anything, we just came to get experience.”

In a competitive 420 boys fleet of 30 boats the Japanese pair of Hiroki Yamaguchi and Tetsuya Isozaki scored two straight bullets to take an early lead in the light airs from the Spanish crew of Jordi Xammar and Joan Herp who finished the day on seven points, two points clear of Jao Villas Boas and Tomas Camelo.

Despite being one of the heavier crews in the 18 boat 29er fleet Henry Loyd Williams and Sam Batten started their championship with a consistent 4,2,1 score line to end the day in the lead from the French pairing of Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet and the kiwis Alex Maloney and Sam Bullock who were unfortunate to snag a plastic bag whilst leading which dropped them a number of places to end the second race with an elevnth place. They recovered in the third race of the day to finish in bronze spot on the podium after the first day of racing

Henry Loyd Williams said, “We had a good consistent day, we are happy with our results but we have a lot of work to do to hold our position. There were some gusty patches and holes in the wind which made for some interesting racing.”

After the practice race day yesterday, there was a change to the course areas for the two laser fleets. The Laser Radial course was swapped with the 420 and SL16 catamarans so that the single-handed sailors did not have sail as far from the venue.

The first day saw the young Italian sailor in the Laser Radial boys fleet Giovanni Coccoluto and the host nations competitor, Turkish Levent Ahiskali go head to head. Both snatched a first and second place with Kiwi Thomas Saunders in third. The Lasers only managed to fit in two races before the fickle wind conditions prevailed.

World Cup Final fever hit the dinghy park today and in the Laser Radial girls class the Spanish sailor Patricia Coro and the Dutch Michelle Broekhuizen battled it out in the first race. Broekhuizen led for the majority of the race, but Coro eventually pipped her to the post by winning the race. “She may have won on the water today,” said Broekhuizen. “But we will win tonight at the match!”

In the second race of the day Broekhuizen dropped to 16 ending the day in eighth overall. Coro finished with a tenth in the second race to be in the bronze position after day one but consistent results scored by the Polish girl, Paulina Barwinska and Chiara Steinmuller of Germany gave these two girls the top two spots.

The Danish brother and sister team of Nicolaj and Daniel Bjornholt and the French crew of Antoine Dljou and Guillaume Le Croq had a good start to the championship in the SL16 Sirena fleet of eleven boats ending the day on equal points, three points clear of the Australian team Chase Lurati and Paul Darmanin.

The RS:X fleets have the opportunity to attend a post-race briefing hosted by ISAF Coach Kristine Roug (DEN) and four time Olympic medallist Alessandra Sensini (ITA) accompanied by a replay of the race from the live tracking service which the RS:X boards were using today.

Race tracking is used for a different fleet each day and can be viewed at: www.onlineracetrack.net

Racing resumes for all classes at 12.00 hrs local (15:00) UTC with an advance forecast of similar conditions.

Ekaterina Skudina winner of the Stena Match Cup Sweden 2010, Marstrand-Sweden. photo Loris von Siebenthal - myimage

10 JULY 2010
Marstrand, Sweden – 10 July, 2010 – Running in conjunction with the World Match Racing Tour event this week is ‘Women’s Stena Match Cup Sweden’. Ten elite female crews have been racing in Elliott 6m boats that will be used in the 2012 Games. The entry of women’s match racing to the Olympic sailing competition has already dramatically increased the profile of this sport around the world and the ISAF World Match Racing Tour has welcomed paralleling the men’s racing with the women for Stage 5, halfway point of the 2010 Tour.

A surprise scenario developed for the women’s semi final toady. The young 23 year old currently sitting at top of the official ISAF rankings, Lucy Macgregor (GBR), was knocked out by Renee Groenenveld (NED) who sits 12 positions below Macgregor in the rankings. The 23 year old Dutch sailor was then joined in the final by European Women’s Champion, Ekaterina Skudina (RUS), who successfully defeated 3rd ISAF ranked, Katie Pellew née Spithill, whose brother James Spithill is a well known name in the America’s Cup world.

Stena Match Cup Sweden became one of the earliest match racing events to establish a women’s class back in 1999 and as a result Sweden has grown a strong national following for this ladies sport. The crowds lining the rocks watched a sunlit, emotional final where Skudina down 2 points took her situation square on and drove Groenenveld into a miscalculated premature start taking the final score to a nail biting 3-2.

The Russian beauty fought off Groenenveld to be Queen of ‘2010 Women’s Stena Match Cup Sweden’. This comes as a blow to Groenenveld who also missed out closely on Olympic qualification for Beijing 2008 in the Yngling class which her adversaries then went on to win silver in.

The World Match Racing Tour’s men’s racing is also heating up today after Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team took top pickings going into tomorrow’s semi finals tomorrow. In preparation for the last day of Stena Match Cup Sweden Radich’s crew, Rasmus Köstner, was on site for the pick. Radich now faces Sweden’s favourite, Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Sigma Racing Team. “We decided to make it as hard as we could for ourselves and pick Magnus, we are going to be the under dogs but we hope to get something out of it”.

Living legend Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN will meet Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team who has also built up a strong Swedish fan base here. Mirsky sees Ainslie as ‘God of sailing who summons his own wind to his boat’. An upbeat Mirsky went on to say that his team are going to, “Push him and hopefully break him tomorrow”.

The remaining 4 racers are all pinning their hopes on being ‘Maestro of Marstrand’ to be decided tomorrow during the final ‘boat on boat’ racing to Stage 5 of the 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour.

The semi finals and finals will be streamed LIVE tomorrow from 09.00hrs at www.wmrt.com

If there is a Mediterranean venue which sailors on the Audi MedCup Circuit have wanted to race at for many years it is Barcelona. So there is a great mood of anticipation as the TP52 Series and GP42 Series crews count down to the days to the Camper Regatta – Conde de Godó Trophy - Barcelona.

Competition opens with the practice race for the TP52 Series on Tuesday 20th July with the GP42 Series firing up their regatta on the Wednesday with their official practice race.

Many Audi MedCup sailors, some of a ‘certain age’ will have very fond memories of the city which was host to the 1992 Olympics.

Spanish Jose María Van Der Ploeg (GP42 Madrid – Caser Seguros’ owner and skipper) won gold in the Finn class, one of four classes which the host country struck gold in. Spain won gold in the 470 Men’s and Women’s classes and also in the Flying Dutchman class. Domingo Manrique (ESP), trimmer of the GP42 Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), won gold in the FD with Luis Doreste (ESP).

In the Star class, Emirates Team New Zealand’s (NZL) coach Rod Davis (NZL) and mainsheet trimmer Don Cowie (NZL) also have fond memories of Barcelona after winning a silver medal in the Star class in 1992.

The house of the Garbí
Too often Barcelona is associated with light and variable winds, but locals speak highly of the Garbi sea breeze. It may not kick in with the same force as, say a good Palma afternoon, but it is reliable and even.

The big city generates extra heat which enhances the thermal flow. If there is not a big high pressure system sat over the Iberian peninsula then the sea breeze is reliable. If there is then it can be very light and difficult.

The Garbi arrives from around 200 degrees. Typically, as elsewhere, it will start around 180-190 and follow the sun. Nine to 13 knots is the norm and, exceptionally, 16-18 knots.

The seas are usually flat, but if it is blowing from less than 200 then waves can build up, also if there is a gradient SSW’ly wind.

Normally, the sea breeze blows almost parallel to coast off the race area and that does tend to produce more pressure close to the shore, normally the fleets will try to fight for the right side of the race course on the first beat, perhaps a little bit one sided but usually makes for very even, exciting racing.

It will be a great spectator venue with racing taking place off the busy, public beaches in the height of summer.

From July 20th to 25th, the Camper Regatta – Conde de Godó Trophy – Barcelona will prove that the Catalan venue is one of the best sailing locations in Europe.

Preview Delta Lloyd 470 World Championships
40 nations to compete for the Men's 470 and Women's 470 World Title

Next weekend the Men's and Women's 470 classes converge on the Hague, the Netherlands, for the start of their 2010 World Championship, sponsored by Delta Lloyd.

Taking place over 12-18 July, this year's 470 World Championships feature 123 provisional entries in the Men's division, and 65 in the Women's. Demonstrating once again the global popularity of the 470 as an Olympic class, 40 nations will be represented.

The line-up racing off The Hague features all the top contenders in the 470 class, including past World Champions and Olympic medallists. Australian Malcolm Page, Gold medallist in Beijing, returns with his new crew Matt Belcher having finished fifth at the World Championships in Denmark last year. Currently second in the world rankings the duo arrive at the Worlds on a high having most recently won the 470 Men's class at Kieler Woche. In fact Page is not the only 470 Men's Beijing Olympic medallist now with a new crew - bronze medallist, France's Nicolas Charbonnier now sails with Baptiste Meyer Dieu. They are currently eighth in the ISAF rankings having won this year's Semaine Olympique Francaise in Hyeres.

Looking to defend their World Championship title will be Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic. Currently no6 in the ISAF rankings, these Croatian sailors have had a good season so far, podiuming in four of the six regattas they have competed in.

'This year we have had great results," agrees Fantela. 'We were fighting for the medal in Palma, we did bronze in Kiel and also in Medemblik. We had good preparations and training and we feel really good. Maybe 10 boats can win the Championship. So we'll go there and sail our own race and see what happens."

Also expected to be at the top of the Men's 470 will be two of the longest standing members of the class. Israel's Gideon Kliger is currently no3 in the world and in the past has come third in three World Championships in 2008, 2007 and 2006. Since the beginning of this season Kliger has been racing with a new crew in Eran Sela, but despite this they have never finished out of the top eight so far this year.

Like Kliger, the Dutch brothers Sven and Calle Coster have been in the Men's 470 for more than a decade and they have been no1 in the world rankings almost continuously since the Beijing Games, but have dropped to fifth in the latest ISF rankings. This is to due to the Costers having had a slow start to their season: Sven Coster has had an infection of the L3-L4 vertebrae and is in the middle of a 9-10 month recovery period. In addition, at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma he suffered a throat injection so bad that he had to return to Holland for surgery.

'We didn't sail much in the first five months of this year. The results haven't been great this year, but everything is focussed on the Worlds - it all feels good," assures Sven Coster.

Also on top form are two time World Champions in 2008 and 2006 Nick Asher and Elliot Willis (GBR). They won the Delta Lloyd Regatta in the Netherlands this year - so perhaps Dutch waters could be lucky for the British duo again?

In the Women's 470, the class act this year has been the 2009 European Champions Guilia Conti and Giovanna Micol from Italy, no2 in the ISAF rankings. To date in 2010 they have won both the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma and Delta Lloyd and have not been out of the top four in the other events they have contested. However hot on their heels are the present World no1s, Ingrid Petitjean and Nadège Douroux from France, who have not been out of the top eight at the six regattas they have competed in this season and have podiumed no less than four times.

They will face strong competition in Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED), who aside from being the local favourites are also the defending World Champions. In Denmark last year they demolished the opposition to win by 26 points, despite having only sailed together for three months previous. Currently ranked sixth in the world, both Westerhof and Berkhout are highly experienced 470 sailors: Westerhof represented the Netherlands at the Games in Athens while Berkhout and her then helm Marcelien de Koning returned from Beijing with the silver medal.

Despite being unbeatable in 2009, winning not only the Worlds but Skandia Sail For Gold and Keiler Woche, Westerhof and Berkhout had a disappointing start to their 2010 season and have only recently redeemed themselves scoring a silver at the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik.

'We knew from last year that we still had a lot to do," admits Berkhout. 'We won all the events we sailed last year, but we still had to go through different things, like communication together, etc and we still had to grow as a team. We took the spring for that and it has been a good learning curve and at the Delta Lloyd Regatta we proved we are still one of the best teams. We will certainly have the possibility to be in the top three at the Worlds."

However as young British duo Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell proved when they finished second at the 470 Worlds last year, predicting form in the 470 is always hard and this year there is a particularly strong influx of Juniors.

In the Hague next week will be both the 2009 and 2008 women's two person dinghy gold medallists from the Youth Worlds, albeit with new crew - Britain's 2008 champion Frances Peters is now with Eilidh Mcintyre, while Brazil's Martine Soffiatti Grael, who won last year, is racing with Isabel Swan, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist. The 2009 boy's gold medallist Philip Sparks is competing too, also with a new crew in Chris Grube.

Sparks, aged 17 and from Christchurch on the south coast of the UK, paired up with Grube last September. The duo have been competing at all the events they can including Kieler Woche, Delta Lloyd, Hyeres and Rolex Miami OCR this year, but he admits: 'We have been quite inconsistent because we haven't had enough time yet to put a consistent series together across the wind range, so it is hard to predict how you think you will do." This will be Sparks' first time at a 470 World Championship. 'I am looking forward to it - a proper event that counts for something and involves a bit of pressure it would be good," he says.

Reigning World Championship Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic who Junior 470 World Champions in 2007 advise that of those who have just left the Juniors, France's Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion should be watched. So far this year have finished inside the top 10 at all the regattas they have competed in and in 2009 were both the 470 Junior World Champions and 470 Junior European Champions.

The Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship starts with a practice race on Sunday 11 July, followed by a qualification series over 12-14 July, the final series over 15-18 July, culminating in the medal races. Tracking - for both classes and all races - can be followed through the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship website http://470worlds2010.com/.

Text: James Boyd

Youth Sailing ISAF World 09. photo Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

6 July 2010

Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship 2010 - Istanbul, Turkey
The world’s top youth sailors will be gathering In Istanbul, Turkey for the start of racing at the 40th edition of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship which takes place from 8 – 17 July.

There will be a record attendance at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship 2010 with 344 sailors representing 63 nations.

Racing is held across eight events, which use four classes of dinghy and one windsurfer. World champions will be identified for each event for both Boy’s and Girl’s. Along with the individual events, the prestigious Volvo Trophy, currently held by France, will be awarded to the top performing nation at the championship.

Past notable winners include American’s Cup skippers, Russell Coutts (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL), Chris Dickson (NZL); Olympic medallists, Robert Scheidt (BRA), Amelie Lux (GER), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Nick Rogers (GBR), Siren Sundby (NOR), Elise Rechichi (AUS) and Tessa Parkinson (AUS); Volvo Ocean Race sailors like Stuart Bannatyne (NZL) and Richard Clarke (CAN). The most successful ISAF Youth World Champions are Great Britain’s Sally Cuthbert and Poland’s Zofia Klepacka having won four successive titles in the Laser II and Mistral respectively.

France is the current holder of the Volvo Trophy, awarded annually to the top performing nation at the Youth Worlds. France is the most successful nation throughout the history of the Championship, winning the Volvo Trophy on a record 10 occasions and holding a record 62 medals.

Teams in the 2010 ISAF Youth Worlds
There are eight nations sending twelve sailors (the maximum) to compete in the ISAF Youth Worlds. In Buzios in Brazil in 2009 the French team won the Volvo Trophy for best team overall with Great Britain in second and Italy in third. These three nations plus Australia, Brazil, Denmark and Italy will all be sending a full team compliment with sailors racing in every class.

Duncan Truswell, one of three RYA support staff accompanying the British sailors to Istanbul, believes the youngsters should be looking to take as much from the experience as they possibly can.

He said: “The Youth Worlds is quite different to what most of the sailors are used to, it is a huge event and it offers a unique insight and flavour of the Olympic multiclass experience on a large scale. There is no better regatta for youngsters to learn at and it can be a real tipping point for sailors in making that mental commitment to following the Olympic dream.”

Athlete Participation Programme Youth Sailors
26 competitors from 12 nations were approved for Athlete Participation Programme (APP) funding support to attend the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship.

A key factor in the increasing number of nations competing at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship has been the ISAF Athlete Participation Programme (APP), which provides funding support to assist sailors attending the championship. Since its introduction in 2003, the APP has directly supported the participation of over 143 sailors and helped introduce 12 new nations to the championship. This year, 26 sailors from 12 nations will benefit from APP support.

The nations to benefit from APP funding this year are: Ecuador, US Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Paraguay, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Mexico, Nigeria, Columbia, Bermuda and Samoa

Schedule
Thursday 8 July – Arrival Day
Friday 9 July – Training Day and Opening Ceremony
Saturday 10 July – Practice Day
Sunday 11 July – First Official Race Day (3 raced scheduled)
Monday 12 July – Second Official Race Day (3 races scheduled)
Tuesday 13 July – Lay Day
Wednesday 14 July – Third Official Race Day (3 races scheduled)
Thursday 15 July – Fourth Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Friday 16 July – Fifth Official Race Day (1 race scheduled) and Prize Giving and Closing Ceremony
Saturday 17 July – Departure Day

05 Jul 2010
BRITISH SAILING TEAM TO TAKE ON THE NEW AMERICA’S CUP CHAMPIONS IN COWES WEEK SAILING EXTRAVANGANZA
America’s Cup trophy on public display

RACING FOR THE 1851 CUP TO TAKE PLACE FROM TUESDAY 3RD TO FRIDAY 6TH AUGUST 2010
Wednesday 23rd June, 2010

The two hottest match racing skippers in the world, TEAMORIGIN’s Ben Ainslie, and BMW ORACLE Racing’s James Spithill, will lead their teams contesting the 1851 Cup.

Britain’s TEAMORIGIN will be the be first potential challenger for the next America’s Cup to race head-to-head with BMW ORACLE Racing, winners of the 33rd America’s Cup.

Competition will take place on the historic waters of the Solent and around the Isle of Wight upon which a race won by the New York yacht America gave rise to the America’s Cup, the oldest trophy in the international sport.

The 1851 Cup celebrates this event.

Racing will be held as close to West Cowes as possible to give spectators a close-up view, with a special race around the Isle of Wight also planned.

The racing schedule is:
* Match racing : up to three short match races per day on Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th and Friday 6th August, starting from 1430 onwards
* Round the Island race : Thursday 5th Augustboth boats will go around the Island in a clockwise direction, replicating the direction of the yachts back in 1851

Aged 30, Australian James Spithill the youngest-ever America’s Cup skipper, will go into battle against Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie, aged 33, Skipper and Helmsman of TEAMORIGIN, four times Olympic medallist with 3 golds and 1 silver.

"This will be an incredible event which I am sure will capture the imagination of sports fans across the UK,"commented Ben Ainslie. "We relish the idea of taking on the Defenders in our home waters. We have a busy season in 2010 and The 1851 Cup is one that we are all particularly looking forward to.”

The teams will be based at the 1851 Marquee on Cowes Parade, adjacent to the Royal Yacht Squadron. There will be information and activities for public and guests daily.

The iconic America’s Cup will be on public display during the day. Members of each team will be on hand to sign posters, answer questions and talk about their passion for their sport and for winning the America’s Cup.

James Spithill, Skipper of BMW ORACLE Racingadded: “Ben’s a mate and fantastic sailor. Having said that, we’re really looking forward to taking the fight to him and his guys. For our team, this is a key stepping stone from having been victorious challengers in February when we beat Alinghi, to becoming a unit that has to defend the 34th America’s Cup.”

Inboard with team Origine during the practice of the Stena Match Cup 2010, Masrtrand - Sweden. World match racing tour. photo Loris von Siebenthal - myimage

5 JULY 2010
Marstrand, Sweden – 5 July, 2010 – Stena Match Cup Sweden, Stage 5 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour, has attracted an abundance of the World’s leading men’s and women’s match racers. They are all magnetized year after year to the racing hot spot of Marstrand for guaranteed packed out days of pure match racing perfection.

Since 2000 when the ISAF World Match Racing Tour founded, the Swedish leg of the series has had a distinguished role of honour including esteemed America’s Cup names; Dean Barker, Russell Coutts, Chris Law, Peter Gilmour, Mattais Rahm and Björn Hansen.

Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing won Stena Match Cup Sweden last year and has now notched up and incredible 7 overall victories at this event since its inaugural year in 1994. Gilmour is poised for the podium again after having also won Stage 4 of this year’s Tour only 8 days ago and looks committed to continue his fierce fighting style into this week’s semis and finals.

The Swedish national contingent as expected is also massive this year. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Sigma Racing Team who is the very essence of Stena Match Cup Sweden having instilled the sense of excitement and profile building over the years will definitely be a skipper to watch with his competitive flair. Holmberg ironically has yet to actually win this Swedish leg of the Tour and 2010 may well be the year for this match racing hero to reap his reward.

Other international names racing on home waters this week will be Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team a former Olympian who won the 2008 edition of Sweden, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team who was the first Swedish winner of this event and Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team who has shown his sporting expertise winning the Argo Group Gold Cup on the warmer waters of Bermuda.

A fresh and rested Tour card holder, Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN, is back in the media’s gaze after completing his first WMRT event of the season in April. With 16 helms to consider running in 2 groups tomorrow morning there may be some surprise results. Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing is now the youngest skipper to take the helm at 23 and Reuben Corbett (NZL) Black Sheep Racing who started developing his skills through team racing is considered a hot ticket.

Stena Match Cup Sweden is also running a women’s event in tandem with the men’s Tour racing and has invited 10 of the most motivated female team’s from across the globe. The women’s event started today and Silke Hahlbrock (GER) leads the pack against Katie Pellew neé Spithill (AUS), Lucy Macgregor (GBR) and Linda Rahm (SWE). Women’s match racing continues to climb in mass sporting appeal as it is now a ladies Olympic discipline inspiring full time campaigns.

2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings
(After Stage 4 of 10)
1 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 71 Points
2 Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing 54 Points
3 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 48 Points
4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 43 Points
5 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 42 Points
6 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 33 Points
7 Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 20 Points
- Jesper Radich (SWE) Radich Racing Team 20 Points
9 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 16 Points
10 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 15 Points

Download the concept papers for AC 34 Monohull and Multihull design
AC 34 Class Rule Multihull Concept (590)
AC 34 Class Rule Monohull Concept (597)

July 2 2010
Rating rule authorities in America and Britain have been commissioned to draft the rules for the next generation of America’s Cup yacht.

In asking US SAILING and the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Seahorse Rating affiliate to write the rules, BMW ORACLE Racing and Golden Gate Yacht Club, winner of the 33rd America’s Cup last February, has ensured the process is neutral and independent.

“We’ve always said that the new design will be for the America’s Cup community. The result with be a ‘non-partisan yacht’ rather than a ‘defender’s yacht’,” said Ian Burns, Design Coordinator for BMW ORACLE Racing. “A great deal of input was sought from the America’s Cup community and the concept briefs given to the rule writers reflect that feedback.”

In a twin-track process, US SAILING will author a multihull rule and the RORC’s Seahorse Rating a canting-keel monohull rule.

“It would be premature to rule either a monohull or multihull in and the other out at this stage,” commented Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing. “Which type of boat is best for racing and media impact is one of many evaluations we will be testing over the coming months.”

The choice between monohull and multihull will be made after the conclusion of these trials, the first round of which is scheduled for Valencia in late July.

“Either option will provide high performance, exciting viewing and challenges to design, build and sailing teams,” commented Burns.

Versatile performance in light and strong winds is considered essential to minimize delayed or postponed racing.

In response to feedback from potential teams, the original concepts for both types have been scaled back from 26m (82 feet) LOA to 22m (72 feet) for tangible cost reduction.

An engine will be used to cant the keel on the monohull and move appendages on the multihull. The rule authors have been tasked to specify an environmentally friendly, smart, low-emission engine or power-pack.

“This offers a great opportunity for the America’s Cup community to take a leading role in this increasingly applied technology,” said Burns. “But there will be no power- assistance for crews to trim or hoist sails. Both the monohull and multihull will be very athletic boats to race hard.”

To ensure fairness, all teams will simultaneously receive updates and information from the authors with regards to progress.

The briefs to the rule authors outline parameters for both types of boat to give base-line dimensions.

This ‘box rule’ method should ensure boats designed by different teams are similar in style to guarantee the close racing the America’s Cup thrives on. Otherwise, the instructions to the rule writers are deliberately open to afford them full creative freedom.

Seahorse Rating has asked Nick Nicholson and James Dadd, with their wide experience of previous America’s Cup class rules, to lead the monohull development.

The multihull rule is under the purview of multihull designer Pete Melvin, a two-time A Class catamaran world champion, and US SAILING.

Other cost-cutting measures include limitations on the number of hulls, masts, appendages and sails a team can build. And the reduced crew size will mean fewer personnel.

“These boat concepts are all about similar performance between competing yachts throughout the wind range,” said Burns. “Unique configurations are the expensive part of the America’s Cup. We don’t want a light-air boat taking on a heavy-air boat. The rule should ensure close racing while being able to sail in a wide range of conditions.”

Rule writing is the seventh stage in an exhaustive process. The objective is to publish the new America’s Cup Class Rule by the end of September.

Target Features – Monohull & Multihull
High-performance and close racing
Light to strong wind range capability
Ease of shipping & transportation
22m max overall Length

America’s Cup Design Rule Process (since 1 March 2010):
Step 1: Dialogue and discussions with stakeholders
Step 2: Initial Concepts created for monohull and multihull by non-aligned experts (Bruce Nelson and Peter Melvin)
Step 3: Design conference (held 18 May 2010) for ‘who’s who of yacht design’ in Valencia
Step 4: On-line follow-up survey for conference attendees
Step 5: Aggregating feedback
Step 6: Concept brief prepared
Step 7: Rule writing commissioned from US SAILING and Seahorse Rating
Step 8: Choice of monohull or multihull based on July trials in Valencia
Step 9: Rule finalization
Step 10: New America’s Cup Class rule published

Peter Gilmour and his YANMAR Racing team after winning Portimao Portugal Match Cup 2010. World Match Racing Tour. Portimao, Portugal. 27 June 2010. Photo: Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images

Portimão, Portugal – 27 June, 2010 – Finals day for Stage 4 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour produced an all Australian final with Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team yet again taking on the icon of match racing, Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing. The ‘Perth Prodigy’, 24 year old Mirsky, did not defend his Portugal Match Cup title from last year as the Master, Gilmour, taught his Apprentice a few new lessons and stepped into the spotlight as the 2010 Portimão Portugal Match Cup Champion.

A glowing Gilmour was almost lost for words, “It was all about the starts out there, we managed to win the last two starts giving us a good lead on both finals races”.

The Semi Finals greeted eager teams with an oscillating 8 – 10 knot wind, conditions suited Mirsky who slam dunked Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 3-0 and Gilmour grasped the glory from current ISAF Match Racing World Champion, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, also gliding through on 3-0. Minoprio then went on to take 3rd overall much to the disappointment of Williams.

As the Fremantle Doctor style breeze blew in for finals frenzy, the racers, both skippers originally from Perth, felt a nostalgia for home and with a ‘first to 2 point final’ the pressure was instantaneous. The wind then moderated and returned to the testing Mediterranean style shifts commonly experienced on this year’s Tour. This kept both Gilmour and Mirsky on their toes to the bitter end with Gilmour winning the deciding 3rd match from a port entry.

Mirsky was humorous at the relaxed dance floor prize giving chatting to the crowd, “They showed us how to do it we learnt a lot about our starts today and my team are stoked, this is the best result so far on the Tour this year”.

There is now a mixture of movements in the overall World Match Racing Tour 2010 standings. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team before Portimão sat on high with 65 points, a supreme 26 points in front of his nearest rival Minoprio. Richard was then ironically knocked out at the Quarter Final stage yesterday in an unexpected last minute lunge to the line by Minoprio. Minoprio closes the gap slightly on Richard as he moves into 3rd with 48 points overall. Gilmour shoots up from 8th to 4th with 43 points, closely followed by Williams who finishes on 42 points.

As the morning light dawns tomorrow in Perth, Australia ‘the City of Lights’ the locals will wake up to two of their highly prized match race fraternity in the World’s spotlight having pushed past some of the most respected international sailors, who now have to bow to the power of Australia as a sporting nation.
The sand of Rocha Beach will continue shaking into the night under the control of thumping tunes spun by a zebra clad DJ and the skippers will no doubt be ready to enjoy the short interlude between Stage 4 and 5. The Tour now turns its focus to Stena Match Cup Sweden starting in 8 days on July 5th.

Mirsky finished off by saying, “Sweden is our home from home as I currently live there and the team join me to train. It will be an awesome event and we are really looking forward to being in Marstrand for Stena Match Cup Sweden.”

Day 5 - Overall Standings
1 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 25 Points
2 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 20 Points
3 Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 15 Points
4 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 12 Points
5 Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 10 Points
6 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge 8 Points
7 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 6 Points
8 Manuel Weiller (ESP) Team Iberdrola 4 Points
9 Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team
10 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team
11 Alvaro Marinho (POR) Seth Sailing Team
12 Eugeny Neugodnikov (RUS) Team Synergy