All Female Crew Finishes

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1330 PST - A huge welcome to the all female crew on KPMG was given by parents, friends and fans at 4.57 p.m. when they crossed the finishing line of the HSH-Nordbank-Blue Race.

Skipper Inken Braunschmidt (32) was obviously relieved: "I brought them back home and we did a good job until we where becalmed. We had a lot of fun and all got along very well - it was just great". Inken's mother Ingrid (62) was happy to hold her daughter in her arms again. "While waiting I read their last email again and cried a little bit in advance. Now I'm relieved" It took the 14 women 20 days, 20 hours, 37 minutes and 59 seconds to finish the race with their 18,60 meter yacht. For the moment it means eleventh in the overall ranking for the crew.

On Sunday the KPMG will be expected in Hamburg at about 10 a.m., the Parsifal III around noon and the Boatmen will presumably arrive in the evening. For full details go to www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com.

'Plenty' Shows Plenty of Speed

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1255 PST - For the second year in a row the Swan 45 Gold Cup will be going back to the USA, with newly crowned world champion Alexander Roepers and his crew on Plenty. Going into the final race, Plenty held the slenderest possible advantage over fellow American William Douglass' Goombay Smash. Both Swan 45's were tied on 31 points and had two victories each, so Plenty led by virtue of their three second place finishes. With the world championship resting on the final race, Roeper and his crew etched out a fifth place finish to take the honours by two points.

Roeper was delighted to be crowned World Champion. "I'm absolutely thrilled and the whole crew is. It was a huge cliff-hanger. The first race was very light air, we went up the left side of the beach and rounded the first mark in 18th place. On the run we picked off a few boats but then we went back to the same side hoping that the breeze would fill in and found ourselves in 4th place which was an amazing comeback. As you can imagine, the mood on the boat went from dour to elated and so I think we were tied with Goombay Smash going into the final race." "Halfway through the second race we were in 10th and had Goombay well behind us, far behind us enough to be comfortable. I mentioned to our tactician that Goombay had an eight for a throw out and that we were in 10th - so that wasn't good enough. He became aware of it as well so it was a good thing that we struggled back into 5th and won! It was unbelievable."

For full regatta results go to www.swan45class.org.

We're Back Baby!

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1229 PST - Basilica back in business as pulse rates rise with the breeze.

Just off the Roucas Blanc, the competition got hotter and windier for the Extreme 40s on day two of the iShares Cup, Marseille with British team Basilica firmly asserting their presence in a 10-18 knots of breeze and dominating the results table with four wins and a second place, to take pole position with 84 points overall.

On the first day of competition, Basilica, skippered by Rob Greenhalgh were forced to bow to pressure put on by Franck Cammas skippering Groupama. Not happy being out of the limelight the British team came back today to stamp out the French opposition and take a three point lead after five more action packed races.

"Today we went back to basics, aiming to keep it conservative, " Greenhalgh explains. "Our strength lay in our good starts, we led off the line most of the time and stayed on the money which really helped our results."

While Basilica had a near perfect day, the stronger winds caused troubles throughout the fleet with most boats throwing their crews and boats into fifth gear in the stronger winds resulting in some spectacular racing, submerged bows and near topples "We had a full on couple of first races with everyone pushing hard," Greenhalgh confesses. "For the second race the wind dropped slightly and we shifted down a gear to give us some breathing space.

Groupama spent the day sailing at full throttle, chasing the leaders and perfecting their handbrake turn around the windward mark. Closing the day in second there is still all to play for. "With more wind, we were not as comfortable today with the manoeuvres, which probably explains our results. It was tough racing and we were not so good with furling the gennaker when bearing away. Basilica is clearly better in these kinds of conditions and they demonstrated that. In these short races, a bad start, a manoeuvre done too late and you see the competitors flying away without being able to catch them!"

Alan Hillman, iShares Cup Race Manager is looking forward to getting the boats out on the water on Monday, the final day of competitions. "The wind looks set to build in the afternoon to up to 21 knots. The teams were fully stretched today so with a bit more wind expected tomorrow we should see a few more thrills and spills." For full results of all the action go to www.isharescup.com. Photo courtesy of isharescup.com.

ISAF Sailing World Championships - Day 6

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1217 PST - Day six of the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal brings crunch time for the Star and Tornado crews, with their final race in the opening series to decide the Medal Race line ups and Olympic qualification.

The Laser and Laser Radial fleets begin their gold fleet races today on course area 3 and there is also in racing the RS:X, 49er and 470 fleets. After an exhausting day out on course area 5 yesterday, it's a welcome lay day for the Finn and Yngling fleet.

The forecast is similar to yesterday, with plenty of breeze and waves out on course areas 4 and 5, where the Tornado, Star and 470 fleets will be racing. Closer into shore the flukey breeze will present more challenging conditions for the remaining fleets.

It is a big day in both the Star and Tornado fleets. There are 20 different nations represented in the Star gold fleet, with just 11 national places up for grabs for the Beijing Olympics. There is a big battle with Australia, USA, Croatia, Switzerland and Bermuda occupying places 10-15 in the national standings and covered by just 22 points.

The battle for the Medal Race spots is even closer. Currently Australians Iain MURRAY and Andrew PALFREY (AUS) lie tenth overall, just one point ahead of yesterday's race winners John DANE and Austin SPERRY (USA), reigning Olympic Champions Torben GRAEL and Marcelo FERREIRA (BRA) and Maurice O’CONNELL and Ben COOKE (IRL).

There are also 11 national Olympic spots up for grabs in the Tornado fleet, with 21 nations represented amongst the 49 crews. Italy, Greece, USA, Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Argentina occupy places 7-13 in the national standings and are covered by just 12 points. Canadians Oskar JOHANSSON and Kevin STITTLE are also not out of the running, 14 points off the Russians in the all important 11th national spot. In the battle to make the Medal Race, there are six crews within ten points of tenth place.

For full results go to the event website at www.cascaisworlds2007.com. Photo and story courtesy of ISAF

Gitana Team Adds Another To The Fleet

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1149 PST - New addition to the Gitana fleet: the Gitana 80. The Gitana Team has been swelled by the influx of a highly innovative 60-foot monohull (Imoca class). What's more, it is team general manager Loïck Peyron who will be entrusted with the helm of Gitana Eighty, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild's latest vessel. The skipper's main objective is next year's Vendée Globe, due to get underway on 9 November 2008 in Sables d'Olonne.

While maintaining responsibility for the Gitana Team, Loïck Peyron will thus skipper the brand-new Gitana Eighty from the end of July. The Gitana name is steeped in history, and it is in homage to his late father, Baron Edmond, who would have been 80 this year, that Baron Benjamin de Rothschild decided to christen this new member of the fleet Gitana Eighty.

Its construction having begun last winter at the Southern Ocean Marine boatyard in New Zealand, Gitana Eighty has been designed by Farr Yacht Design and will make its first ocean forays from the end of July. Brought to Europe on 6 July, she has a few days to go before arriving in her new home port of Trinité sur Mer. The return test will then be conducted, after which the boat will be taken out of the water for the final checks. Once she is restored to the water and then masted around 25 July, Gitana Eighty will be ready to get some sea miles under her belt.

The first important date for Gitana Eighty and her skipper, Loïck Peyron is the Transat Jacques Vabre. Training and qualification for the big transatlantic event of 2007 will punctuate the months of August, September and October, before the start set for Le Havre on Saturday 3 November.

The Gitana Team monohull is one of the very latest Farr designs and the sister ship of Jean-Pierre Dick's Paprec Virbac. Apart from a considerable number of innovations in terms of the vessel's interior fitout, Gitana Eighty also benefits from a variable-geometry hull bottom known as a trim tab. Situated at the monohull's rear tip at rudder level, it permits the adjustment of the boat's longitudinal trim and its adaptation to sea and wind conditions or to the speed of the boat. Also new are the sliders, two panels between the mast and the rear platform that offer aerodynamic gains and reduce the amount of water entering the cockpit, thereby improving the skipper's comfort and enabling him to adjust his veils more frequently and more precisely. This ergonomic optimisation offers a long overdue means of preserving his energy and physical condition. For more on the story and a cool video on the Gitana fleet go to www.gitana-team.com. Photo by Yvan Zedda.

Hansen Wins in Near Gale Conditions

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1131 PST - On a day that was a spectacular counterpoint to the light air that plagued most of the event, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) and his Team Onico consisting of Tompi Hallberg, Gustav Tempelman, Pontus Meijer, and Mathias Bredi went three straight against Magnus Holmberg (SWE) to win Match Cup Sweden. Despite being a competitor at this event six times over the past seven years, this was Hansen's first victory at Match Cup Sweden and his first win at a World Tour event.

"For me it was great fun", said a wet but elated Hansen, "but I'm just the guy in the back holding the stick while the four guys in the front do all the work. My team was fantastic!" For their efforts, Hansen, the first Swedish skipper to have won in the history of this event, and his team win the GKSS Match Cup Sweden overall prize and 24,000 Euros in prize money.

Match race sailing always requires teams have the utmost skill in timing, tactics, and precision boathandling. But today's blustery conditions also required of them offshore skills as well, since the near-gale westerly breeze gusted to nearly 40 knots throughout the day, creating waves that crested to over 2 metres high in the course area. For the audience assembled on the cliffs, the course area was a spectacular scene of breaking waves, spewing sea foam, and huge gusts of wind, with the DS 37's under reefed mains and jibs launching and crashing off the tops of the waves upwind, and hurdling at planing speeds in wild showers of spray off the wind.

A great example of these teams pushing hard was in the last match of the Petit Final, where on the final spinnaker run to the finish Mattias Rahm (SWE), putting every last effort into trying to catch Jesper Radich (DEN) just a few lengths ahead, broke his mast just 100 metres from the finish. "We felt we were closing on him, planing on the waves, then the bow stuffed into the back of a big wave. The boat stopped and the rig just kept going," said Rahm. The bright green Santa Maria spinnaker carried the spar forward over the bow, and crew member Claes Dahlberg was thrown overboard in the process. The whole sequence occurred just metres in front of the hundreds of spectators arrayed on the cliffs to watch the action.

Hansen's victory has also earned him 25 points on the World Tour, advancing him from 13th to 4th in the Tour standings. Mathieu Richard earned 8 points with his 6th place finish to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard. For complete results go to www.matchcupsweden.com.

Team 7 Moving Up Too!

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1055 PST - Here is the latest report from the USA Team Seven at the Yngling World Championships in Cascais:

Hello Everyone, We turned on the jets today in lumpy, wildly-shifty, testing conditions to win two races and move up to second overall at the Yngling World Championships in Cascais, part of the ISAF Combined World Championships.

We're currently sharing the podium places with the Brit fleet. Britain's Sarah Ayton is first with a 2-3-4-2. We are second with 8-5-1-1. Shirley Robertson is third with 1-2-3-9.

This was one of those days where you couldn't afford to lose focus even for a second. The lead was changing constantly between a bunch of boats as random shifts gave various teams a chance for glory at the front. Boat speed, keeping our heads out of the boat, and some difficult tactical calls made the difference for us. After we finished the three of us fronted up to our coach James Lyne and announced that we were mentally exhausted and asked him to find the page in the Coach's Handbook that explains how to take a mental nap between races.

The day dawned dead calm and sunny with promise of a building Nortada breeze. On Course Four the thermal breeze looked as if it might build to 25 knots but it was 14 knots when we started on time and then fluctuated between 8 to 12 knots all afternoon. We learned tonight that our course had the most consistent conditions but that's hard to believe with 33 shifts, some as big as 30 degrees and big tidelines coming through the course.

Amazingly, our starts weren't all that good but we found good lanes up the first beat to stay in contention. The race two start was a bit of a disaster but we were able to catch some crazy pressure at the only time the left was favored to leave us in good shape rounding the top mark. At the first windward mark of the first race we were third, behind the Germans and Russians. We had some nice waves to ride downwind and led at the bottom mark. The Russian skipper Anna Basalkina overtook us and went on to finish first but was later disqualified for a measurement discrepancy.

In the second race we were mixing it up with the Chinese, French and another Russian boat, with the Brits on our heels. We moved up to second in the early stages and stayed in second but Britain’s Sarah Ayton got past us on the second beat to take over the lead. We finally caught her close to the end of the last run to take the gun. You will find full results details at Yngling World Championship Results and you can visit the Team 7 site at www.team7sailing.com. Report and photo courtesy of Team Seven Sailing - - Sally Barkow, Debbie Capozzi & Carrie Howe

Tunnicliffe Moves Up

Sunday - July 8 2007 - 1038 PST - Here is the latest report from US Laser Radial sailor Anne Tunnicliffe at the Laser Radial World Championships here in Cascais:

Hello Everyone, I had another good day today on the third day of competition in the Laser Radial World Championships here in Cascais, part of the ISAF Combined World Championships. I posted a ninth in the first race and finished second in the second race after a good fight with my training partner Tania Elias Calles to move up one place to sixth overall.

Tania had a truly great day and took the finishing gun for both races to tie the points leadership with China's Lijia Xu who stayed in first on the tiebreaker countback. Lijia lost her big points lead after she was knocked out of the first race for being over early on a black flag start.

We raced on Course Five, the outermost course on the Bay and the one that is renowned for big wind, big waves and plenty of current. Things started fairly quietly with the northwester at 12 knots. On the outer course it picked up to 20 knots about half way through the first race. The blue fleet raced the inner course where the breeze was 10 to 15. The right was favored but on the first start I couldn’t get to the right like I wanted to and had to settle for a ninth place.

My start for the second race wasn't stellar but I managed to get my bow out to the right first and that put me in second place, right behind Tania. We stayed that way as we surfed down the first run. We split at the leeward gate and I took the port gate and gained the right-hand advantage for the next beat to round inside Tania at the second weather mark. However on the run I succeeded in sailing through a wave, rather than over it and swamped the boat. That's all Tania needed to get past and win.

There will be no report tomorrow because we have the day off and I'll be taking it easy in preparation for the second half of this event. You will find full results details at Laser Radial World Championship Results. I would like to thank my sponsor Carmeuse for their continued support in my campaign for the Olympic Gold. You can see their website at www.carmeusena.com. My website is at www.annatunnicliffe.com. Sail hard, Anne

Basilica Loses its Magic...Groupama Wins 3 Races

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 1258 PST - iShares Racing Update - With the wind dropping off and the breeze refusing to stick in one direction, racing has been called off for the day and the teams will now head back to the race village in the Vieux Port for the daily prize giving. But before the days end it was all Groupama.

Curcuit rookie Franck Cammas and his team Groupama took an early lead after the first day of racing in home waters at the iShares Cup, Marseille. With four races completed on the first day of the three-day series, in a variable and shifty 5-10 knots, the French team topped the leaderboard with only a few hours practice in the high-performance Extreme 40. Romping to pole position the team filed a near perfect scorecard with a 1,3,1,1, proving that their seamless teamwork, usually practiced on the larger 105-foot Groupama 3, can lead them to success in the smaller catamaran class.

Cammas was excited after his team's positive result following their first full day in the Extreme 40. "There wasn't a huge amount of wind on the course today but we still got in some close. Every leg of each race was really tactical. We're racing only a few metres from the beach and this piece of water is known as a tricky place to sail. Our tactician Steve Ravussin did really well today. We have learned that a good start is really important in these short 20-minute races. It's all still to play for and luck seems to be key in the final result!".

Nearest rival Basilica trail the French leaders by three points and remain close contenders in this regatta, scoring top three finishes all day. "We made a few basic mistakes," Boat Captain James Grant reflects on the British team's performance, "We made a few errors that we shouldn't have."

Summary of the races.

Race 1 - Groupama have asserted their position on the scoreboard winning the first race of the iShares Cup, Marseille after edging out Basilica on the final leg of the race. BT finish the race on port tack to take third just 30 seconds behind.

Race 2 - Basilica wins race two with BT in second and Groupama in third.

Race 3 - Winds goes around to the left side of the course and as Groupama power down to the finish line to claim victory in race three. Basilica and Volvo Ocean Race split sides of the course meeting at the finish with Volvo Ocean Race taking second, celebrating with a big cheer and Basilica in third.

Race 4 - In the shortest race of the day, Groupama claim another win bringing their taly to three wins from four races for the day. Holmatro finish in second and Basilica in third.

So after the first day of racing it is Groupama that finds herself at the top of the leaderboard. Racing continues tomorrow. Xs racing will report on all the action. For great photos and full results go to www.isharescup.com.

Marblehead to Halifax Race Begins Tomorrow

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 1225 PST - The running of the 2007 Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race (MHOR) is preceded by a long and prestigious history. The race began in 1905 as an informal competition among sailors from the Boston, Eastern, and New York Yacht Clubs. The race was run sporadically until 1939, when the Boston Yacht Club (BYC) joined with the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS) to formalize a biennial event. Since that time, the Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race has run regularly on alternate years from the Newport Bermuda Race, as one of the pre-eminent ocean races of the North Atlantic.

The race provides numerous opportunities for companies wishing to increase brand awareness and upscale association. It is a well-known international event in the world of sailing and provides great shore side venues for developing North-South businesses. Race publicity reaches more than 1,000,000 people in New England and a further 500,000 in Atlantic Canada.

The 2005 Halifax Race attracted over 125 boats, racing in 5 different divisions: IRC, Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) Racing Class, PHRF Cruising Class, Multihulls and Classic Yachts. Over 20 perpetual trophies are awarded, recognizing many special accomplishments including team challenges, the fastest double handed yacht, and the fastest all-women's yacht, in addition to division and class winners.

This year, the 102-year-old Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race begins this Sunday and the big boats in the 38-boat IRC Division may be in for a fast ride. Weather forecasters are predicting a light breeze for the start, but as the big boats work offshore they should encounter winds building to 18kts+ early in the evening and then increasing up to around 30kts by midnight Sunday.

The boat to watch has to be the R/P66 Blue Yankee sailed by the father and son Towse Team. Blue Yankee is the newly crowned Rolex US-IRC National Champion coming off of an impressive Rolex Block Island Race Week series. Towse and company love to sail offshore in a breeze. Also on the top gun list are Tom Hill's R/P75 Titan 12 that will be looking for line honors and John Brim’s brand new R/P 55 Rima2 that will make an early offshore test of this race.

Other big boats looking for a record run will be the Andrews 77 Alchemy sailed by the US Merchant Marine Academy, Jim Muldoon's Donnybrook from Washington DC, and the Stevens 76 Goshawk out of Camden YC.

Joe Harris will be bringing along his Open 50, Gryphon Solo, sailing with a full crew. With beam reaching conditions, he should cant the keel to windward and fill the aft ballast tanks and surf to Halifax. He'll be matched up against the Cookson 50 Privateer, the Farr 60 Hissar and TP52's Decision and T-Squared.

The race will include 69 PHRF Racing boats and 20 PHRF Cruising boats. In the IRC Division some 20 boats will be 'optionally' dual scored under ORR. For more on the race go to www.marbleheadtohalifax.com. Story by bym.com and marbleheadtohalifax.com. XS racing will bring you the start!

Racing Is Tight At 'Match Cup Sweden'

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 1137 PST - Eight skippers and their teams will advance to the Quarter Final Round tomorrow, as light air cancelled the last six matches in Group A of Match Cup Sweden. From this group, Gavin Brady (NZL) of BMW Oracle Racing, Mattias Rahm (SWE) of Victory Challenge, Bjorn Hansen (SWE) of Team Onico, and young Simon Minoprio (NZL) have gone through the next round, while Jesper Radich (DEN) of Desafio Espanol, Magnus Holmberg (SWE) of Victory Challenge, Mathieu Richard (FRA) of Saba Racing, and Sebastien Col (FRA) of Areva Challenge have qualified from Group B.

Despite a promising start to the final day of round robin competition, with the sun coaxing both a seabreeze and several hundred spectators to the venue, by afternoon the conditions deteriorated back to the light air and rain that has thusfar been an unfortunate characteristic feature of Match Cup Sweden. The huge windshifts and holes in the breeze forced race managers to abandon races, and some of those that stood were marginal contests at best.

"It was really hard out there," said Tour runner-up Ian Williams (GBR) of Team Pindar. Who needed to win all his matches to have a chance at beating Minoprio on a tie-break. "We were ahead in some matches that were abandoned, but fell short on the ones that counted." Minoprio's 4th place finish in the group will mean he must race Group B winner Jesper Radich in the next round.

Mattias Rahm, who was always among the leaders in this group, pointed out the irony of not feeling this kind of pressure in the Quarter Finals. "In the Round Robin, you have to win all the matches that the other guys win against the weaker teams so you don't get into trouble in the tie-breaks. But in the Quarter Finals everything starts over again and you can focus just on beating one team."

In an unusual scenario, Brady, Rahm, and Hansen were all tied on nine points each after the incomplete conclusion of racing in Round Robin 2, so a complex tie break was employed to yield Rahm as the winner of the group, though this remains unofficial until the skippers briefing tomorrow morning whilst the Race Committee consult with the Jury to double check that the calculations are correct. He will face Sebastien Col, 4th place finisher from Group B. Hansen was second on count back with Brady, so he will face Mathieu Richard, and Brady in third will meet Holmberg.

Story by Yvonne Reid at www.worldmatchracing tour.com. Photo and for full results go to www.matchcupsweden.com.

Spirit of Jethou and Philippides 2 Wins European Swan Gold Cup Titles

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 1112 PST - With strong performances on the penultimate day's racing, Sir Peter Ogden's Swan 601 Spirit of Jethou (GBR) and Richard Balding's Swan 41 Philippides 2 (GBR) wrapped up the European titles in their respective fleets. Both yachts hold unassailable leads, with only one race left in the regatta tomorrow.

Richard Balding was clearly delighted with the victory: "I've been coming here since 1983 - I've only missed a few - but we've been to the Swan regattas in Sardinia, Newport and Cowes loads of times. The first time we came, after I'd first bought the boat I had a load of dinghy sailors onboard. The fleet went one way, we went the other and hit the starting mark so it's quite nice to come back as we've been honing and polishing our performance ever since."

Tonight's social event will afford the teams the opportunity to relax at the Crew Party, being held at the Yacht Haven in Cowes. Story and photo courtesy of www.swan45class.org. For full results go to www.swan45class.org.

ISAF Sailing World Championships - Day 5

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 1055 PST - The 2007 ISAF Worlds - Over 1,300 sailors from 76 nations are competing at the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships thru July 13 in Cascais, Portugal sailing in Tornados to Windsurfers and everything inbetween. 'The Wind Is Calling' is the official motto for the 2007 Worlds. The Championships are the principal qualification regatta for the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, with 75% of all national places to be decided.

Day 5 - It was an early start in Cascais today, with the first 49er races scheduled for 10:00 as the race committee aimed to get back on schedule. It's an important day in the Finn fleet with the gold fleet to be decided, whilst the 470s are the last class to get their series underway.

Yesterday the weather presented a myriad of problems for the race committee as the breeze waxed and waned, picking up on one course, switching to another, with some major wind variations even between the inner and outer loops of some of the trapezoid courses. As a result only one Finn race was sailed, reducing their opening series to nine races. After being blown off the course with the wind gusting well over 20 knots, the 49ers missed out on a number of their scheduled races, hence the early start today.

The 470 fleets begin their series out on the windy race area 4, with the men's yellow, blue and red fleets starting first, before the two women’s fleets race later in the afternoon. On race area 3 the Star gold fleet line up for the first two of the remaining four races of their opening series.

For full results on all the classes go to www.cascaisworlds2007.com. Photo by Juergen Tiemann

David Palmer - Dragon Slayer

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 10:14 PST - Britain's David Palmer, sailing GBR700 with Mark Pettit and Kasper Harsberg, won today's fourth race by an impressive margine at the Dragon Edinburgh Cup in Weymouth to take the championship with with a 1, 2, 2, 1 score line and a day to spare.

With only one more race scheduled for tomorrow's final day and with the discard coming into play after that fifth race, David Palmer and his crew cannot be beaten and are declared the 2007 International Dragon Edinburgh Cup winners and Dragon British National Champions.

Although David Palmer is a clear winner the battle on the final is for second and third places. Len Jones, sailing GBR708 with Jamie Lea and Philip Catmur, is currently lying second on 19 points but the two Irish teams - Andrew Craig, sailing IRL192 with Don O'Dowd and Aidan O'Connell; and Neil Hegarty, sailing IRL176 with Peter Bowring and David Williams, are hard on his heels and both score 21 points going into the final day, meaning any of the three could take second place, while third is an equally open book that almost anyone in the top ten could close.

For a complete report go to www.edinburghcup07.co.uk. Photo courtesy of Fiona Brown at www.fionabrown.com

Ericsson Racing Team Takes Over ABN Amro One.

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 0954 PST - As of this week, Ericsson is taking ownership of ABN Amro One, the winner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006. The boat will be used for training and speed tests, extending the team's commitment to develop a successful campaign.

ABN AMRO One was delivered to Sune Carlson's boat yard at Saltsjöbaden in Stockholm on this week, somewhat earlier than planned. During Gotland Runt, ABN AMRO One accidently ran a ground off the Eastern coast of Gotland and thus ended the race already in the afternoon of July 2nd. The eventual effects this has had on the boat was inspected before the official hand over took place as of Thursday evening, July 5. The ceremony was attended by representatives and executives from ABN Amro and Ericsson.

The refit and maintenance of the boat will start according to plan. At the beginning of August, we will see another boat of the Ericsson family exiting the shed in Saltsjöbaden, ready to sail under the Ericsson colours. Next stop for the boat is the team's training base at the Canary Islands.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world. Read more at www.ericssonracingteam.com.

Transpac's Wendy Siegal: 1952 - 2007

Saturday - July 7 2007 - 0937 PST - LONG BEACH, Calif. - Wendy Siegal, a schoolteacher as well as a strong competitor and influential force in the success of the Transpacific Yacht Race in recent years, was found drowned Thursday near her Cal 40, Willow Wind, in the Alamitos Bay Marina.

Her death came four days before the first boats, including three of her beloved Cal 40s, were to start the 2007 race off Point Fermin in San Pedro. Now a driving member of the Transpacific Yacht Club Board of Directors, she was not planning to compete, having taken over the responsibility of managing the mass of trophies the race distributes.

Complete details were not immediately available, but Long Beach police said there were no signs of foul play. Apparently, Siegal had been alone working on her boat and had been in the water a considerable length of time before her body was discovered at 3:50 p.m. floating in an empty slip on the next gangway over.

Siegal, 55, was originally from Detroit and later lived in Seattle and San Diego, where she met her companion, Duncan Harrison. They lived in Seal Beach. She taught sixth grade at Stephen M. White Middle School in Carson.

In the 2001 Transpac Siegal, feisty but friendly by nature, was skipper and Harrison navigator when they and four other crew members won the Aloha class - only the second woman skipper since Sally Blair Ames in 1959 to win a class of the race. So she could prepare to sail the race, Siegal had taken leave of teaching and worked part-time at a department store. She said afterward, "I'm not a rich sailor. I sell clothes at Nordstrom's. I quit my job to do this race. I don't know if I'll get it back. But this is the ultimate."

That success inspired her to throw herself into recruiting nine other Cal 40 owners for their "40th anniversary" in the 2003 Transpac, harkening back to their glory days when they dominated the race in the 1960s---the first time in 42 races that Transpac had designated a special class for boats of a single design. She rounded up a total of 14 in 2005.

Siegal's contributions to Transpac are noted in the highlights of this decade inscribed on one of the 11 historic monuments scheduled to be dedicated this Saturday evening, 6 p.m., at Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach.

Siegal had surgery last March to remove a brain tumor and seemed to be progressing well, even returning to teach through the end of the spring semester.

Harrison said, "So many of our friends I've talked to have said that she changed their lives significantly. They wouldn't have done things without her encouragement. The people in the Cal 40s are saying that. Then I realized how I had changed. I'm a different person for knowing her."

At 12:30 Monday, before the smallest boats including three Cal 40s take the first of the race's three starts at 1 p.m., Siegal's friends-including some sailing Cal 40s-plan to scatter flowers over the starting area in her memory.

Transpac Commodore Al Garnier said, "With her energy and enthusiasm, Wendy represented what Transpac was about. She loved racing her Cal 40 and worked hard to get others to do it, and she carried that spirit over to her work on the board of directors. We'll all miss her." Services are pending in Detroit, where Wendy's family resides.

Story and photo by Rich Roberts at www.underthesunphotos.com. For the complete release and more photos go to www.underthesunphotos.com/transpac2007.htm.

Team 7 Bounces Into Fifth

Friday - July 5, 2007 - 1655 PST - Here is a report from the Yngling Team 7 from the 2007 Yngling World Championship in Cascais today at the ISAF Combined World Championships.

Hello Everyone, Breeze gusting over 20 knots made for a lively curtain-raiser to the 2007 Yngling World Championship in Cascais today. The series is part of the ISAF Combined World Championships being sailed here this week. Team 7 Sailing got bounced around a bit, literally and figuratively, and we finished eighth and fifth in the two races sailed to end the day fifth overall.

The wind here howls every night and threatens to blow our house down so we weren't surprised when we found big wind when we went to start our first race at 5:00 pm. What we weren't prepared for was the current. We had a rock-solid start at the committee boat and broke right to play the right hand side. We knew the layline would come up quick, but less than a minute on port tack left us overstood and following 11 boats into the weather mark. Everything happened quick. Boats were wiping out in the big gusty breeze. We managed to pull back a few boats and finished this one in eighth.

Our start wasn't so good in the second race. We found ourselves back a little from the line and had to work our way through several boats before we were able clear out to the right. This time we rounded the top mark and kept climbing back to finish fifth. Tomorrow we start racing at 1:00 pm and we have a better idea of what to expect. We know our speed is good and we know what we have to work on, so now the chase is on to catch the two British boats that are dominating the top of the points table.

You will find full results details at Yngling World Championship Results and you can visit the Team 7 site at www.team7sailing.com.. For Team Seven Sailing - Sally Barkow, Debbie Capozzi & Carrie Howe. Photo by Robert Deaves, IFA

In Seventh Place After Day Two

Friday - July 6 2007 - 1612 PST - Here is a report from Anne Tunnecliffe at the Laser Radial World Championships in Cascais.

Hello Everyone, Things started to come together for me today on the second day of racing in the Laser Radial World Championships here in Cascais, part of the ISAF Combined World Championships. There is no lack of wind here and we sailed two races. I finished first and fifth to move up to 7th place overall. China's Lijia Xu (pictured above) is points leader after two days of racing. Lijia Xu, who won last year's World Championships in Los Angeles, currently enjoys a clear lead here with a 1-1-6-1 record.

We had 12 to 18 knots of breeze on Course One, with the wind freshening for the second race. I got a good start in the first race but had to get clear of the boat to leeward of me at the gun. I managed to hang in there and survive and then worked out to the left side of the course when most of the fleet went right. I was first around the weather mark and led from there.

The breeze picked up for the second race. I had another good start but my plans were absolutely destroyed when one of the girls a couple of boats up the line was going so much faster than everyone. Eventually I was able to tack clear and become part of the lead group around the top mark. From there on I had a good race to finish fifth.

This was a good day for me. My speed was good and I had my tactics sorted out. There are two more races remaining tomorrow to finish the qualifying series. After that we get a rest day.

Tomorrow we're headed out to Course Five, the outermost course on the Bay and the one that is renowned for big wind, big waves and plenty of current. I’m pretty excited about that. We'll see what the forecast brings.

You will find full results details at Laser Radial World Championship Results. I would like to thank my sponsor Carmeuse for their continued support in my campaign for the Olympic Gold. You can see their website at www.carmeusena.com. Sail hard, Anna Report and photo courtesy of www.annatunnicliffe.com.

Gryphon Solo to go "Big Game Hunting"

Friday - July 6 2007 - 1555 PST - Joe Harris will sail with a crew of five aboard Gryphon Solo in the Marblehead to Halifax Race starting Sunday July 8th from Marblehead. The race is a 360-mile sprint that takes sailors straight offshore across the Gulf of Maine to Cape Sable and then up the Southern coast of Nova Scotia to Halifax. The 20 foot tides of the Bay of Fundy make the passage around Cape Sable a challenge to navigators in trying to determine how far offshore to go to avoid being swept into the Bay of Fundy by the incoming flood tide while still sailing the shortest route. In 2005, Gryphon Solo made a dangerous night passage inside of Brazil Rock in a neck-and-neck match race battle with the Open 50 "Artforms". This year the Gryphon Solo skipper hopes to be a safer distance offshore around Cape Sable!

Joining Joe in the race will be Gryphon Solo's boat manager Hugh "Junior" Piggin, fellow Newport sailor Jamie Haines, ocean-voyageur turned-solo-Open-60 sailor Rich Wilson, Sailmaker Robbie Doyle and Halifax sailor Rob Gale. "I've just had a weather briefing from Commanders," Harris said, "and as of Thursday afternoon they predict fairly strong winds from the south west that would give us a beam reach to Halifax. If we can utilize our canting keel and aft water ballast, we can carry a fair amount of sail and have a fast ride. Everybody on the boat will find out what it is like to ride a 50-foot surfboard."

"We will be going against some bigger boats that can fly downwind." Harris continued. "Titan 12, Blue Yankee, Hissar, Alchemy, Donnybrook, Rima2 and a couple of TP52's are capable of 20kts or more in a blow. And the 76-foot Goshawk is also fast off the wind. We'll have our hands full against boats with longer waterlines, but we'll be big game hunting all the way."

Story and photo courtesy of www.gryphonsolo.com.

RS X European Championships

Friday - July 6 2007 - 1529 PST - A blasting rollercoaster start for today's first two races of the regatta All 200 RS:X athletes waited eagerly for the wind to fill in, going past lunch time to finally drop the Postponement at 2:45 PM, but the delay just created more energy and expectation at this key World Championships.

There are 25 country slots allocated here for the men and 20 for the women, that will qualify individual countries for their right to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games. But there is more than just qualifying here, there are 7 days of high strung racing scheduled that will deliver two world Champions.

The fleets have been divided into three men's fleet and two women's fleet that will then be sorted to Gold, Silver and Bronze after six qualifying fleet races. But this event won't be easy for any racer with the constant offshore breeze flowing from the cliffs to create many surprises on the race course.

First off were the men's fleets on course 1. The winds filled in for the start of the men's race but they definitely had a mind of their own today. The wind was 5 to 15 knots in the first race and 5 to 20 knots in the second race, with huge oscillating shifts. The Polish teams were at it again, with Pont (POL) winning both races the yellow group. He mentioned he got really lucky today, but he is no stranger to winning with a recent string of victories this season, most recently the European Championships. But the wind shifts where tricky and the lead changed hands every leg of the race. Making even the most seasoned spectator biting their nails!

Richard STAUFFACHER (SUI) also had a fantastic day with his 1 and 2 finishes in the blue group, making the most of the right side in the first race for the win. In the red group Shahar ZUBARI (ISR) placed 1 and 3 to be in 3rd place overall. But the regatta has just started and while some favorites sailed some shocker races in the back of the fleet, there is still a drop to come after 4 races.

The women today were on course 2, which was further from shore, but they still had the same crazy Cascais breeze. In the first race many competitors couldn't even make the time limit, even a World Champion! But that didn't stop a tie for the lead with both Allesandra SENSINI (ITA) and Zofia KLEPACKA (POL) winning both races in their groups today. Not far off are Marina ALABAU (ESP) and Romy KINZL (GER) who show they can thread the needle thru the big shifts and velocity changes.

Today saw the lightest winds of this past week and tomorrow looks to be a bit stronger, but we'll have to wait and see. With both courses close to shore, and the nearby mountains and cliffs creating havoc with the breeze it'll be a test of consistency and tactics. Most of the racers said they needed eyes in the back of their heads to constantly monitor all the wind changes, as one puff on the wrong side meant seeing the spray of the rest of the fleet! Racing begins at 6PM tomorrow and that means racing into the sunset!

Story and photo courtesy of www.rsxclass.com/youthworlds.html.