International

Day 2 of the Maxi Yacht Rolex started in 18 knots from the southeast, which took their toll on some of the overpowered boats. Winners for the day comprised: ‘Highland Fling’ MON in the Maxis on the coastal course, correcting out over Igor Simcic’s ‘Esimit Europa 2’ SLO who again got line honors. The vintage ‘Hetairos’ CAY (ketch-rigged) corrected to first in the Supermaxis with ‘Ranger’ (CAY) again winning the J-Class match. In the Wally class, ‘Magic Carpet’ GBR corrected out to first in the race, but trails ‘Y3K’ GER overall. In the Mini Maxi Worlds, three races were sailed with ‘Rán’ (Niklas Zennstrom) GBR winning the day, but sitting in second overall behind Andy Soriano’s ‘Alegre’ GBR. 'Bella Mente’ (Hap Fauth) USA and 'Titan 15' (Bill Koch) USA are in 5th and 6th, respectively. A coastal course is scheduled for today. The report, the gallery and the tracking page (needs Google Earth).

With approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), ISAF has published the Olympic Qualification System for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition in Weymouth and Portland GBR, which will accommodate 380 athletes in 10 events: Men's and Women’s Windsurfer (RS:X), Men's One Person Dinghy (Laser Standard), Women's One Person Dinghy (Laser Radial), Men's One Person Dinghy Heavyweight (Finn), Men's and women’s Two Person Dinghy (470), Men's Skiff (49er), Men's Keelboat (Star), Women's Match Racing (Elliott 6m). Conspicuously absent: A multihull class.
The total quota of athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC) is 16, nine men and seven women (maximum 1 boat per event). The Qualification Pathway states that 75% of each event's entry quota shall be qualified from those best-ranked NOCs in each of the relevant events at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships (Perth 2011). The remaining 25% of each events entry quota shall be qualified from each event’s 2012 World Championship or other event sanctioned by ISAF, to finish by 1 June 2012 at the latest. The report with the download of the details of the Qualification System. For still more information, visit the ISAF London 2012 microsite.

Four members of San Diego Yacht Club’s junior program, Nevin Snow, Jake La Dow, Max Hutcheson and Jake Reynolds are in Rapallo, Italy, this week to compete in the Italiana Cup — an international match series for juniors. The event, which is sailed on Portobello 28 keelboats, started yesterday and the practice this summer seems to be paying off as the SDYC team. On a wild and windy day they tamed the boat and their opponents to stand at 2-0. Forecast predicts more wild weather for today. If not, the boys are scheduled to meet the British team that won the shindig last year. Follow them on Facebook.

When we started out with the US edition of Sailing News last March we didn’t know just how much fun that will be. Here we are six months later, continuing to build a loyal following that loves Olympic classes and one designs and sees sailing as a global sport where stuff happens 24/7. Thanks for your support, it is validation of our daily efforts and motivation to try even harder.
According to some analytic sites we are showing triple-digit growth rates while others are bleeding readers. We have no way of verifying such claims. Instead we went back to our archives to see how we do. We randomly selected the week from Aug. 21 to Aug. 28 and counted. Then we counted again, but it the number didn't change: 150 published regatta reports (translated into three different languages) with images, results and links to videos, tracking sites and sailors’ blogs, Facebook and Twitter pages.
This is what it's like now. And it isn't trickling. It is pouring from the rock star regattas down to the grass roots of sailing where most participants spend their time. If we want to “save sailing,” we must strengthen and promote the volunteer-run organizations and events. Modern technology like smart phones and social media make it easier than ever, but we can’t do it by ourselves. If you are involved in an Olympic or one-design class, in a club or community sailing organization, we encourage you to join us on Twitter and Facebook, and to submit your event reports, images and results to editor@sailing-news.us. If you do, we’ll run it. Even on weekends.

A grand total of 359 entries, 39 of them from the US, were registered for the World Laser Masters Championships in Hayling Island GBR, which start this weekend. Twelve races are scheduled to take place from Sept. 13 to 19 with Sept. 16 reserved as rest day. The competition will take place in four age groups: Apprentices (35-44), Masters (45-54), Grand Masters (55-64), Great Grand Masters (65+ on Laser Radials). A total of 11 trophies will be awarded: Laser Standard (Men) Apprentice, Master, Grand Master; Laser Radial (Women) Apprentice, Master, Grand Master and Great Grand Master; Laser Radial (Combined Men/Women) Apprentice, Masters, Grand Masters, Great Grand Masters. The large US contingent is led by multiple world champion Peter Seidenberg (GGM), Peter Vesella (GM) and former Laser Standard and Finn world champion, John Bertrand (M). Other notables in this event include Finn world champion 1981 Wolfgang Gerz GER (GM), Arnoud Hummel NED (M) and 5.5 Meter Olympic Gold medalist 1968 Peter Sundelin SWE (GM). More on the event site.

No wind, no go in Torbole ITA on Day 2 of the 5.5. Worlds. Time enough to have a latte or three, lick the wounds inflicted by the zesty Ora on Monday and hope for not quite as much today. Leading the overall standings is Flavio Marazzi SUI (2) followed by Christoph Burger NOR (5) and Kristian Nergaard NOR (8). The report and the gallery.

The outcome of the 2010 Open 470 European Championships remained in the balance until the final leg of the men’s medal race. Just five points separated the top six men’s 470 teams going into the contest that was sailed in strong and gusty winds. Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis GRE then once more proved their prowess in these conditions, scoring another bullet to secure their first European championship, at the same time condemning Gideon Kliger/Eran Sela ISR to second in the race and overall. It was Kliger’s third time as a runner up in the Europeans. In third place Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell GBR, who led the fleet after into the medal race, but sailed a high-risk strategy (including a port start) that failed them. Finishing fifth, they were happy to secure Bronze.
Series leaders Emmanuelle Rol/Helene Defrance struck a windward mark during the women’s medal race and had to take a penalty turn, but managed to stay ahead of their rivals and finish third, winning Gold by 18 points over Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol ITA and Ingrid Petitjean/Nadege Douroux FRA, who took Bronze while Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron FRA slipped from second to fourth overall.
Earlier in the day the remainder of the 92 competing teams completed one final fleet race. Best of the rest were Matthias Schmid/Florian Reichstaedter AUT finishing 11th and edging Stu McNay/Graham Biehl USA who slipped to 12th. Reigning Junior World and European Champions Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion FRA secured victory in the Silver fleet. The report, all results and the gallery..

The first day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2010 saw 47 boats competing on the seas off the northeastern coast of Sardinia in a light 7 to 8 knot NNW breeze. In the Mini Maxi World Championship ‘Alegre’ (Andy Soriano) GBR won out over ‘Shockwave (Neville Crichton) NZL and ‘Ran’ (Niklas Zennstrom) GBR. ‘Titan 15’ (skippered by Bill Koch) USA is in seventh. ‘Ranger’ CAY won the battle of the J-Class boats over ‘Velsheda’ GBR.
The remaining divisions, the Super Maxis with the 45.2 m ‘Saudade’ (Albert Buell) MLT and the 45-meter ‘Salperton’ completed a coastal race of 30 nautical miles. ‘Hamilton II’ corrected out over ‘Saudade’ and ‘Gliss’ (Marco Vogele) SUI. In the Racing/Racer Cruiser division ‘Esimet Europa 2’ (Ex Alfa Romeo/Igor Simicic) SLO, skippered by Flavio Favini ITA, won ahead of ‘Highland Fling’ (Irvine Laidlaw) MON and ‘DSK Pioneer’ (Danilo Salsi) ITA. ‘J One’ (Jean-Charles Decaux) FRA took first place in the Wally division followed by Y3K (Claus Peter Offen) GER and ‘Dark Shadow’ (Andrè Auberton) GBR. Racing continues today, with SSE winds of up to 25 knots in the afternoon. The report, thegallery and the tracking page (needs Google Earth).

Yesterday was the first day of racing at the 5.5 Metre World Championship 2010 at Circolo Vela Torbole with 30 boats from nine countries. On a typical breezy lake Garda day, top Star sailor Flavio Marazzi SUI (2) got two bullets to lead the standings, followed by Christoph Burger NOR (5) and Kristian Nergaard NOR (8). Prior to the Worlds, Nergaard sailing with Peer Moberg and Petter Morland Pedersen won the tune-up event, the Scandinavian Gold Cup by beating Bernard Haissly SUI in the sail-off. It was Nergaard's third consecutive win of a unique regatta which is won by the boat that first wins three races. All boats that have not won a race after three heats are excused from competition. Get the details.

It took some doing on the last and windiest day of the 2010 Laser World Championship, but Tom Slingsby AUS, who also turned 26 yesterday, clinched his third title in four years and his second world championship in the last two weeks, after also winning the Etchells as crew for John Bertrand. After Slingsby had scored a safe sixth in the penultimate race, the last contest should have been more of the same, which it was until he found himself upside down as the breeze gusted to 23 knots. Somehow he got back up in a hurry and fought his way back to 14th, which sealed the win and a mega-cushion of 36 points. That’s because his closest rival in the overall standings, Nick Thompson GBR, also elected to run his capsize drill, which turned a possible top-three finish into a discard. In the end he had to be content with the crown prince’s honors, ahead of Andrew Murdoch NZL who had a strong day with 8-1 to return to the podium when it mattered and secure bronze for the second year in a row. Julio Alsogaray ARG, who saved his best sailing for last, finished fourth overall, ahead of Pavlos Kontides CYP, who sunk his medal chances with a 32nd in the very last race, which he was unable to discard. Defending champ Paul Goodison GBR was busy with damage control, won the first race of the day and booked a 10th to end in 9th overall. The only US contestant in the Gold fleet, Fred Vranizan, finished in 53rd.
In the Silver fleet Dave Wright CAN remained on top, followed by Clay Johnson USA and a surging Karol Porozynski POL, who had a 1-2 on the final day. The other US finishers in Silver were Rob Crane 17th and Kyle Rogachenko in 31st.
In the Junior World Championship Thorbjoern Schierurp DEN posted a third at the end to hold off Francesco Marrai ITA and Alex Mills-Barton GBR who took Silver and Bronze, respectively. The report, and the RYA video page with the day’s summaries (and an interview with Finn world champion Ed Wright).

With just the medal race remaining, the outcome of the 2010 Open 470 European Championships is far from clear. Two races in the gusty and shifty waters of Istanbul reshuffled the order of the men’s fleet, and now just 5 points separate the top six teams. The dice rolled right for Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell GBR (56) who scored 5-1 to lead the men’s standings before today’s medal race. Next are Gideon Kliger/Eran Sela ISR (57) and Pangiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis GRE (57) and Sime Frantela/Igor Marenic CRO (58). It will be a hot race because the next two teams, Leboucher/Garos FRA and Kampouridis/Polychronidis GRE are only three points behind the defending champs from Croatia. Stu McNay/Graham Biehl USA added two ninth-place finishes to their score yesterday, which was good, but only for 11th overall, four points short of the medal race. In the Silver fleet Sofian Bouvet/Jérémie Mion FRA have a 9-point lead over Dubbini/Dubbini ITA.
In the women’s event, Emmanuelle Rol/Helene Defrance FRA now hold a 10-point advantage over Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron FRA and 14 over Giulia Conti/Giovana Micol ITA. Final fleet race for everyone outside the Top 10 at 11 am local time (4 am EDT) with the women’s medal race following at 3 pm local (8 am EDT) and the men’s at 3:45 pm local (8:45 EDT). The report, all results and the live tracker.

On the final day of the St. Moritz Match Race, the Maloja wind kicked in and Mathieu Richard FRA buckled down to grind out the necessary race wins for the title. Richard and Adam Minoprio NZL advanced from the quarters with one win only and got dusted in the first race of the semis. Richard lost to Ben Ainslie GBR while Minoprio fell to Ian Williams GBR. It looked like an all-Brits final was in the making, but Richard took the next two from Ainslie to advance despite having to do a penalty turn in the decisive third match. Williams kept the upper hand over Minoprio with 2-1 and faced Richard in the finals. They split the first two and Richard proved to be the master of the Maloja puffs to pull out the final win that earned him the big check and an extra cushion in the overall standings of the World Match Racing Tour, which he leads. Minoprio beat Ainslie in the petit final. The next tour event is on the island of Bornholm, Denmark next week. The report with the results and the 'Play of the Day' video with Minoprio hanging not one, but two penalties on Williams.

Ed Wright GBR destroyed the rest of the world’s Finn elite. It’s as simple as that. With surgical precision Wright added another bullet in the medal race yesterday in mellower conditions than usual. It was his fifth in 11 races at the 2010 Finn Gold Cup and a fitting end of his title bid that put him 31 points clear of Rafael Trujillo ESP, who was lucky to hold off Giles Scott GBR and win Silver. Three points behind the British-Spanish sandwich was Zach Railey USA, who took second in the medal race, his first top-three result of the week. In fifth Thomas Le Breton FRA. The rest of the fleet sailed too with Daniel Birgmark SWE getting his second bullet of the week to finish in 12th overall, behind Marin Misura CRO and ahead of Jonathan Lobert FRA. Top junior was Caleb Paine USA who sailed to an eighth place in Race 11 for 28th overall.
For the US Railey’s finish is the bright spot, along with Paine’s win in the Junior’s division, which should offer some satisfaction after getting fourth at the Silver Cup two weeks ago. Fourth is a bitter place, but still a fine finish in the Gold Cup even though Railey had mixed emotions. “4th at World Championship hard missing out on podium but overall am very pleased with how I sailed this week thanks 4 all the support,” he tweeted. If the US did not exactly invade the top 50 here, the amateurs and veterans deserve to be recognized, battling competition as much as the rough and windy bay. The event Web site, the final standings, the chopper shots and the YouTube Channel.

Tom Slingsby AUS is two steps removed from his third Laser World Championship after scoring two bullets yesterday on another English summer day in 15-16 knots of breeze. With speed to burn and conservative starts he finished far ahead of his nearest rivals in both races, building a 32-point lead in the Gold fleet standings. The champagne is on ice, but before Slingsby gets the winner’s dousing, he needs two more solid races today since he already carded his throwouts. Defending champ Paul Goodison GBR continued his slide into oblivion after getting yellow-flagged twice in the first race for excessive body kinetics. His second disqualification in as many days plunged the Olympic champion to 19th overall. Nick Thompson GBR was expected to challenge Slingsby, but sailed a real discard with a 17th after being forced to do penalty turns and playing catch-up. A 12th in the second race salvaged his chances for Silver. Angling for a podium finish is Jean-Baptiste Bernaz FRA, who benefited from a mixed day for the Kiwis and scored 15-3 to move up to third, right into the crosshairs of Pavlos Kontides CYP, the expat from Cyprus, who's one point behind. Fred Vranizan USA, brings up the rear in 53rd. The Silver fleet has Dave Wright CAN in the lead, followed by Clay Johnson USA.
Punchy starting helped Thorbjoern Schierup DEN to leap into the leader’s position in the Juniors rankings after the first two final races, which he both won. Behind, but tied on points is longstanding leader Francesco Marrai ITA. Alex Mills-Barton GBR is third, 13pts ahead of Filip Jurisic CRO. The report, all results and the video summary.

Light and patchy breezes on the penultimate day of the finals at 2010 Open 470 European Championships appeared tailor made for two French teams in the women’s division. Emanuelle Rol/Helene Defrance FRA got two thirds and moved into the lead, one point clear of their teammates Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron FRA, who had two seconds. Defending champs and Friday’s leaders Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol ITA are in third after a sub-par day, eight points off the lead.
Sailing the shifts rather than the fleet was the secret of success for Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis GRE, who carded two fifths to extended their advantage over Gideon Kliger/Eran Sela ISR to six points. The Israelis had a bullet today to step up to second overall, two points ahead of Panagiotis Kampouridis/Theodoros Polychronidis GRE. Where are the Croatians who looked so good so far? Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic, the defending champs, slipped, tripped and tumbled to fifth, behind Nicholas Charbonnier/Baptiste Meyer-Dieu FRA who won a race yesterday. Stu McNay/Graham Biehl USA took a hit from the jury who converted a 13th from Friday into a DSQ. After 13-3 yesterday they remain in 14th overall, 10 points out of the medal race. They’ll need two very good races today to do it.
In the men’s Silver fleet, the points remain very tight with Joonas and Niklas Lindgren FIN holding on to the lead by a single point from 470 Junior World and European Champions, Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion FRA. Stronger breeze possible for today’s last two fleet races, say the Greek, who have proven to know a thing or two about this place. Medal race on Monday. The report, all results and the gallery.

On a frustrating day for the six teams battling to reach the semi-finals of the St. Moritz Match Race, perhaps the biggest fight was off the water between the gradient northerly wind and the thermally induced southerly, which left the racecourse peppered with monumental wind shifts, holes and gusts.
Ben Ainslie GBR riding some luck but also considerable skill was the first and only one to advance to the semis yesterday sweeping Bjorn Hansen SWE. Adam Minoprio NZL slipped by Damien Iehl at the last second, coming from way behind for a 1-0 lead had, just like Mathieu Richard FRA holds a 1-0 lead over veteran Bertrand Pacé FRA. They’ll finish the quarters to find out who’ll join Ian Williams GBR the top seed in the semis and Ainslie. The report with the results and a video.

Let’s face it: Leading a world championship on the first day of the finals and getting sacked with a BFD hurts. Just ask Tom Slingsby AUS (28 pts.) who experienced exactly that yesterday on the first day of Gold fleet racing at the Laser Worlds. Slingsby survived the day with the lead and got a smidgen of relief by the fact that defending champion Paul Goodison GBR (51) and red-hot Michael Bullot NZL (66) committed the same blunder and paid dearly for it. However, Slingsby won’t feel smug, because despite his 13-point cushion Andrew Maloney NZL (41) he’s living on the razor’s edge with both discards occupied by fat scores so he can’t afford any mistakes from here on out. It was edgy out there yesterday in moderate breeze and glorious sunshine and an avalanche of 39 BFDs handed out by the RC across all three fleets in both races. One who kept clean was Nick Thompson GBR (41) who used a 4-2 to move from seventh into third (tied for second) with a tidy score line that includes only one ugly finish at the moment a 25th, which he managed to discard. Slingsby and Maloney will watch for him. In fourth is the intrepid Pavlos Kontides CYP (43), finding himself eight points clear of Mr. Goodison who only managed a 17th in the second race after tangling with a French sailor on the second beat. Fred Vranizan, the lone Gold fleeter of the US team got hit with a BFD and stands in 53rd. In the Silver fleet the lead belongs to Dave Wright CAN, Clay Johnson USA is fourth.
After the eight qualifiers are finished in the Junior World Championships Francesco Marrai scored two more bullets to build a 10-point lead over Thorbjoern Schierup DEN and Alex Mills-Barton GBR, who also won both of his group races. The report and the video summary.

It was the windiest day yet at the 2010 Finn Gold Cup on San Francisco Bay and Ed Wright GBR (20) underscored his title ambitions by winning the day with a third and a first, and bringing his total number of bullets to four. Before today’s double-point, non-discard medal race he holds a 13-point margin in the overall standings over Rafael Trujillo ESP (33), who also did well with 2-5, but can’t seem to quite match Wright’s level of performance and consistency.
Four Brits will be in the medal race when no other nation has more than one sailor. One of the four is Giles Scott GBR (38), who posted a 1-4 score and lurks in third overall, five points behind Trujillo and 17 clear of Zach Railey USA (55). Finishing fourth here would be great for Railey, but also bittersweet, because he wanted more. He sailed consistently with nine top-10 finishes, but no top-3 result yet. Second best US sailor remains Caleb Paine in 28th. He’s also the top junior, although only one point clear of Ioannis Mitakis GRE.
The event Web site , the gallery and the YouTube channel.

Ed. note: Please take a moment to reflect on August Miller USA, who stands in 78th and continues to confound common wisdom. Mr. Miller is 75 and has been sailing Finn, the most athletic Olympic dinghy class, for 44 years. In this regatta where hardly a race is run in less than 20 knots of wind and often with brutal chop on Berkeley Circle, Miller has finished every race and got his best result yesterday. He finished 66th in the last race of the final day, which was sailed in a blustery breeze. Seeing how many of his considerably younger colleagues have DNFs and DNS in their scores, please join us in saluting Gus Miller.

After adding one more qualifying race and the first two races of the finals after the split into gold and silver fleets there's a Greek renaissance to report with new leaders in the men’s division at the 2010 Open 470 European Championships in Istanbul TUR. Racing in strong but shifty breeze and sailing with some panache, Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis GRE took the overall lead from defending champs Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic CRO by a single point. Gideon Kliger/Eran Sela, hold third place just ahead of Panagiotis Kampouridis/Theodoros Polychronidis GRE, who were 2-3 in the first two races of the finals.
Decent day for Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl USA who got their first bullet winning their last group race in difficult conditions and adding 11-13 in the Gold fleet races for 14th overall, nine points behind the last medal race spot. The Silver fleet is led by Joonas and Niklas Lindgren FIN. Tough day for the ladies who were out on the water for three long and grueling races with, Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol ITA holding a 10-point lead over Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer DEN who moved up to 2nd overall with a solid day and Emmanuelle Rol/Helen Defrance FRA. With racing now back on schedule two races will be scheduled for everyone today. The championships conclude with the medal race on Sunday. The report, the results, the gallery and the race tracker.

Light shifty was the theme at the RS:X World Championships were just one shortened race was held in both the men and women’s Gold fleets today in Kerteminde, Denmark, the competition watched by HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. Yesterday’s results determined the top 10 for the Men and Women’s medal races with some prominent names missing including Byron Kokalanis GRE in the men’s and Chen Qiubin CHN in the women’s. Yesterday’s overall leader, Dorian van Rijsselberge NED dropped to ninth overall, so he will race today but not for a medal. Piotr Myszka POL is the top dog now, a point ahead of Przemyslaw Miarczynski POL. The top seven have a shot at a medal with the top four in the running for the title. It’s closer in the women’s bracket: Leader Alessandra Sensini ITA is nine points ahead of Lee-el Korzits ITA and Blancha Manchon ESP, but any of the top six can snatch Gold, thus preventing Sensini from winning her fourth windsurfing world championship title. But any within the entire top 10 could take the silver and bronze. Today at 1100 local time the medal races begin with the men’s competition, followed immediately by the women. No official report was posted at press time, so check the event site

Ian Williams GBR (9-2), Ben Ainslie GBR (8-3) and Mathieu Richard FRA (7-4) emerged on top of the leader board after Round robin sailing concluded at the St. Moritz Match Race in solid Maloja wind. It was a dogfight for the remaining four spots in the quarters, with Bertrand Pace FRA (7-4), Björn Hansen SWE, Damien Iehl FRA and Adam Minoprio NZL (all on 6-5 record) making it through. While Minoprio squeaked in on countback, the curtain fell on Francesco Bruni ITA, Torvar Mirsky AUS, Eric Monnin SUI, Johnie Berntsson SWE and Jérôme Clerc SUI. Williams has a bye in the quarters today while the others will determine who will join him in the semis. The report, the gallery and the video feed.

Scoring a 1-5 yesterday on the last day of qualifying, Tom Slingsby AUS (20) leads all comers before the decisive final phase at the Laser Worlds in Hayling Island GBR where the fleets are now split into gold, silver and bronze. On a sparkling summer day, moderate easterlies from 8-11 knots that were accompanied by decent swell the downhillers in the 159-boat fleet clearly were in their element. Confessing to “schoolboy errors,” as he called his mistakes, Olympic and defending world champion Paul Goodison GBR (34) finally bagged a double-digit score in Race 7. Yet he sits in second, 14 points adrift of Slingsby and two ahead of the two top Kiwis (there are two more in the top eight), Michael Bullot NZL and Andrew Maloney NZL (36 each). In fifth the man of the day, Pavlos Kontides CYP (39) who makes his home in nearby Southampton GBR as a student, rolled two firsts yesterday. No such luck for the US team, which remains mired in the middle. Fred Vranizan ended in 51st, Kyle Rogachenko in 55th, Clay Johnson in 59th and Rob Crane in 66th. Vranizan looks like he'll squeak into the gold fleet.
After a layday the Junior World Championships resumes qualifying with two more races before their four-race finals commence Saturday. In the lead here is Francesco Marrai ITA. The report, all results and the video channel.

After another two windy races, the top five at the Finn Gold Cup in San Francisco maintain their relative positions, but leader Ed Wright GBR (16) who scored 2-5 and Rafa Trujillo ESP (26) who does not go quietly and scored 1-2 and increased their points cushion in over the rest of the fleet in the overall standings. Giles Scott GBR (33) hangs onto third place after placing 3-6, with Thomas Le Breton FRA (38) and Zach Railey USA (38) not far off. Perhaps the most exciting race was Race 8 with a nasty chop and 22 knots of breeze blasting down Berkeley Circle. It ended in a photo finish when Daniel Birgmark SWE pipped defending champion Jonas Høgh Christensen in the post for the win. Looking beyond Wright’s and Scott’s podium aspirations it should be noted that there are two more Brits in the Top 10, with Andrew Mills in eighth and Mark Andrews in ninth. Take away Railey’s consistent performance, and you have one ray of hope: Caleb Paine in 30th who right now is the second-best of the US squad and the top junior in this tough regatta. The report, the event site, the gallery and the YouTube Channel.

On Day 3 Istanbul produced ideal conditions for the 2010 Open 470 European Championships. With the sun up, a warm breeze of 15-20 knots blowing and the discards now in play the overall standings were turned upside down. Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell GBR (4) who opened their account with a black flag disqualification on Wednesday, won that day’s second race, before railroading the competition with three more bullets yesterday. In second now defending champions Fantela/Marenic CRO (9), who have a one-point advantage over Kliger Sela ISR (10). It also was a better day for Stu McNay/Graham Biehl USA who added 3-10-12 to improve to 21st overall. The story repeated itself on the women’s course where defending champions Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol, ITA (5) had mucked up their first race Wednesday only to come back and win the next heat and then adding two more bullets and a second yesterday to lead all ladies. In second Petitjean/Douroux FRA (12) who won the last race of the day, followed by Rol/DeFrance FRA (15). The report.

Two Brits and two French are lodged in the top five after two days of sailing at the St. Mortitz Match Race SUI. Damien Iehl FRA was the aggressor yesterday, racking up five successive victories. His victims included Wednesday’s leader Adam Minoprio NZL and AC skipper Francdesco Bruni ITA. As the Maloja wind rushed in, Iehl exhibited some deft moves, leading Minoprio around mark one by three lengths and eventually extending his lead all the way to the finish. Next on his list was Torvar Mirsky AUS who gained the initial advantage, but Iehl played the shifts well, building an insurmountable lead at the first mark. Meanwhile, Ian Williams GBR (7-1) showed little concern after sweeping his races of the day to defend the overall lead, one point ahead of Ben Ainslie GBR (6-2) and Mathieu Richard FRA (6-2). These three already are qualified for the quarterfinals. The next six led by Minoprio (5-3) and Iehl (5-4) are in the hunt for the remaining four places. The report with all results, the gallery and the videos.

When there’s wind it’s Slingsby time. The easterlies got into the low to mid-teens, which made for more physical sailing and yesterday at the Laser Worlds in Hayling Island GBR. In these conditions Tom Slingsby AUS (14) made his move to the top of the overall standings in the senior division, with a score line that shows three bullets in six starts. Sailing extremely smooth and fluid downwind portions, Slingsby served notice that he intends to add world title No. 3 to his trophy case. But then there’s also Paul Goodison GBR (18), the reigning Olympic and world champion, who will have a say in this matter. Goody might be in third overall, but is tied on points with Josh Junior NZL who holds second at the moment as one of four Kiwis in the top eight. Unlike most others Goodison has yet to sail a stinker, although he had to work hard to avoid his first double-digit score yesterday after getting buried deep in the second race. He put on a clinic to salvage a seventh, keeping his title defense on target with all Top-10 finishes. In the cheaper seats it was a better day for the US: Kyle Rogachenko (71) had a fourth in the second race yesterday to improve to 38th, Fred Vranizan (75) got a fifth to climb to 45th. Rob Crane (94) added a sixth for 61st overall while Clay Johnson (100) stands in 67th.
In the Junior World Championships Francesco Marrai ITA regained his overall lead after a fifth and a third, two points ahead of Thorbjoern Scheirup DEN and five clear of Keerati Bualong THA. The report and the video summary.

Discard time at the Finn Gold Cup in San Francisco where another two races were added in glorious sunshine, starting in mellow breeze that grew more robust during the afternoon. Continuing where he left off on Tuesday, Ed Wright GBR (9) scored another bullet (a horizon job, actually) and later added a third place to assume the top spot of the standings with a cozy 13-point cushion. In second Rafa Trujillo ESP (22) who rebounded from a sub-par Day 2 just ahead of the next Brit, Giles Scott (24). Wright and Trujillo now account for five of bullets in those six races. Thomas Le Breton FRA (24) and Zach Railey USA (26), who held first and second Tuesday, slipped off the podium despite consistent sailing but without bullets yet. However, they are close, at least to silver and bronze, or to pounce on the moment when Ed Wright decides to become a mere mortal again. Scrolling down on the results, you’ll find Caleb Paine USA (137) in 29th, right between his fellow juniors Ioannis Mitakis GRE (134) and Oliver Twedell AUS (143).
Apropos juniors: Haven’t you wondered about Luke? You know, Luke Lawrence USA, the winner of the Silver Cup last week. His scores include a 79 and a string of DNS. Rock bottom and unusual for this caliber talent. Well, here’s word from the man: “I woke up at 4 in the morning on the first day and had to run to the restroom and have been sick with vomit and fever ever since. It's unfortunate, but what can I do? I hope to be on the track soon.” We do, too. The official report and the Finn YouTube channel with some iPhone videos from yesterday’s races.

It was a crazy, confusing day at the 2010 Open 470 European Championships in Istanbul, yet somehow Gideon Kliger/Eran Sela ISR (2) emerged from their side of the men’s qualifying with two first places. The Israeli team made sense of the light, patchy and shifty conditions that left most of the 92 teams quite bewildered. The only team that came close to matching the Israelis’ consistency were the defending European champions Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic CRO (4), who scored two second places on the other side of the qualifying split. In third Yurii Zhuralov/Pavlo Matsuyev UKR (10). Other leading lights, such as the USA’s Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl and GBR’s Luke Patience/Stuart Bithell, fell foul of the black flag. While the Brits bounced back with a win, McNay/Biehl scored a 15 in the second race and are stuck in 44th overall for the moment. On the women’s side Emanuelle Rol/Helene Defrance FRA (4) scored 1,3 for the early lead, followed by Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron FRA (8) and Henriette Koch/Lene Sommer DEN (10) in third. The report and the complete results, the gallery plus the tracking page.

The opening day of racing at the St. Moritz Match Race dawned bright but cold, with very little wind but intense sailing. After five flights the lead belongs to Adam Minoprio NZL with a 4-1score tied with Ian Williams GBR and Björn Hansen SWE. In fourth is Ben Ainslie GBR at 3-2, the same score as Mathieu Richard FRA. The last race, between Richard and Williams, was also the closest. With 15 seconds to go the French skipper looked much too early, yet he found enough wriggle room to make a perfect start, much to the surprise of the spectator crowds. He led throughout the race by the tightest of margins - at the finish just one meter separated the two boats. The report, the results and the gallery

No sailing at the RS:X World Championships in Kerteminde on layday, but behind the scenes the talk was about securing the future of the class in prepatration for the annual meeting. the talk was about finding a qualified organizer for the 2012 Worlds and the new Danish system to bring the racing to the masses, called ‘Sailstream – You Are the Producer’. It combines the TracTrac tracking system with several channels of video, including one with commentary on the racing streamed live from the water via wireless broadband network.
Of greater concern is the ISAF Olympic Commission and the requirements to keep sailing Olympic, byond keeping the RS:X as the s]windsurfing equipment. This includes a professionally managed class Web site and social media. Another objective is increasing more female competitors to a share of at least 40 percent or even half of the total RS:X fleet and getting boards to ISAF Member National Authorities in as many countries as possible to spread the class globally. Read on.
Racing in the gold and silver fleets is due to get underway today at 1100 local (0900 GMT). 8-10 knots from the ENE is forecast. Dorian Van Rjisselberge NED and Maja Dziarnowska POL are the current overall leaders. The standings and the event site.

Calling a course record a “world record” seems a bit much fanfare, which doesn’t faze the World Sailing Speed Record Council. Yesterday WSSRC announced the ratification of a “double” new World Record [sic] for the Around Great Britain and Ireland Race for the best elapsed time outright and the best singlehanded performance. Last week Sidney Gavignet and the 105-foot trimaran 'Oman Air Majan' (we reported) blasted around both islands (a distance of 1,773 miles) in a tidy 4 days 15 hours 9 minutes and 27 seconds. That’s a 15.95-knot average and more than one hour faster than the late Steve Fossett USA with a full complement of crew in 2004 on ‘Playstation’ and about 38 hours quicker than the old singlehanded record, which was established in 2006 by Thomas Coville FRA on ‘Sodebo’. Our hats are off to Gavignet’s magnificent performance, his boat and support team. It’s a record alright. It's even two records. But please don’t call it a “double” new World Record.

Two more difficult qualifying heats were sailed yesterday at the Laser World Championships in postcard weather and shifty light southeasterlies off Hayling Island, England. The objective was avoiding a fat score early on that almost certainly will come back to haunt the sailors later in the event. But in the fickle and shifty breeze this was a delicate, if not impossible undertaking. When the points were tallied and the discard was taken out, Luka Radelic CRO (5) had claimed the lead in the senior division, ahead of Josh Junior NZL (6) and first-day leader Michael Bullot NZL (8). Paul Goodison GBR (8) might have slipped to fourth, but his scores (3-1-9-4) are even, just like those of Aron Lollic CRO (12) who might only sit in 10th for the moment, but like Goodison will benefit down the road, provided he remains consistent. The regatta has not been kind to the US team with their best, Kyle Rogachenko (41), in 46th overall. A fifth place in the second race by Rob Crane is the only US single-digit finish thus far. “It was a very tough day of sailing with some painfully light legs. The chop from 100+ coach boats doesn't help the situation either! I'm praying we get some more breeze for the rest of the regatta!” blogged Clay Johnson (68) who’s struggling in 79th overall. The surprise of the day was Malaysia’s Nik Azizan Ashraf Qaedi (129), who stands in 103rd overall with a picturesque score line of 36-46-46-1.
In the junior division, Magus Kaeldso DEN (5) had a magnificent day with 1, 2 to leapfrog to the top of the standings, replacing Monday’s leader Francesco Marrai ITA (10). In third the next Dane with Thorbjoern Schierup DEN (12). The report and the day’s video.

Getting two bullets in as many races, Ed Wright GBR (23) was the hero of Day 2 at the Finn Gold Cup in San Fran. After a tough first race Wright found his groove and now stands in third behind the only two sailors who have all single-digit scores, Thomas LeBreton FRA (21) who had two thirds and Zach Railey USA (21) who roiled a 7-4. “Huge comeback in 1st race feel good about scores consistent,” Railey tweeted “...very close racing and long hard days in big breeze and chop.” In fourth lurks Giles Scott GBR (23) followed closely by Gasper Vincnec SLO (25). The standings might be a bit deceptive, because with a discard, Wright would be in a league of his own, but right now consistency trumps flashy sailing as neither LeBreton nor Railey have a race win on their score sheet. Case in point is Rafa Trujillo ESP (48) who looked untouchable on Monday before stumbling badly with a 35th and 10th to slide to seventh overall. The US team might be big in numbers but it’s not crowding the top spots in this regatta yet. Caleb Paine (129), who finished fourth at the Silver Cup last week, is in 29th and second junior. The report and the video channel.

With six races now sailed and the discard coming into play, Dorian van Rijsselberge NED (10) launched himself into the lead, with the final two qualification series races held off Kerteminde DEN. Van Rijsselberge, 22, dropped his black flag disqualification from race one and with an impressive three firsts is now five points ahead of Piotr Myszka POL and Beijing Gold medalist Tom Ashley NZL. Ben Barger USA and Robert Willis USA are 69th and 76th, respectively.
Two more races also in the women’s division with Maja Dziarnowska POL taking the lead after the Chinese faded a little. In second, one point behind, Charline Picon FRA followed by Sun Sasa CHN (18) and Li Ling CHN (18) A renaissance of sorts for four-time Olympic windsurfing medalist Alessandra Sensini ITA (19) in fifth and elder stateswoman Jessica Crisp AUS (19), who posted a 3-2 for seventh overall . Farrah Hall USA is 58th. With the qualification series complete, tomorrow is a lay day before racing resumes on Thursday and Friday with the fleet divided into gold and silver fleets prior to the top 10 show down in Saturday’s medal races. All results, the video and the tracking page.

The 92 teams were condemned to enjoy a hot summer day ashore on the first day of the 470 Europeans in Istanbul TUR, as the breeze took a siesta yesterday. It also was a chance to talk about the changes the class proposes to retain the Olympic status, including laminate sails, a two-piece mast for easier transport, and new foils. The balancing act will be to make changes that improve the class without rendering thousands of legacy boats obsolete. “We may conclude that we have a really good boat in the existing 470, and that nothing needs to change,” said class president Stanislav Kassarov, “but it is important we at least try these new ideas so that we know for sure.” Get the details in the official report.

After a light dusting of snow on the hills above the lake overnight, St. Moritz sparkled in the morning sun. However, the unseasonably cold weather meant the trademark Maloja wind was AWOL, leaving the 12 teams to contend with an erratic and chilling northerly breeze during their first practice with the blu26 boats. The entry list is lead by the 2009 winner Adam Minoprio NZL and the current Tour leader Matthieu Richard FRA. Start to the Round Robin is today at 11 a.m. CEST. According to the forecast, the wind might change to the 'normal' Maloja. The preview and the Web site.

The strong tidal current and light and shifty breeze proved the challenges on the first day - a sunny one at that- of the 2010 Laser World Championships off Hayling Island GBR. The shifting wind, oscillating through as much as 30 degrees at times in the first race set the early test, but a big 50-degree swing early in of the second contest forced the delay of the second and third starts until the breeze settled. Michael Bullot NZL (3), runner up at last year’s World Championships posting a second and a first to grab the early lead in the senior division, one point over Paul Goodison GBR (4), the defending champ, who opened his regatta with third place and then won his second heat by a comfortable distance. Somewhat surprising third place which is currently held by Karl-Martin Rammo EST (4). Tom Slingsby AUS (9), fresh from winning the Etchells Worlds with John Bertrand in Ireland, jumped right in and won his first group race and took eighth in the second to stand in seventh overall. Best North American is Michael leigh CAN (15) in 13th while the top US contestant is Rob Crane (23) in 21st.
In the juniors, the top three are Francesco Marrai ITA (5), Lukas Feuerherdt GER (6) and Thorbjoern Schierup DEN (6). The full report and the video of the day.

A fleet of 87 Finn sailors tackled raunchy San Francisco Bay in the customary 20 –25 knots of westerly breeze for the first two races of the 2010 Gold Cup. The day belonged to Rafa Trujillo ESP (3) who came away with a 2-1, which gives him a seven-point lead overZach Railey USA (10) who had two fifths. In third is Giles Scott GBR (12) tied on points with defending champion Jonas Høgh-Christensen DEN. Another positive for the US team is Caleb Paine (44) in 20th as top junior. The overall results, the event site with GPS tracking and the day’s video.

Perfect conditions on Day 2 brought a 20 kn breeze for the Olympic RS:X windsurfers who sail their 2010 World Championship in Kerteminde DEN. The men had 2 heats, while the women sailed three to make up for lost time on Sunday.
The Chinese women hadn't shown flag a lot at this year's World Cup events, but here they do. Li Ling CHN and Sun Sasa CHN have established themselves at the top of the standings as if they mean business. Lee Korzits ISR and surf-legend Alessandra Sensini ITA follow in third and fourth. Some of the top sailors of the aging 2010 season are further back: Charline Picon FRA, tis only 11th, Marina Alabau ESP 13th, Bryony Shaw GBR 14th and Blanca Manchon ESP 15th.Farrah Hall USA is in 55th.
The Olympic Champion Tom Ashley NZL continues to lead the men's fleet from the day's winner and fellow Kiwi Jon-Paul Tobin NZL, who's tied with Byron Kokalanis GRE and Przemyslaw Miarczyinski POL. Ben Barger and Robert Willis USA are in 68th and 72nd, respectively.
The results and the report. All races can be viewed with GPS-tracking . During the day, some videos might become available on Youtube.

No wind, no racing and no changes in the overall standings of the Hobie 16 Worlds in Weihai CHN. After only 6 races (including the semifinals) Jerome Le Gal/Enrick Obert FRA (8) were crowned the 2010 Hobie 16 Open World Champions. In the one-throwout series they only had one bad result, a DSQ in the last race, that was otherwise contrasted by an impressive score of 1, 2, 1,4. In second former world champion Gavin Colby/Sasha Marks AUS (15) followed by Darren Smith/Jasmine Hill AUS (17) and William and Lucinda Edwards RSA (19). Aaron Worrall/Brad Wilson AUS (21) round out the top five. The best US team was Mike Montague/Kathy Ward (79) in 38th. Six Oz teams in the top eight underscored the dominance of Australians in this class, who won the Women’s Youth, Masters and Grand Masters titles as well. The final report and the gallery.

Today the starting gun sounds for the first qualifying races of the 470 European Championship 2010. The entry lists shows a relatively small fleets of 56 men and 35 women. Favorites are the French teams with Pierre Leboucher/Vincent Garros FRA, in the men's fleet, and Ingrid Petitjean/Nadège Douroux FRA and Emmanuelle Rol/Hélène Defrance FRA, women, but the Brits will have a say in this as well. Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl is the only US team that has made the trek to Turkey. A regatta preview.

It will be a glut of nonstop ocean racing this fall and winter with the Barcelona World Race and perhaps the most exciting singlehander event, the Route du Rhum from St. Malo FRA to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, where many of the top IMOCA skippers will meet. On top of all that there' the multi-stage Velux 5 Oceans that is recycling some of the vintage 60-footers in the Eco Class.
Nine boats are set to compete in the Rhum (starting on Oct. 31) and at least ten for the Barcelona (starting Dec. 31). At the present time, some skippers are finishing their projects in order to make it to the start, while others are adding the final touches to their brand new prototypes.
Four major projects are under way at the moment. The most advanced of these belongs to Vincent Riou (PRB), whose new boat has been on the water since the spring, and Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac – Paprec 3), who recently moored up in Lorient at the end of a long delivery trip from New Zealand via the Panama canal. Meanwhile, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is completing a race against the clock so as to make the start of the Route du Rhum, before gearing up for the Barcelona World Race. See who is doing what.

The French Volvo Open 70, ‘Groupama’, skippered by Jules Verne record holder Franck Cammas crossed the finish line at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes GBR to claim line honors in the 2010 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race. ‘Groupama’ completed the 1802-mile course in 5 Days 21 Hours 26 minutes and 55 seconds, smashing Dee Caffari's 2009 course record by 14 hours 3 minutes and 8 seconds. It was a triumphant finale for ‘Groupama’ in sharp contrast to the start, when they were the last boat to cross the line, after they had been damaged on their mooring. Second place, 5 h 11 min after ‘Groupama’s’ finish and also inside the old record, for ‘Teléfonica Azul’ ESP, skippered by 49er world champion Iker Martinez. They started the race like a bat out of hell, screaming down the Solent at over 25 knots, but a rigging problem meant that they were overtaken by ‘Groupama’ and they never managed to catch them. Next boat expected to finish is the IMOCA 60 ‘Artemis Ocean Racing’. The report, the tracking page and the rankings.

It blew like stink yesterday, so they had to cancel the practice race at the Laser World Championship in Hayling Island GBR. Sailors like Olympic Gold medalist Paul Goodison GBR and top-ranked US Laser sailor Clay Johnson USA reported being on or beyond the limit, fighting a 30-knot breeze and 12-foot seas. The forecast for today's races predicts lots of wind, decreasing later on. Check the updates on the event site.

Repeating last year’s overall win in Cartagena ESP, Emirates Team New Zealand NZL (35.5 pts.) hoisted the trophy for the second year in a row after a very consistent performance in all kinds of conditions, except for a DSQ in the penultimate race after they tangled with Quantum Racing USA (54.5). it didn’t matter because the Kiwis came back to win the finals race in a moderate 13-knot easterly breeze to put an exclamation mark at the end of the week. In second ‘Matador’ ARG (45) thanks to three bullets scattered throughout the regatta but also thanks to ‘TeamOrigin’s’ GBR (46.5) bad luck with a broken forestay in the distance race and a botched start in the final race that forced them to restart and dropped them way back. Even so Ben Ainslie and company finished in the money only 1.5 points behind the reigning TP 52 world champions and seven ahead of Terry Hutchinson’s ‘Quantum Racing’ which had three top-three finishes but no wins. The report with the results and the videos.

A shallow, slow moving depression crossing western Scandinavia, made for a challenging opening day at the RS:X World Championships in Kerteminde, Denmark. Two races have now been completed for each of the 60 strong men’s fleets, but none for the women’s. Even though the afternoon race in the yellow group, sailed in very light wind, saw a major right-shift that shuffled the fleet, the top sailors are found near the top of the leader board. After two group races the lead belongs to Piotr Myszka POL (3), followed by Shaha Zubari ISR (5)and Tom Ashley NZL (6), Byron Kokalanis GRE (7) is n fourth followed by three other Polish sailors. The two US sailors, Robert Willis (64) and Ben Barger (65) are in 62nd and 65th, respectively. More breeze is forecast for today. The event Web site and the gallery.

On the penultimate day of the Hobie 16 World Championships, the finals got under way with one race only and most of the top teams in double-digit scores. Including the results of the semifinals and one discard, the lead remains in the hands of Jerome Le Gal/Enrick Obert FRA (8 pts.) who seem to be able to hold off the Austrailain armada. In second now Gavin Colby/Sasha Marks AUS (15) closely followed by Darren Smith/Jasmine Hill AUS (17) and William and Lucinda Edwards RSA (19). Aaron Worrall/Brad Wilson AUS (21) round out the top five. There are six Aussies in the top eight while the best US team remains Mike Montague/Kathy Ward (79) in 38th. The overall standings and the gallery.

‘Groupe Edmond de Rothschild’ (Yann Guichard) FRA (167 pts) won the third event of the Xtreme Sailing Series in Kiel with a race to spare after scoring four first places and two fourth places in the six fleet races. A distant second for Mike Golding’s ‘Ecover Sailing Team’ GBR (142) followed by Paul Campbell-James on ‘The Wave Muscat UAE (128). Conditions were similar to Saturday with squalls and big gusts alternating with sunshine and decreasing wind. A port/starboard crash between ‘Red Bull Extreme Sailing’ AUT and ‘The Wave, Muscat’ UAE at the first windward mark of the third race was loud enough to spook the champagne crowd in the VIP tent. Roman Hagara’s ‘Red Bull’ was awarded a 4-point redress for sitting out the next race to get their bow patched up on the water.
After three events in the series ‘Groupe Edmond de Rothschild’ (22) leads ‘The Wave, Muscat’ (20) and ‘Ecover Sailing Team’ (19). Next stop is Trapani, Sicily Sept. 24 - 26. The report with the results and the gallery.

Canadians Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke sailing ‘Canaan’, the defenders of the International C-Class Catamaran Trophy keep the trophy. In the forecast light air on Narragansett Bay they defeated the formidable challengers Glenn Ashby/James Spithill on ‘Alpha’ twice in convincing fashion yesterday to retain the title. The delta in the first race was a whopping five minutes in favor of the Canadian defenders, while in the second race they had to come back from 46 seconds down at the first mark to pass their rivals with superior downwind speed and stretch out to 48 seconds at the second windward rounding before taking the gun and a 3-1 lead. After that racing was called. The consolation round was won by ‘Invictus’ GBR with ‘Patient Lady VI’ FRA second and Orion third. The report.

Sailing legend John Bertrand AUS (19 pts.) and his crew Andrew Palfry and Laser world champion Tom Slingsby wrapped up the 2010 Etchells World Championship title at Howth IRL (Saturday 28th) with their fifth bullet in eight races yesterday and without sailing the last heat. Nearest rival Ante Razmilovic GBR (35) sailing with Mike Wolfs and Chris Larson, suffered gear problems before the start of the eighth race, which forced them ashore for repairs. Fortunately, there was a general recall, so they hustled back in time for the re-start, but finished 19th in a fresh 20-knot northerly. It was Razmilovic’s second double-digit result, which sunk his title chances in this nine-race, one-discard series. Meanwhile Bertrand got his fifth bullet in eight races, which put him out of reach in the standings, so he retired, knowing that he won a coveted one-design class world championship to add to his Olympic bronze medal of 1976 and his America’s Cup triumph over Dennis Conner in 1983. Razmilovic added a fifth in the final race to end up with 35 points and second overall, ahead of Damien King AUS (48). In the final race Jud Smith USA (61) sailing with Kurt Winklemann and Brad Boston got his first win, which elevated him to sixth overall. Marv Beckmann USA (86) finished the series in 9th while Peter Duncan USA (95) climbed to 12th (4-3 yesterday) and Argyle Campbell USA (116) took 14th. The final report and the gallery.

Back-to-back bullets in the inshore and the coastal race (150% points) pushed Emirates Team New Zealand (20.5 pts.) into the overall lead at the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy regatta for the TP52 MedCup Series. In blustery winds which topped 22 knots at times the MedCup 2009 champions lead ‘Quantum Racing’ USA (39.5) across the finish line of the short race, and were comfortably ahead of ‘Artemis’ SWE (36) in the coastal race. ‘TeamOrigin’ GBR (29.5) dropped to second overall after a third inshore and limping home in 11th under main only after breaking their forestay in the coastal race. The report Web site with the results and the video of the day.

Speed, spills and thrills! Check out the videos by Simon Brown with commentary by Bob Killick from the 18-foot Skiff International Regatta at San Francisco. Some of that stuff is absolutely amazing, especially the aerials of Day 4 with the Bridge-to-Bridge “Fiasko”…

At the time of this report, the Volvo Open 70, ‘Groupama’ FRA (Franck Cammas) was just 123 miles from the finish in Cowes GBR, sailing along at 13 knots on an easterly course. Their pursuers on ‘Teléfonica Blue’ ESP (Iker Martinez) were trailing by 60 miles and gybed south. Both are expected to finish in Cowes by Sunday afternoon BST, in all likelihood setting a new record. The IRC lead changed hands a couple of times with the Ker 46, ‘Tonnerre de Breskens’ NED back on top by corrected time as they are trying to hang on to the coat-tails of the British Keelboat Academy’s TP52, ‘John Merricks II’. The young Brits, by the way, are all unpaid amateurs and drastically short on money, which put their participation in jeopardy. At least they won’t have to go hungry, as they received a full load of freeze-dried food from the crew retired super maxi ‘ICAP Leopard’. The report, the race tracker and the positions.

The breeze returned with a vengeance on the final day of racing at the Hobie 16 World championship semifinals, light at first but getting to the high teens later in the day. It was enough for all competitors to complete four races and the selection of the top 56 teams to amake the cut for the finals. Jerome le Gal/Enrick Obert FRA (4) tied Aaron Worrall/Brad Wilson AUS (4) at the top of the standings. In third Darren Smith/Jasmine Hill AUS (9) followed by William and Lucinda Edwards RSA (10). Looking at the standings, the dominance of Australian and French sailors with six and three teams in the top 10, respectively, becomes evident. The top 56 teams now move on to the finals, which are sailed today and Monday. Two US teams Mike Montague/Kathy Ward (41st) and Ken Hilk/Christina Bradshaw (44th) made the cut, but have little hope to make the top 30. Only one discard is allowed, so in all likelihood the champion will come from the small and selective crowd of sailors who have yet to get hit with a double-digit score. The report.

Despite torrential downpour at first which was followed by bright sunshine, it was a good day for Yann Guichard and his men on ‘Groupe Edmond de Rothschild’ FRA (111 pts) ending with a win in their match race against Loick Peyron and ‘Oman Sail Masirah’ UAE (95). Optimistic estimates talk about 30,000 spectators watching the nine Xtreme 40 cats (and two German teams among them) duke it out close to shore in Kiel. Dropping to third place was Mike Golding’s ‘Ecover Sailing Team’ GBR (93). Winner of the day was Mitch Booth on ‘the Ocean Racing Club ‘ SLO climbing to fourth overall, in part to redress received after a collision with ‘The Wave, Muscat’ and damage sustained on the aft beam, which forced them to retire. After a long night in the boat shed for the support team, Booth and company are expected to race today, however. The report with results and images.

Today theRS:X World championships start in Kerteminde on the Danish Island of Fyn with 119 men from 42 copuntrues and 76 women from 28 nations. With only a handful of elite sailors dominating the class, wind conditions will be a decisive factor in the outcome. The forecast talks about two windy days initially but rather mellow condiitons later on, which could favor Shahar Zubari ISR. The US will be represented by former Olympian Ben Barger and Robert Willis, who both are long shots for a top finish here. The woman to beat here will be Blanca Manchon ESP, who had a very good year with consistent top results, unlike Farrah Hall, the lone US competitor. Watch the action via GPS tracking . The event site.

Yesterday the match racing portion of the International C-Class Catamaran Championship began between defender ‘Canaan’ CAN (Fred Eaton/Magnus Clarke) and challenger ‘Alpha’ AUS (Glenn Ashby/James Spithill). However, spotty winds forced a couple of race attempts to get abandoned before the start was moved north of the toll bridge into steady 12-knot wind. ‘Canaan’ stalled in the dial-up for the first race, essentially forfeiting it to the clever and highly decorated Aussies. Ashby is multiple world champion in various catamaran classes while Spithill helmed the BMWOracle trimaran to America’s Cup victory. The Canadians fared much better at the second start, keeping it close at the first mark before turning on the turbo and telling the Aussies ‘hasta la vista’ downwind to tie the score at 1-1. The consolation series resembled Haydn’s farewell symphony as ‘Orion’ CAN dropped out before the start and ‘Patient Lady VI’ FRA lost her mast after finishing behind the only other boat that remains intact, ‘Invictus’ GBR. No word what they’ll do today, but expect an exciting match for the championship. Forecast calls for 5-knot winds from the northwest, becoming west 10 knots later in the day. The report and a gallery.

Four US teams made it out of the round robin at the Kniockerbocker Cup, the third and last Trifecta match racing event. Yesterday's racing was highlighted by protests, lead changes and photo finishes and Phil Robertson NZL (9-2) maintained the top seed for the quarters, holding the tiebreaker over Evgeny Neugodnikov RUS. Bill Hardesty USA (8-3) and Anna Tunnicliffe, USA (7-4) were next. Completing the quarterfinals were Dave Perry USA (4-7), Sally Barkow USA (5-6), Taylor Canfield, ISV (6-5) and the surprisingly strong newcomer William Tiller NZL (7-4), who beat Robertson, Perry and Corbett. Late afternoon in the quarter-finals found Robertson leading Perry 2-0, Neugodnikov vs. Barkow and Canfield vs. Hardesty tied, each winning one match. The series Tunnicliffe vs. Tiller hasn’t started yet. Racing will continue early Saturday morning, with very light wind conditions predicted. Get the details.

Three races were sailed yesterday in light to moderate summer breezes at the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy in Cartagena ESP, the fourth stop of the 2010 TP 52 MedCup circuit. After a small mistake in the dying seconds of the first race of the day when they finished third, ‘TeamOrigin 1851’ GBR (10) added another bullet in Race 5 and now lead Emirates Team New Zealand (18) by eight points after the Kiwis’ 5-4-3 day. Slipping to third was ‘Matador’ ARG (19). ‘Quantum Racing’ USA (30) continues to struggle a bit with only one top-3 finish and is in sixth. Details, images, videos and results on the event site. The schedule for the TP52's changed to offer one windward-leeward race today, followed by a 20 miles coastal race.

Iker Martinez's ‘Teléfonica Blue’ was in hot pursuit of Franck Cammas' ‘Groupama’ at times surfing down the west of Ireland at up to 20 knots of boat speed. ‘Groupama’ however still had an 18-mile lead in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race as they were bracing for more big breeze. With just over 500 miles to go, the winner of this duel is highly likely to break the race record. In IRC, the British Keelboat Academy's TP52, ‘John Merricks II’ was averaging over 15 knots as they built a three-mile lead over ‘Tonnerre de Breskens’ NED a Ker 46 that holds the overall lead under IRC. Yesterday’s afternoon report, the race viewer and the standings.

It's halftime at the Extreme Sailing Series Kiel GER and Mike Golding’s ‘Ecover Sailing Team’ GBR (67 pts.) defended the lead with two bullets, a 4th and a 5th in the fleet racing plus a win in the match racing. With only eight points separating the top three boats, Yann Guichard on ‘Groupe Edmond de Rothschild’ FRA (63) moved into second, ahead of Loick Peyron’s ‘Oman Sail Masirah’ (59). Double Olympic Gold medalist Roman Hagara on ‘Red Bull Extreme Sailing’ AUT (46) holds fifth, but had precious cargo with German super model Miriam Holler riding shotgun in the 5th man guest spot. The racing continues around 2:30 CEST today. Get all the details.

At press time there were no reports or updated results from the semifinals at the Hobie 16 Open Worlds in China. For the time being the Thursday results with the top teams of Le Gal/Obert FRA, Worrall/Wilson AUS and Owens/Ferris AUS are still valid. The semis continue today before the cut is made for the finals, which are on Sunday and Monday. Get live updates on the class site.

The 8-Metre World Cup 2010 is in the books with ‘Aluette’ SUI (12) a runaway winner overall and in the Modern division. Iris Metten’s crew carded all top-three finishes and sat out the last race. In second, as it has been all week long, ‘Lafayette’ GBR (15) with Murdoch McKillop nearly equally as impressive, but only nearly. The final podium spot went to ‘Sarissa’ SUI (18) with Ralph Reimann. The top three were in a league by themselves, winning all eight races between them. In fourth ‘Mystery’ USA (34) with Ron Palm the top US boat tied with ‘Yquem’ SUI. In sixth the best classic and winner of the Sira division ‘Raven’ CAN (35) superbly sailed by Richard Self & Mark Decelles. The final results and the event Web site.

It was all Canada yesterday with ‘Canaan’ sailed by Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke winning all three races with ‘Alpha’ AUS Glenn Ashby/James Spithill in second each time. These two teams will determine the winner of the C-Class Championship in a best-of-nine match racing series that starts today. While the Aussies pointed higher upwind, the Canadiens displayed better tactics and superior downwind performance. ‘Invictus’ GBR finished third with ‘Orion’ CAN in fourth. Patient Lady “ FRA did not make it to the starting line with rig failure. Missing from the day’s racing was ‘Atheon’ USA, which capsized yesterday in spectacular fashion and destroyed its wing mast. Read Clark’s statement explaining the incident. The official report with the results.

John Bertrand AUS (9 pts.) continues to dominate the 41-boat fleet at the Etchells World Championships at Howth IRL. Yesterday, on Day 4 of the regatta, he posted a 9-1 score and now has a seven-point lead over his main rival, Ante Razmilovic GBR (16), who finished 4-5. Nils Razmilovic SIN (23) now is third overall. Jud Smith USA (48) and Marvin Beckman USA (56) are in ninth and 10th respectively. Three more races are scheduled with only one discard allowed for the 9-race series, so consistency is key. See John Bertrand. Report, results and gallery.

Evgeny Neugodnikov RUS (5-0) is the only one with a clean record after the first day of round-robin racing at the Knickerbocker Cup match race. On top of the leader board however is Phil Robertson NZL at 7-1. The US Armada had mixed results: Bill Hardesty (4-1) and Anna Tunnicliffe (5-3) are the only ones in the money right now while Sally Barkow is 4-4 and Dave Perry will need a lot of luck to get out of hock at 3-5. More round robin flights today, before the top eight move on to the quarterfinals. The event site.

For the next 10 days, San Francisco will be the epicenter of the Finn world as the site of the 2010 Gold Cup, the class world championship. After the successful if low-key prelude of the Silver Cup, the Junior World Championship, the intensity level will be up a few notches as 95 of the world’s best Finn sailors descend on the City by the Bay. Look for a strong US contingent led by Olympic silver medalist Zach Railey, freshly minted Junior world champion Luke Lawrence and Brian Boyd. The home team also includes vets like Henry Sprague, Gus Miller and Louie Nady, who seem to have been sailing Finn forever. From abroad, watch for Thomas Le Breton and Jonathan Lobert FRA, Rafa Trujillo ESP, the current European champion Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic CRO, Eduard Skornyakov RUS and, of course, Giles Scott and Ed Wright GBR. Other notables include Matt Coutts NZL, Philippe Kahn USA and reigning Masters world champion Michael Maier CZE. Racing to start Monday, Aug. 30. The event Web site.

The 2010 Laser World Championships in Hayling Island GBR is upon us, officially. The entry list comprises 160 men plus 137 Juniors (age 17-20) who represent 51 countries in the Senior and - for the first time ever - the Junior World Championship. Among the top favorites are World Cup winner Javier Hernandez ESP and Sail for Gold winner Tom Slingsby AUS. Dave Wright and Michael Leigh CAN did better at Sail for Gold (3rd and 6th) than any of the US contestants including Clay Johnson, Kyle Rogachenko and Rob Crane who all will be looking to redeem themselves. Competition starts on Monday, August 30 with the qualifying races, which determine the split into gold, silver and bronze divisions. The final series starts Friday Sept 2 and runs until Sunday Sept 5. A total of 14 races is on the docket. We will report daily. The event site.

Today’s sea breeze off Cartagena ESP proved too feeble to allow any racing at the TP 52 MedCup Circuit’s Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy. The long wait in stiflingly hot temperatures proved to be in vain and the race committee sent the fleet back across an almost glassy sea to the harbor in Cartagena at just before 1600hrs. The best entertainment was a submarine getting swarmed by chase boats as it passed through the racing area. TeamOrigin GBR leads Matador ARG and Team New Zealand NZL. The class Web site.

Thursday's racing at the Hobie 16 Worlds in Weihai China brought in the heavy hitters, with the pre-seeded teams from around the world joining the sailors who made the cut through the Qualifying round. The addition of the seeded teams certainly added to the pressure on the start line with each of the races taking three attempts to get away cleanly. The overall results show some of the favorites ahead, with Le Gal/Obert FRA (3) and Worrall/Wilson AUS (3) both with a first and a second. They are followed by Owens/Ferris AUS (5). Mike Montague/Kathy Ward USA (42) are in 30th. With only one drop allowed over the entire series, consistency is key as the competition will only get tougher. With three groups of 25 sailors, each team sails two races and then sits one out, so overall results during this phase of the competition are only meaningful after 3,6,9,12 races have been completed and all sailors have completed the same number of races. Racing continues Friday and Saturday in the semi-finals before there is another cut and the top 56 sailors continue on to the finals on Sunday and Monday. The report.

Light winds dominated the racing today and for the first time this week the rain held off and sun came out. ‘Ecover Sailing Team’ GBR (37) finds itself in the lead after finishing second on their home turf in Cowes, UK during Stage two. After a sixth on race one, the Brits got two bullets, a second and a third putting them first overall. In second Oman Sailing Masirah’ UAE (34) followed by ‘Groupe Edmond de Rothschild’ FRA (32). The forecast for the rest of the event sees conditions building with up to 10 knots expected on Friday and a little bit of everything from sunshine to showers, and the breeze building to plus 20 knots on the weekend. The tour site with all the details.

A light five-knot southeasterly breeze on Lake Ontario on Day 4 of the 8-Metre World Cup allowed the classic boats to race head-to-head with their modern counterparts. ‘Raven’ CAN had another fabulous day with 6-6 to lead the Sirena division of the classic designs while ‘Aluette’ SUI continues to lead the modern boats, followed by ‘Lafayette’ GBR. Top US contestant is Ron Palm’s ‘Mystery’ in fifth. See all results and the gallery.

The inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore drew to a close yesterday with a light and shifty 6 to 8-knot breeze for the medal races that included all competitors. Eleven countries won medals in the four events, only Germany had two. As predicted, all of Tuesday’s class leaders walked away with Gold as they held comfortable leads before the medal race, which could not be discarded, but behind them some shuffling was going on. In the Byte CII Boys Ian Barrows ISV (44 pts.) secured the title with a 16-point margin over Florian Haufe GER (60) and Just van Aanholt AHO, who clinched Bronze with a win in the medal race. “You've just got to stay really focused and not get too caught up in the results and not get too nervous,” Barrows commented. Lara Vadlau AUT (27) won her country’s first Gold at the Youth Olympics with a conservative medal race in the Byte CII Girls. Behind her Daphne van der Vaart NED won Silver thanks to a second-place finish in the medal race while Constanze Stolz GER (57) nearly gave away Bronze with a 21st-place finish. She lucked out as Celine Carlsen DEN (58) took fifth in the medal race and fell one point short of the podium. No changes in the Tecno 293 Boy windsurfers, where Rafic Mayan ISR (22) closed the door on his competitors to win Gold, followed by Michael Cheng HKG (31) and Martin Kieran GBR (32), who went into attack mode and won the medal race, but fell just short of catching Cheng. In the Tecno 293 Girl windsurfers Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA crowned her performance with a fourth place in the medal race that gave her the Gold, 17 points. Veronica Fanciulli ITA (39) rolled a 1 in the medal race to secure Silver. Audrey Yong SIN (43) took third in the medal race and third overall - the host country’s only sailing medal - bumping Naomi Cohen ISR (46) from the podium at the last second. For the young US board sailors, 15-year old Ian Stokes and 16-year old Margot Samson the event was an opportunity to gain valuable international experience in a very competitive setting. Stokes finished 20th in the boys’ windsurfing class, while Samson too 16th in the girls. The final report.

John Bertrand AUS still holds clinics about winning sailboat races. This time on the waters off Howth IRL, where he won both of yesterday’s races at the Etchells World Championships to open up an 11-point lead in the overall standings over Ante Razmilovic GBR. With crewmen Andrew Palfry and Tom Slingsby, Bertrand won the first race in light airs and when the wind strength increased, for the second race, their downwind speed in particular was outstanding. Three Australian crews are now in the top five. The report and the gallery.

Finally, the nor’easter abated enough to allow the fragile C-Class cats to race on Narragansett Bay. And what a show they put on, at times match racing each other at blistering speeds. But the day was not without casualties as Steve Clark/Oliver Moore USA capsized their new boat ‘Aethon’ in the first, still breezy race, which resulted in the loss of their wing mast. Other casualties included ‘Orion’ CAN and ‘Patient Lady’ FRA, but the French were able to fix their rudder problems and returned to the racecourse for Race 2 and 3. In the overall lead after three races is' ‘Alpha’ AUS (4) with the hotshot crew of Glenn Ashby, an Olympic Silver Medalist and seven-time A-Class world champion and James Spithill, the helmsman of BMWOracle’s wing-sailed trimaran that won the America’s Cup. They eked out a win by a whisker in the first race and led wire to wire in the second, before getting beaten by defending champion ‘Canaan’ CAN (5) with Fred Eaton/Magnus Clarke, who stand in second overall. In third is ‘Invictus’ GBR (10). Get the details.

Competitors in the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta heard it from PRO John Craig early Wednesday afternoon before they launched their swift, unstable rides: "Get ready to get wet," he said. And so they did. First, the seventh race of the week was cut short as boats flipped over like in a slapstick film, down near Alcatraz Island, where a 3.5-knot ebb ran into nearly 30 knots of westerly breeze. Then the ensuing Bridge-to-Bridge Race from the Golden Gate to the Oakland Bay suffered similar catastrophe. Michael Coxon AUS, Alex Vallings NZL and Herman Winning AUS swept the first three places over all of the kite boards and windsurfers, with John Winning AUS fifth. But only one other 18 finished and two sailors were injured - Maersk Line skipper Graham Catley with a severely cut lower left leg and Chad Freitas, leader of the bay's Skiff Sailing Foundation, with possibly broken ribs.
The standings: 1. ‘Thurlow Fisher Lawyers’, Michael Coxon/Aaron Links/Trevor Barnabas, AUS (11), 2. ‘Appliances Online’, Herman Winning/Peter Harris/Euan McNicol, AUS (11), 3. ‘Yandoo’, John (Woody) Winning/David Gibson/Andrew Hay, AUS (17), 4. ‘CST Composites’, Howard Hamlin/Matt Noble/Fritz Lanzinger, USA (19). The results page and the gallery. Colder temps and more wind are forecast for today, so there’s no guarantee they will be able to sail three more races.

Yesterday’s three races concluded the Open Qualifying at the Hobie 16 World Championships in Weihai, China, with teams sailing in a solid, consistent 14 - 16 knot breeze. The top 45 boats, including Bill Myrter/Jacqueline So USA will move on to the next phase, which starts today. The series was won by Christophe Renaud/Vital Berger FRA, followed by Aldo Cailleux/Titovan Galea FRA. The dominating team of Aaron Worrall/Brad Wilson AUS decided to sit out the last three races, having already punched their ticket to the semis. See the report, the final results and the gallery.

After two races in easterly breezes of 16 knots and less at the TP 52 MedCup event in Cartagena ESP the lead belongs to ‘TeamOrigin’ GBR (4) followed by ‘Matador’ ARG (5) and ‘Emirates Team New Zealand’ NZL (6). ‘Quantum Racing’ USA (14) is in seventh. TeamOrigin's skipper Ben Ainslie cited higher levels of confidence, cohesion and the fact that for the first time of this season his TP 52 team has not changed from the previous event in Barcelona. Other than that they had all the ingredients, good starts, smart tactics, and great boat speed. If sailing would always be that simple… Get the details on the event site.

Toronto delivered perfect late summer sailing conditions for the 15 teams from five countries on the third day of the 8-Metre World Championships. With good size swells and 15 knots of easterly breeze two races were run. After five races ‘Aluette’ (Iris Metten) SUI (9 pts.) has the lead in the modern division over ‘Lafayette’ (Murdoch McKillop) GBR (10). Top US boat is ‘Mystery’ (Ron Palm) in 5th (28). In the classic Sira division the leader is ‘Raven’ (Richard Self/Mark Decelles) CAN (28). The report, the overall results (PDF) and the gallery.

Luke Lawrence USA likes to live life as it comes, but he does so efficiently. How else can one explain turning his B’Day into C’Day by winning the 2010 Finn Junior World Championship aka Silver Cup? Even on a normal day that would have been a fine accomplishment, but so it’s extra special. Lawrence, who is coached by Finn impresario John Bertrand, escaped a scare on Monday with the wacky situation at the second gybe mark where some thought the race was over when it really wasn’t. He had the overnight lead and sailed a masterful medal race on a scorchingly hot day in San Francisco, which in itself is rare as the Blue Mauritius. Because it was hot, the breeze first blew offshore and later, as it filled from the ocean, remained light. There were several lead changes and big gains could be made on the downwind legs, playing the foul current inshore. Lawrence came back from deep after the first beat to finish third, which was pretty much what he needed to do since the score could not be discarded, no matter what. It gave him a three-point edge in the final standings over Ioannis Mitakis GRE (25) the reigning European Junior Champion in this class. In third Oliver Twedell AUS (26.5) who surprised with an incredibly consistent series, counting eight top-five finishes. Caleb Paine USA (30) was in striking distance of the podium when he led at the first windward mark, but in the end he finished just out of the money with a ninth place that weighed heavily on his score. Defending champion Jorge Zarif BRA (36) rounded out the Top 5. The event Web site.

Three more races were added on the last day of fleet racing at the Youth Olympics in Singapore, which required very alert sailing and smart tactical decisions. In the Byte CII Boys Ian Barrows ISV (41) exploited the shaky performance of his rivals, and added 8-2-1 for a comfortable lead of 122 points over Florian Haufe GER (53) and 14 over Kaari Tappe FIN (55). One more decent race today and Barrows is golden. In the Byte CII Girls, Lara Vadlau AUT (23) also looks like a lock for Gold with a 13-point advantage over Constanze Stolz GER and 16 over Daphne van der Vaart DEN who will battle for Silver and Bronze. Rafic Mayan ISR (18) is in command of the medal proceedings in the Tecno 293 Boy windsurfers, with an eight-point lead over Michael Cheng HKG (26) and 13 over Martin Kieran GBR (32) who will look over his shoulder for Kim Chaneui KOR (32). Ian Stokes USA (148) is 20th. No more suspense about who'll get the Gold medal in the Tecno 293 Girl windsurfers where Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA won the last five races and now has a 20-point lead over Veronica Fanciulli ITA (38) who heads a triple pack of sailors with 38 points that includes Naomi Cohen ISR and Valentina Serigods ARG. An exciting finale is brewing here. Margot Samson USA (135) is 16th. Today’s medal race is for all competitors and cannot be discarded. The report.

After Monday’s mayhem in high winds and big currents that decimated the fleets or kept them ashore entirely, more moderate conditions prevailed at the penultimate day of the CORK OCR in Kingston ON. Big changes in the 49ers, where Gordon Cook/Paul Ehvert (49) of Toronto took four bullets out of six races to bump previous leaders Jon Ladha/Daniel Inkpen (51) from Newfoundland to second, which promises an exciting inshore medal race today. In the 42-boat Laser Radial gold fleet EJ O’Mara USA (30) has a 10-point lead over new second-place holder Claire Merry CAN who simultaneously leads the Radial Girls and matt Morris USA who’s tied with Merry. Julia Kidd (116) of Toronto has taken the lead in the Radial Silver fleet.. At the top of the leader board in the 43-boat Laser Standard fleet after 12 races remains Evert McLauglin CAN (18) with half as many points as Greg Clunies CAN (36) who ascended to second yesterday. Bob Shuttleworth CAN (18) won the windsurfing class, which concluded yesterday.

After the proverbial ball buster on Monday, where five boats managed to finish the lone race, the 29erXX fleet had to work overtime yesterday to get back on schedule with their North American Championship. The RC kept them on the water for six races and by the end their eyes glazed over as they dragged their horses back into the stable. The top five remain in US hands, but now Paris (a 14-year-old skiff wunderkind) and Hans Henken (26 pts.) are prime time after counting 3-3-2-3-2 (and a fourth as their second throwout) to replace previous leaders Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg (32) at the top of the overall standings. In third Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot (33). In the medal race that concludes affairs today, the Henkens have some breathing room, which might just be enough to wrap up the 2010 NAs with the trophy.

The Volvo Open 70, ‘Telefonica Blue’ is scorching along at a blistering speed. After the first 24 hours of the Round Britain and Ireland Race, the Spanish yacht has covered 440 miles of the 1,800-mile course. Hurtling along six miles behind them is ‘Groupama 70’ with Franck Cammas FRA. The two Volvo 70s are already north of Edinburgh, and could well be north of mainland Scotland by morning. Several hours behind is Jonny Malbon and his crew on the IMOCA 60 ‘Artemis Ocean Racing.’ More wind is expected, which will turn this into a even more of a speed fest. The complete report and the live tracking page.

The Round Britain and Ireland singlehanded record was pushed into a new dimension by Sidney Gavignet FRA on the 100-foot trimaran ‘Oman Air Majan’ who took no less than a day and 15 hours off the old record held by Thomas Coville FRA. Gavignet sailed the 1787-mile course in a time of 4 d 15 h 9 m 47 sec., which is also more than one hour faster than the record for fully crewed boats, set by Steve Fossett on ‘Playstation’ in 2002. It was the first real test for ‘Oman Air Majan’ and Gavignet who is preparing for the singlehanded Route du Rhum race this coming November. The report.

They’re 0 for Two at the C Class Catamaran Championship in Newport. For the second day in a row, the Little America’s Cup crews were grounded by a Nor’easter churning up Narragansett Bay while their fragile craft lay idle on the hard, strapped down to prevent them from becoming kites. The format of the regatta has been changed to allow for two days of fleet racing (Wed./Thurs.) followed by two days of match racing (Fri./Sat.) according to the NYYC Web site.

First too much, then too shifty, and in the end not enough. That, in a nutshell, was the story of Day 2 at the Etchells Worlds in Howth IRL where no racing could be conducted. Two races are scheduled for today. The event Web site. Ante Razmilovic GBR leads John Bertrand AUS overall.

After six races at the Hobie 16 Worlds Open Qualification in Weihai CHN Aaron Worrall/Brad Wilson AUS (13 pts.) continue to lead the overall standings. The French teams of Christophe Reneaud/Vital Berger (21) and Aldo Callieux/Titovan Galea (28) answered the Korean challenge from Monday with some impressive results to reclaim their podium spots now that one discard is allowed. A grand total of 15 boats did not finish the sixth race. Bill Myrter/Jacqueline So USA (141) are in 32nd, which may or may not be enough to qualify for the semifinals. But there’s one more day of racing left today before this question will be settled. The event site and the gallery.

It was a different look for sailing on Day 3 of the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta on San Francisco Bay. On The City's hottest day of the year no locals could recall offhand when their thermometers last touched 96 degrees, especially following what they were calling their coolest summer in years. Three Australians led by Herman Winning, the son, (8 pts.), Michael Coxon(10), and Woody Winning, the dad (13), and Howie Hamlin USA (14), cut themselves a 10-point gap in the standings from the other 10 entries with four races remaining over the next two days. Those include this evening's madcap 7 1/2-mile Bridge to Bridge Race when the 18s will be joined by the best of the local windsurfers and kite boarders. Following the 18s' seventh race at 3 p.m., they'll start all at once from under the Golden Gate and race 7 1/2 miles to the Oakland span around the corner of San Francisco's city front. Rich Roberts’ gallery and the St. Francis Web page

Well, after eight races at the 2010 Junior Worlds aka Silver Cup in San Fran, Luke Lawrence USA (19) still remains the man to beat in the overall standings. But barely so. Hot on his tail and down by a mere point is the reigning European Champ Ioannis Mitakis GRE (20), who added a 4-1 yesterday. In third, Caleb Paine USA (21) who revived his chances with a 2-4 day. Don’t discount Josip Olujic CRO (23.5) and Oliver Twedell AUS (24.5) who were scored as tied in Race 8 (2,5 pts each). The regatta concludes today with one last race for all, which will be a keeper as it can’t be discarded, so sit back and enjoy an exciting final where the current, the individual form and most likely a few inches will decide who's going to get the Silver Cup. Check the event Web site for the latest report, which was not posted at press time.

POST SCRIPTUM:
There was a lengthy protest hearing last night that determined the finish order in the second race, a triangle course in 18 knots of wind. The leading boats, Mitakis, Lawrence and Olujic who was neck-and-neck with Twedell, believed that a St. Francis committee boat flying a start/finish flag anchored near the gybe mark signaled a shortened course, when in reality it was part of a starting sequence for the 18-footer race nearby. However, not realizing what was going on, the first three Finns stopped racing after passing the wing mark. The boats farther behind realized the mistake and carried on to the real Finn finish, with Caleb Paine winning the race. The top three asked for and were granted redress after a lengthy jury deliberation that decided to take the order at the gybe mark as the finish order. That’s how those decimal points in some scores came about.

Etchells Worlds Championships 2010 started at Howth, Ireland today (Monday 23rd) with two scheduled races sailed in freshening winds, with Ante Razmilovic GBR holding a one point lead over Australian sailing legend John Bertrand at the end of the first day. The top US entry is Jud Smith of Eastern YC in sixth overall. The report and the preliminary results.

Light and shifty winds on Day 5 of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore led to two m ore races. The two-day break obviously benefited top favorite Darren Choi SIN (38 pts.) who is riding his consistency to the top of the Byte CII Boys without having won a race yet. In second, Ian Barrows ISV (42), closely followed by Florian Haufe GER (43). In the Byte CII Girls, Lara Vadlau AUT (18) continues her dominant performance after a 3-4 day. She leads Constanze Stolz GER by 12 and Celine Carlsen DEN (38) by 20 points. Equally dominating is Rafic Mayan ISR (12) in the Tecno 293 Boys windsurfers, after two bullets yesterday for an eight-point lead over Michael Cheng HKG (20) who is trailed by Martin Kieran GBR (21). Ian Stokes USA (112) is 18th. With three bullets in the last three races in the Tecno 293 Girl windsurfers Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA (16) looks like the new champion as she has an 11-point cushion over Naomi Cohen ISR (27) and Audrey Yong SIN (28). Margot Samson USA (102) is 16th. The report.

In the 29er XX North American Championship they tried one race, but according to SN contributor and US crew CC Childers, it was just too much that the RC decided to send them home after only five out of 15 boats finished. “So much wind that we didn't even go out. (Not worth the risk of breaking our rig, or ourselves) [The] 29erXX's sailed one race and then got sent in and the races were called off for the day. HUGE wind driven chop and 2-knot currents fighting each other, the race committee called it "a washing machine." A good day to stay in and keep the boat in one piece. After nine races Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg (13) are still ahead overall, although now they’re tied on points with yesterday’s race winners Paris and Hans Henken USA. Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot USA (22) hold third and top-girl spot.

Aaron Worral/ Brad Wilson AUS (5) have taken the lead in the qualifying races for the Hobie 16 Open Worlds where six of the top 11 teams at the moment are from Korea. Two races were sailed by the 51-boat fleet in light air and rain. In second are Donggyu Lee/Beomgyun Baek KOR (6), followed by Keunsoo Kim/Minhae Song KOR. The only US competitors Bill Myrter/Jacqueline So (67) are in 33rd. The top teams to emerge from this 3-day qualification will be joined by the seeded teams in the semis who have won their national selection. It's very differnt from any other Worlds, mostly because all racing ahs to be done on 60 new boats that are provided by the event. Read the report that explains it all and flip through the gallery.

There's some gambling going on at the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta, and it's paying off bigtime for the boys from Down Under. Australian sailors Herman Winning (6 pts.), Michael Coxon (13) and Winning's dad John - Woody - (13) have been rolling the waves on port tack starts and now occupy the top three positions in the 13-boat fleet. Howie Hamlin USA (15) is in fourth. The fleet is sailing a 1 1/2-mile windward-leeward course past the host St. Francis Yacht Club between the Golden Gate Bridge and the city front. Racing is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. daily, although the first two days were postponed to 2:30 because of unsettled breeze that soon developed into 12 to 15 knots. Wednesday's race for the 18s will start at 5 to precede the Bridge to Bridge race for a mixed fleet including sailboards and kite boards. The results and Rich Roberts’ gallery.

No racing at the C Class Catamaran championships in Newport RI since there was real wind. Up to 30 knots, according to the NYYC Web site and the event pages. They'll have another try at fleet racing today.

A couple of weeks ago Louis vuitton pulled the plug on their Hong Kong event, now the World Match Racing Tour announced that The Qingdao Match Cup in China (scheduled for late October) was canceled. No specific reasons were given in their official communique, except that that “local authorities have been unable to meet the requirements outlined by WMRT.” If it doesn’t smell fishy, it is certainly a blow to the expansion plans of WMRT, because only seven weeks ago, on June 18, they had announced the Qingdao Match Cup with great fanfare, as we reported. So it looks like this year’s match racing circuit will consist of only nine events.

Alain Thebault, the French skipper of the world sailing speed record holder ‘l’Hydroptere’ unveiled ‘Hydroptere.ch’ (see our previous report), a 35-foot prototype designed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne as a test vehicle for future attempts at breaking ocean-racing records. The goal, Thebault said, was to develop new sail and hull configurations for a future 90-foot maxi craft that would attempt Transatlantic, Pacific and a run at the round-the-world speed record in 40 days. The current record is 48 days set by Franck Cammas FRA on the conventional trimaran ‘Groupama 3’ last winter. The project’s Web site.

There’s no shortage of ideas on how to make sailing more appealing for the masses. Bringing events closer to shore and speeding things up to brand sailing as an “extreme sport” is one way to get attention. So the Dutch decided to get a bunch of 29er XX skiffs (masthead kite, double trapeze) and let them race in the heart of Amsterdam in front of live spectators during the city’s packed Sail Week festival and call it “Downhill Skiff Cross”.
The format was similar to downhill ski-cross, with each pairing racing twice, trading boats and courses after the first run. They had to push off a starting pontoon, and pass three marks upwind before rounding the top for a downwind slalom back to the finish. “We think they liked the capsizes even more than the racing,” said Beijing Yngling Silver medalist Merel Witteveen commented after the Norwegian team of Helene Næss/Ane Gundersen had stolen the show. The full report- .

Six mostly windy races with some big currents thrown in for good measure, are in the books now for the Juniors at the Finn Silver Cup in San Francisco and Luke Lawrence USA (9) looks more and more like the guy to beat here after her got a third and first yesterday. His score line of 3-1-1-3-1 is as impressive as it is consistent and if he keeps it up, he’ll be tough to deny the title come Tuesday. With one discard in play he leads Ioannis Mitakis GRE (15) who made the predicted jump in the overall standings now that he rid himself of a pesky DNF from the first race. Josip Olujic CRO (18) winner of the second race on the water yesterday, was later DSQ'd after a protest by Caleb Paine USA (15), who now holds third overall. Olujic's misfortune dropped him to fifth and helped Lawrence, as he was elevated to first in that race. The event site and the gallery.

Dave Perry USA is the 2010 champion at the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup after a 3-1 victory over Anna Tunnicliffe. In curtailed event (no quarterfinals or consolation due to lack of breeze Saturday) the RC and the competitors made the most of Sunday’s perfect conditions. First Perry eliminated the opponent he chose for the semifinals, Taylor Canfield ISV, by a 2-1 score while Tunnicliffe dispatched Laurie Jury NZL 2-0. In the petit final, Jury made short work of Canfield and secured third place with a 2-0 win. In the finals Perry went up 1-0 against his former student, now the world’s third-ranked women’s match racer, only to see Tunnicliffe draw even in the second heat. But Perry came back with another win in Flight 3 and then held serve for a 3-1 victory and 100 points in the Trifecta scoring scheme. Get all the Detroit details on the event Web site. Next and last up in the Trifecta (with Perry and Tunnicliffe) is the Knickerbocker Cup at Manahsset Bay YC, starting Wed. Aug 25.

The 200-boat CORK OCR continued Sunday with the qualifying races and the discards are now in play. In the 84-boat Laser Radial, EJ O’Mara (9 pts.) assumed the lead after five races, followed by Claire merry (11) and Matt Morris (12). In the 43-boat Laser Standards (6 races one disc.) Evert McLaughlin (8) holds a commanding 13-point lead over Tom Brosky (21) and Vaughn Harrison (22). The 15-boat 29er XX (8 races) contend their North American Championship, which looks more like a US Championship with five US boats on top. Still in the lead are Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg (9) with Paris and Hans Henken (13) and Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot (17) kind of close. Fourth-place Tyler McDonald/Tudor Atterby (34) are out of striking distance for the time being. In the 20-boat 49er (9 races) the Canadian National Championship is at stake and it’s all CAN with Jon Ladha/Dan Inkpen (14) leading Matthieu Dubreucq/Trevor Parekh (19) and Billy Gooderham/Ian Hogan (28). In the 15-board RS:X (6 races), the largest windsurfing class, the lead is still in the hands of Bob Shuttleworth (10). Get all the interim results.

Today is the start of the International C Class Catamaran Championship aka IC^4 or Little America’s Cup. Six C-Class cats will go at it in a fleet racing format to determine the seeding for the match race portion. The top two will have a best-of-nine match race series to determine the winner.
Defender is ‘Canaan’, skippered by Fred Eaton with crew Magnus Clarke CAN, who have to earn a return trip to the finals. The other competitors are ‘Aethon’ (Steve Clark/Oliver Moore) USA, the US Godfather in this game who will have to use an old rig because the new wing was damaged. Also in the mix is ‘Invictus’ (Paul Larsen/Helen Darvelid) GBR, campaigned by the Airbus folks from the UK, who spent a lot of time refining their ride. Preventing this from being a purely Anglo-Saxon affair is ‘Patient Lady VI’ (Antoine Koch/Jérémie Lagarrigue) FRA the 25-year old vintage vehicle that now is campaigned by two French cat veterans. The second Canadian entry is ‘Orion’ (Dan Cunningham/Rob Paterson) a fairly new boat with a 2006 wing.
Perhaps the most intriguing team is made up by two Aussies, serial catamaran world champion (A-class, Tornado, F-18) Glenn Ashby and James Spithill, the man at the controls of BMWOracle Racing’s wing-rigged trimaran at their successful AC run last winter. They are sailing the Canadian ‘Alpha’, the boat that defeated Steve Clark's ‘Cogito’ 5-0, wresting the Little America's Cup from the US in 2007. The NYYC page and the Facebook page.

Observing the sailing rivalry between the Winnings, father and son, on opening day of the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta in San Francisco, one could conclude it's intense, but it doesn’t stop there with father John ‘Woody’ running a successful appliance business, and son John Jr. ‘Herman’ the same stuff over the Internet. As an arriving high-pressure system turned reduced the expected 25-knot breeze to 15 knots with slightly warmer temps (relatively speaking) the sailing was close, with few flips that included Australia's Michael Coxon and his all-star crew of Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas, multiple JJ Giltinan world champions, among them. After two of 10 scheduled races, John Winning Jr. AUS (2) has two bullets for the lead, followed by John Winning Sr. (5) and the top US team of Howie Hamlin/Matt Noble/Fritz Lanzinger (6). Here's Rich Roberts’ gallery. Alas, no complete results were posted online at press time, so you want to try your luck on the club Web site.

Four trophies were awarded thus far at the Hobie 16 Worlds in Weihai CHN, and all of them ended up in Australian hands. After Masters and Grand Masters, Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin (18) AUS ran away with the Youth title, followed by Benjamin Deguine/Benjamin Roulant FRA (37) and another Aussie pair, James Wierzbowski/Pip Pietromonaco (40). The Womens World Championships was a closer but not really close, with Natalie and Jasmine Hill AUS (22) holding off Charlotte Picou/Julie Avron FRA (30) and Alizée Angibaud/Constance Huard FRA (30). Christina Bradshaw/Kathy Ward USA (59) finished sixth. The wrap-up report and the gallery.
Meanwhile the Open qualifying started. After the first race the leaders are Aldo Cailleux/Titovan Galea FRA, while Bill Myrter/Jaqueline So USA finished 33rd. Open qualifiers go until Aug. 25, then the semis (112 teams) until Aug. 26- 28, followed by the finals (56 teams) Aug. 29-30.

Last weekend, the annual Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge was sailed on J/24s in New York Harbor with Societe Nautique Rolloise SUI (14 pts.) from Lake Geneva at the top of the preliminary standings (with a protest pending). In second was the Southern Yacht Club USA (15), followed by Royal Cork Yacht Club IRL (17) and the Austrian lake sailors from Burgenlaendischer YC AUT (20). The club’s Web site.

Battling Bora Gulari USA (20 pts) nearly all the way to the end of the regatta, Nathan Outteridge AUS (18) won the 2010 Moth European Championships on Lake Silvaplana by two whiskers. Gulari won the penultimate race, which had him in pole position for Gold, but owing to a stomach discomfort he limped around the course and was scored as 65th in the last heat, which was then won by Outteridge. “Thanks all who were rooting for me,” Gulari Facebooked after all was said and done. “My stomach was not doing so hot today and I did not have the strength to complete the last race. Nathan sailed a great regatta and is a deserving champ.” In third Scott Babbage AUS (44), tied with Simon Payne GBR (44), the reigning World Champion, who lost the tiebreaker and was scored fourth. Chris Rast USA (106) climbed another spot to 9th overall. As the top-finishing European Payne also won the official title of European Champion. The honor of "Vice" goes to Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI (52), followed by Matthias Renker SUI (103). The final results and Loris Siebenthal’s gallery.

After two victories in the second day of racing at the Finn Silver Cup (the Junior World Championship) in San Francisco, Luke Lawrence USA (10 pts.), trained by US Finn legend John Bertrand, took the overall lead. In second is Josip Olujic CRO (13) with a 4-2 yesterday, followed by a new third, Oliver Tweddell AUS who had a 2-5 day to rise from fifth. At 93 kgs (205 lb), Lawrence is one of the lightest sailors here, but handled the breeze really well as it increased from 13 knots in the first race to 20 in the second. Friday’s leader Caleb Paine USA (19) had a 10th and a fourth to drop back to fourth overall. Once the discard comes in, look for the move of Ioannis Mitakis GRE who is in seventh momentarily, saddled with a DNF. Racing will continue on Sunday with races 5 and 6. Winds are forecast to reach 25 knots and more current. The report and the gallery.

Rain and uncooperative winds hampered the proceedings on Day 3 of the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup. It was just enough to finish Round Robin racing but not the quarterfinals, so the top four round-robin teams were seeded in the semis. David Perry USA (9-2) emerged on top, followed by Taylor Canfield ISV (8-3). Completing the semis are Laurie Jury NZL and Anna Tunnicliffe USA who both squeaked in with a 7-4 record. Perry picked Canfield, which leaves Tunnicliffe and Jury in the other bracket. Semis and finals today. The event site, with all the info and Meredith Block’s gallery.

No races yesterday at the Youth Olympics and a lay day is scheduled for today. Results as of Friday stand. Kaarle Tapper FIN (25 pts.) leads the Byte CII Boys, in the Byte CII Girls Lara Vadlau AUT (10) is at the top of the standings. In the Tecno 293 Boys Mayan Rafic ISR (10) lis ahead while the Tecno 293 Girls are led by Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA (14). The program provides for another lay day today, but it's getting tight for the completion of the full schedule with only six races in thus far. report and thegallery.

Yesterday, 200 boats started racing in the CORK OCR, an ISAF Grade 1 event. The regatta includes the Canadian Championship for the 49er and the North American Championship for the 29erXX. Laser and Laser Radial are sailing for world ranking points. A light 8-knot breeze permitted racing on all four courses, with Ehvert Mclaughlin CAN leading the Lasers after three races while the 84-boat Radials were split for the qualifiers. Danielle Dube CAN (2) leads Brenda Bowskill CAN (3). 29er North American Champions Max Fraser/David Liebenberg USA lead in the 29er XX class followed by four other US teams, while in the 49ers, Jon Ladha/Daniel Inkpen CAN are in the lead after winning two of Saturday’s 5 races. William Combaluzier is ahead in the open Windsurfing class, while Caroline de Alcala is leading the Bic 293 Youth division. All results and Geoff Webster’s gallery.

The leaders remain in place after 10 races at the Hobie 16 Youth and Women’s Worlds in Weihai CHN where five races were added in fresher breeze (22 knots in the last race were reported) and flat water. In the Women’s division Natalie/Jasmine Hill AUS (15) have a nine-point edge over Alizee Angibaud/Constance Huard FRA (24) who swapped positions with Charlotte Picou/Julie Avron FRA (26. Saddled with two DNFs, Christina Bradshaw/Kathy Ward USA (51) remain sixth. In the Youth class, the podium remained the same with Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin AUS (16) still dominating Benjamin Deguine/Benjamin Roulant FRA (25) and James Wierzbowski/Pip Pietromonaco AUS (29). The event site and the gallery.

Tim Healy did it. He and his mates - D. Borges/M. McClintock/D. Rabin/J. Mollicone (24 pts.) closed the deal for the 2010 J/24 World Championship in style on the last day under sunny skies and in moderate breeze. Their performance was so dominant that they could afford to sail their throwout (16th) in the ninth race from which they came back with another second to preserve Gold by a 12-point margin over Ian Southworth GBR (36) who won the day with 3-1, but could not touch the US team. In third Andrea Casale ITA (64) an incredible 40 points out of first. Matias Pereira ARG (71) had hopes for a podium finish but had to settle for fourth overall after a BFD in Race 9. Tony Parker (J. Niblock/G. Ewenson/J. McCabe/ R. Dierdorf) USA (82) held a tenuous third on Friday morning but in the end was shoved off the podium to end in sixth. Mike Ingham (M. Penfold/D. Thompson/Q. Schwenker/E. Ferullo) USA (125) finished in 10th. The event site, the final standings and Magnus Grubb’s gallery.

Bora Gulari USA and the Nathan Outteridge AUS, the runaway performers at the Moth European Championships on Lake Silvaplana SUI, still can’t decide who’ll win this thing. Hence they are tied at the top with three races left today to settle matters. Gulari has drawn even with 2-1-1 yesterday against Outteridge’s 1-3-4 who was on the verge of dropping out again with layers of carbon coming off his main horizontal. The Aussie still has one more race win, but he can’t afford a slip with one DNS already in the discard pile. Equally exciting is the fight for the remaining podium place between Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI, Simon Payne GBR, the reigning World Champ and Scott Babbage AUS, who are separated by all of three points. Sailing News editor Jean-Pierre Ziegert SUI holds on to eighth overall. After weather agony early on, the Swiss summer and the vaunted Maloja wind are making up for it and provided another excellent day for Moth sailing in 6,000 feet of altitude with the top guys surpassing speeds of 25 knots. Chris Rast USA (91), who improved to 10th overall, observed in his blog that the wheels are coming off these fragile boats as the racing continues in solid breeze. So lots of TLC is required once the jockeys hit the beach. The full results the news and Loris von Siebenthal’s shutterwork.

With a second and a third, Caleb Paine USA (5) claimed the lead after Day 1 of the 2010 Silver Cup, the class Junior Finn World Championships in San Francisco. In second Josip Olujic CRO (7), followed by Luke Lawrence USA (8) in third. Watch for Lennart Lutkus GER (9) though, who won the first race, which also was his first race ever in the Finn. With the wind increasing from 10 knots in the first race to 18 in the second, the triangle course was set with Oscar flag for free pumping. Ioannis Mitakis GRE, the reigning Junior European Champion who got slapped with two penalties for pumping in the first race, was now free and clear and promptly won the heat by beating defending Junior World Champion Jorge Zarif BRA and Paine. With only 15 boats racing in a world championship regatta, the decision was taken not to have a medal race, however the last race on Tuesday will be non discardable. The report, the standings and the event Web site.

Under the watchful eyes of IOC President Jacques Rogge, a former Finn sailor, new leaders in the Boys Byte Cll and the Girls Techno 293 windsurfing classes have emerged after Day 3 of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, which was raced in moderate winds but strong currents. With the completion of five races one discard is now in play. Kaarle Tapper FIN (25 pts.) now leads the Byte CII Boys, followed by Florian Haufe GER (27) and event favorite Darren Chong SIN (31) while previous leader Just Van Aanholt AHO dropped to fourth. No such antics in the Byte CII Girls where Lara Vadlau AUT (10) had a 1-3 day to extend her lead to 11 points over Constanze Stolz GER and Celine Carlsen DEN (both on 21)
In the Tecno 293 Boys Mayan Rafic ISR (10) leads the boys after a 2-4 day, followed by Michael Cheng HKG (13) who won the final race of the day with a dramatic surge at the finish and Martin Kieran GBR (15) who had a bullet in Race 5. Ian Stokes USA (80) is 17th. In the Tecno 293 Girls Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam THA (14) got her third bullet of the series to take the lead from Audrey Pei Lin Yong SIN (15), who lost ground after dropping her sail twice in race five and previous leader Naomi Cohen ISR (17) who had an OCS in Race 6. Margot Samson USA (72) is 16th. The Saturday forecast is for similar conditions. The report and thewww.sailing.org/yog/media.php ]gallery[/url].

Day 2 of the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup (ISAF Grade 2) did not last long enough to complete all flights after the wind shifted and blew across the river current. Six teams have some Round Robin racing left before the quarterfinals can be established. Presently on top is Dave Perry USA with a 7-1 record and three more races to sail. Next are Bill Hardesty USA, Anna Tunnicliffe USA and Laurie Jury NZL with 7-4 records and no more RR races. Taylor Canfield ISV (6-2) could be the spoiler here if he wins his three outstanding races today. Get all the details on the event Web site.

Covering 298.8 miles from 8 am on August 19 to 8 am on August 20, Betrand Delesne FRA (‘Prati'Buches’) set a new 24-hour distance record for the Mini 6.50 class at an average speed of 12.45 knots, which helped him extend his lead in the interim standings to 48 miles over Leg-1 winner Jörg Riechers GER (‘mare.de’). At last sched. Delesne was 550 miles from the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne FRA. It will be a dramatic couple of days that will decide the overall winner since Delesne finished the first leg in second, a mere 1 h 45 behind Riechers. Third place holder Luc Montagne FRA (‘ONG Conseil’) already is 86 miles off the pace. Ryan Finn USA looks to be in some serious trouble as he has dropped from fifth in the beginning of the stage to 32nd, limping along at 2 knots far behind and way to the north of the fleet. The RC is contemplating diverting a chase boat to see if he needs assistance. The report (French) and the race viewer.

Five races were sailed on Day 1 of the Youth/Women’s Hobie 16 Worlds in Weihai CHN in moderate breezes and under overcast skies. In the Women’s class the early leaders are Natalie and Jasmine Hill AUS (7) followed by Charlotte Picou/Julie Avron FRA (8) and Alizee Angibaud/Constance Huard FRA (9). Christina Bradshaw/Kathy Ward USA (21) are sixth in the nine-boat “fleet”. In the Youth class, Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin AUS (4) have a string of five bullets to lead Benjamin Deguine/Benjamin Roulant FRA (10) and James Wierzbowski/Pip Pietromonaco AUS (10).

[Ed. Note: Looking at the dismal numbers of eight boats in the women's event and 13 boats in the youth regatta, the criteria that define a World Championship are becoming a topic again, just as they have a few weeks ago at the Xtreme 40 "World Championship" in Slovenia that had all of six boats competing. It's not much better in the Finns, an Olympic boat class, where they count 15 boats in the Junior Worlds in San Francisco. While there is no big beach-cat culture in China (yet) and the Xtreme 40s are a purely media-driven spectacle for professional sailors, the Finns have a long tradition as a rather Euro-centric class with turnouts of 200+ boats at their Masters World Championship...]

There are two races left today at the 2010 J/24 World Championship in Malmö SWE and by the look of things it will be hard to challenge Tim Healy USA (13 pts.) who had another insane day yesterday with 1-2, which translates into a 20-point lead. If anyone’s got a whiff, it’s Ian Southworth GBR (33) who might be happy to be in second after winning Race 8 while Tony Parker USA (43) slipped badly with a 28th. Parker now finds himself in third, but only one point ahead of former World Champion Andrea Casale ITA (44), which will set up a match racing event between these two today. Mike Ingham USA (93) faded with a BFD and a 27th, but still holds 9th overall. Forecast: Cloudy with some rain, light to moderate winds. The event site, the overall results and Magnus Grubb’s gallery.

A chamber-of-commerce kind of day with decent breeze, sun and turquoise waters produced some fine foiling for the 80 mothists at the 2010 European Championship on Lake Silvaplana SUI. You’d think that this Gulari character (Bora, USA) after another stellar 2-2-1 day would lead the standings by now, but no. He didn’t even win the day, because Nathan Outteridge AUS showed him up with a 1-1-2. So after nine races and two discards it’s Outteridge (9), Gulari (11) and Scott Babbage AUS (20). Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI (26) and Simon Payne GBR (28) round out the top five. JP Ziegert SUI (48), our French editor, continues to play in this concert as 7th overall, while Chris Rast USA (73) improved his lot and stands in 11th. The newsreel and Loris von Siebenthal’s appetizing gallery.

On Day 1 of the Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, an open Grade 2 event and the second stage of the so-called Trifecta, Team Tunnicliffe leads all 12 teams with a 5-0 record. “The conditions,” skipper Anna Tunnicliffe said on her blog, “were great, but very puffy at times, which allowed the boat behind to be able to make up distance on the lead boat downwind if they played the breeze well. We were also fighting the current downwind which made for long legs, and so giving the trailing boat an even bigger advantage.” Next are three skippers Laurie Jury NZL, Bill Hardesty USA and Reuben Corbett NZL with 4-1 records. The official report and the event site with lots of downloads, complete results, photos and images.

Layday in Singapore at the Youth Olympic Games. Just van Aanholt (14 pts.) AHO leads the Byte CII Boys, Lara Vadlau AUT (16) is ahead in the Byte CII Girls. No US sailors competing. In the Tecno 293 Boys Rafic Mayan ISR (9) is the front runner and Naomi Cohen ISR (11) holds the top spot in the Tecno 293 Girls. The two US competitors, Ian Stokes and Margot Samson, are 18th and 16th, respectively. Theevent site.

No changes in the overall standings of the Hobie 16 Masters World Championship regatta in Weihai China. After 14 races, Rod and Kerry Waterhouse AUS (20) wrapped up their successful title bid in the Masters yesterday, 15 points ahead of William and Lucinda Edwards RSA (35) and 30 better than Bob Engwira/Brad Wilson AUS (50). Ken Hilk/Christina Bradshaw USA (91) finished in sixth. In the Grand Masters Gold was never in question with Anthony Duchatel/Evelyn Curtis AUS (20) wrapping it up in style. Harry Handley/Peter Evrad NZL (44) escaped with silver on count back, as they were tied on points with Bruce Tardew/Sarah Turnbull AUS (44). Bill Myrter/Cathy Lam USA (94) were in a tight battle all the way to the end but dropped back to ninth. Next up Youth and Women’s Championship from Friday to Sunday. The event Web site.

The International C Class Catamaran Championships (IC^4), the successor to the Little America’s Cup, will be hosted at New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI from August 22-28, 2010. Racing begins with an up-to-12 race series of fleet racing to determine the seeding for the match racing. The top two seeds will have a first to five point match race series to determine the winner of the International C Class Catamaran Championship. The course is a 6-mile windward-leeward, with one mile legs and up to four races each day. In related news: Steve Clark USA, who aims to win it back for the US, yesterday announced he had to withdraw the old ‘Cogito’ from the event in order to have a rig for his new entry ‘Aethon’ whose new wing was damaged during sea trials. The event site.

Three days into the championship with six races counting and one discard, two US boats are on top of the interim standings at the J/24 Worlds in Malmö SWE. Tim Healey USA (10 pts.) who got a nice redress for a wrongfully assessed a BFD in Race 4 on Tuesday (a bullet, no less) added another 1-2 to his impressive score to extend the overall lead with Tony Parker USA (21) and Andrea Casale ITA (26) following on the other podium places. The forecast is finally promising better conditions, meaning wind without rain. The event site with report, results and photos.

The wind finally was up and Bora Gulari USA became nearly unstoppable yesterday at the 2010 Moth Europeans on Lake Silvaplana SUI. He added a 2-1-1 to his score, but in the overall standings he remains three points behind 49er crack Nathan Outteridge AUS (7) who had a 1-2-2 day and lost a DNS from Tuesday to the discard that now is in play. In third overall is Tuesday’s leader Scott Babbage AUS (13). Sailing News editor Jean-Pierre Ziegert SUI (34) holds 7th overall while Chris Rast USA (65) is 14th. Because the event is two races behind schedule, the lay day will not happen today. The report.

Stormy clouds blew in from the west late in the morning, prompting a category one storm warning to be raised and forcing race officials to postpone the races for a couple of hours. Racing finally got underway at around 15.00 hrs local time in a light five-knot breeze and slowly strengthening current. In the Byte CII Boys Just van Aanholt (14 pts.) AHO defended the lead on that shifty tricky day against Goncalo Pires POR (28) and Harald Faeste NOR (31). In the Byte CII Girls Lara Vadlau AUT (16) had a ninth and another bullet for a seven-point lead over Constanze Stolz GER (23) and Celine Carlsen DEN (30). The Tecno 293 Boys class has a new leader with Rafic Mayan ISR (9) who had a stellar day with 2-1. In second and third are Kieran Martin GBR and Chun Cheng HKG both on 14 points. Ian Stokes USA (69) improved to 18th. In the Tecno 293 Girls, things cleared up a bit with Naomi Cohen ISR (11) building a six-point cushion over Audrey Yong SIN and Valentina Sergios ARG both on 17 points. Margot Samson USA (62) remains in 16th. The report.

The rich got richer yesterday at the Masters/Grand Masters Hobie 16 Worlds as Aussies Rod and Kerry Waterhouse (14 pts.) and Anthony Duchatel/Evelyn Curtis continued to build their respective leads. Two morning races in light and shifty offshore conditions and one decent afternoon race in sea breeze and another one in shifty and light stuff blowing from shore brought the race tally to 10 and a split in the age groups, which inexplicably no longer are scored together. In the Masters William and Lucinda Edwards RSA (24) are undisputed in second while Bob Engwirda/Brad Wilson AUS (38) are a distant third. In the Grand Masters, Harry Handley/Peter Evrard NZL (26) are in second with Bruce Tardrew/Sarah Turnbull AUS (34) clinging to the last podium place with the final two races today.

The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for 18 August 2010 have been released. Most top-five rankings for Great Britain (6 events), France (5), USA and Spain (4). However Spain now is tops in the overall nations score. There are new leaders in the 470 Men, 49er, RS:X Men. The classes:
Finn: Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic CRO, 3rd Zach Railey USA; Laser Radial: Evi Van Acker BEL, 3rd Paige Railey USA; Laser Standard: Paul Goodison GBR, 14th Clay Johnson USA; 470 Men: Belcher/Page AUS, 7th McNay/Biehl USA; 470 Women: Petitjean/Douroux FRA, 8th Clark/Chin USA; 49er: Dyen/Christidis FRA, 18th Storck/Moore USA; Star: Scheidt/Prada BRA, 4th Mendelblatt/von Schwartz USA; Womens Match Race: Lucy MacGregor GBR, 3rd Anna Tunnicliffe USA; RS:X Men: Ivan Pastor Lafuente ESP, 29th Ben Barger USA; RS:X Women: Bryony Shaw GBR, 36th Farrah Hall USA.
The next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be on 22 September 2010 up to and including the Finn Gold Cup in the USA, Laser World Standard Senior Championships in Great Britain and the RS:X World Championships in Denmark. Visit the ISAF World Sailing Rankings homepage to view the full Ranking lists.

Light airs in the morning caused a delayed start to racing on the first day of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. But in the afternoon two races were held back to back as scheduled. In the Bytes CII boys, Just van Aanholt AHO (3) had a 2-1 score to lead Gonzalo Pires POR (9) and Kaarle Tapper FIN (11). In the Bytes CII Girls Constanze Stolz GER (3) leads Lara Vadlau AUT (6) and Alexandra Rayroux SUI (6). In the Windsurfing divisions, which are sailed on Tecno 293 boards the top three boys are Martin Kieran GBR (3) Mayan Rafic ISR (6) and Michael Cheng HKG (7). Brian Stokes USA was scored OCS and 20 for 21st in the 21-board fleet. Tight racing in the girls with the top three, Audrey Yong SIN, Naomi Cohen ISR and Veronica Fanciulli ITA, all on five points. Margot Samson USA (32) is in 16th.
The start for Day 2 was delayed as dark clouds were moving in. The report and the results.

Almost perfect weather conditions for the first day of the 2010 Moth Europeans on Lake Silvaplana SUI. Perhaps the biggest news: No rain. The local Maloja wind showed signs of life and made the 85 competitors fly over the waters. After three races Scott Babbage AUS (8) leads reigning world Champion Simon Payne GBR (9) and Bora Gulari USA (12). Chris Rast USA (43) is in 12th. Rast was crew on the Swiss 470 at the 1996 Savannah Olympics for Jean-Pierre Ziegert SUI, the organiser of the event, who's also our French editor and 6th overall in the standings. Go Chris! Go JP!
However the man of the race was Nathan Outteridge AUS - 49er Worldcup winner last week at Sail for Gold 2010 in Weymouth GBR. He scored two bullets and had to abandon one race due to gear failure. Look for him after the discard comes in... All results and the report.

It was bad for tourists with a steady downpour at the 2010 J/24 Worlds in Malmo SWE yesterday, but not necessarily for the Swedes who were on top of their game in light and tricky conditions and later on when Erasmus opened the wind spigot to dispense 25 knots, which caused broaches and breakage. Lady skip Anna Gunnarsson SWE won the light-air race in style while the heavy-air session was by Per Hakan Perssson SWE. Very strong also Mike Ingham USA (26), who had a 3-4 day to stand in fourth overall, behind Andrea Casale ITA (17), Matias Pereira ARG (22) and Stefan Karsunke GRER (24). Other US contenders are Tony Parker (33) in seventh and Tim Healy (71) who bagged a BFD in the fourth race. If they can keep it sane they can move up significantly once the discard comes into play, which will happen today. The event site with results, photos and report.

“Carnage on the racecourse the past two days,” Facebooked US 29er crew CC Childers from the CORK International Regatta, which also doubles as the 29ere North American Championship. “We have seen it all... two boats completely destroyed from hitting the rocks. 7+ people on crutches, 2 concussions, lots of cuts and bruises and some pretty serious wipeouts. Craziness at CORK! Forecast says its supposed to get lighter but then again they said today was going to be lighter as well... NOPE!”
Well, not everybody had a tough time. The Henken brothers USA (3 pts.) and Maxwell Fraser USA are doing just fine, thank you very much. Both share the lead in the 57-boat fleet with three points, which is three better than Tucker Atterbury USA (6). CC sailing with her skipper Chanel Miller has 34 points, for 23rd overall.

Better wind and blue skies enabled four more races on Day 2 of the Masters event of the Hobie 16 Worlds. After six races total, Rod and Kerry Waterhouse AUS (9 pts.) have taken over the top spot from first-day leaders William and Lucinda Edwards RSA (11). In third Bob Engwirda AUS (17) who slipped into the top three after Park Byeong Ki/Youn Hae Kwang KOR (39) were disqualified from Race 4. Top Grand Master team is Anthony Duchatel/Evelyn Curtis AUS (25) in fourth. Not a good day for the top US team Bill Myrter/Cathy Lam (86), who fell back four spots and are now in 23rd. The overall standings.

Big breeze was wreaking havoc among the young sailors classes at CORK International Regatta in Kingston, ON as evidenced by the large swaths of DNF/DNC scores in the results. Class leaders after four races include in the Optimist (93 boats 6 races): Meredith Megarry CAN (9) Laser Standard (21 boats, 4 races): Fraser Wells CAN (8.), Laser 4.7 (3 boats, 4 races): Rachel Bryer USA (5); O’Pen Bic (6 boats, 3 races): John Robert Lawless USA (6); Byte CII (10 boats, 4 races): Sacha Roberts CAN (4); 420 qualifying (83 boats, 3 races): Julien Fougere CAN (3); Laser Radial Youth (19 and younger, 137 boats, 5 races): Olivier Corbeil CAN (4), Nicolas Croft CAN (4).

Today racing was to begin at the Youth Olympics in Singapore with two US windsurfers, Margot Samson and Ian Stokes, competing. Light air that has forced Monday's practice race to be canceled, still prevailed in the morning. For live updates, check the Twitter feed on the event Web site. The report

The 2010 World Championship of the J/24 class with 54 teams from 14 countries got under way yesterday in Malmö SWE with the first two races under leaden skies with heavy breezeMatias Perreira ARG (3) scored a cool 1-2 to lead Tim Healy USA (6) who was 2-4 and Stefan Karsunke GER (7). Mike Ingham USA (19) won the second heat and is seventh, while Tony Parker USA (23) is in 9th. The standings.

Sailing got underway in a very light offshore breeze after the Chinese hosts officially opened the 2010 Hobie 16 Worlds. Sailing got underway in a very light offshore breeze after an amazing opening ceremony. After two races the 29-boat fleet is lead William and Lucinda Edwards RSA followed by Park Byeong Ki/Youn Hae Kwang KOR and Rod and Kerry Waterhouse AUS. Top US team is Bill Myrter/Cathy Lam in 19th. More light weather is expected tomorrow.

After Sail for Gold in Weymouth last week,which was the seventh and last event of the 2009-2010 World Cup circuit, the overall winners in all classes were tallied with the US team failing to win any class, but coming away with three medals. In the Men's 470 Mathew Belcher/Malcom Page AUS won Gold with Leboucher/Garos FRA and Dahlberg/Östling SWE filling the other podium spots. Delle-Karth/Resch AUT won the 49ers ahead of Dyen/Christidis FRA und Norregaard/Lang DEN. Ed Wright GBR is the overall champ in the Finns follwoed by Jonathan Lobert FRA and Rafael Trujillo ESP. Javier Hernandez ESP closed the deal in the Laser Standard early but Nick Thompson GBR and Michael Leigh CAN used their top results in Weymouth to jump onto the podium. In the Star Melleby/Pedersen NOR wrapped up their successful title bid in Kiel and didn't sail in Weymouth, where Horton/Lyne USA and Florent/Rambeau FRA secured rank 2 and 3, respectively. In the RS:X-Men Julien Bontemps FRA edged Nimrod Masich ISR and Ivan Pastor ESP for Gold.
Former Swiss Olympia sailor Emmanuelle Rol SUI/FRA now sailing for France with her aptly named crew, Hélène Defrance finished second behind Ingrid Petitjean/Nadège Douroux FRA in the 470-Women, where Koch/Sommer DEN took third. No changes in the tol three in the Laser Radial with Marit Bouwmeester NED taking Gold ahead of Veronika Fenclova CZE and Paige Railey USA. Blanca Manchon ESP, Bryony Shaw GBR und Laura Linares ITA were the top sailors in the RS:X-Women. Winning the Women's Match Race was Claire Leroy FRA who took second in Weymouth to dethrone the lone US hope for overall Gold, Anna Tunnicliffe USA who had to settle for second, ahead of Lucy MacGregor GBR. The World Cup site with all the rankings.

After the washout of the show slalom, the forecast for the 85 Mothists at the 2010 European Championship on Lake Silvaplana SUI is improving, hopefully in time for the first start. Follow the racing live (6 a.m. EDT) via GPS-tracking (you need to download the latest version of Java). The event site.

From Aug. 17 to Sept. 4, San Francisco Bay will be the site of the Finn Gold and Silver Cups (Open and Junior World Championships). The Juniors go first Aug. 17 – 24 with presently 17 boats registered. In attendance will be two US hopefuls, Luke Lawrence and Caleb Paine, who will be up against a formidable foe, Joannis Mitakis GRE, who won the Junior European Championship in Croatia earlier this year with a sensational performance that also netted him 12th overall in the European Open results. Practice race on Thursday, fleet racing Friday through Monday, medal race Tuesday Aug. 24.
On a different note: Other classes who grumble about the Finn’s seemingly unchallenged status as an Olympia class may take note how the Finn folks have responded to the ISAF requirement of professionally run Web sites. The event site, the class Web site, with blog, Facebook- and Twitter feeds the YouTube Channel and the official Gold Cup site.

The International Knarr Championship, hosted by St. Francis YC, concluded Saturday with another race win by perennial Knarr champ Jon Perkins USA. The win left him with a commanding eight point lead over his brother and second place finisher Chris. Soren Pehrsson DEN and Lars Gottfredsen DEN finished third and fourth overall, respectively, followed by Sean Svendsen USA. After 2005 and 2002 this was the third IKC championship for Jon Perkins, which puts him in the Knarr Pantheon behind Frank Berg DEN as the only one who has won more titles in the 42 years this class has contested this regatta that alterantes between San Francisco, Denmark and Norway. The report and the final results (PDF).

The inaugural event at big Moth regattas is the 'Dash for Cash' slalom, but the Swiss weather kitchen in St. Moritz dished out a lot of rain, icy temps and very little breeze, much to the dismay of sailors and spectators. In a rather taxing non-foiling contest one of the favorites, Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI, came out ahead. Practice race is scheduled for today, and Tuesday the real deal starts on Lake Silvaplana. The weather is supposed to improve or at least it can't get any worse... The entry list with 85 boats from 15 countries. Chris Rast and Bora Gulari represent the US.

The 19th Hobie 16 World Championships in Weihai, China are about to start on Monday on the new established Weihai International Sailing Base that opened June, and will last until Aug 30. It’s a cat venue with a large shallow sand beach and winds ranging from 7 to 22 knots. When it’s blowing, be prepared to see some gnarly launches and returns, as evidenced by the 2009 sailing images. A total of up to 400 sailors from around the world are expected to compete in this event that is a precursor to the China stop of the Volvo Ocean Race next year. The race schedule: Aug 16-19: Masters, Grandmasters; Aug. 20-22: Women, Youth; Aug. 23-25 Open Qualifiers; Aug 26-28: Open Semifinals (112 teams); Aug. 29-30: Open finals (56 teams). The event Web site.

The world’s best Olympic class sailors battled it out for the medals at the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth GBR, the venue of the 2012 Olympic sailing events, and for the ISAF Sailing World Cup titles in 5-15 knot northerly winds and rain. The US team came away with two bronze medals thanks to the women’s match racing team of Anna Tunnicliffe who defeated Renee Groeneveld NED in the petit finals and the 470-ladies Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar who were tied on points with the Spaniards but lost the tiebreaker in the medal race. For the overall tally of accumulated points from the seven World Cup events in 2009-2010, the US had three: Silver for Team Tunnicliffe and Andy Horton/James Lyne in the Star class, and Paige Railey got Bronze in the Laser Radial. Tunnicliffe won the Rolex Miami OCR in Miami, Fla., took second at French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyeres, France, and third Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany. Horton/Lyne took second at Miami OCR and third at Delta Lloyd Regatta in The Netherlands. Railey won Miami OCR and Kiel Week.
The US sailors in the medal races: 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey finished fourth in the Finn medal race and seventh overall in the 52-boat fleet. In the Men’s 470, 2008 Olympians Stu McNay/Graham Biehl finished the medal race in fifth to take seventh overall and in the Star Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol finished 10th in a star-studded, 36-boat fleet.
Read the full report, check the complete results, see Fried Elliott’s photos and visit the US Sailing micro site.

Australia went home laden with gold after the Skandia Sail For Gold 2010 held on Weymouth Bay, the 2012 Olympic venue. The Aussies picked up Gold in four classes with Nicky Souter, in the Women’s Match Racing, the Skud-18 with Daniel Fitzgibbon/Rachael Cox on Friday, Tom Slingsby in the Laser Standard, and Nathan Outteridge/Iain Jensen in the 49er class. The French team had three gold medals – Pierre Leboucher/Vincent Garos in the 470 Men, Charline Picon in the RS:X Women, and Damien Seguin in the 2.4mR. The Dutch got two Gold with Marit Bouwmeester in the Laser Radial and Udo Hessels team in the Sonar. That left the favored Brits with exactly one, Scott Giles in the Finn, where Ben Ainslie missed the podium by 0.4 points, but GBR had a decent overall haul with two silver and four bronze medals as well.
The venue, Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, is the 2012 Olympic venue and it threw everything at the competitors this week – saving the best for last, with a medal race day that was vintage British summer; wind, rain, near calms and even a little sunshine right at the end. The huge entry of 975 sailors from 57 nations, spread across 712 boats in 13 classes, will go home having learned to expect the unexpected in August 2012.
The complete results, the video of the day and the final report with all the medal race drama.

At Sail for Gold in Weymouth it was the final day of racing for the three Paralympic classes and the final day of fleet racing before today’s medal races for nine out of 10 Olympic classes. Four US teams are in the top ten of their respective classes and punched their tickets of the double point medal races, and one of the Women’s Match Racing teams has a shot at bronze medal in the petit finals.
Despite fighting hard, the two US Paralympic teams came away empty-handed. Rick Doerr/ Brad Kendell/Hugh Freund took sixth in the Sonars after getting a DSQ in Race 8, which destroyed any hopes of a higher finish. In the 2.4mR , John Ruf also had a tough week with equipment failure resulting in a DNF and an OCS to finish ninth overall in the 22-boat fleet. The Women’s 470 remains the brightest spot for the US with Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar the 2008 World Champions continuing their hot streak in these tricky and shifty conditions with another bullet yesterday which elevated them to second overall, nine points behind Kondo/Tabata JPN and a good shot at a medal. Amanda Clark/Sarah Chin are in 19th overall. In the Men’s 470, Stu McNay/Graham Biehl posted a 12-4 to and are in sixth before the medal race. Adam Roberts/Nick Martin are in 24th.No medal race for Erik Storck/Trevor Moore in the 49ers. After only two single-digit finishes in the six final races they slipped to 20th overall. After a frustrating week thus far, Star sailors Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol got it going in the nick of time with a 4-1 yesterday to sneak into the medal race fleet. With 36 boats the Star fleet was miniscule, but the talent level was astounding with nine World Champions and 12 Olympic medalists. In the Finn Zach Railey heads into the Medal Races in seventh place after posting 29-3 on Friday.
Laser coach Brad Funk returned to racing and ended up to US finisher in 29th in the Laser Standards, ahead of Rob Crane who could not sustain his performance from early in the week and finished in 35th 20 spots ahead of Charlie Buckingham in 55th. Clay Johnson was fifth in the Silver fleet. In the Laser Radial Paige Railey’s medal race bid came undone in the last race with her second BFD of the week, which dropped her to 13th. Sarah Lihan is next in 19th and Claire Dennis won back four spots from Thursday to get back to 26th.
Ben Barger the only US board sailor in the Men’s RS:X finished in 32nd while Farrah Hall was 42nd in the b]Women’s RS:X[/b].
The US Sailing report, all results, Fried Elliott’s galleries and the US Sailing micro site.

The qualifiers for the medal races were concluded yesterday with two ore races in 10-15 knots of breeze. In Women’s Match Racing the finals will be Nicky Souter AUS vs. Claire Leroy FRA while Anna Tunnicliffe USA and Renée Groenveld NED sail for Bronze. There’s also a duel for gold in the Men’s 470, where Leboucher/Garros FRA lead Belcher/Page AUS by two points. Patience/Bithell GBR look safe for Bronze. Kondo/Tabata JPN have an 11-point lead in the Women’s 470 over Maxwell/ Kinsolving USA, who can challenge for Gold, but also have to watch their backs. In third are Petitjean/Douroux FRA, who are closely followed by Pacheco/Betanzos ESP and Clark/Hughes GBR. As the event wears on, Outteridge/Jensen AUS have whittled down the competition and now lead the 49ers by 12 points from Dyen/Christidis FRTA. Giles Scott GBR leads the Finns by a fat 16-point margin over Ben Ainslie GBR who is followed by five others who are only seven points apart. In the tough Star fleet the podium will be decided between Lööf/Tillander SWE, O'Leary/Kleen IRL and Kusznierewicz/Zycki POL. In the RS:X men Julien Bontemps FRA closed the gap to Nick Dempsey GBR with Dorian Van Rijsselberge NED another point back. Blanca Mancon ESP has a six-point lead in the RS:X women over Charline Picon FRA with Laura Linares ITA and Bryony Shaw GBR also in the medal mix.
All medals were decided in the Paralympic classes: In the Skud 18 Daniel Fitzgibbon/Rachael Cox won Gold with seven first places and two seconds. In second Alexandra Rickham/Niki Birrell GBR. In the Sonars, Udo Hessels/Marcel van de Veen/Mischa Rossen held off the hard charging team of John Robertson, GBR and Dror Cohen ISR. The 2.4mR class was a weeklong duel of Thierry Schmitter NED and Damien Seguin FRA with Gold going to the Frenchman. Beijing Gold medalist Paul Tingley CAN fell just short of the podium in fourth.
All results, the report and the video.

Two more races were held yesterday in 10-15 knot breezes at Weymouth to determine the participants in the medal races. In the Laser Standard division it's gotten down to the duel of Tom Slingsby AUS vs. Paul Goodison GBR who will decide Gold and Silver. Goodison had a 1-3 yesterday to close the gap to 8 points while Slingsby pocketed two heavies. In third Michael Leigh CAN leading a closely-spaced pack of medal candidates. Top USA finisher was coach Brad Funk in 29th while Rob Crane lost some steam and dropped to 35th overall after a strong start earlier in the week
Tighter is the leader board in the Laser Radials where the top four are separated by only seven points. Marit Bouwmeester NED has a four-point cushion over Sarah Winter NZL. Right behind are Sarah Steyaert FRA und Sari Multala FIN. Missing the party will be Tatjana Droszdowskaja BLR (11th) and als Paige Railey USA (13th, who did herself in with her second BFD in the final race. Sarah Lihan in 19th and Claire Dennis in 26th. The results, the report and the video of the day.

It is starting to shake out at Sail for Gold in Weymouth after the first day of racing after the larger classes were split into Gold Silver and Bronze fleets. , Seven US teams currently sit in the top ten of the Olympic classes with one more day to go before Saturday’s Medal Races. Medals will be decided today in the Paralympic classes.
The US highlight of the day was delivered in the Women’s 470, where Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar scored two consecutive bullets for sixth overall. Not a good day for Amanda Clark/Sarah Chin who dropped back to 22nd and from medal race contention.
Women’s Match Racing quarter finals, Anna Tunnicliffe is 2-0 against Lucy MacGregor GBR, while Sally Barkow is 1-1 against Renee Groenveld. NED.
In the Finn Zach Railey lost a fourth-place finish on /Wednesday to an OCS and had to battle back with a 2-12 for 7th overall, nine points out of third. In the Men’s 470, Stu McNay/Graham Biehl shad a 10-20 to remain seventh overall while Adam Roberts/Nick Martin are 24th. Three races for the 49ers and Erik Storck/Trevor Moore are still in 17th overall, after a 15-9-15 day.
Tough day again in the Lasers where all US competitors lost ground. Rob Crane dropped eight spots to 21st in Gold while Brad Funk is 42nd and Charlie Buckingham is 47th. Other US sailors in Gold are Charlie Buckingham (36th) and Brad Funk (40th). Clay Johnson holds fifth in the silver fleet. Same story in the Laser Radial where Paige Railey finished 12 - 2 to lose on spot for eighth overall while Sarah Lihan dropped four to 17th and Clair Dennis six to 30th.
The US Star sailors continue to struggle, with no Top 10 boat at the moment. George Szabo/Mark Strube are 11th followed by Mark Mendelblatt/ John von Schwartz in 12th both five points out of the medal race while Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol still try to find their grove in 16th. Ben Barger could not sustain his good form from Wednesday and is 29th in the Men’s RS:X while Farrah Hall is 41st in the Women’s RS:X.
In Paralympic sailing Rick Doerr/ Brad Kendell/Hugh Freund had a decent day with 7-2 in the Sonars while reigning 2.4 mR World Champion John Ruf had to pocket an OCS which pushed him back to 9th in the 22-boat fleet. The US Sailing report, all results, Fried’s galleries and the US Sailing micro site.

Again a very inconstant 10-15 kn breeze and a strong current and therefore very difficult to sail on the first day of the final races in Gold, Silver and Bronze Fleets. Today, the qualifications for the Medal Race of Saturday are at stake. New leaders did emerge in the 470 men, where Belcher/Page AUS passed Leboucher/Garros FRA and have a one point's lead. New also the first in the 470 women with Pacheco/Betanzos ESP now ahead of Kondo/Tabata JPN, and finally, Giles Scott GBR has replaced Jonathan Lobert FRA on top of the Finns. In the other classes, the leaders had no problems: O'Leary/Kleen IRL extended their lead in the Starboats to 10 pts, Dyen/Christidis FRA are still ahead of Outteridge/Jensen AUS in the 49ers, Blanca Manchon ESP and Nick Dempsey GBR remain on top of the RS:X-Surfers. The Women's Matchrace enters the crucial phase with the quarter-finals, where Katie Spithill AUS and Anna Kjellberg SWE complete the set after the repechage. All results, the daily report and the video of the day.

A difficult shifty and puffy 10-15 kn breeze and a strong current made Tom Slingsby AUS at ease doing a demolition job in the Laser Standards leading Michael Leigh CAN, winner of race 2, by 31 points after the first two final heats, ranks 1 and 4. Paul Goodison GBR, only 21th and 16th yesterday, is in third, another eight points back. Only 15 points separate the positions 8 (David Wright CAN) and 15 (Andy Maloney NZL), and the fight for the Medal Race will be tight today.
The battle is much closer in the Laser Radials, where the French have taken the command with Sarah Steyaert FRA leading Sophie de Turckheim FRA by two points and Marit Bouwmeester NED, who lost her lead yesterday by three. A very close situation also for the Olympic women's fleet when it comes to the Medal Race places: Krystal Weir AUS on the 10th place is only 10 pts ahead of Nathalie Brugger SUI on rank 18 !
The wind forecast announces a light breeze around 10 kn for today. The results, the daily report and the video of the day.

No wind for the final two races of the 2010 Melges 24 World Championship in Tallinn, Estonia means that Lorenzo Bressani ITA ‘Uka Uka Racing’ helped by Jonathan McKee USA took the crown with a cushy 28-point advantage over Kristian Nergaard NOR on ‘Baghdad’ with Harry Melges USA on crew and Alberto Bolzan ITA on ‘Hurricane Murphy & Nye’. In Corinthian Division, Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR on ‘Storm Capital Sail Racing Team’ won the title, ahead of Tonu Toniste EST on ‘Lenny’ and Marco Schirato ITA on ‘La Besa’. The event Web site, the full report, the final results and the Corinthian standings.

Tom Slingsby AUS is doing a demolition job in the Laser Standards leading Michael Leigh CAN by 31 points after the first two final races. Paul Goodison GBR is in third, another eight points back. Tough day again in for US competitors who all lost ground. Rob Crane dropped eight spots to 21st in Gold while Brad Funk is 42nd and Charlie Buckingham is 47th. Other US sailors in Gold are Charlie Buckingham (36th) and Brad Funk (40th). Clay Johnson holds fifth in the silver fleet, 15 points behind leader Stuart Godwin GBR.
The battle is much closer in the Laser Radials with Sarah Steyaert FRA leading Sophie de Turckheim FRA by two points and Marit Bouwmeester NED, who lost her lead yesterday by three. Same story in the women's Radials where Paige Railey finished 12 - 2 to lose on spot for eighth overall while Sarah Lihan dropped four to 17th and Clair Dennis six to 30th. See all results.

Two young windsurfers, Margot Samson and Ian Stokes, have qualified to represent the United States at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee announced today. They join the U.S. Youth Olympic Team of 82 athletes competing in 18 sports, the maximum number of qualified U.S. athletes. The 12-day event kicks off this Saturday, August 14, with an elaborate Opening Ceremony and torch relay. The Youth Olympic Games is an international, multi-sport event held in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee that will take place every four years, consistent with the current format of the Olympic Games. This year, some 3,600 athletes, ages 14 to 18 and from 205 countries will compete in the 26 sports that will be featured at the 2012 Olympic Games. Per the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) qualification system for the sport of sailing, eligible athletes must have been born between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1995. Samson and Stokes qualified for the team at the 2010 Calema Midwinter Windsurfing Festival, where they were the highest finishing American male and female. The regatta was held in March in Merritt Island, Florida. The full report and the event Web site.

After a more moderate day with winds from 8 to 14 knots, the Gold fleets are separated at Sail for Gold 2010 so it’s down to business now with the leaderboards in most classes much tighter than in the first few days. In the Women’s 470, World Champions, Westerhof/Berkhout NED replaced Kondo/Tabata JPN at the top – and they did it despite a black flag disqualification in the first race – going on to win the second. Petitjean/Douroux FRA lead Rol/Defrance FRA by one point in the World Cup standings, and by just one place in the regatta – they are fourth and fifth. In the Men’s 470, Leboucher/Garos FRA cling to a narrow lead over World Champions Belcher/Page AUS. It the 49er, Dyen/Christidis FRA added a third and an 11th to remain ahead of Burling/Tuke NZL and Outteridge/Jensen AUS who are gathering steam as the regatta goes on. In the Finn, Jonathan Lobert FRA added a first and two second, but this being home turf for the Brits, three of them, Ben Ainslie, Dan Slater and Ed Wright got average points for yesterday’s race, because of confusion over a change of course. So Ainslie, whose return to the Finn was subject of considerable hype by the UK press, leveraged this decision to his advantage as only he can. With two seconds he now is second overall, 5.5 points behind Lobert... In the Star O’Leary/Kleen took advantage of the vanishing act of early leaders Pepper/Monk NZL and now have an eight-point lead over Loof/Tillander SWE. In the Men’s RS:X, Nick Dempsey GBR now leads overall after a 1-2 day while Blanca Machon ESP leads Charline Picon FRA in the Women’s RS:X division. The Laser Radial practiced starting until late afternoon and Marit Bouwmeester NED, like most of the other top competitors sailed her throw out but managed to defend her lead against the surging Sophie de Turckheim FRA. In the Laser Standard, the two top dogs Paul Goodison GBR and Andrew Murdoch NZL sailed their throwouts, but remained ahead. The battle in the 2.4mR is between Damien Seguin FRA and Thierry Schmitter NED, who in essence are trading firsts and seconds, while Udo Hessels NED is in the clear in the Sonars. The Skud-18 got back to racing with Fitzgibbon/Cox AUS scoring three bullets to edge Rickham/Birrell GBR for the overall lead. The report, all results and the Day 3 video.

In the Laser Standard, the two top dogs Paul Goodison GBR and Andrew Murdoch NZL sailed their throwouts, but remained ahead after the final day of the qualification heats. The Olympic Champion's advantage over Andrew Murdoch NZL, best of the strong Kiwi-team (Sam Meech 4th, Josh Junior NZL 7th), is now 6 pts. Together with Marc De Haas NED, he remains the first challenger. Despite of four bullets, Tom Slingsby AUS is only on position 5. Charlie Buckingham holds on to 16th overall after getting 12-15 yesterday. As from today, the races will continue split in Gold-, Silver- and Bronze-fleets. Saturday is the day of the Medal Race.
Despite of a steady breeze, the Lasers Radial started for their first race of the day around 5 p.m. only, as the Standards starting ahead of the women produced numerous premature starts, keeping the girls waiting for almost five hours. Best of the day was Sophie De Turckheim FRA slowly approaching Marit Bouwmeester NED. Sarah Steyaert FRA is new on the 3rd place, only one point behind. Paige Railey getting two fourths and Sarah Lihan with 5-7 are 6th and 12th overall. The results, the reports of the day and the video of the day.

Wonder what happened to Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol, one of the hopeful US Star teams? Well, after six races they are in a mediocre spot as 15th overall but even that did not come easy with a seemingly endless string of equipment failures. Rudder mount issues in practice, then an ill-fitting spare on Day 1, a broken batten and a jammed main on Day 2, a blown out job tack grommet yesterday. Without making excuses, Andrew is taking us through the ordeal of the battle, including this rarest of all Star exercises, which has the skipper (not the burly crew) shimmy up the mast to capsize the boat. Huh? Capsizing a keelboat? To find out how and why, read the post.

The penultimate day of the 2010 Melges 24 World Championship was critical for those with aspirations. In eight to twelve knot breezes the Race Committee ran three races and in the process, caught up with the schedule. Lorenzo Bressani ITA with help from Jonathan McKee USA on ‘Uka Uka Racing’ with 7-5-1 yesterday has all but destroyed the competition and now holds a 30-point lead over second place, which is held by Kristian Nergaard NOR with Harry Melges USA on ‘Baghdad’. In third is Alberto Bolzan ITA on ‘Hurricane Murphy & Nye’ Lurking in fourth of the overall standings is Flavio Favini ITA, helming the Swiss entry ‘Blu Moon’ but a 14-point deficit to the podium will be tough to overcome in two races today. Estonian Tonu Toniste on ‘Lenny’ had some stellar finishes yesterday to move to second place behind in Corinthian behind leader Oyvind Peder Jahre NOR. The event Web site and the gallery.

Only one race yesterday at the H-Boat Worlds in Norway. With a 3rd rank, Harri Roschier FIN is now the sole leader, followed by Jan Gustafson SWE and Staffen Stegger DEN. The results and the event website.