Weekly Sailing Summary

KEEL BOATS

Seve Jarvin and his crew of Sam Newton, Steve Jarvin (Seve’s father) and Graeme Sutherland, representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, won the 2009 Australian Match Racing Championship on Pittwater. More details at Boating Oz.

Mooloolaba Yacht Club’s Commodore Bob Robertson proved to be the marathon man when he steered On Location to her cruising class win in the Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week on Townsville’s Cleveland Bay. More information.

The Livingston Trophy will be held on 16 - 17 October, but unlike most races, there is no fixed course as competitors will maximise distance sailed on a course which they design (prior and/or during the race) from a selection of optional marks and course legs spread around Port Phillip. More info.

-- INTERNATIONAL

After a year out from match racing and the World Match Racing Tour, local hero Jes Gram-Hansen was not top of the list of favourites going into the Danish Open but he claimed the major prize on his home waters in Aarhus. More details.

The Western Australian Mirsky Racing Team, the youngest team on the World Match Racing Tour, has taken the Tour lead after a second at the Danish Open. More information.

As predicted, the true battle at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo, Italy, came in the Mini Maxi Racing (Owner/Driver) division and it was fought tooth and nail between Bella Mente (USA) and Alfa Romeo (NZL). More details.

One hundred and thirty two days after setting sail from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, the Ellen MacArthur Trust Skandia Round Britain Voyage completed their circumnavigation of Britain, bringing to an end the experience of a lifetime for the young crew members. More details.

Poul Richard Hoj Jensen and his crew of Theis Palm and Lars Jensen took out the Gaastra Dragon Worlds in Medemblik, Holland. More information.

'This is a very emotional win for me,' said Jim Mitchell from Switzerland and the owner of Vincitore, a Custom 52, upon winning the 2009 Rolex Big Boat Series and one of six owners presented with a Perpetual Trophy. More details.
 
The first Louis Vuitton World Series event will be held in Nice, France on the 7- 22 November 2009. More details.

The Transat Jacques Vabre, a double-handed race across the Atlantic in which routing is not allowed, starts on Sunday 8 November. Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier Benac plan to compete on Safran in the race from Le Havre in France to Puerto Limon in Costa Rica. More information.

Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet have completed their qualifying passage aboard Artemis Ocean Racing for the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre. More details.

AROUND THE WORLD

Jessica Watson set off from the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday 8 September to sail to Sydney for the start of her attempt to be the youngest person to sail non-stop around the world, but her yacht collided with the northbound bulk carrier Silver Yang and was dismasted. A Queensand government spokesperson says there are no laws that can prevent her sailing. More details. According to Jessica’s website, she is more determined than ever to achieve her goal.

Following a magnificent send off from Hull and Humber, the ten teams competing in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race are making excellent progress on the first leg of their 35-000 mile circumnavigation to La Rochelle in France and Team Finland has poked her nose in front. More details.

OFF THE BEACH & OLYMPIC CLASSES

Aussie friends Ben Morrison-Jack and James Weight completed a 260 kilometre kite surfing journey across Bass Strait when they landed at Apollo Bay in Victoria's southwest. More information.

Nick Dempsey (GBR) and Marina Alabau (ESP) are the new RS:X world champions. The last British Olympic windsurfing world champion was Barry Edgington in 1992, and as it happens Edgington is Nick Dempsey's coach. More infomation.

The Australian Sailing Team's Jessica Crisp finished seventh at the 2009 RS:X World Championship in Weymouth, England, getting an invaluable look at the venue for the 2012 London Olympic Games. More details.

The 2012 Olympic sailing venue at Weymouth and Portland is the host for the final event of the 2008-09 ISAF Sailing World Cup series, the Sail for Gold regatta. The Australian Sailing Team has had an impressive start with three crews topping their classes after day one of racing. More details.

The UK based Vestas Sailrocket team is to return to Walvis Bay in Namibia for one more assault on the outright speed sailing record and the 28 day record period will commence on October 2. More information.

The Notice of Race has been published for the 14th Asian Sailing Championship, to be held in March 2010 at Shanwei, China. More details.

NEWS BRIEFS

The Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Association will again be training and testing would-be boaties at Melbourne Leisurefest, when three of the Coast Guard’s top trainers will deliver daily sessions from 1-4 October at Sandown Racecourse. More details.

The OceansWatch Magic Roundabout team, led by Chris Bone, continues to make progress on its expedition through Papua New Guinea, this time returning to Karkar Island, where the yacht last visited local communities in September 2008. More information.

MARINE INDUSTRY

The National Marine Safety Committee (NMSC) this week released for public comment the draft revised standard for the National Standard for Commercial Vessels (NSCV) Part C, Subsection 7A – Safety Equipment. More details.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Nov 14 – 15 - Club Marine Sail Boat Show, Sandringham Yacht Club. More details.

Nov 21 – 23 -- Club Marine Boating Extravaganza, Goolwa, SA - 150 on-water sites, more than 200 hard stand sites and a number of hands-on exhibitions and demonstrations. More details.

Photograph courtesy of Jeff Spence: MRT crashes into BlackMatch Racing at Danish Open