Weekly Sailing Summary

AMERICA’S CUP

BMW Oracle Racing Team’s revolutionary wing sail powered trimaran USA convincingly won the second race of the best-of-three race series against the Swiss team’s catamaran Alinghi 5 in the 33rd America's Cup off Valencia, Spain. BMW Oracle Racing Team’s founder, software mogul Larry Ellison, was on board for his first America’s Cup Match race when they powered across the finish line with a margin of five minutes and 26 seconds. Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW Oracle Racing, has now won the America’s Cup four times.

Quotes: Larry Ellison - "This particular America’s Cup has got a lot of interest because for the first time in a long time it featured the two fastest sailboats in the world."

James Spithill (AUS) skipper-helm BMW Oracle Racing Team….on comparisons with his last America’s Cups in monuhulls - "This one has been an amazing experience for all the team, but especially for the sailors. Pretty much everyone on the boat had very little multihull experience beforehand. In some ways this one almost feels harder." Americas Cup.com.

MATCH RACING

Evan Walker, from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, won the Hardy Cup, the ISAF under 25 grade three match-racing title, for the second time after a hard-fought final against Josh Junior from Wellington’s Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in New Zealand. RSYS.com.au.

Great Britain's Lucy MacGregor toppled Claire Leroy from France, who has enjoyed a four and half year unbroken run as number one, in the Women's ISAF World Match Race Rankings. Nicky Souter moves up to third position and fellow Australian Katie Pellew is fourth. Adam Minoprio from New Zealand maintains his position at the top of the Open Rankings ahead of Australia’s Torvar Mirsky. Sailing.org.

KEEL BOATS

The first of the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria's Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminars was held at Royal Brighton Yacht Club. This is part of the ORCV's competitor support program for entrants in the 2010 Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V) Yacht Race & Cruise, 2011, Around Australia Ocean Race & Rally (AAORR), and the next Melbourne to Osaka (M2O) Yacht Race. The next seminar is Getting into Cat1 presented by David James on 9 March. See ORCV.org.au for more details.

Michael McMahon’s X3 won the 2010 Sydney 38 Australian Championship, hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on Pittwater. Mark Griffith on Old School took second place with the third spot going to veteran sailor Lou Abrahams and his crew on The Zen Challenge. RPAYC.com.au.

Audi Hamilton Island Race Week will include a division for superyachts this year. Lang Walker, owner of the new 58-metre sloop Kokomo, has declared his intention to be at Race Week. Designed by Ed Dubois and built in New Zealand, the new Kokomo is currently being rigged ready for sailing trials in Auckland. At last year’s Race Week American Jim Clark declared he was considering having one of his yachts, either the 88-metre gaff rigged schooner Athena, or the J-Class sloop Ranger, at this year’s regatta. More details.

AROUND THE WORLD

Jessica Watson enjoys flat seas and sunshine for a few days on her way to passing well south of the Cape of Good Hope. Ella's Pink Lady slows down but they are moving and with the sun shining it's a bit hard to worry about anything too much! Jessica Watson.com.au.

Jamaica Lightning Bolt secured their first Scoring Gate points of the Clipper Round the World Race on their way to Qingdao in China. Team Finland’s crew reported to the race office that they had lost the top third of their rig and that all on board were safe and were heading towards the Taiwanese port of Hualien. ClipperRoundTheWorld.com.

18 FOOTERS

The UK Project Racing team of Andy Budgen (Scotland), James Barker (England), and Matt Mc Govern (Ireland) dominated the second race of the Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour, winning the race by over two minutes. As they crossed the finishing line at Clarke Island the second placed Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas) had just gone around the final wing mark off Shark Island. Check out 18footers.com.au for more info.

NEWS BRIEFS

New boat moorings which do not damage seagrass are being trialled in several locations in Moreton Bay, Queensland. Traditional block and tackle mooring designs drag on the sea floor killing seagrass, algae, and other marine plants. The new moorings minimise the area of disturbance of the mooring anchor system, keeping the vessel and mooring chain off the seabed at all stages of the tide. MarineQLD.com.au.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Salthouse Marine, a long established Auckland-based boatbuilder, has gone into receivership with the loss of 50 jobs. Because Salthouse is such an entrenched name in New Zealand boatbuilding an announcement has been made to let customers know that at three other boatbuilding businesses that share the Salthouse name, it is very much "business as usual". Those companies are Salthouse Boatbuilders Ltd, Dean Salthouse Next Generation Boats, and Salthouse Marine Brokers International.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Feb 19 – 21 -- The Melbourne Wooden Boat Festival will be held at the Docklands precinct on Victoria Harbour. More details.

Feb 19 – 26 -- Geographe Bay Race Week held at in Busselton WA is expected to attract around 120 yachts in eight divisions. GBYC.com.au.

Feb 25 – Talk: History of the Royal Navy by Colin Burring, formerly with the Cutty Sark Trust, at the National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney from 6.15pm - 8.00pm. The Royal Navy was created in the 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII. It had its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships. More details.

Feb 25 - 27 -- Variety Splash - Participants will travel a round trip from Docklands’ Melbourne Yacht Club Hotel, with nightly stopovers at Sandringham Yacht Club and Royal Geelong Yacht Club. Variety Splash.org.au.

Mar 6 - 7 -- The fourth Whyte, Just and Moore Lawyers Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong will be held at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. RGYC.com.au.

Mar 6 – 7 -- Rosehill Trailerboat Show, Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney BIA.org.au.

Mar 6 – 7 -- Audi Sydney Regatta, Middle Harbour Yacht Club MHYC.com.au.

Mar 9 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Getting into Cat1 presented by David James at Royal Brighton Yacht Club at 7pm. More details.

Mar 9 – 21 -- Louis Vuitton Trophy series - Ten countries are expected to compete in event-supplied 85-foot long AC Class yachts from the last two America’s Cups. These yachts require a crew of 17 top sailors. Louis Vuitton Trophy.com.

Mar 11 - 8th Phil Renouf Memorial Lecture at the National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney at 6.15pm -8.30pm. Young men mucking about in old boats will be presented by Warwick Turner, one of the founders of the Sydney Heritage Fleet (SHF) who was instrumental in saving and restoring the Lady Hopetoun back in the 1960s. Turner has had a life-long passion and interest in steam vessels and their restoration, in particular the inland paddle-steamers of previous centuries. More details.

Mar 11 - 14 -- Auckland International Boat Show is being held in conjunction with The Louis Vuitton Trophy series to push up attendance at both events.

April 2 - 61st Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race starts. Queensland’s most famous blue water yachting event sets sail in the waters off Brisbane every year on Good Friday. Brisbane to Gladstone.com.au.

April 2 – Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race starts at Beauty Point on the Tamar River just north of Launceston and finishes in Hobart on the River Derwent. Three Peaks.org.au.

April 12 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Sail Repairs at UK Halsey Loft, Beach Road Sandringham. ORCV.org.au.

April 12 – 18 -- Sail Port Stephens - Entries are open for all divisions, including the NSW IRC Championship, Commodores Cup (PHS), SB3 National Championship, Sports Boats and the Port Stephens Trophy which has a racing and cruising division. The feeder races for the event will be RPAYC’s Pittwater to Newcastle on 10 April and NCYC’s Newcastle to Port Stephens race on 11 April. Sail Port Stephens.com.au.

Photograph courtesy of BMW Oracle Racing: Guilain Grenier