Weekly Sailing Summary

AROUND THE WORLD

Sixteen year old Abby Sunderland was rescued after her yacht Wild Eyes was dismasted in a storm in the central southern Indian Ocean. Her distress beacons were detected in position 40 48 South 74 58 East, approximately 2033 nautical miles west south west from Perth. A 'spotter' Airbus from Perth located the boat and she was transferred by dinghy to a French fishing vessel. Abby set out from California to sail solo, unassisted around the world but was forced to stop for assistance. She then decided to continue her circumnavigation regardless of records. The French fishing boat is heading for Kerguelen Island where she will be transferred to another boat which will take ten days to reach an island near Madagascar. From there she will eventually make it home. Check out AbbySunderland.com and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA.gov.au) for more details.

In a tense finale to Race 11 from New York, Cape Breton Island narrowly missed out on becoming the first team in Clipper 09-10 to win the race to their home port, but did secure a podium place finish, taking third place after a nail biting tacking match with Hull & Humber and Spirit of Australia. ClipperRoundTheWorld.com.

MATCH RACING

Teenage sailor Elliott Noye and his crew of Mathew Himson (21) and Edward Snowball (19) from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania outsailed two of Tasmania's most experienced yachting teams to win the finals of the Tasmanian match racing championship. The win gives them the opportunity to represent Tasmania in the Australian Match Racing Championship which the RYCT will host on the River Derwent in late November. RYCT.org.au.

Korea Match Cup, Stage 3 in the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) was won by Mathieu Richard (FRA) and the French Match Racing Team after defeating double World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) and Team GAC Pindar in the final. Australians Torvar Mirsky and Peter Gilmour placed fourth and fifth. WMRT.com.

KEEL BOATS

For weeks on end competitors had to deal with extremely light and patchy airs in the Audi Winter Series on Sydney Harbour. Then last week gusty winds that peaked at 22 knots hit the race area. It was very different again this week with a perfect day for sailing. CYCA.com.au.

New Zealander Alastair Gair (Valsheda) with crew Stuart McKinven, David Ridley and Derek Scott won the Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship 2010 which had a fleet of 52. The event has been held for14 years in Mooloolaba and it has had 14 different winning skippers!
Mooloolaba.yachting.org.au.

OLYMPIC CLASSES

The Australian Sailing Team's Tom Slingsby staged a dramatic last race fight back to claim the bronze medal at the 2010 Laser European Championship in Estonia. Slingsby entered the final day outside the medals in fourth position, and after the opening race he finished 25th and slipped to eighth overall, but with a win in the last race he jumped up to third place. Yachting.org.au.

AROUND AUSTRALIA

Ian Thomson is hoping to make it home to Airlie Beach sometime late on 16 June after circumnavigating Australia in the fastest time. He recently stopped in Sydney Harbour to repair the power system. When he crossed into Queensland a mate on a boat delivered a pizza, a hamburger and the paper to him from the Gold Coast. 'The record for unassisted is over so I may as well take some luxuries when I can,' said Ian. SOS Ocean Racing.com.

Jamie Dunross has arrived in Cairns in his attempt to be the first quadriplegic to sail solo around Australia. He will prepare his boat Spirit for the next leg, before heading off again on 18 June, weather permitting, to sail to Darwin without stopping. Solo1.com.au.

EXPEDITIONS

The Talisker Bounty Boat crew of Don McIntyre, Dave Pryce, David Wilkinson and Chris Wilde are due to arrive in Kupang, West Timor, on 15 June, completing the first re-enactment of Lieutenant William Bligh's 4,000 mile open boat voyage following the 'Mutiny on the Bounty.' The seven week expedition aboard a 25ft long, 7ft wide, open wooden vessel followed the original journey across the Pacific from Tonga to Timor. TaliskerBountyoat.com

SAFETY

A recent incident involving five people who had to swim to shore when their runabout got into trouble near the entrance to Botany Bay illustrates the need for boaters to be extra cautious at this time of the year due to the risk of hypothermia in the event of falling into cold water. Fortunately, all five were all right, but it could have been much worse. Immersion in cold water causes the body to lose heat up to 25 times faster than normal and alcohol lowers the body temperature by two to three degrees. Maritime.nsw.gov.au.

IN BRIEF

Boaters looking for boat ramps, water-side fuel outlets, and other boating services anywhere in NSW will now be able to locate them with the NSW Maritime online locator. Maritime.nsw.gov.au/locator.html.

If you own a boat and now want an island, Turtle Island is on the market for 'expressions of interest'. The 23.25 acre island is located at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, a 15 minute boat trip from the deep water harbour and marina of Gladstone

Last whale migration season six animals were entangled in Queensland shark nets. All were successfully released by the State Government's Marine Animal Release Team. A number of new acoustic alarms or pinger prototypes will be fitted to Gold Coast shark nets to test their durability. The new pingers make a longer and louder noise, specially aimed at alerting whales to the location of shark nets. MarineQld.com.au.

The public can now nominate a person or group who has made a "significant and sustained" contribution to boating and the marine environment in NSW for a 2010 NSW Maritime Medal. Maritime.nsw.gov.au.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

July 1 - 5 -- Melbourne Boat Show, Melbourne Exhibition Centre. MelbourneBoatShow.com.au.

July 6 - Aug 17 -- CYCA Medical Management for Mariners course - St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney aims to teach those who go to sea in small craft, especially yachts, how to deal with a medical emergency should it arise when professional medical assistance may be hours or even days away.
The course consists of seven three-hour nights at the hospital followed by a three hour practical session taught by Helicopter Rescue Paramedics on board a yacht at the CYCA.  During the course, participants are shown how to treat and stabilise a patient and prepare and package the injured person for rescue. All welcome. CYCA.com.au.

July 4 - Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V) ORCV.org.au.

July 15 - 18 -- Adelaide Boat Show, Adelaide Convention Centre. AdelaideBoatShow.com.au.

July 24 - Sail Indonesia Yacht Rally departs from Darwin. Sail Indonesia.net.

July 29 - Aug 2 -- 2010 Sydney International Boat Show, Darling Harbour. SydneyBoatShow.com.au.

July 31 - Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race. CYCA.com.au.

Aug 6 - Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race. BrisbaneToKeppel.com.

Aug 7 - Hervey Bay Whale Festival. HerveyBayWhaleFestival.com.au.

Aug 12 - 19 -- Airlie Beach Race Week, Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina AirlieBeachRaceWeek.com.au.

Aug 20 - 28 -- Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - One of Australia's most popular sailing festivals. Race week blends world class yacht racing for Australian and overseas competitors with spectacular off-water events. HamiltonIslandRaceWeek.com.au.

Photograph: Abby Sunderland rescue courtesy of Grant Pipe FESA SES - Australian Maritime Safety Authority