Weekly Sailing Summary

Nerone wins Rolex Trophy OD, Two True's mast breaks, Souter keeps top ranking, Sail Down Under moves to Melbourne

KEEL BOATS

In the lead up to the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds, reigning World and European champion Nerone (ITA) won six of eight races, taking out the Rolex Trophy One Design Series off Sydney. There was no doubt that Massimo Mezzaroma and Antonio Sodo Migliori’s boat was the one to beat, but nobody, including themselves, expected a 25 point victory over nearest competitor, Brett Neill with White Cloud from New Zealand. www.cyca.com.au

Last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart overall winner Andrew Saies’ Beneteau First 40 Two True suffered a mast breakage during the delivery from South Australia to Sydney for the start of this year’s race. However, Howard Piggott has generously offered the mast from his First 40, Flying Cloud, so that Two True has a chance at making the start line on December 26. www.cyca.com.au

The Derwent Sailing Squadron has included a Cruiser/Racer Yachts division and a Tall Ships division in the Jeanneau King of the Derwent, to be sailed on Sunday, 2 January 2011. www.dssinc.org.au

The Royal Geelong Yacht Club invite Etchells sailors to compete in the Rex Gorell Prestige Etchells Australian Championship 2011 on Saturday 8 January to Saturday 15 January. http://www.rgyc.com.au/

The 2010 Phuket Kings Cup attracted 107 yachts representing 16 nations across the ten classes. Australians, Ray Roberts on Evolution Racing won the Racing division and Matt Allen on Ichi Ban won IRC 1 division. www.kingscup.com/

MATCH RACING

The new ISAF Match Racing World Champion and 2010 World Match Race Tour winner Ben Ainslie (GBR) claimed the top position in the open rankings for the first time in his career. Nicky Souter (AUS) maintains her position at the top of the women's rankings. www.sailing.org

OFF THE BEACH & OLYMPIC CLASSES

Australian Sailing Team crews won four medals on the final day of Sail Sydney. Tom Slingsby won Gold in the Laser class while Jessica Crisp and Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen won Silver in the RS:X and 49er classes respectively. Krystal Weir fought back to win Bronze in the Laser Radials. www.yachting.org.au

The Australian Sailing Team now head south for the final round of the Sail Down Under Series and the opening round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, Sail Melbourne. Racing begins in Melbourne on Monday 13 December and runs through to Saturday 18 December. www.sailmelbourne.com.au

18 FOOTERS

Rookie 18ft Skiff skipper Jack Macartney and his Rag & Famish Hotel crew mates Tom Clout and Drewe Waller continued to impress when they recorded a 1m47s victory in the Syd. Barnett Memorial Trophy race on Sydney Harbour. There will be no racing over the Christmas-new year period. The first race of the Australian Championship will be held on Sunday, 9 January. www.18footers.com.au

AMERICA’S CUP

Aleph-Équipe de France with co-leaders Bertrand Pacé and Alain Gautier is the fifth entry for the 34th America’s Cup in 2013. www.americascup.com

AROUND THE WORLD

The Velux 5 Oceans’ second sprint from Cape Town to Wellington New Zealand was postponed due to strong winds and big swells off Cape Town. Race Director David Adams said it would be irresponsible to send skippers into a known storm. www.velux5oceans.com

TRAINING

The Great Barrier Reef International Marine College will provide an extensive range of marine courses in a purpose-built facility in Cairns. It will also incorporate a school-based trade centre, offering specialised secondary schooling for youth looking to enter the marine industry. The first intake of students will be in February 2011. Website coming soon at www.gbrimc.com.au

NEWS BRIEFS

Sydney’s busy schedule of summer aquatic events is underway and this coincides with the release of the 28-page full-colour Sydney’s Summer Aquatic Events 2010-2011 – A Boating Guide which is distributed free of charge by the State’s boating safety authority, NSW Maritime, to promote safe and responsible boating. www.maritime.nsw.gov.au

The 2010 Queensland Marine Industry Annual Report has been completed. Queensland Transport recorded a total of 234,521 registered recreational marine vessels by September 2010 -- an increase of 0.5 per cent from the same time in 2009. The average size for registered recreational vessels in Queensland continues to be between 4.01 and 4.5m and 95 per cent of recreational vessels registered in Queensland are eight meters or less in length. www.marineqld.com.au

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Dec 26 -- Rolex Sydney Hobart starts on Sydney Harbour at 1.00pm on Boxing Day. Charter boats of all shapes and sizes and a variety of costs are available to watch the start of this iconic event. http://rolexsydneyhobart.com

Dec 31 -- New Year’s Eve. Spectacular fireworks are fired off the Sydney Harbour Bridge, barges, and city skyscrapers at 9pm and midnight. Charter vessels participate in a themed parade following the 9pm fireworks. A special area is set aside for charter vessels in the Harbour. www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nye/

2011

Jan 2 -- Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Offshore Race hosted by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au

Jan 20-26 -- Audi Victoria Week is the largest sailing regatta in Australia with over 450 yachts racing in various classes. Plenty of shoreside activities are available for friends and family who are not competing. www.victoriaweek.com

Jan 26 -- Australia Day. Events on Sydney Harbour include a Ferrython, Awesome Forces displays, best dressed vessels competition, tall ships race, 174th Australia Day Regatta, Sydney Ports Jazz on the Water Concert. For details see www.australiaday.com.au

Feb 4-6 -- Melbourne International Boat & Lifestyle Festival, Docklands. www.miblf.com.au

Feb 11-14 -- Australian Wooden boat Festival www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au

Feb 16-Mar 20 -- Van Dieman’s Land Circumnavigation Cruise. www.ryct.org.au

Photograph: Nerone crew sets up for a kite courtesy of Andrea Francolini, afrancolini.com

Weekly Sailing Summary

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