Weekly Sailing Summary

Summary for w/b - 25 Apr, 2006 12pm

Treharne will skipper Les Galbraith's Killala in the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club's National Gaffers Day, a biennial event that this year has attracted more than 60 gaff-rigged vessels 'that hoist a spar' and classic Bermudan rigged yachts.

KEEL BOATS
Nick Cassim, a member of the Cruising Yacht Club for 46 years, won the club's Great Veterans Race with Lolita, a classic wooden yacht he has owned for 44 years. In the Ladies Day Race, Brindabella, George Snow's now retired ocean racer, sailed through the fleet with Andrea Trevealen on the helm to get the gun. The BMW Sydney Winter Series gets under way Sunday April 30.

The Sydney 38 One Design Class Two Up regatta, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - Conditions were excellent for the short course event that traditionally wraps up the season for the Class. This year organisers tried to give some of the middle fleet boats a helping hand by ensuring that the top boats didn't carry any pro's.

Torquil won the two handed SECUMAR Sydney to Botany Bay race by three seconds on corrected time, from Likalizard, with This Way Up third.

Quantum Sails have confirmed their sponsorship of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club Winter Series which is held on Saturdays from April 29 - July 22.

Sandringham Yacht Club's Summer Aggregate has been decided after the final two races last weekend. The 12-race series runs across the Summer season and includes SYC's major trophy races.

ISAF Nations Cup in Oceania - Royal New Zealand's team of Simon Dickey, Dallas Bennett and Adam Minoprio took out the regional finals defeating the Australian team, of Seve Jarvin, Robert Bell and Sam Newton, from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

2006 President's Cup, Subic Bay, Philippines - The Russians were a bit cheeky! Skipper Mikhailov Ahexey helmed his Farr 43 Carrera wearing nothing but a tight G-string.

Neville Crichton and Alfa Romeo took four race wins out of five races in their first European regatta, the Hublot PalmaVela in Spain.

The World Match Racing Tour has adjusted its 2005-06 schedule after organizers of the GKSS Match Cup (formerly Swedish Match Cup) were forced to cancel their event due to funding difficulties.

MULTIHULLS
Phil Amos and his weary crew are on their way back across Bass Strait after successfully completing the The Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race. In gale force conditions which saw only nine boats finish from 16 entries, the Seawind 1000 Alize powered on through to be awarded both the Tilman Trophy and Director's Cup.

Asian Record Circuit - The B&Q trimaran, skippered by Ellen MacArthur, completed Leg Six from Taipei to Hong Kong, taking eight hours to cover the final 25 miles.

See also
  - Off the Beach & Olympic Classes - 2006 SOF Hyeres Regatta - Tornados

OFF THE BEACH & OLYMPIC CLASSES
2006 SOF Hyeres Regatta, France. The first of the three Grade One European Olympic class regattas has commenced. On the second day there was no rest for the six racing committees who made the most of the perfect conditions to complete 46 races.

 - Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby AUS sail consistently to extend their overall lead in the Tornado class. Other Aussie sailors doing well are Tom Slingsby, leading the Lasers after four races, and Matthew Belcher and Nick Behrens fourth in the 470s after five races and a discard.

Woollahra Sailing Club Laser Frostbite Series and Winter Series starts May 6. WSC has moved all winter racing to Saturdays to avoid the BMW Sydney Winter Series. Win a trade in on a new Laser or new sails.

40th Combined High School Championships, Lake Macquarie. First place in the first division is the 505, sailed by W Ryan, from St Ignatius College.

Sailors from Gladstone to Cairns converged on Airlie Beach to participate in the 2006 Suncorp North Queensland Games Regatta, hosted by Whitsunday Sailing Club, over the Easter weekend.

Australian Flying Dutchman sailors finish strong despite breakages at World Titles in Florida.

CRUISING
Perini Navi announces the launch of the world's largest private sailing yacht. Maltese Falcon is an 88m (289ft) three-masted clipper that has three carbon fibre rotating masts. Each mast carries five separate square sails. Advanced sail handling systems allow the boat to be handled by just one person.

The Far Harbour 39, a 39-foot motorsailer designed for a cruising couple, will fit into a standard shipping container so the boat can be transported economically to cruising destinations around the world. The cost of shipping a container is a fraction of the cost of shipping a yacht of a similar size. The routes for shipping yachts are also limited to certain ports and the schedules are rigid, but containers can be shipped at any time, anywhere in the world.

The inaugural Seawind Rally will be held June 10 - 17 in the Whitsundays Islands.

AROUND THE WORLD
Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race - Time zones continue to tick away as the fleet approaches the International Date Line, which some boats should reach sometime tomorrow. They will experience the same day twice, as the time onboard goes from GMT+11 to GMT-11. One has to feel rather sorry for the mother watch who will get to do their duty for two days running, although given the present cold and wet conditions on deck the galley may seem like the best place to be…

Solo yachtswoman Dee Caffari is lining herself up for a good crossing through the doldrums in her attempt to become the first woman to sail single handed non stop westabout round the world.

Volvo Ocean Race - After the three podium places for leg five were taken by ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson), movistar (Bouwe Bekking) and Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard), the final three boats finished in quick succession. Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) held off Ericsson Racing Team (John Kostecki) to take fourth place by a whisker, finishing 12 minutes ahead of the Swedish boat, while ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) finished just under an hour later.

 - Wharington's Brunel has arrived in Baltimore. The canard has gone, the shrouds have been brought inboard and the orange house-brick beneath the hull has been replaced with a sleek racing bulb.

TRAINING
Winter is a great time to learn sailing theory and to complete a course before the next summer season. Too busy for a classroom? Then try LEARN to SAIL by MAIL, delivering correspondence courses since 1993 for Inshore Skipper, Navigation and Weather. Visit www.learntosailbymail.com or contact jim.orrell@bigpond.com

Pelagic Offshore Gear, based in South Australia, debuts at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show with a range of high-performance offshore apparel. Designed for the fashion conscious boater, Pelagic manufactures a range of clothing constructed from lightweight, quick-dry or waterproof materials. The range includes shorts, shirts, jackets, caps and visors suited to the marine environment.

Oceanic Whitsunday Boat & Leisure Shows 'Art Show' - The prize purse has increased to $10,000, with the new category of 'Art Form Any Medium'. Entries are restricted to artists living within a 600km radius of Airlie Beach Post Office.

MARINE INDUSTRY
Position Vacant - Latest free listing on Boating OZ
  - Boat Salesperson/Yacht Broker in Mackay, Queensland.

The Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show from May 18 - 21 will have a record exhibitor line up. The Show currently has 416 exhibitors, surpassing the 2004 record of 403.

The Marina Association of Australia ran a successful Intermediate Marina Managers Course in late March in Sydney, with a total of 22 students from New Zealand and all mainland states in Australia.

Australian-based Marten Yachts appoints Jason Rowed to undertake the role as sales manager for the brand, as well as facilitating direct sales in the Asia-Pacific region.

May 6 - 7 -- Bulbeck Triple 0 & Community Sailing Day - Westpac Rescue Helicopter Lake Macquarie support group offer an opportunity for people to try boating. Any member of the community or  triple 0 response person is invited to come to RMYC Toronto and for a minimum $10 donation receive a champagne and orange juice, cooked breakfast from 9am and at 11am join as crew on the sailing yachts and motor cruisers for some fun.

Photo: Seven Ranger class gaff-rigged sloops will be competing in the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club's National Gaffers Day Saturday, 29 April, including the original Ranger, launched in 1933. By Peter Campbell

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