5. Jan 25 - The Inaugural Commonwealth Sailing Championships, sailed of Sandringham Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay has been judged a great success. Officials and competitors are pleased with this event’s launch and praise Sail Melbourne’s endeavors to have our sport included in the Commonwealth Games. By Di Pearson.

8. Also look out for details of the new boat and race track for the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 which are to be revealed in Auckland, New Zealand, on February 10th at 7pm.

9. John Reed, Secretary of the World Speed Sailing Record Council is awarding Performance Certificates when a new route without a "benchmark" time is recognized as a world record course. A Performance Certificate may also be awarded for an outstanding achievement that does not necessarily break an existing world record which includes Datuk Azhar Mansor's Round the World, assisted, (Stops) eastabout, single handed Langkawi to Langkawi 21760 nm sail on Jalur Gemilang in 190 d 6 h 57 m 2 s he set in 1999 is now up on their web pages at: www.sailspeedrecords.com You access it via the "Major Current Records" button or review the AsianYachting archived story at: http://asianyachting.com/Archive/azhar.htm

10. CRUISERS Tales
Jan 23 - Phuket to Sri Lanka - Ripped sails, dead bodies, depth charges.. and watching cricket at gunpoint. Sailing hitchhiker, Simon Horrocks, has arrived in Sri Lanka after an awesome sail in 15-20 knot winds just aft of the beam.

America's Cup Quotes

Russell Coutts' Swiss syndicate Alinghi line up against Team New Zealand for the America's Cup in the best-of-nine series starting on February 15. But unlike the challenger series, which had wind limits and nineteen of the 55 race days were abandoned because the wind averaged below 7 or over 19 knots for a five-minute period this America's Cup match up (boots and all) has no such restrictions. It will be up to the principal race officer, Harold Bennett, to make the call whether to start or quit racing for the safety of the boats and crews.

2. What with all the fuss about the Kiwi Hula or appendage attached to the defenders hull, Daniel Forster has several excellent photos on his website. Make your own judgement on how it increases boat speed and what it exactly achieves. I am still a bit bewildered at what it does or how it increases waterline length and why not just make the hull that shape in the first place!

3. "There's been a lot of talk about all the technical things, but I think eventually it always comes down to a yacht race. You have to start, you have to go the right way and you have to sail fast. That doesn't change." Francesco de Angelis, 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup winner.

3. The full text of Russell Coutts statement on "How he was forced to leave Team New Zealand"! is virtually on every America's Cup website in the world today. Read the first release and keep up to date with the news from his Swiss Alinghi challenger syndicate.

4. Swiss sailing billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli
"I think the defining moment is coming. What happens in the next three to four weeks is going to define what this sport is all about and I think everyone has a role to play in what we can make out of the America's Cup. "The next three weeks will tell us a lot about what all of us think about sailing, and what all of us want to do about this sport." - Helen Tunnah and Ainsley Thompson, NZ Herald.

5. Although some of the worlds top sailing teams have been and gone they have turned the America's Cup 2002/03 into a grand spectacle of hi-tech monohull yacht racing for the world to see. But as I stated last year at the beginning of the LV series that "As the Kiwi's are the holders of the deed and the ACup they will have 50% chance of retaining the auld mug". Legal fees totaling millions of $$ has been spent interpreting the deed and allot of speculation has gone on relating to some changes expected before the next edition possibly in Europe begins. The Kiwi's have always maintained that "It gives everyone a chance" and there is nothing wrong with the way it currently is. "They won it; now you come and get it".

6. For more on the 37-year-old Swiss sailing billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli's zest for life and his stunning ex-Miss UK blonde wife Kirsty's magnificent lifestyle with a interesting round-up of what it's taken to earn him and Alinghi the right to challenge Team New Zealand in a final series of match races for the America's Cup.

International News

Just in: CLIPPER 2002 BRISTOL LIFTS THE KO OLINA CUP
Richard Butler took Bristol Clipper over the finishing line at 07:41 GMT on Friday 31 January (21:41 on 30 Jan Hawaiian time), to win the Ko Olina Cup for Race 5 of Around the World Clipper 2002 race. This is the first victory for Bristol Clipper, defending champions of the 2000 race title.
Finishing Positions - Yacht - Finished
1. Bristol, 07:41 GMT 31/01/03
2. Liverpool, 10:13 GMT 31/01/03
3. Jersey, 10:25 GMT 31/01/03
More at www.clipper-ventures.com

2. The prestigious Australian Etchells champions trophy will spend the next 12 months in John Bertrand’s trophy room after he skillfully helmed the Victorian sloop Two Saints & A Magpie to victory in the last windy race in Mooloolaba. Defending champions Noel Drennan with Yo!'s Peter Ahern and Graham Taylor as crew had to settle for 2nd place overall after leading by 2 points coming into the last race, only to finish 5th leaving the door open for Bertrand to snatch victory. Julian Plante salvaged the bronze medal on count back after he and Jamie McWilliam finished with identical 25 point scores.

3. Victor Kovalenko, the AYF and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Head Coach and formerly Singapore's dismissed National coach became a Australian citizen at the Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne. Victor arrived in Australia in October 1997 from the Ukraine to coach the 470 Men's and Women's Olympic classes. Australia won Gold in both 470 events at the 2000 Olympic Games.

4. The crack crew on board the new generation trimaran Nicator crossed the finishing line in Guanabara Bay to take line honours in the SAP Cape to Rio 2003 ocean race. The trimaran skippered by Klabbe Nylöf, crossed the finishing line to set an elapsed time of 12 d 23 h 47 m and 54 s. While this performance smashed the multi-hull record by almost six days, it surprisingly is about 10 hrs slower than the monohull race record set by Zephyrus IV in 2000.

The German maxi Morning Glory, skippered by Dr Hasso Plattner took mono-hull class line honours on the SAP Cape to Rio 2003 ocean race late Monday evening when she crossed the line on Jan 27th at 21.31 GMT (23h31 SA time) to become the first mono-hull to finish the race. View Morning Glory arrival in Rio Gallery

Aussie HELSAL II - Mid South Atlantic UPDATE - and a possible 2nd place on handicap. We've had the sail repair and sewing machine out again on the Masthead Reacher, not as severe as the damage on Day 13, but it is not in good nick so we are now only using it very conservatively. Onboard here Australia Day is celebrated with much patriotic fervor. The Aussie flag appears and our unofficial national anthem Men at Works From a Land Down Under fills the air and one crew member dons Alan Bonds famous Boxing Kangaroo flag as a shoulder cape.

World Speed Records

1. Jan 20 - Sailing a Contessa 32 the 16 year old Seb Clover from the Isle of Wight becomes the youngest solo yachtsman to cross the Atlantic. His father and sailing sensei beat him after staging a 2 boat race from Tenerife to Antigua. WSSRC has consequently warned parents of the dangers and responsibilities they face and not be in a hurry to list Youngest Records with out receiving proper sail training and seamanship experience prior to departure. 

JULES VERNE TROPHY
1. Frenchman Olivier de Kersauson and his crew on the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran Geronimo crossed the Cape of Good Hope (Africa) parallel in a record 16 d 14 h 35 m 26 s since departing on their Jules Verne attempt and will be in the Southern Ocean for the next few weeks. That is 2 d 4 h 4 m 34 s or nearly a thousand nautical miles ahead of the present record holders time set by Bruno Peyron and his crew on Orange last year.

2. KINGFISHER 2 crossed start line at 0648GMT 30.01.03. Theoretical Distance to go: 24,712 nm. Maximums so far: 37.1 knots of boatspeed, 48 knots of wind. As Ellen MacArthur and the 13 crew on  (Ex Orange) slipped the mooring lines and left their base in Lorient to sail to the Jules Verne start line off of the island of Ushant (north western tip of France) to begin a assault on the non-stop round the world record they had to make a un-scheduled call on fellow Jules Verne competitor in Plymouth and Project Director of Maiden II (Ex Club Med and The Race 2001 winner) Tracy Edwards who was only to happy to oblige and help with replacing the damaged mast track section. They then pointed the nose out towards the start line and have departed on their first attempt to capture the Jules Verne Trophy.

While the 22-tonne Kingfisher 2 may be powered by the traditional forces of the wind on its 39.5 meter mast and sails it is also a slick, hi-tech vessel that has been specially modified for the record attempt. The crew will have access to the latest satellite navigation system and the boat is fitted with eight cameras and six microphones to help communication. Sailing fans will be able to follow its every move and hear from the crew via the internet.

As Ellen and Kingfisher 2 waited for the wind that could lead it into the record books, MacArthur said: "We are watching Kersauson every day and watching his speed. He's had a good trip so far and they have a good average speed. We just hope to go out there and do our best and hope we finish in record time."

In his capacity as chairman of the "Round the World in 80 days" association, Olivier de Kersauson sent the following message to Ellen MacArthur and her crew: "Welcome to the wonderful world of the Jules Verne Trophy. Good luck and good winds to all of you! With Very Best Wishes". So does the AY Team 

3. Welcome then to the aptly-named Roaring Forties, Howling Fifties and Screaming Sixties. Even in the best case scenario, Olivier de Kersauson and his crew face at least three weeks of confronting the elemental fury of the Southern Ocean. The uniformly gray sky is filled with wispy cloud that betrays a change of weather system and climate. It’s now time to brave the stormy world of the Southern Ocean.

Here, the wind and sea never stops moving, the heavy swells follow one after the other at up to twenty knots. In this part of the world, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current swirls eastwards like a giant endless ring connecting the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. There are no continental masses to slow the weather systems down here. The dominant westerly winds are strengthened even further by huge depressions that regularly arise in these latitudes and have a enormous effect on such an immense area of water. Average wind speeds here are 50 to 60 knots, gusting up to 80 or 90. Waves breaking at 10 or even 20 meters are commonplace, and can reach 35 meters when high winds add to the swell.

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Kindest Regards
Capt Marty Rijkuris

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