Exciting news from Airlie Beach and Sail-World's 2011 report card

TeamVodafoneSailing at top mark  Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week media

We had another giant year. There are lots of facts and figures, but a couple of things really stand out. An astounding 45% increase in page views and a 25% increase in time on site.

The Sail-World audience is commonly spending three-four times longer on Sail-World than the audience is on any other marine site world-wide.

It is interesting to see the audience shifts. Back in 2006 Apple devices, in those days just Macs were 3% of the Sail-World audience, now iPhones, iPads and Macs are used by more than 30% of the Sail-World January 2012 audience.

Spray off the Spinnaker. NSW IRC Championship. Sail Port Stephens 2011  Sail Port Stephens Event Media

As we approach the end of summer, thoughts are turning to the autumn and winter circuit. The Sydney Harbour regatta is coming up fast , we will be writing on that over the weekend and so is Sail Port Stephens. Then looking out to the winter, there is some very exciting news indeed from Airlie Beach Race Week, heading for their 23rd annual regatta.

While big corporate sponsors have come and gone from the Sailing industry in recent years, it's good to see committed marine industry sponsors like Zhik in our sport.

Sydney sailor Pat Langley, Zhik's Sales Manager is an active Etchells sailor. He explained that sponsorship of the two recent Australian Etchells events, the NSW titles and the 2012 Zhik Australian Championship had proven to be good value for all the stakeholders.

He says'Zhik has worked with the world's best Etchells sailors over many years to develop Zhik's keelboat sailing range. Sailors such as John Bertrand and Andrew Palfrey have been extremely hands-on in the product development process and as a result Zhik is now worn by the top Etchells teams around the world.'

We need more sponsors like Zhik in the sport, who understand the younger generation of sailors. Ask the Moth sailors!!

Sail-World will be covering the Etchells World Championship in detail, as you'd expect, so we are looking forward to a great week on the Manly circle.

For Sail-World.com, the largest sailing news network, growth continues Sail-World.com, Sail-World.com is the largest sailing news network in the world, delivering content online via 17 sites world-wide. The Sail-World audience is commonly spending three to four times longer on Sail-World than on any other marine site world-wide.... [more] Share this story

Rabbitohs chase another Giltinan Trophy Frank Quealey, James J. Giltinan was responsible for introducing the sport of Rugby League football into Australia more than 100 years ago, then, as Secretary of the Australian 18 Footers League, introduced the JJ Giltinan Worlds Championship Trophy to 18ft Skiff Racing in 1938.... [more] Share this story

Sail Port Stephens 2012 heading for new record Sail Port Stephens Media, Sail Port Stephens, one of Australia's fastest growing regattas, is now in its sixth year and is ready to set sail from 16 through to 22 April 2012. Entries for Sail Port Stephens have been flooding in and Commodore Dom Grundy and from the organising authority, the Corlette Point Sailing Club, expect between 170 and 190 entries across the nine days of racing.... [more] Share this story

Australian SB3 Championship - Queensland crews challenge local sailors Ian Grant, Glenn Bourke and his Sunshine Coast crew mates Rod Jones and Greg McAllansmith will contest the Australian SB3 Championship on Tasmania's River Derwent this weekend. The trio of Club Marine Blue sailors will need to be at the top of the game to master the class of local Tasmanian helmsman and former World Dragon Class champion Nick Rogers at the tiller of Toll Shipping.... [more] Share this story

Etchells World Championship competitors head for Sydney Tracey Johnstone, The Etchells are on the move to Sydney as they preapre themselves for the start of the Etchells World Championship 2012 with competition getting underway on Monday 20th February. Regatta Director, David Sturrock, said his team of 91 volunteers has commenced the regatta registration process as the crews and their boats arrived by road and water at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron... [more] Share this story

Etchells Australian Championship final day images by Beth Morley Beth Morley images, Etchells Australian Championship final day images from photographer Beth Morley.... [more] Share this story

RORC Caribbean 600 - Hot favourites and first Volvo 70 to compete Trish Jenkins, For the first time, a Volvo Open 70 will be competing in the RORC Caribbean 600. Some might suggest that the canting keel carbon fibre flyer could have been designed for this course. Ernesto Cortina's Gran Jotiti has a highly talented Spanish crew and could well be a contender for line honours and an overall win.... [more] Share this story

Product of the Week: Quick-release line guides for continuous furlers Colligo Marine/Sail-World, Continuous furlers are a wonderful invention, but what if you don't want the sail on the boat all the time? Colligo Marine has introduced a new quick release line guide for continuous drive lines on roller furlers which is a time saving bonanza.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race crews prepare for gale-force Leg 4 start Volvo Ocean Race, Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race is set to get underway on Sunday in Sanya but, gale-force winds and deadly seas are set to make the start the toughest so far in this edition. The race's chief meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said the six Volvo Ocean Race crews would have no choice to but to enter 'survival mode' if man and boat are to escape the early days of the 5,200 nm race to Auckland unharmed.... [more] Share this story

Excitement ahead for 2012 Airlie Beach Race Week Airlie Beach Race Week media, A new record fleet could be on the cards for the 23rd annual Airlie Beach Race Week, which will run from August 10 to 16 2012 and the long awaited move to Port of Airlie could happen for this year's Race Week.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 3 - Two awards to Puma Lisa Ramsperger, Volvo Ocean Race third leg Inmarsat Media Crew Member Award was presented to Amory Ross, MCM for Puma Ocean Racing. The team also won a second consecutive DHL Shore Crew Award. Both awards were presented during the leg three prizegiving ceremony on Thursday, February 16, in Sanya, China.... [more] Share this story

Global Ocean Race - Cessna Citation log iceberg sightings Oliver Dewar, Global Ocean Race - Late on Wednesday night GMT, as Phesheya-Racing crossed the bluQube Scoring Gate in the mid-Pacific, down in the ocean's south-eastern section at 56S and 1,300 miles due west of Cape Horn, the first visual confirmation of icebergs was logged by Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel on the leading GOR Class40, Cessna Citation.... [more] Share this story

RS:X Class test event for equipment evaluation Rory Ramsden, The RS:X Class is pleased to announce their test event, to be held in Cadiz during March 9 to 14, to evaluate possible changes to the current RS:X equipment for the next quadrennial. After consulting ISAF and Neil Pryde and taking due account of the world economic situation, the class has decided to withdraw the lightweight hull from the process and focus on granular testing fins and sails only.... [more] Share this story

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Ocean Sprint started Heather Ewing, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. 'Yesterday afternoon, all the frustrations of light wind sailing faded away as the wind started to gently fill in from the east. As the wind built we then had to change down sails and put reefs in. We thought this was the start of the strong winds that were forecast,' Stuart Jackson onboard De Lange Larden.... [more] Share this story

Brisbane to Noumea Ocean Race 2012 entries now open Clare Murray, Sail Noumea 2012 consists of the Brisbane to Noumea Ocean Race departing on Sunday 3 June and the Brisbane to Noumea Passage Cruise Rally departing Sunday 27 May. Australian entries are now open for the Brisbane to Noumea Ocean Race. Entries for the rally will open on Monday 20 February.... [more] Share this story

Adelaide to Lincoln Yacht Race - Return of Secret Men's Business 3.5 Bob Ross, Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race starts off Port Adelaide on Friday 17th February. Geoff Boettcher's 2010 Rolex Sydney-Hobart race-winning team returns to serious offshore racing with Secret Men's Business 3.5 in the Lexus Adelaide to Lincoln race. Boettcher, from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, refreshed after a lay-off through the summer season, is back in 'business'... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Telefónica change mast Volvo Ocean Race, Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 fourth leg to Auckland kicks off on Sunday. Team Telefónica have withdrawn from Thursday's practice race after deciding to swap out their rigging before the start of leg four as a precaution.... [more] Share this story

Women's Olympic Skiff Trials: New FX put through paces + Video Richard Gladwell, One of the trialists for the new Olympic Womens Skiff event has been put through its paces by several of crews off Takapuna over the past few weeks. The Mackay FX is a response to the need for a high performance skiff, offering low entry cost, and taking womens sailing to a new level.... [more] Share this story

Etchells World Championship - Nautica new time sponsor for 2012 Worlds Natalee Hubbard, Nautica Watches is pleased to have signed on as the official time sponsor for the 2012 International Etchells World Championship. Etchells class sailing is the most competitive one-design sail boat racing in the world. It attracts the best-of-the-best sailors at both a professional and amateur level including America's Cup, maxi boat and Olympic sailors.... [more] Share this story

Queenslanders ‘GEN XY' - Ones to watch at Etchells Worlds Erin McKnight, GEN XY (AUS 864) helmed by Matthew Chew may just be the boat to beat at the impending Etchells World Championship being staged in Sydney next week. Representing Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, the GEN XY team placed a credible sixth overall in the Australian Championship which concluded on Tuesday, proving to the more experienced Etchells ‘old boys' that they can mix it with the best of them.... [more] Share this story

Register now for NSW Laser Training - Places available this weekend Laura Baldwin, The first in a series of NSW Laser Class Training took place on Saturday 4 February at Woollahra Sailing Club.... [more] Share this story

Bugg launches his new 2.4mR class yacht Peter Campbell, Matt Bugg from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, has courageously fought back from a snowboarding accident in Europe to become one of the top ten sailors in the world. This week he launched a new International 2.4mR class yacht and is planning to defend his Australian Open Championship in Canberra at the weekend.... [more] Share this story

18ft Skiffs: JJ Giltinan 2012 - A postcard Video from Sydney Bob Killick, A postcard video from Sydney which points to the Winning Appliances JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff International 17th - 26th February 2012.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Kevin Shoebridge looks ahead to the needs of the AC72 Sail-World, Emirates Team New Zealand chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge outlines how the team are going about planning, discussing and organising the logistics of housing the AC72 catamaran, which will launch in July 2012. The world's most successful sailing team will set up facilities for the AC72 in Auckland and San Francisco... [more] Share this story

Yachting Australia issues statement on Perth - Ainslie incident Craig Heydon, Yachting Australia agrees any action on Ben Ainslie's incident that occurred at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships is a matter for ISAF.... [more] Share this story

Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race - Competition strengthens Michael Tozer, Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race - Tomorrow will see a bigger and more diverse fleet set sail for the start of a promising race. With more interstate and local boats competing this year, it is sure to be a challenge for the competitors.... [more] Share this story

Doyle Sails' success at Etchells Pre-Worlds Guy Waddilove, Doyle Sails continues to enjoy considerable success in the Etchells fleet with David Clark and team taking first place at the Zhik International Australian Nationals this week, and second place going to Jud Smith and team. Both were using Doyle One-Design Etchell sails.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Lighter and faster in a tough new era Volvo Ocean Race, Volvo Ocean Race veteran Tony Rae, Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand crewmember, has experience with the race that dates back more than a quarter-century. Rae now salutes the tough new era of sailing where sailing teams and shore crews have become so professional that just one mistake can decide everything.... [more] Share this story

Roots of Olympic Sailing Competition firmly planted in 1912 ISAF, In retracing the roots of Olympic Sailing Competition, we reach back to when Nynäshamn, Sweden was selected above Gothenburg to host the 1912 Olympic Sailing Competition due to its proximity to Stockholm and its vantage points that allowed racing to be viewed from the land.... [more] Share this story

Predictwind announces iPhone and Android app - Wind in your pocket! Sail-World and PredictWind, PredictWind have announced an iPhone and Android app which takes the use possibilities to a new level and you can now literally have a weather forecast in your pocket. Sail-World has been using this app for some months and Predictwind is probably the most used app on our iPhone. You can check the weather anywhere in the world and get a five day forecast, plus a variety of other features... [more] Share this story

America's Cup Uncovered: Episode 25 - Challenger Turned Defender ACM, This week we get an Australian perspective on the 25th anniversary of the 26th America's Cup. Australia was only the third nation ever to challenge for the America's Cup when they took on New York Yacht Club in 1962. On their seventh attempt, Australia achieved the unthinkable. The historic win meant the America's Cup was leaving the USA for the first time in 132 years... [more] Share this story

Etchells Pre-Worlds - Australian title to Fifteen Tracey Johnstone, Zhik International Etchells Australian Championship 2012. The NSW team of David Clark, Andrew Smith and Alan Smith have won the Championship ahead of an enormously talented field of Australian and international competitors. Clark and his team had only a three point advantage going into the final day of racing today ahead of Etchells World Champion, USA skipper Jud Smith.... [more] Share this story

If you liked this newsletter, do nothing, we will send you another ..
 Naa, please don't send me another.