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A News Edition to welcome 2010

The joy of solo sailing - a Famous Five spend the New Year sailing solo  .

Of all the news stories that Sail-World Cruising brought to you in 2009, there are some people, organisations and even a dog, who stand out as inspiring cruising sailors, and so below we bring you our Top Ten Sailing Heroes for 2009.

However, as we approach the second decade of the the 21st Century, many challenges await, many of them concerning the oceans that we sail in. This week read about the Oceans Day at Copenhagen and what it demonstrated; also how some giant clams in New Guinea are helping prove to climate sceptics that El Nino years are now more frequent; but the most alarming news of all this week comes from a new venture by ocean scientists into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (the island of garbage the size of France or Texas which is caught in the North Pacific Gyre).

Again there are a broad collection of stories to appeal to a wide range of sailing interests – among them are Larry Janke's Part 5 of his vital series on Knowing your Batteries, this week talking about monitoring and maintenance, Tom Lochhaas's salient advice about the value of bilge alarms, and at the other end of the spectrum, the World's Ten Best Sailors' Bars have been declared by Scuttlebutt Europe – with some surprises!

When you are welcoming in 2010 in whichever way you choose to celebrate, do spare a thought for the many solo sailors who, by choice, are out there on the ocean. We profile five of the most famous as a prelude to a new year of sailing.

Many other stories too, so browse through to see what interests you...

From all at Sail-World Cruising we wish you a Happy New Year, and may all your sailing dreams for 2010 be fulfilled!

Nancy Knudsen, Editor

Sail-World Cruising's Top Ten Heroes for 2009 Nancy Knudsen, The ocean has long demanded heroic actions by some of those who venture to sail on her. However, heroism is a funny thing - one person's hero is another person's lunatic. From all the news Sail-World brought you in 2009, here are the Top Ten Heroes for 2009:... [more] Onsend this story

Solo at sea for New Year's Eve - Who's Who Sail-World Cruising, Along with the hundreds of cruising sailors who will spend New Year's Eve on their sailing boats, and welcome in 2010 either at anchor or making passage, there are a number of solo sailors, far from land, doing their thing the way they know best.... [more] Onsend this story

Cometh the wind, cometh the ocean, Geoff Holt writes Geoff Holt, I was awoken from one of my brief cat naps with a start., 0400 GMT and still pitch black, Digby was awake drinking a cup of coffee. The air had suddenly gone cooler by some 4 degrees, the boat's motion had become much more eratic and I could hear the boat's acceleration through the water and the increased clattering of the rigging on deck - WIND... [more] Onsend this story

A simple solo sail - a near death experience Des Ryan, Tony Lister went for a simple solo sail and had to be rescued. It could have been different, but Tony survived, and his story is interesting for the reasons that he survived. Lister was sailing opposite the river mouth of his home port when he stepped on deck to rig a spinnaker. The choppy seas beneath him shunted the boat, bucking him off the deck and into the water.... [more] Onsend this story

Enter NOW to win a $1,000 PredictWind Professional subscription Richard Gladwell, Ten Sail-World readers will win a PredictWind Professional forecasting package for one year, valued at almost $1,000 per subscription. Enter NOW!! This Professional Package includes access to a unique set of tools allowing the user to predict weather conditions for use in club racing, major series or peace of mind while cruising... [more] Onsend this story

Ancient giant clams issue El Niño warning ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, A 35-year window into the climate of one of the longest interglacial periods of the last million years has sounded a warning that El Niño events were half as frequent then as they are today.... [more] Onsend this story

Zac and Abby Sunderland 'Sportspersons of the Year' Sail-World Cruising/Daily News, He did it his own way, but she hasn't even started. That didn't stop the Los Angeles Daily News from naming circumnavigator Zac and would-be circumnavigator Abby Sunderland as the 'Los Angeles Sportspersons of the Year'.... [more] Onsend this story

Knowing your batteries - Part 5, Monitoring and Maintenance Larry Janke, This is Part 5 of a multipart series by Larry Janke from Southeast Marine Services, and essential reading if you want to be able to maintain your batteries yourself while cruising. This week he offers some battery charging guidelines... [more] Onsend this story

Jessica Watson finds 'company' as she heads for the Horn Des Ryan, 16-year-old solo sailor and would-be youngest circumnavigator Jessica Watson, now heading south east towards the Southern Ocean and the southern tip of South America, has been keeping company with another sailor in the last few days. 'Keeping company' may be a misnomer, but when you are sailing thousands of miles from home even talking on the radio feels like 'keeping company'.... [more] Onsend this story

Captured sailors' ship prison is free - but not the sailors Sail-World Cruising round-up, If captured cruising sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler had only been able to remain on board the ship they were kept on by Somali pirates in their first weeks of captivity, they would now be free.... [more] Onsend this story

Oceans Day at Copenhagen UNFCCC COP-15 IOC-UNESCO, Oceans Day at Copenhagen UNFCCC COP-15 (December 14, 2009), the first-ever Oceans Day at a UNFCCC Conference of the Parties, brought together 320 leaders from governments, UN agencies, NGOs, science, and industry from 40 countries to focus on the central role of the oceans in climate change and the fact that close to 50% of the world's population living in coastal areas will suffer disproportionat... [more] Onsend this story

Pacific 'garbage patch' on the increase Jeni Bone, US scientists have returned from an expedition to the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' - estimated to be 'the size of Texas'- with samples of plastic debris they pulled out of the ocean — soda bottles, cracked patio chairs, Styrofoam chunks, old toys, discarded fishing floats and tangled nets.... [more] Onsend this story

Never-say-die Minaru Saito is off again to complete circumnavigation Sail-World Cruising, Minoru Saito, the 75-year-old seven times circumnavigator from Japan, on his eighth circumnavigation, is almost ready to take to the water again from Punta Arenas in Chile..... [more] Onsend this story

The World's Best Sailors Bar - It's official! Sail-World Cruising, Everyone knows that finding the bar at the end of a sail is the next most important thing to getting there in one piece, and Scuttlebutt Europe has recently conducted a 'Best Sailors' Bar' in the world competition. The voters came up with some amazing bars around the world, but the winner is in no other than the Portuguese Archipelago of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean.... [more] Onsend this story

Ketch Karaka's piracy experience in the Caribbean Tom Blancart, Karaka is a 48 ft steel ketch skippered by French sailor Tom Blancart, travelling with his first mate, Australian Kim, and crew members Tara, Jude and Kway, through the western Caribbean. In the middle of December this year they were boarded by pirates - this is their experience:... [more] Onsend this story

ROV images the discovery of the deepest explosive Sea Eruption Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Oceanographers using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason discovered and recorded the first video and still images of a deep-sea volcano actively erupting molten lava on the seafloor.... [more] Onsend this story

14-year-old Dutch sailor given the green light to sail Nancy Knudsen, In an amazing reversal, a Dutch court has ignored child welfare workers' plea that would-be circumnavigating teen sailor Laura Dekker be put in the care of a foster family. Further, they have assured her that, pending certain conditions being met, she will definitely be allowed to go sailing next summer. This means that the young sailor will still be 14 when she sets out.... [more] Onsend this story

Sydney Hobart Radio skeds, Green Cape Report & Radio Relay traffic Sail-World.com, Sail-World.com is streaming the Sydney Hobart Radio skeds, Green Cape Report and Radio relay traffic on 6516kHz courtesy of Peter Bye, who operates VK2MPJ from North Nowra, on the NSW south coast.... [more] Onsend this story

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