Good on you Thommo!!! – naaa it's a different one

Australian solo circumnavigator Ian Thomson, the Ocean Crusader sailor from Queensland is proving to be a great communicator. He is campaigning to reduce the use of plastic bags and plastic water bottles and is reaching a world wide audience.

Look at this extract from his latest piece and read the whole lot..

Plastic in the sea

‘How did we get to drinking this much water out of bottles when we have perfectly good water out of the taps? Well you can blame the big soda drink manufacturers. Back in the 80's they realised that we can only drink so much soda.‘

In order to keep growing they needed to create a new market. They decided to bottle water. They then went on a campaign to sell us, saying that bottled water is way better for us than water out of the tap. We fell for it and today it is a multi-billion dollar market. !

‘So is it better for us or not? No matter what water brand you buy though, there is one key that should give us the answer.
‘
It is called a 'Used by date'. Water does not go off in rivers and lakes or in our taps so why does it have a used by date? It is because plastic water bottles contain toxins that leach into the water, contaminating it and also affecting the taste. It's that plastic taste you get occasionally. It's actually killing you slowly. What are these toxins? The big one is Bisphenol A (BPA).

‘There are more and more studies these days on this toxin and it has been proven to cause breast cancer, ADHD, autism and the list continues to grow. To put it bluntly, toxins in plastic consumed during pregnancy is a major issue.

Heating kids drinks and food in plastic just adds to the issue.....'

Krystal Weir at the 2012 Laser Radial World Championship  Wolfgang Weber

Laser Radial World Championship 2012 finals series has concluded in Boltenhagen, Germany with Australian sailor Krystal Weir finished the event a disappointing 21st overall. She was sixth after the first three days but had a horror second half of the regatta.

The 2012 Laser Radial World Championship finished off a busy few weeks of world titles with Australian Sailing Team members competing in five events across Europe, with great World Championship wins for Tom Slingsby in the Laser class, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in the 49er and Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page in the 470 men's.

Australian sailors will next be in action at round five of the ISAF Sailing World Cup which begins in Medemblik, Holland on Tuesday. (our Wednesday)

In the Americas Cup World Series Venice event, where Loick Peyron's Energy Team won the fleet-racing championship, upsetting the standard leaderboard and demonstrating the lighting-fast learning curve that ACWS teams are enjoying, while also showing that Oracle Racing isn't the only team that knows how to make wingsails work.

In the match-racing section of the Venice event, Artemis Racing—the Challenger of Record for the 34th America's Cup—proved the team to beat, dispensing first with Energy Team before turning their attention to Luna Rossa—Piranha for the finals.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, skippered by Ian Walker - Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12  Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race©

And in Miami, the Volvo Ocean Race has started Leg Seven, which takes the fleet of fully crewed Volvo Open 70s to Lisbon, Portugal. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing—long considered the dream team stuck sailing the dogsled around our spinning little stone—took top honours in the Miami in-port race before leading the fleet out of Miami towards Portugal. For overall race leaders Telefonica, a second tactical error—following a poor mark-rounding decision during the Itajai, Brazil in-port contest—pushed them further from their goal of capturing the overall crown.

At the time of this writing, Groupama was in the pole position, followed by Telefonica and Puma Ocean Racing. More inside this issue, and be sure to spend some scrolling time with shooter Leighton O'Connor's great image gallery from the Miami festivities.

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 restart images by Leighton O'Conner Leighton O'Connor images, Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 restart images from photographer Leighton O'Conner... [more] Share this story

Plastic Oceans (Plastic in our playground!) Part 1 - Plastic bags Ian Thomson, The ocean is our playground. We sail on it, we swim in it, we fish from it and without it we don't have 60-80% of the world's oxygen........So why do we abuse it? The reason we abuse it is because most of us don't even realise we are. Covering 70% of the planet, our oceans seem to cope with everything we throw at it, right? Well think again.... [more] Share this story

Laser builder needs to move 250+ Lasers NOW!! PSA Media, After a very successful ISAF Perth 2011 Laser World Championships Performance Sailcraft Australia (PSA) has more than 250 Lasers for sale. PSA General Manager Chris Caldecoat said today ‘These are one event old ISAF Worlds charter boats. Boats come on dolly, with top cover, mast bag, foil bag all new rigging...ready to race. Deals to be done anywhere!!... [more] Share this story

Plastic Oceans (Plastic in our playground!) Part 2 - Plastic bottles Ian Thomson, In part one, we looked at plastic bags. We went through the numbers and quantified how much one million and one billion is in reality. Let's revisit that before we move onto Plastic water bottles. To count straight through from one to 1,000,000 will take you 11 days and it will take 32 years to count to one billion. You cannot count to one trillion in your lifetime.... [more] Share this story

Classic Yachts Winter Series - Tumlare's show their pedigree Peter Costolloe, Melbournes Classic Yachts 2012 Winter Series Race 2 - Sailing under Port Phillip Bays renowned winter sailing conditions, vintage Tumlare's showed their pedigree and put the fleet of 23 starters on the rack. A corrected time honours, by a mammoth number, was the pay back to Doug Jenkin for his the restoration of the Tumlare, Ettrick.... [more] Share this story

Its easy to put our Website icons on your iPhone and iPad! Anna Parker, Sail-World.com, On the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad you can put bookmarks for any site, creating one-tap shortcuts to your favourite websites. Sail-World, Marine Business World, Powerboat World, and Fishing Boating World now have custom icons for you to save for quick, easy access!... [more] Share this story

Laser Radial World Championship – Tough races for Aussie Krystal Weir Craig Heydon, Laser Radial World Championship 2012 finals series has concluded in Boltenhagen, Germany with Lithuanian sailor Gintare Schiedt winning her first world title. Australian sailor Krystal Weir finished the event 21st overall after a 43rd and an 18th in the final two races in Boltenhagen, Germany.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Puma's Mar Mostro leaves Miami for Leg 7 start Lisa Ramsperger, Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 team Puma's Mar Mostro is off across the Atlantic Ocean with the start of Leg 7 from Miami, Florida, USA to Lisbon, Portugal. The Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg crew rounded the buoys in Miami to complete the six-leg inshore loop and headed out for the offshore portion of the leg in the fifth position, with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing leading the fleet.... [more] Share this story

Across the south Indian Ocean in 30 days - a family story James Burwick, The Burwick-Sao family are four and they are circumnavigating the world in their Finot-Conq Open 40 sailing boat. They are James and Somiro, with their two children, Tormentina(2), and Raivo(1). Their most recent journey has been 30 days across the Indian Ocean from Simons Town in South Africa to Fremantle in Australia, and here James tell the story:... [more] Share this story

The Golden Oldie shows her class at Vice Admirals Cup Ian Grant, Rod Sawyer's Peter Norlin designed Surefoot, regarded as the Golden Oldie, showed she still has the class to outpace her handicap rating in the Whitsunday Sailing Club sprint race series on Pioneer Bay. A lot of water has passed under her keel since her glory days of representing the Royal Papua Yacht Club during the 1983 Champagne Mumm Admirals Cup in England and she is showing her age but still... [more] Share this story

Global Ocean Race - Fleet endures tough reintroduction Oliver Dewar, The Global Ocean Race fleet's first night at sea was wet and lumpy - proving a tough reintroduction to offshore racing following their stopover in Charleston, South Carolina, as they sailed straight into headwinds and cleared the coast of the USA.... [more] Share this story

Boating Industries Alliance Program for 2012 Domenic Genua, The Boating Industries Alliance Australia Board met in Sydney yesterday for the first AGM of the year-old Alliance, electing BIANSW President Darren Vaux as Chairman for a second term. Joining Vaux as Vice-Chairman is Andrew Warner, President of BIA Victoria and as Treasurer, George Bolton of BIASA, also standing for a second term.... [more] Share this story

Lord Howe Island BBQ Cruise to complete its first decade David Salter, It's a rather tricky thing to celebrate the tenth anniversary of something that doesn't officially exist. That's the task facing participants in the annual BBQ Cruise to Lord Howe Island which will take place for the tenth consecutive year in early November.... [more] Share this story

Celebrating the life of Guy Stening Peter Campbell, Sailing mates, friends and family of Guy Stening will gather at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron next Wednesday afternoon, May 23, for a memorial service and celebration of the life the Australian and World championship yachtsman who passed away recently after a short illness.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 7 starts from Miami as tropical storm looms Volvo Ocean Race, The Volvo Ocean Race fleet headed out of Miami and directly towards a tropical storm on Sunday after making a slow start to Leg 7, potentially one of the most critical stages of the 39,000 nautical mile marathon. With a gentle breeze blowing off Miami's famous South Beach it was Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, winners of Saturday's Port Miami In-Port Race, who lead around the six-mile course... [more] Share this story

Laser Radial World Championship - Lithuanian sailor claims gold Deike Mary Flemming, At the Laser Radial World Championships, in a six to eight knot strong sea breeze, the first race pushed the sailors to their limits. A total of ten yellow flags were awarded, the majority for rocking the boat. For favourites Sari Multala (FIN) and Alison Young (GBR) it was the second yellow flag, which meant they had to retire from the race.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Camper set for Leg 7 start Stefano Blin, In the Volvo Ocean Race, Camper slipped her moorings this morning in Miami to leave for the start of Leg 7. This leg leaves the tropical area off the coast of Miami finishing in medium latitudes in Lisbon in Portugal. This is the last long leg of race at some 3600 miles and it is likely to be a fast and long sprint to the finish line at the Portuguese capital.... [more] Share this story

AC World Series Venice - Final day images by Carlo Borlenghi Carlo Borlenghi, America's Cup World Series - Photographer Carlo Borlenghi was on hand to capture this gallery of images on the final day of action in Venice, Italy.... [more] Share this story

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet face frustrating conditions Heather Ewing, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet has been faced with yet more frustrating weather conditions over the last 24 hours, with sparse wind and intense heat affecting its position and mood.... [more] Share this story

Dean's Diary: First four days in the City of Soggy Streets Dean Barker, Dean Barker, Emirates Team NZ skipper and Director of Kiwi Yachting Consultants and Nexus AB, reports from Venice, Italy from the America's Cup World Series: The last two days for us have been incredibly frustrating as we struggle to repair damage sustained when tensioning the trampoline that connects to both hulls.... [more] Share this story

Derwent Sailing Squadron Autumn Short-handed Series final Peter Campbell, The Derwent Sailing Squadron's autumn short-handed series ended today with a countback needed to decide the overall winner in one division while no more than two points separated the top boats in two other divisions. The final race in the five-Sunday series was sailed in a fresh and cool (11 degrees that felt like 7 degrees) breeze on the Derwent that fully tested the two crew sailing each boat.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race Miami In-Port Race – Puma takes third Lisa Ramsperger, Volvo Ocean Race Miami In-Port Race – Puma's Mar Mostro stretched its nose across the line to capture third place and return to the podium on Saturday in Miami, Fla., USA. The Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg crew pushed past Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand with meters left on the race course, finishing nine seconds ahead.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race: Another InPort clanger costs Telefonica dearly Sail-World and Volvo Ocean Race, Overall race leaders Team Telefónica are lamenting their second successive in-port race loss at the hands of a simple error that racing veteran Neal McDonald described as heartbreaking. The error has cost the overall points leader dearly on the overall points table. Their once comfortable lead has now been cut to just seven points ahead of Groupama... [more] Share this story

470 World Championships - Belcher and Page win third world title Craig Heydon, On the final day of the 470 World Championships, Australian sailors Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page won their third world title following a dominant week in Barcelona, Spain. Belcher and Page's win was the third World Championships for the Australian Sailing Team in the space of 10 days as the paired joined 2012 world title winners Tom Slingsby in the Laser class and Nathan Outteridge and Iain... [more] Share this story

Jet set for maximum thrills at Sanctuary Cove Boat Show! Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, Hitting the water at Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, 24-27 May, two southern hemisphere firsts that will wow the crowds – the JetLev and JetSurf.... [more] Share this story

Fisher's View: Day 3 ACWS Venice - Light winds make for short courses Bob Fisher, Day 3: Lighter winds than previously and a shift from South-East to East halfway through the fleet racing caused the second of the races to be over eleven legs of a much smaller course - boats were lapped by the leaders - and there was a shake-up in the pecking order with teams having good and bad results. Luna Rossa - Swordfish, for example had a first and a last. Includes Video highlights.... [more] Share this story

470 World Championship – GBR's Mills and Clark claim world title Lindsey Bell, 470 World Championship for the women's class concluded in Barcelona, Spain on Saturday 19th May. Great Britain's sailors have made it two World Championship titles in two days with Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark crowned the first ever British World Champions today. Mills and Clark, who claimed silver at the 2011 World Championships in Perth in December, went one step further at this 2012 edition... [more] Share this story

London 2012 Olympics - Ben Ainslie starts torch relay UK Telegraph, London 2012 Olympic Games - Triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie said waiting to start the torch relay at Land's End was 'one of the more nervous moments in my life'. But Ainslie, who said the torch leg was so special it ranked alongside winning one of his Olympic gold medal: said 'It was one of those moments where I was in a bit of shock really At least I didn't trip over'.... [more] Share this story

Laser Radial World Championship - Tough day for Aussie Krystal Weir Craig Heydon, 2012 Laser Radial World Championship finals series is underway with Australia's Krystal Weir having a tough day on the water. After three days of strong winds the crews faced more moderate conditions on Friday with breeze between eight and 16 knots shaking up the results.... [more] Share this story

470 World Championships - Belcher and Page secure world title 470 World Championships, At the 470 World Championships, on the penultimate day of racing, Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) secured their third successive World Championship title. Their win in race 12 sealed victory for the pair. In the 470 Women Gold Fleet, teams from China and Poland have qualified their nations to the 2012 Olympic Games, subject to ISAF ratification.... [more] Share this story

Finn Gold Cup - Ben Ainslie secures sixth title + Video Robert Deaves, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Finn Gold Cup in Falmouth, UK has been a week of extremes and the final day was no different. Though a medal race was attempted, it was soon abandoned and an hour later racing was completely abandoned for the day as the wind disappeared. This left Ben Ainslie (GBR) as Finn World Champion for the sixth time.... [more] Share this story

Iconic New Zealand yacht enters Sail Noumea Suellen Hurling, One of New Zealand's iconic yachts, Steinlager 2, which recently returned home after two decades abroad, is set to race in the Royal Akarana Yacht Club hosted Auckland to Noumea race, Sail Noumea. Steinlager 2 is best known as the yacht skippered by the late Sir Peter Blake, which won the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World race. She won every leg over the line and on handicap.... [more] Share this story

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