Tragedy and closure —Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

This weekend saw one of the biggest disasters in North American ocean sailing in decades when one sailor was killed and four others went missing during the San Francisco Yacht Club's 2012 Full Crew Farallones Race. Low Speed Chase, a Sydney 38, was swept by a huge wave as she was nearing the lee shore of the Farallones Island, sweeping crewmembers into the sea; the remaining sailors turned the boat around to retrieve their MOBs, only to be swept onto the rocks by another massive wave.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) launched an all-out search for the sailors and later found the body of Marc Kasanin, but at the time of this writing, Alexis Busch, Jordan Fromm, Alan Cahill and Elmer Morrissey remain missing. Sadly, the USCG now fears these sailors lost, given the duration of their ordeal and the water and air temperatures involved. Sail-world.com extends our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the deceased and the missing, who are reported to be experienced and solid sailors.

Also offshore-related, Emirates Team New Zealand's (ENTZ) Camper has finished their epic Leg Five journey from Auckland, New Zealand, to Itajai, Brazil, after having to stop in Puerto Montt, Chile to make emergency hull repairs a few weeks ago, thus tacking on an additional 3,000-plus miles to their leg. In all, Camper sailed an epic 9,048 nautical miles and picked up an additional 15 points for their fourth-place Leg Five finish. Currently, Telefonica is in first place with 147 points, followed by Groupama in second with 127 points, and ENTZ in third with 119 points; Leg Five winner Puma Ocean Racing is now back in the hunt in fourth place, with 113 points.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand's crew are greeted by family and interviewed by the media, after finishing leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Auckland, New Zealand, to Itajai, Brazil. (Credit: PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race)  Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race©

'It's about how resilient the team is—they just stood up and got on with the job, so I'm proud of the effort of the whole team,' said ENTZ skipper Chris Nicholson. 'It's a valuable 15 points...we won't even know how valuable those points are until the end in Galway, [Ireland] but I have a feeling they're vital,' Be sure to get the full report, inside, including an audio recording of an interview with Nicholson from the dock in Itajai.

Luna Rossa wins America's Cup World Series Naples 2012  Luna Rossa/Carlo Borlenghi

Meanwhile, in Cup circles, the full video replay of the final day of the Naples, Italy, America's Cup World Series event is available for your viewing pleasure in this issue. The Challenger of Record for the 234th Americas Cup, Artemis Racing, took top honors in the match-racing section of the event, and Luna Rosa cleaned house in the fleet-racing event. Get the full media blast, inside.

North American Soling fleet  Chris Gribble

And finally, be sure to get the latest news from the Global Ocean Race fleet as they fight their way through Sargasso seaweed en route from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Charleston, South Carolina. Also, check in with the Clipper Around the World Race fleet as they savor ideal offshore conditions en route from California to Panama, and get the latest news from the US Soling Championships, which recently wrapped up in Annapolis, Maryland.

May the four winds blow you safely home,

Canadians Fogh, Finch and Devries win the US Soling Championship Stuart Walker, Sixteen boats (there were five last year!) including all the North American stars - the reigning World Champion, Peter Hall, the reigning North American Champion, Cookie Kanter, and the reigning US Champion, Peter Galloway raced in the recent US Soling Championship in Annapolis, MD.... [more] Share this story

Global Ocean Race - Cessna Citation tangles with Sargasso seaweed Oliver Dewar, With Global Ocean Race duo Conrad Colman and Scott Cavanough falling foul of windless clouds north of the Equator with fleet leader Cessna Citation and then tangling with huge rafts of seaweed, dropping 45 miles to the chasing pack in the past 24 hours, the South African duo on Phesheya-Racing chased Financial Crisis across the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate off the coast of Brazil in third place... [more] Share this story

Extreme Sailing Series Act 2 - Full on action in Qingdao Extreme Sailing Series, Extreme Sailing Series Act 2 - Despite not opening officially to the public until tomorrow, thousands thronged to the breakwater to see the Extreme 40s in action on the first day of racing. The biggest support went out to China Team in their Extreme 40 debut and with two men-overboard incidents, the action was full-on.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 5 - Camper finally arrive in Itajai + Audio Lucy Harwood, Volvo Ocean Race entry Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand's marathon Leg 5 journey, that started in Auckland 30 days ago, is over. Camper finally arrived in Itajai, Brazil at 12:35:44 GMT on Tuesday (April 17). The crew had to sail an estimated 3000 plus extra miles compared with their rivals – meaning a total of over 9,000 miles for the leg... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race: Camper finishes, Leg 5 is completed VolvoOcean Race, After 31 days racing Camper finally crossed the Leg 5 finish line in Itajaí, Brazil, just after noon, at 12:35:44 UTC, having sailed an average of 1,400 nautical miles further and 11 days longer than their counterparts on the podium. Relief was visible on the faces of the 11 crew as they claimed fourth place in the race from one of their home ports, Auckland, New Zealand to Brazil, earning them... [more] Share this story

World Match Racing Tour – Williams to begin bid for fourth victory World Match Racing Tour, Reigning Alpari World Match Racing Tour Champion Ian Williams will begin his bid for a fourth Tour victory next month, a feat that would put him level with Peter Gilmour's record and affirm his status as a legend of match racing. It would be a remarkable performance from the Brit who only won his first World Championship in 2007... [more] Share this story

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet enjoy superb conditions Heather Ewing, Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race - 'All that was missing from today was the champagne for breakfast, rosé for lunch and an ice cold G&T for sundowners!' Singapore skipper, Ben Bowley, is not alone in declaring the last 24 hours one of the best days' racing the teams have had in a long time.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race: To Squid or not to Squid? That is the Question. Sail-World, Join the team from Puma Ocean Racing as they exercise their minds around the squid graphics aboard Puma's Mar Mostro - the Monster of the Sea. She is covered in hand painted tentacles. But are the octopus stripes attracting other monsters of the sea? And what of the Sea Cat? What will the Southern Ocean bring with whales that eat squid. Should they fit a fish finder as an early warning system?... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race: Noon finish predicted for Camper in Brazil + Video Sail-World, The end of Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race is finally in sight for Camper with Emirates Team NZ. After almost a month of ocean racing the team are just 36 nm in a direct route or 40nm on a sailed course and are approximately 6hrs from the finish as of 2100hrs NZT. That has the New Zealand Spanish entry finishing in the early hours of Wednesday morning or around noon local time (1500hrs UTC) .... [more] Share this story

Charleston Race Week - America's Cup to visit Charleston Dan Dickison, The America's Cup is making its first-ever visit to Charleston by special arrangement between the organizers of Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week and the GGYC.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race - Camper close in on Leg 5 finish Lucy Harwood, Volvo Ocean Race - Camper's epic journey is nearly over. After 29 days at sea, Chris Nicholson's lion-hearted crew are closing in on the leg five finish in Itajai, Brazil, where their frustration at having to sail an extra 2,500 plus miles compared with their rivals will be eased somewhat by the 15 points they will bag for finishing fourth.... [more] Share this story

Laser Standard Junior World Championship - Coccoluto victorious Event Media (As Amended by ISAF), At the MacLaren Laser Standard under 21 World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) has emerged victorious. Coccoluto who has twice won an ISAF Youth Worlds bronze medal in the Laser Radial, posted two firsts and two seconds on his scoreboard to take the gold medal from Stig Steinfurth (DEN) by three points.... [more] Share this story

Tall Ships Challenge Race Series heads to the East Coast Kirsten Ferguson, In celebration of the bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812, more than 25 tall ships will make their way up the Eastern Seaboard this summer to participate in the Tall Ships Challenge® Atlantic Coast 2012 series of races and public maritime festivals.... [more] Share this story

PWA Reggio Calabria World Cup preview + Video Anna Parker, Sail-World.com, The 2012 PWA Reggio Calabria World Cup will get underway on April 19th and run through to April 24th. This slalom event is sure to showcase great windsurfing action and thrill spectators - especially since the last visit to Italy dates back to 1997 in Riva del Garda.... [more] Share this story

Global Ocean Race - Financial Crisis through sailing gate Oliver Dewar, Global Ocean Race - Marco Nannini and Sergio Frattaruolo took Class40 Financial Crisis through the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate in second place early on Monday morning and at 15:00 GMT the same afternoon, the South African team on Phesheya-Racing are just a handful of miles from crossing the virtual line off the coast of Brazil.... [more] Share this story

Les Voiles de St. Barth 2013 dates anounced Sabina Mollart-Rogerson, Les Voiles de St. Barth organizers have announced that the dates for the fourth edition will be April 8th to 13th 2013. For the third consecutive year, the island of St. Barth, in the French West Indies, provided an exceptional week of racing.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race: Camper 24 hours out from the finish in Itajai Sail-World, The end of Leg 5 was in sight for the crew of Camper on Monday as they approached 24 hours until the finish. But despite the high spirits, buoyed by thoughts of an end to almost a month of ocean racing, one final challenge was playing on their minds -- the windless zone off the coast of Itajaí that has so far snared all of the Leg 5 finishers.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup World Series: Full Video Replay of Finals Day in Naples Sail-World, A full video replay of the Finals Day in Naples is available for viewing in all countries (including the blocked countries - New Zealand and France). Features the semi finals and finals of the Match racing, plus the Speed Trial and the Final Fleet race. Duration over three hours!... [more] Share this story

Fisher's View: Day 5 Luna Rossa thrill their America's Cup home fans Bob Fisher, Day 5: It dropped a little and rained hard as the boats came up to the line. ETNZ were blocked out at the committee boat by LR- Swordfish while Luna Rossa - Piranha took it from the leeward ahead of Oracle Racing - Bundock to lead by five seconds at the turn and 12 seconds clear of China Team with Luna Rossa - Swordfish a further seven seconds later Includes full replay video of Final Day... [more] Share this story

One dead, four missing in California Farallones sailboat race Carolyn Jones, One sailor died and four others were missing Sunday morning after 12-foot waves pummeled a sailboat and hurled it onto rocks near the Farallon Islands during a sailboat race. Coast Guard and National Guard rescuers were scouring the choppy waters 27 miles west of the Golden Gate for the missing sailors early Sunday. Three other sailors were rescued from the rocks Saturday afternoon.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup World Series Naples - Thrilling win for Luna Rossa America's Cup, On the America's Cup World Series Naples final day Chris Draper led his Luna Rossa crew to a thrilling win in the final fleet race, collecting 50 points for his efforts to vault up the leaderboard and win the AC World Series Naples Fleet Racing Championship. The victory kicked off celebrations among the tens of thousands of Italian America's Cup fans lining the Naples waterfront to catch a glimpse... [more] Share this story

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet head to Panama Heather Ewing, Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet have started race 10 from Oakland, California to Panama. The ten strong fleet left Jack London Square on 14th April, with hundreds of fans cheering them on in the warm spring sunshine, before heading out to San Francisco Bay for the start line escorted by US Coast Guard cutter Sockeye.... [more] Share this story

Why multihull king Glenn Ashby is going Mothing www.sail-world.com, 'As a full development class, along with the A Class the Moth class is into pushing the boundaries of rigs and sails, physics, hydrodynamics and design, well into the future. All these attributes have led me to make this decision to purchase a Mach2 (as well as a bit of a push from the boys!!) and take on something that is a bit outside the square for my sailing.... [more] Share this story

ISAF Presidency – Candidate Kellett explains his plans Marine Business-World.com, ‘I have received overwhelming support from ISAF MNA's to continue my campaign to be the next President of our great sport. ‘I now take this opportunity to outline the direction, which I feel ISAF must follow during the next four years. - I have identified four principal goals: Leadership, Governance, Service and Development... [more] Share this story

We are sending you this newsletter because you are already receiving an existing Sail-World newsletter or because we believe this will be of interest to you. If you like this newsletter, do nothing, we will send you regular news.

If you don't, its a single click to stop.

No, I don't need or want to read about US and World sailing news. Please don't send me another.