Debarment, Records, and Tullett Prebon - UK and World Sailing News

by Anna Parker, Sail-World.com on 3 Jan 2013 Sailing at its core holds a sense of adventure like no other. Whether at your local club or embroiled in a solo round the world race such as the Vendee Globe, the feeling of being out on the water, in the breeze, provides unrivalled pleasure for many sailors in the United Kingdom and beyond. In this edition, we take a look at the sailing world from a variety of levels from the Vendee to world record attempts in Luderitz and the upcoming Tullet Prebon London Boat Show.

Brit Mike Golding , skipper of Gamesa, was in sixth place at the time of this writing... he is some 2,344 nautical miles from the leader, Frenchman Francois Gabart onboard Macif and 8,970 nautical miles from the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne. The sailors in this solo round the world race have been at sea for a little over 54 days now and have been dealing with a multitude of conditions - from boat repairs to ferocious squalls... the skippers must fight the battles that arise on their own with no outside assistance. Recently, Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm sailing Cheminees Poujoulat was disqualified from the race following an incident in which 'outside assistance' was received, essentially a violation of the race rules resulting in his disqualification from the race.

Here's what Mike Golding had to say:

'I think I can see the thinking behind the decision. The rules are the rules and all that. But I think when you know all the story about Bernard and you know the situation he is in now, facing a good chunk of South Pacific to sail across and then icebergs at Cape Horn and the problems he still has, I think it just doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like the right thing. But as I say, the rules are clear and unfortunately, based on the information I've got, it sounds like the rules were inadvertently, and I think I make that point, inadvertently breached. I am not sure about it at all, it doesn't feel right to me and I really... I am very, very sad for Bernard and I hope he can get an appeal together and stay in the race.'

'I think the reception Bernard gets as he goes up the canal in Les Sables d'Olonne, will be, and should be, equal and perhaps greater than the boats around him. Bernard is a very popular skipper, and rightly so, he is a lovely guy, and he has worked extraordinarily hard on this project, and I think everyone in this race, and everyone of his followers and the followers of the race will be really upset by the prospect of a seemingly heartless jury, making a decision that perhaps they had to make.'

'If it's on the water, it's at the show' - that is the adage of the 2013 Tullet Prebon London Boat Show which is set to take place from 12th-20th January at the ExCeL London Exhibition and Convention Centre. Sail-World will be on deck to provide coverage of the event. Present at the show and aiding in coverage for Sail-World will be author Bob Fisher. Travel, ticket, facility and opening time information can be found on the London Boat Show website.

The World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSR) recently announced the establishment of two new world records in the Windsurfing Division. One was set by France's Antoine Albeau with a speed of 52.05 knots and the other by Brit Zara Davis who now holds the record for World 10 Sq m/Windsurfer Division Women’s with a speed of 45.83 knots on a 501 metre course.

Check out the article on Sail-World here.

The 2013 RORC Caribbean 600 is coming up and will get underway on February 18th with a record fleet. 'We had thirty confirmed entries at the end of 2012 which is twice as many entries as we had the same time last year,' confirmed RORC Racing Manager, Nick Elliott. The event, hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club, will welcome current confirmed entries ICAP Leopard, Adela, Athos, Sojana, Bella Mente and Nilaya.