UK, Europe and international sailing news from Sail-World.com

by Jedda Murphy and the Sail-World.com Team on 8 Mar 2013 This week has been a busy in the world of UK and international sailing. Over last weekend the RYA Dinghy Show was held in London. The only dedicated Dinghy Show in the world, with a solid crowd, only slightly down on last year, the rail trackworks out of London to Alexandra Gardens which forced our Sail-Word rep to take a taxi, probably kept hundreds of sailors away. But the buzz in the halls was great and most importantly the exhibitors were over the moon.

201 sailing boats, a very interactive show, a very young audience, a host of British sailing stars. Congratulations to the RYA and longtime sponsors Yachts and Yachting and Suzuki.

The following quotes say it all: David Page from David Page, Hiking Bench and Rigtube, 'Out of the four years we have been here this has been the most successful yet.'

RS: 'This show is the envy of Europe. Every major European country would like an event like this to support their dinghy fleets. It is unique and RS love being a part of it. Having an exhibition focused solely on dinghies is the reason the dinghy market is so big in the UK. RS is utterly committed to it and we will be back next year. It’s great fun to be part of, we love the atmosphere, and it really is a show for all the family.'

Blackwater Sailing Club: 'The show has been very encouraging. We’ve had a substantial amount of interest with a number of people coming in, talking to us and taking away our leaflets. Lots of people have promised to come down and see us at our Push the Boat Out Open Day on May 18th which is great.'

SWAC: 'Really great show, nice to meet lots of great people. We’ve have had a lot of interest in instructor packages. Really good turnout.'

Suzuki: 'The best dinghy show I’ve been at in last three to four years.'

Sail-World believes this show is a Gem and many of the big shows around the world could learn from it.

Also this week Act 1 of the 2013 Extreme Sailing Series, taking place at The Wave, Muscat, Oman kicked off amid champagne sailing conditions and a baptism of fire for the new teams who thrived on the Extreme 40 race course.

Yesterday, 7th March, marked the commencement of the first 2013 Figaro race for Artemis Offshore Academy sailors Jack Bouttell (Artemis 77) and Ed Hill (Artemis 37), who set off at 15:00 CET when the starting gun was fired for leg one of their first competitive single-handed race, the ICOM Cup Méditérranée. Also sailing under the Artemis flag for his first race of the season is Academy graduate Henry Bomby (Artemis 23), with fellow graduate Nick Cherry acting as préparateur.

British 420 Winter Championships - 40 teams have arrived in Weymouth to compete in the sailing competition at Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy this weekend. The Championships are the first of three International Selection events to decide the teams for the 420 World and Ladies' World Championships in Valencia, Spain from 22-30 July and the 420 Junior European Championships being held on home waters in Pwllheli from 14-22 August.

On the big stage - when you first saw a Moth foiling, it was something wondrous to behold, but you gradually got used to it, but it’s something else to see a 72 foot cat doing the same.

Richard Gladwell has been out on the water as Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge have been making the most of their training time together on New Zealand’s beautiful Hauraki Gulf. There, the two teams have been practicing their racecourse moves, including high-speed, foil-borne maneuvers that command the full attention of both the crew and all nearby spectators. Be sure to check out the great galleries, inside, compliments of RG. If you’re interested in what an AC72 looks like as it rapidly approaches your position, Gladwell’s image gallery will clear up any misconceptions! So too will the video. And there will be more images and video posted later tonight.

Over another ditch, the TP52´s are circulating in Miami, at the Gaastra 52 World Championships. We have all the news and British snapper Ingrid Abery, has provided more great pix.

In Olympic regatta´s we gradually came to terms with the double points medal race, now more changes being trialed. The World Cup events in Mallorca and Hyeres will feature a Qualifying Series, a Final Series and a Medal Stage. The Sail-World Team will be in Palma in three weeks’ time, (we don’t want to be there, and we are just doing it for you)... and it will be interesting to see what effect the new format will have on the natural order.

Lots of stories and images from around the world this week. We will have more from the RYA Dinghy Show over the next few days.