Highlights from this weeks Sail-World.com news

by Sail-World and Contributors on 4 Oct 2003 Sailors Radio streaming online via sail-world.com

Sailors all round the world, God help them, can now tune in to Sydney's Saturday morning 8-9am (Friday 22:00 UTC) Sailors Radio program FM 2 SER hosted by the Andrew Powell, with regular guests including Nev Whittey and John Sturrock and our own Sail-World editor Di Pearson, via the webstreaming link on Sail-World.com's home page.

So if you don't live in the Emerald City but would like to hear all the hot goss from the Sydney Sailing scene, go to www.sail-world.com from Friday night 22:00 UTC

2003 Etchells World Championship
American Ken Read won the 2003 Mastercard Etchells World Championship which finished last Saturday, but the Aussies were there abouts.
Australia's Cameron Miles, world champion in 1999, sailed into third place. Auckland's 2002 World Champion Britain Stuart Childerly was 6th. Big Bad Dennis Conner was seventh, Brisbane's Mark Bradford was 16th. Noel Drennan 21st. ...

Robert Miller’s 140 foot super yacht Mari Cha IV is attacking the Atlantic Record.

The giant double-master started its west to east transatlantic record attempt yesterday.
To capture the current record, set by Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm on 1st February 2001, they must sail to Lizard Point, Cornwall in less than 8 days, 20 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds. Millers’ old boat, then 146ft luxury ketch, Mari Cha III. (the fastest boat to ever sail to Hobart, in 2000) had held the record before Stamm broke it.

To break the 8 day barrier, the 140 footer needs to sail an average of 366 nm per day and on her first day she was almost 100 miles ahead of record pace.

After 26 hours, the super maxi is 503 miles down the course. Clearly Miller's boat has the legs, now the question is the weather. You’ll see the updates all week on Sail-World.


Blackburn top World Laser Rankings:
Australia's Michael Blackburn has rocketed up the latest ISAF rankings, announced this week.
Having tried the 49er class after Sydney 2000 the Laser Bronze medallist missed the tactical sailing and decided to go back to the Laser Class and try and qualify for Athens.
His comeback has been outstanding In January this year he was 361 in the world and he's now been rewarded with number one ranking in the latest ISAF list.

His Bronze medal performance at the Cadiz Worlds saw him jump 11 places to gain a narrow lead over Brazilian Robert Schiedt and Britain Paul Goodison.

New Kiwi 98 footer Zana launches for Hobart

Grant Wharington is bulding a 98 foot canting keel Wild Thing for this years Hobart, but his won’t be the only super maxi on the start line.
A relative newcomer to the sport of yachting, Wellington businessman Stewart Thwaites has campaigned the evergreen Davidson 55 Starlight Express successfully. Last year he won the IRC division in the Sydney to Hobart.

Now he is stepping up to Super Maxi league. His new 98 footer, designed by Brett Bakewell-White and under construction at Hakes Marine in Wellington Zana is almost complete with the hull and decks completed, joined and painted, and all of the internal structure installed. A late October launch is expected.

Don’t Make A Hash of It: Cannabinoids (e.g. hashish and marijuana) are to become prohibited. In previous years, (2003 inclusive), Cannabinoids have not been proscribed by ISAF, and have only been banned for the Olympic Regatta.
But that changes from January 1st 2004
Cannabinoids are however, classed as a 'specified substance', which means that it is considered to be less likely to be successfully abused as a doping agent. This means that where an Athlete can establish that the use of such a 'specified substance' was not intended to enhance sport performance, the period of ineligibility (or sanctioning) will be reduced to the following:
First Violation: At a minimum, a warning and reprimand and no period of ineligibility from future events, and at a maximum, one (1) year's ineligibility.
Second Violation: Two (2) years' ineligibility
Third Violation: Lifetime ineligibility.


Today (Saturday) is Day 2 of the 2003 Club Marine Australian Youth Match Racing Championship.

Conducted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on behalf of Yachting Australia, the Under 20’s championship is being contested by nine teams from four States, sailing the CYCA’s fleet of Elliott 6 sports boats.

Yesterday with rain clouds bringing sharp gusts of 20 to 30 knots from the south-west, the Principal Race Officer allowed crews to the fly spinnakers in only three of the nine flights.

Flight two, with spinnakers, produced some spectacular broaches, including one by the NSW crew of Tom Spithill, James Kidner and Hamish Roughly, partly engineered by internationally successful helmsman Seve Jarvin when he luffed to protect his position from the fast overtaking Spithill.

As the Pittwater crew were left floundering, Jarvin pulled away to a convincing lead and subsequent match win.

At the end of the first round-robin, Jarvin and his crew, Robert Bell and Sam Newton, are the only unbeaten team, with another NSW crew, Stuart Pollard, Mark Dorling and Ian Quartly losing just one match.

The Importance Of Survival Training or I Might be MOB, but I am not letting go of my fish!!!
On Wednesday of this week, a yacht from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, skippered by experienced ocean sailor, Darryl Morrison, saved two fishermen from certain death in the freezing waters of Port Phillip Bay.
Having completed an Ocean Safety and Survival Course and a recent refresher of Offshore requirements for safety and survival, Darryl knew exactly what to do AND had the equipment to do it when, whilst on passage from Hastings (Victoria) to Geelong, he and his crew spotted a strange grey object floating some distance from his yacht, 'Tiercel', a Currawong 30.
As they drew closer, the object was identified as a capsized 3 1/2 metre aluminium dinghy with a distressed man, hanging on at the stern and another, struggling in the sea nearby. They were not wearing life jackets and were obviously near exhaustion (sea temperature, under 12 degrees).
Life rings were thrown to the men who fortunately, were able to get them over their heads and under their arms. This made it possible for this experienced crew to winch the fishermen to the side of the yacht ready to be dragged on board.
Then things began to get difficult. Both men were wearing waders, full of water, making them far too heavy for just the winch operators to lift into the yacht.
Neither victim was keen to lose his waders and one even didn't want to let go of the fine snapper he had just caught!

Commonsense finally prevailed and waders were discarded, the snapper freed and willing hands under the armpits and winchers winching, the survivors were soon on board and wrapped in thermal blankets.

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