Sail-World New Zealand- 28th July 2011
by . on 26 Jul 2011
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand newsletter for 26th July 2011
We continue our coverage of New Zealand sailors competing in World Championships in this edition.
On Sunday (NZT), Sam Meech a former ISAF Youth World Champion in the Boys Singlehander (Laser) won the Junior World title in the full-rig Laser.
In this edition, we have a report from La Rochelle, and Yachting New Zealand on this regatta, along with a couple of images from the medal ceremony.
We continue the excellent reports from Graeme Robinson at the Flying Fifteen Worlds being sailed at Hayling Island, England.
He and James Sandall, both from Napier, led after the first day and had hoped to stay on top after such a great beginning. For those that don't know, Graeme has been based largely in Christchurch since the September and February Earthquakes, where he spends long hours working as an assessor. Sailing at Hayling Island, in a World Championship must be a very surreal experience.
In Largs, Scotland, the Int OK Dinghy Worlds have got underway. Greg Wilcox (NZL) is well placed after the first day, and we have a report in this issue.
From Vladivostok, Russia, two members of the Full Metal Jacket match racing team have been sailing Platu 25's in the Seven Feet Cup (quite why the event is called that is not explained), however they have won, and skipper Will Tiller reports in this edition.
Previously we featured a story from Tomer Simhony on his and crew Ellie Copeland's experiences in the ISAF Youth Worlds, where they were the top performing NZers. He subsequently updated his story, and we feature that in this edition.
Life on the America's Cup scene is never dull. Yesterday organisers kicked one of the teams out of the competition for non-compliance with the Protocol. A move believed to be triggered by their failure to have an AC45 purchase agreement in place by 10 June - some five weeks ago, plus other financial issues.
It is a moot point as to whether the organisers can summarily boot a team out of the competition, without first placing the matter in front of the International Jury. Normally you could not, but the America's Cup is far from normal. There are also numerous reports of a second team being close to receiving the same treatment. When the question was raised, back in late April, about non-payment of then required Performance Bond, we were told the issue would, quite properly, just be noted and passed over to the International Jury for a decision.
If the response was indeed 'Guilty as Charged' then it could have been a short Hearing, and the outcome could have just been a financial or other penalty. However summarily booting a competitor out of the event by letter from the organiser, accompanied by a media release, and deletion of all reference to the team on the America's Cup website, over what is essentially a commercial matter, is a novel approach.
We have a report on yesterday's developments in this edition. There is a media statement from the team, which was issued in Italian and has lost something in translation. We have not published this as it is so obscure. We will update on www.sail-world.com
Many thanks to those who have contributed to this edition, particularly those using our online submission and image loading facility which can be accessed by http://www.sail-world.com/admin/add_story.cfm!clicking_here
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
nzeditor@sail-world.com
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