[Source: Barcelona World Race] The Barcelona World Race fleet is sprinting south today, as at 10:08 GMT this morning Educación sin Fronteras, crossed the third scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha. The entire fleet is now racing towards the next gate, south of the Cape of Good Hope, nearly 4 000 miles away.

Vincent Riou’s PRB had the quickest elapsed time on the third stage of the race, with Veolia Environnement second, just over two hours behind. Sitting seventh overall in the race, Mutua Madrileña had the third fastest time on the stage – an impressive performance. Skipper Javier Sansó says they worked the 2003 vintage boat aggressively over the past several days.

“We’re pushing really hard – I don’t think we could push harder. We’ve been under spinnaker for most of the stage, so we have really been trying…”

Paprec-Virbac 2 and PRB are still duelling at the head of the fleet, separated by just 9 miles on distance to finish. Paprec-Virbac 2 has sailed more to the east compared to PRB as the boats race down opposite sides of the small volcanic island chain of Trindade and Martim Vaz.

“We know that we can’t pass too close to this island so we’ve split on opposite sides of it,” explained Seb Josse, co-skipper on PRB. “So there are about 60 miles between us and Paprec-Virbac 2.”

The leading pair has added to its lead, but the chasing pack appears to be gambling on an easterly route which would see them sail a shorter course, but with increased risk of getting trapped in the windless clutches of the St. Helena high.

“We’re under the influence of the St Helena High which is on good form at the moment and it’ll stay that way for the rest of the South Atlantic,” said Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement. “We’re going down the long Brazilian coast with winds from the East which will turn gradually to the Northeast…”

Whether the easterly gamble pays off will play out over the course of the weekend and into early next week.

Day 20 – November 20, 15:45 GMT – Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 – Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 0.0
2. PRB – Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE – 8.7
3. VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT – Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS – 170.6
4. HUGO BOSS – Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 307.6
5. DELTA DORE – Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET – 330.2
6. TEMENOS 2 – Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 413.0
7. MUTUA MADRILENA – Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 448.4
8. ESTRELLA DAMM – Guillermo ALTADILL / Jonathan MCKEE – 607.6
9. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS – Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 842.9

In Quotes – Jonathan McKee, Estrella Damm: “We’re gradually getting things sorted out and we’re trying to sail the boat and keep it moving as fast as possible. And we’re getting more confident; knowing how to sail the boat fast with less effort.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

Paprec-Virbac II regains the lead in the Barcelona World Race

Original post by Bruce McLeod and software by Elliott Back

Andy Nicholson and James Boyd, walk the aisles and then head for a Guinness

Original post by Bruce McLeod and software by Elliott Back

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] The breeze was on when sailors arrived at the Heritage Bay Club in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia for the last six flights of the round robin series to determine who would qualify for the quarter finals of the final stage of the 2006/07 World Match Racing Tour. Tour scores are so close among the top six going into the regatta that any of the teams can win, so long as they make the first cut and go through to the quarterfinals.

The day started with the match that would elevate even a sloth’s heart rate – the face off between the #1 and #2 ranked teams on the World Match Race Tour – Mathieu Richard of Saba Sailing Team (1) and Ian Williams of Team Pindar (2). The pair used every play in the book during the pre-start sequence. Williams copped a penalty seconds before the start after nearly boxing Richard off at the committee boat. Williams was in hot pursuit throughout the three laps, but never gained enough of an advantage to do his penalty turn before Richard crossed the finish line only a few boat lengths ahead of him.

Three flights were completed in the morning and the fate was sealed for the women and Staffan Lindberg. The women took the stage first after lunch and Katie Spithill won her first, and only, match of the regatta.

In the Mirsky Williams match. Torvar Mirsky and Ian Williams did a dizzying number of circles during the pre-start with each trying to gain the right side advantage at the start. During the final approach, the boats luffed beam to beam and Williams, who went beyond head to wind, was given a penalty. Williams shot out of the starting area with the speed advantage and Mirsky went left. Williams rounded the weather mark just ahead of Mirsky who went bow down so that Williams couldn’t put a lock on him. The boats came together several times and multiple green flags were raised by the judges. Once he took the lead, Mirsky held on. It was a thriller of a race.

With the women eliminated and Staffan Lindberg knocked out with his fifteenth round loss, the feature match was between Sebastien Col and Bjorn Hansen to determine who would make it through to the quarter finals. Hansen was over early at the pin end of the line in his face off against Col. Hansen closed the gap and blanketed Col on the second run. The beat was close and the pair luffed up at the weather mark. Hansen popped his chute first and the pair sailed their final run with Hansen in the lead. Hansen’s win secured his entry into the quarter finals, while Col was excused from the remainder of the competition.

The quarter finalists will start the day on Saturday with a clean scoreboard, a greater understanding of local conditions, better boat handling and a heightened desire to win every race toward the World Championship Title and the purse for the Monsoon Cup’s grand prize.

Among the top three leaders going into the final stage of the World Match Racing Tour’s 2006/2007 season, it will come down to who moves on to the next round. With Sebastien
Col eliminated from the series, the young Turks and Peter Gilmour have the potential to be spoilers and knock the top three out of contention for the season’s Grand Prize.

In a change to the format, the top competitors chose their initial opponents for the first flight of the quarterfinals. Dato Peter Gilmour will face off against Adam Minoprio; Torvar Mirsky will race Bjorn Hansen; Mathieu Richard chose Paolo Cian leaving Jesper Radich matched with Ian Williams. Report by Lynn Fitzpatrick.

At the end of the Round Robin the results are:

1st Dato’ Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST: 9.5-1
2nd Adam Minoprio (NZL) BlackMatch Racing 8-3
3rd Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team: 8-3
4th Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team: 7-4
5th Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing 7-4
6th Paolo Cian (ITA) Shosholoza 6-5
7th Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.Net: 6-5
8th Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar: 5-6
9th Staffan Lindberg (FIN) Alandia Sailing Team: 4-7
10th Sebastien Col (FRA) Areva Challenge: 4-7
11th Katie Spithill (AUS) Team Acuity: 1-10
12th Tiffany Koo (MAS) UK Halsey Gapurna Team: 0-11

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

 Les membres de la Société Nautique de Genève, Yacht Club Defender de l’America’s Cup, ont fêté la victoire d’Alinghi lors de leur Assemblée Générale annuelle jeudi soir à Genève, en nommant le batteur Ed Baird et le coach de l’équipe navigante Pierre-Yves Jorand membres d’honneur du Club…

Original post by Alinghi News and software by Elliott Back

 Les membres de la Société Nautique de Genève, Yacht Club Defender de l’America’s Cup, ont fêté la victoire d’Alinghi lors de leur Assemblée Générale annuelle jeudi soir à Genève, en nommant le batteur Ed Baird et le coach de l’équipe navigante Pierre-Yves Jorand membres d’honneur du Club…

Original post by Alinghi News and software by Elliott Back

The latest news from the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia where Peter Gilmour leads out of the round robins

Original post by Bruce McLeod and software by Elliott Back

Construction industry regatta hand out the cash to sailing charities

Original post by Bruce McLeod and software by Elliott Back

Bidding continues for rail spaces for Australia’s SOLAS Big Boat Challenge

Original post by Bruce McLeod and software by Elliott Back

The Phantom class review their season

Original post by Bruce McLeod and software by Elliott Back