Sail Rocket: The Winged Wonder Emerges
20 November 2006

The SAILROCKET project has recommenced sailing activities with its new solid wing sail. The wing is the culmination of an 18 month design, build and finance program.

The amazing craft now sitting in full standby mode in Weymouth is the product of all the teams' knowledge and passions regarding wind and water. The aim of the project remains the same, to set the Outright world speed sailing record and break through the 50 knot mark.

To date, the wing has met all of its weight and strength targets. According to our VPP (velocity prediction program) SAILROCKET should be capable of hitting 55 knots of boat speed in 22 knots of wind assuming ideal conditions. The wing was designed by team member and director of AEROTROPE, Christopher Hornzee Jones using a COMPOTECH carbon spar, FIBREFUSION water jet cut ribs, SP GURIT composite materials and all metal work supplied by EKSPAN.

The SAILROCKET build team were helped throughout the build in Southampton with floor space generously offered by VESTAS BLADES and DESIGNCRAFT. SAILROCKET has already completed 58 runs down the Portland Harbour speed sailing course using the Mk1 DOYLES/COMPOTECH soft sail without mishap. The top speed with this rig was 31 knots as the rig struggled to hold shape when SAILROCKET's unique concept began to work in earnest. The value of these trials relating to such a radical craft is immeasurable. Many of the lessons learnt were incorporated into the design of the new solid sail. The new wing is a highly efficient, practical and robust piece of engineering that has already been sailed twice. The whole craft can be rigged for sailing by two people and handled on the water by three.

WING STATS: area-16sqm weight-50kg working load- approx 1 ton

The team do not expect an easy ride to 50 knots. A whole host of new issues are bound to accompany the much higher speeds and small mistakes will be compounded. It remains to be seen if Portland Harbour can return to its former glory as a World record setting venue. It's no small feat that the project has got to this stage unfunded. It has taken longer but thanks to a dedicated team and a host of product supporters, quality has not been compromised.

Without the financial support of a sponsor, the risks are now very high. We can't afford to fumble the ball. The door remains wide open for a title sponsor who can help the team consolidate the huge amount of work already done. INNOVATION, SPEED and EFFICIENY are the qualities that underlie our endeavour. As soon as SAILROCKET demonstrates consistent record breaking potential we will start the haul beginning with the UK and women's outright records. We know it will not be an automatic process. Looking for a moment's perfection is a dedicated hunt that involves a lot of patience. The team is on full-time standby. Every sailing opportunity that comes along needs to be utilised as the radical craft continues its refinement process. The weather windows are short and sharp at this time of year in the UK. www.sailrocket.com will remain the project site with the most current activities updated on the blog spot.

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'Hidden World' Exhibition at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy
15 November 2006

The Hidden World exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view Roger Smith's latest work of Macro Photography- the art of taking close up pictures of small, sometimes microscopic, objects. Based in Weymouth, Roger has had an interest in photography for over 20 years. He has studied art and photography at Weymouth College, Trowbridge College and The University of Plymouth in Exeter. He began shooting macro botanicals around three years ago.

"Originally my interest was in flowers and botanicals for their colour, shape, form and texture until I noticed that the close up magnification was giving me an insight into the barely visible, minute details. Therefore I started to compose my images differently, got closer to the subject and moved away from the image of a flower as a document.

I thoroughly enjoy taking something so small that is hardly visible and enlarging it to reveal the natural beauty and detail that is often missed by the naked eye."

Hidden World will display botanicals, new pure abstract work, and Jurassic coast themed imagery including close ups of fossils, rock strata and petrified wood from our World Heritage coastline.

"We are delighted to be hosting The Hidden World exhibition at the Sailing Academy. WPNSA are particularly keen to support local artists and are very impressed with Roger's Macro Photography which we believe really compliments the modern architectural design of the building. The exhibition is open to all, and we would very much like to welcome members of the public to come along particularly since much of the work is locally themed around the Jurassic coast" said Rosie Julian, Events & Marketing Manager at WPNSA.

Exhibition opening hours:
1 - 5 December, 7 - 10 December
9:30am - 4:30pm
NB: The exhibition will be closed on Wednesday 6 December

There will be photo and interview opportunities for the press at 5pm on Thursday 30 November

Please confirm your attendance with Rosie Julian, Events & Marketing Manager, WPNSA
T: 01305 866000, E: rosie.julian@wpnsa.org.uk

For further information about the exhibition, please contact Roger Smith
T: 01305 785244, E: roger@jurassiccoastgallery.co.uk

Please visit and www.jurassiccoastgallery.co.uk for more information on Roger's work.

WPNSA Notes

• Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour are widely recognised as the finest sailing waters in the UK.

• Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy has been selected by LOCOG and the RYA as the venue to host the 2012 Olympic sailing events.

• WPNSA received £7.3 million of funding in 2004 to develop a new purpose built Clubhouse and other onshore facilities. Major contributors were the National Lottery, South West Regional Development Agency, Sport England and the Royal Yachting Association . Many other contributions have been made including those from Dorset County Council, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, West Dorset District Council, Charitable Trusts and individuals themselves.

• A further $17 million has been agreed from LOCOG and the ODA to further develop the facilities in the lead up to 2012. Plans include the building of additional pontoons, an extension to the slipway and temporary facilities for the duration of the even such as additional showers and changing blocks.

• WPNSA regularly hosts major Championship events such as:
  Volvo ISAF Youth World Championships, 2006
  Group 4 49er European/ 29er World Championships, 2006
  Laser SB3 European Championships, 2007
  Laser National Championships 2007
  Optimist National Championships 2007

• The British Olympic Sailing Team regularly train at WPNSA. Much support is given to sailors on their path to World Class Potential, including reduced rates on membership and boat storage.

• Four of Team GB's Athens Olympic Medallists are members of WPNSA- Sarah Ayton (Gold, Yngling), Nick Dempsey (Bronze, Mistral), Chris Draper (Bronze, 49er) and Simon Hiscocks (Bronze,49er).
  

•  The Academy exists for 3 main reasons:

- To promote the sport of sailing at all levels of competence and ability, through courses, training and events to include all people, especially those with difficulties.

-To provide a facility for the community to use, for example, actively encouraging Dorset schools to bring sailing into their outdoor activities, and providing services such as the boat hoist and storage.

- To contribute to substantial economic regeneration. Since we have been operating here, Dorset County Council studies indicate that we have created demand in service and marine industries worth in the region of £10m. The calculation is that when our new facilities are complete we will be adding something in the region of £6m each year to the local economy.

- Facilities on shore include a licensed clubhouse, restaurant, conference/ meeting rooms, slipways, a boat hoist, extensive dinghy and car parks, a permanent crane, and storage for all types of boats.

For more information, please visit www.wpnsa.org.uk

For further press/ media information, please contact:

Rosie Julian
Events & Marketing Manager
WPNSA
Osprey Quay
Portland
Dorset
DT5 1SA
T: 01305 866000
F: 01305 866001
W: www.wpnsa.org.uk

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Students migrate to Weymouth for the first Championship of the season
3 November
Nearly 300 sailors will be heading down to Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy this weekend (4-5 November) for what promises to be an exciting first university sailing championship of the season.

The BUSA Fleet Racing Championships will give students the opportunity to race against each other individually in Lasers, Laser 2's, Fireflies and a Handicap Class, as well as competing for an overall Universities' Team Trophy.

BUSA Sailing and BUSA Sport have been working together to try and make this a weekend to remember, especially after the disappointment of last year, when only one race could be completed due to gale force winds.

Defending Champions of the Laser Fleet Stephen Powell and Nick Thompson from Exeter University will be returning to race against new students and, with forecasts predicting light winds, any fatigue caused by the social at Rendezvous is sure to affect the sailors!

With many ex-Youth Squad sailors (Richard Mason (Laser 2 Fleet, Loughborough), Nick Thompson (Laser, Exeter ), Dave Evans (Handicap, Swansea ) and Sam Carter (Laser2, Brunel)) actively sailing at BUSA Championships the standard seems set to rise each year.  This year, for the first time there will be an on the water Jury, ensuring fair but challenging racing for everyone.

Will Exeter University take the Team prize for a fourth year in the row?  Watch this space!

The latest news, information and the all-important results will be posted on the BUSA website [www.busa.co.uk].

End

For more media information, please contact Jessica Mapplebeck , Secretary to the British Universities Sailing Association, Tel: 023 80 604 167 Mob: 07876 017 134 Fax: 023 80 604 290 Email: jessica.mapplebeck@rya.org.uk

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing. BUSA is the governing body for University Sailing in the UK .  It is affiliated and supported by the RYA and has British Universities Sports Association recognition for its events.

Ø BUSA currently has 45 active university sailing clubs participating in 5 different Championships (Fleet Racing, Inlands, Team Racing, Match Racing and Yachting).  With over 1000 students competing in BUSA events each season. 

Ø A brief history: BUSA sailing was set up in the mid 1960's. The organisation was run by a small group of students from various universities. At the beginning this Committee of students ran the annual University Team Racing Championships and organized and selected the team for the bi-annual American and European tours.

Ø In 1991, when the whole University sport structure was changing, BUSA sailing remained independent from both the British University Sports Federation (BUSF) and University Athletic Union (UAU) and was provided with a full time secretary by the RYA funded by the Eric Twiname trust.

Ø Student sailing was an important development area for the RYA RYA saw student sailing as an important development area and was beginning to support it more strongly and provide coaching in various areas. The 1993 Team Racing Championships were the first for which regional qualifiers were run. With a number of Polytechnics becoming Universities the number of entries to the Championships saw huge growth., so a series of four regional qualifiers were introduced prior to the finals.

Ø During this period BUSA sailing continued to liaise with UAU and BUSF with an ever-improving relationship and by the time the two organisations merged to form the British University Sports Association , BUSA sailing was a well-recognised organisation with a long established constitution and Championship structure.  

Ø Further information can be found at www.busa.org.uk

Jessica Mapplebeck
Keelboat Racing & Coaching Development Administrator

Secretary to the British Universities Sailing Association

www.busa.co.uk

Direct Dial 023 8060 4167
Direct Fax: 023 8060 4290   

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2006 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series winds up at Weymouth
29 October

European Champion Nick Dempsey took a clean sweep of race wins at the final RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series for 2006, held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy this weekend (28-29 October).

Racing got underway in over 20 knot westerly breezes on Saturday with all classes managing three races on the opening day of the event, but Sunday saw a different story with extremely light winds preventing any further action at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue.

Dempsey's three wins from the opening day's races were enough to hand him his third national ranking event victory for the year, while Finn European Champion Ed Wright also secured his third national ranker win, thanks to a 1,4,1 from Saturday's racing.

World Champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis came out on top in the 470 fleet, with two race wins and a second easing them to a five point margin of victory over Austria 's Matthias Schmid and Florien Reichstaedter, while visiting crews took a clean sweep of podium places in the 49er class. Germany 's Peckolt brothers, Jan Peter and Hannes, won thanks to a 1,1,2 from Saturday's three races, with France's Morgan Lagraviere and Stephan Christidis in second, and Emmanuel Dyen and Jann Rocherieux third. The top Skandia Team GBR crew was Dave Evans and Rick Peacock in fifth.

For the Tornado class, this was the final domestic warm-up event before the crews head down to Argentina for the World Championship in December. Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley took the event win ahead of world silver medallists Leigh McMillan and Will Howden, while Lucy Horwood came out on top in the third and final ranking event for the RS:X 8.5 fleet, beating European silver medallist Bryony Shaw into second.

The final Laser class qualifier of the year, held concurrently at WPNSA, also had racing action restricted to Saturday. Skandia Team GBR's Charlotte Dobson emerged as the top female in the Laser Radial fleet, while European Champion Paul Goodison topped the Laser Standard fleet with three race wins.

"The standard of these UK-based events just gets better and better ,  " Rob Andrews, RYA Competitions Manager explained. "Competitors from other countries are now making the trip to the UK to compete as they see these British events as key fixtures in the racing calendar.

" We had seven nations sailing this weekend with foreign sailors taking the top three in the 49er class , and this level of competition will simply make our sailors more competitive and our events even better."

The RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series also forms the qualification for British sailors for the ISAF Olympic Class World Championships 2007, and, combined with the early season RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series are used as part of classes international championship places qualification and RYA grants for key Olympic regattas. Details of the grants and places selection system can be found at in the Olympic Classes Handbook at www.skandiateamgbr.com

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Notes for Editors

Ø The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

About Skandia

Skandia in the UK launched in 1979 and is now one of the leading international long term savings groups providing pensions, investment and protection products through intermediaries in the UK and overseas, with assets under management of £26.7bn (as at 31.10.05). Creators of the MultiManager approach, Skandia has teamed up with the world's top fund managers to create a range of funds tailored for investors' individual needs.

Skandia UK is part of a worldwide group founded in Sweden in 1855. The group is a leading, independent provider of long-term savings solutions.

In the first quarter of 2006 Old Mutual Plc completed a successful bid for the worldwide Skandia group and full ownership of the Group is currently being progressed.

Ownership by Old Mutual makes Skandia part of one of Europe 's largest financial service groups with a strong financial base. Old Mutual is a FTSE 100® company, headquartered in London , which understands Skandia's markets and customers well.

It has developed and evolved constantly over the years to reach its present position as one of the world's leading long-term saving companies with operations in over 20 countries and assets under management of £46.9 billion (as at 31.12.05). For more information on Skandia Insurance Company Limited visit www.skandia.com .

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A golden return for Shirley Robertson
15 October 2006

Two years after winning her Athens gold medal, Shirley Robertson saw a triumphant return to Olympic classes sailing on Sunday (15 October) clinching gold at the Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta just 13 weeks after giving birth to twins.

Back in the Yngling and racing for the first time with her new crew Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor, the double Olympic gold medallist won Sunday's final medal race and kept sufficient boats between her and her nearest Dutch rivals to seal the overall victory.

Robertson, Lush and Macgregor went into the day in third place with the Netherlands' Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Marye Kampen at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final double-points scoring medal race at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, where big breezes around the 25 knot mark made for an exciting day's action.

Robertson's team were hotly pursued around the medal race track by the 38-year-old new mum's former crewmates Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, now sailing together with Pippa Wilson.

The two top Skandia Team GBR Ynglings ensured a British one-two in the medal race, which was enough to boost Ayton's team onto the podium in bronze medal position, in addition to Team Shirley Robertson's gold.

"It really feels fantastic to win our first event outing together but it was a bit of a surprise in some ways.

"We sailed well in some cases but at other points we made some bad choices which we will have to work on. But as we had a medal race today it allowed us to take back some of our previous mistakes. We knew this morning we just had to grasp the opportunity and pull it out of the bag. We started in a good position on the line and dominated the whole way round so we are very happy tonight."

Robertson continued: "Having not raced in the Yngling since the last race of Athens I am pleased with my performance and so proud of my new team, Annie and Lucy. We had an exceptional performance this weekend."

Austria 's Matthias Schmidt and Florian Reichstaedter won the 470 men's medal race, but it wasn't enough to knock Athens silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield off the top step of the podium. Rogers and Glanfield crossed in second to clinch the overall victory with a seven point margin, while there was disappointing end to Nic Asher and Eliott Willis' regatta. A broken kicker forced the new World Champions to retire from the final race, which also resulted in them being squeezed out of the podium places into fourth.

Skandia Team GBR's Luke Patience and Chris Grube took silver with the Austrian pair finishing in third, while Ally Martin and Lottie Clay took the women's 470 title.

European Champion Paul Goodison won the Laser event in spite of a near capsize in the medal race, while Charlotte Dobson came out on top in the women's single-handed Laser Radial class. World number one Nick Dempsey took his fifth race win from the six race series in today's medal race for the RS:X 9.5 windsurfers to take the title nine points clear, with Bryony Shaw topping the RS:X 8.5 fleet.

Ed Wright, crowned Finn European Champion just two weeks ago, continued his winning streak, while a ding-dong battle in the Tornado saw Leigh McMillan and Will Howden, in spite of nearly capsizing, come out ahead of Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley to take the overall win.

"This is the highlight of the winter series results - we had top class competition here to challenge us all the way to the finish, so we are pleased to once again come out on top," said Howden.

"It has again been great training for our Worlds in Argentina and we're pleased that we are once again moving in the right direction."

A superb comeback in the 49er medal race saw Spanish Olympic champions Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez snatch victory from Europeans Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes. In overall second behind the Skandia Team GBR sailors heading into the final race, the Spanish team needed to keep four boats between them and the British pair to take the gold.

The Spanish team were in overall second behind the Skandia Team GBR sailors heading into the final race. After a good start they were forced back into ninth place after having to take a penalty, but an excellent display of boat handling and superior speed allowed them to claw their way back up the fleet. It still wasn't enough for the gold, but then Morrison and Rhodes made a critical handling error on the final run which saw them lose four boat places the title slipped away.

"We managed to make a little bit of a hash in the last race. It was very windy, and quite a tricky day," a disappointed Morrison explained.

" We made a few silly mistakes. [Iker] made some mistakes as well which gave us opportunities to beat him. Unfortunately there turned out to be opportunities for us to make mistakes and we took those opportunities well and made some good mistakes!

"I hope we can learn from them and move on and I think we will. We know what we did wrong - we kind of got lost in the moment and didn't do the simple things right."

The strong winds saw the three Paralympic classes confined to shore today, resulting in Gustaf Fresk and Annika Lindgren being crowned the first ever European Champions in the new Paralympic SKUD-18 class. The Sonar title went to the German trio of Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka and Tobias Schuetz, with Damien Seguin winning gold in the 2.4mR class.

This inaugural Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta saw an impressive 264 boats from 22 nations descend on the 2012 Olympic sailing venue for three days of world class competition, which also featured demonstrations of GPS boat tracking and radio commentary on the internet to enhance the regatta for spectators.

"I've been really thrilled with the turnout from the overseas sailors for this event, and we've been lucky as the weather has allowed us to get some top quality racing in over the past three days," concluded Event Director Rob Andrews . "Ultimately going  forward  we hope this event will become one of the prime Grade 1 regattas on European circuit and I think weekend has given us a good start.

"The experiments we've been running here with the GPS tracking of boats and the audio race commentary over the internet have proved extremely popular and are a big step in the promotion of Olympic classes sailing."

For full results and information, visit www.ryaevents.org.uk/sailforgold

End s

For more information, please contact:

Copyright free images for editorial use are available to download from:

OnEdition on-line image library at : http://www.w-w-i.com/sail_for_gold/

For assistance or specific requests please contact :

Tim Stonton

OnEdition

M: +44 (0)7841337649

e: Tim@onEdition.com

Broadcasters can request rights free access footage from the host broadcaster by contacting:

APP Broadcast

Carrie Tooth

T: +44 (0)1865 260200

e: ctooth@appbroadcast.com

Live  Radio interviews and feeds will be available via ISDN (G722), pre-recorded interviews and "cuts" with cues available via e-mail (MP3) from Friday 13 October - Sunday 15 October
For more information, contact: Tracey Clarke, Event Broadcast

Email: tc@eventbroadcast.org

During  regatta - mobile: Tracey Clarke 07768 806699

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

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Goodison back on track at Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta
14 October

Better breeze on Saturday (14 October) at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy saw some changes at the top of the leaderboards after day two of the Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta.

Amidst 12-15 knot winds at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue, Laser European Champion Paul Goodison shook off his bad start to the regatta with a race win and two seconds from today's three races to see him take over the top spot ahead of Mark Powell and Nick Thompson, now in second and third places respectively.

Goodison,  the 28-year-old world number one f rom Rotherham, was relieved to have had a more solid performance to see him into Sunday's final medal race, and explained his apparent lack form on the opening day.

"I had a bit of trouble in the first race of the series when I got something caught around my centreboard, so a bit frustrating, but I guess quite funny for the rest of them who watched me disappear down the back of the fleet!," he explained.

"But since then I've either been first or second in every race so I'm pretty happy with that."

With the bitter taste of a double disqualification still looming from yesterday. Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and new crew Pippa Wilson went out determined for a strong showing to drag themselves from the bottom of the Yngling table.

It was mission accomplished, with the Skandia Team GBR trio posting two straight bullets and a third to boost them back into contention. They finish the day in fifth overall, just one point off the bronze medal place which is occupied by Ayton and Webb's ex-helm Shirley Robertson. The double Olympic gold medallist and her team of Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor had a 3,8,6 today to see them into the third place, while the Netherlands ' Mandy Mulder and her team, and Janneke Hin's crew took over the top two spots respectively.

But Ayton seemed unruffled by the Dutch offensive. "They're putting a bit of a fight up but we were in control today and we dominated, so that will send them back to the drawing board I'm sure."

Ed Wright, European Champion in the Finn class, saw a better day today, posting two firsts and a third to see him take the lead over Matt Howard, while the 470 event saw Athens silver medallist Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield leapfrog their World Championship-winning teammates Nic Asher and Elliot Willis with a three point lead at the top of the table going into the medal race on Sunday.

Spain's  Olympic champions in the 49er class Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez had a superb opening two races, with two wins followed by a ninth to challenge the Skandia Team GBR overnight leaders Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes. The Exmouth pair had a 2,4 followed by a discardable 21 which was enough for them to stay at the top of the ladder.

"Not such a good day today but pretty solid," concluded Morrison.

"We obviously had a very good day yesterday which put us in a pretty strong position and so today was a bit more of a day about being safer and not messing it up!

"The Spanish team, who are the Olympic gold medallists from Athens, are a little bit heavier than us - that means they've got a little bit more horsepower so when there's a bit more wind they've got the potential to go faster."

In the Laser Radial, Charlotte Dobson posted the perfect scorecard from today's three races to knock European bronze medallist Penny Clark off the top of the table, while European Champion Nick Dempsey remains in control in the RS:X 9.5 windsurfing class with Bryony Shaw leading the RS:X 8.5 fleet with two race wins and a second for her efforts today.

Ally Martin and Lottie Clay are still topping the women's 470 class, while Germany 's Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz have a one point lead over Skandia Team GBR's Leigh McMillan and Will Howden in the Tornado class.

World silver medallist Helena Lucas broke into the podium positions in the 2.4mR Paralympic class, which is led by Frenchman Damien Seguin with Thierry Schmitter in second. Swedes Gustaf Fresk and Annika Lindgren remain in the top spot of the new Paralympic SKUD-18 event, in spite of a disqualification from race nine, with German trio Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka and Tobias Schutz two points ahead in the Sonar class.

For the Olympic classes, the top ten boats at the end of today will go forward into the final double-points scoring medal races which get underway at 1030 BST.   GPS tracking and live audio commentary will be available from the finals at  www.ryaevents.org.uk/sailforgold

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Copyright free images for editorial use are available to download from:

OnEdition on-line image library at : http://www.w-w-i.com/sail_for_gold/

For assistance or specific requests please contact :

Tim Stonton

OnEdition

M: +44 (0)7841337649

e: Tim@onEdition.com

Broadcasters can request rights free access footage from the host broadcaster by contacting:

APP Broadcast

Carrie Tooth

T: +44 (0)1865 260200

e: ctooth@appbroadcast.com

Live  Radio interviews and feeds will be available via ISDN (G722), pre-recorded interviews and "cuts" with cues available via e-mail (MP3) from Friday 13 October - Sunday 15 October
For more information, contact: Tracey Clarke, Event Broadcast

Email: tc@eventbroadcast.org

During  regatta - mobile: Tracey Clarke 07768 806699

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.

Racing at the inaugural Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta got underway today (Friday 13 October) with double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson currently in fourth after her first day of competitive Yngling sailing since the Athens Olympics two years ago.

The 38-year-old new mother of twins notched up a race win in the fleet's opening race of this regatta - held on the 2012 Olympic waters at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy - with her new crew of Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor.

After a positive start, the second race proved not quite such plain sailing, with Robertson and her team posting a ninth.

"A good day and a bad day," said Robertson. "It was good to get out there and racing again and it certainly blew the cobwebs away.

"We just need to get some more racing time in as a team - today was quite tricky in some ways, but we're finding our way and every day we're getting better and better."

Robertson, Lush and Macgregor are in fourth with Sweden 's Ingrid Soderstrom, Johanna Larsson and Caroline Aberg leading the women's keelboat class after day one.

Robertson's former teammates Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, sailing with new crew member Pippa Wilson, got off to a conservative start, posting a couple of mid-fleet results before being subsequently disqualified from both of the day's races as Webb was judged to have infringed the regatta rules by not wearing a buoyancy aid.

Skandia Team GBR's European Champions Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes enjoyed a near-perfect start in the 49er event, posting two bullets and a second from their three races of the day. The world bronze medallists consequently lead the pack at the end of this first day, with Germany's Jan Peter Peckolt and Hannes Peckolt in second, Spain's Olympic Champions Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez in third, and World Champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks in fourth.

"We couldn't really have asked for a much better start with two firsts and a second from today," said Morrison. "We're pretty pleased but it's still early days."

Competing here in Weymouth at the site of their European Championship triumph, Rhodes reflected on what's been a good year for the pair. "We've been working well together this season - our strengths as a team have really complemented each other and between us we make up for each others' weaknesses!"

Newly-crowned 470 World Champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis lead the pack in the 470 men's fleet, ahead of teammates and Athens silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, who are in second place on equal points with Luke Patience and Chris Grube after two races. The women's fleet saw the withdrawal of pre-event favourites Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark through an injury to Clark, with Ally Martin and Lottie Clay currently topping the leaderboard after the first day's racing.

Things didn't quite go to plan in the Finn event for birthday boy Ed Wright - who turned 29 today - with the new European Champion and world bronze medallist lying in third after the fleet's opening two races. Matt Howard leads the pack, with Ireland's Timothy Goodbody in second, while Finn convert Giles Scott posted a 7,2 in borrowed equipment to see him into fourth in his first ever Finn regatta since switching from the Laser after the World Championship in Korea last month.

Laser European Champion Paul Goodison turned around a bad start to the regatta - posting a 15 th in his opening race - with two subsequent race wins to see him up into third at the end of day one. Mark Powell leads the fleet by just one point of Nick Thompson, who won the day's first race.

Penny Clark has gained a nine point lead over nearest rival Laura Baldwin after the Lasre Radial's first three races, thanks to a race win followed by 8,6, while David Jessop leads the male Laser Radial sailors in this Open class.

Nick Dempsey took two bullets in the RS:X 9.5m fleet's two races, while Kim Jiskoot currently heads up the 8.5m table, with Bryony Shaw in second and the top female sailor in that fleet.

Germany 's Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz lead the Tornado fleet, with Skandia Team GBR's world silver medallists Leigh McMillan and Will Howden in second, while overseas contenders are on top in all three of the Paralympic disciplines. Dutchman Thierry Schmitter heads the 2.4mR single-hander leaderboard, France 's Joudren-Fulgoni-Balle top the Sonar table and Sweden 's Gustaf Fresk and Annika Lindgren lead the SKUD-18 European Championship by three points after five races.

Racing at the Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta is due to get underway at 1200 on Friday 13 October and will run through until Sunday 15 October.

For more information visit www.ryaevents.org.uk/sailforgold

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Copyright free images for editorial use are available to download from:

OnEdition on-line image library at : http://www.w-w-i.com/sail_for_gold/

For assistance or specific requests please contact :

Tim Stonton

OnEdition

M: +44 (0)7841337649

e: Tim@onEdition.com

Broadcasters can request rights free access footage from the host broadcaster by contacting:

APP Broadcast

Carrie Tooth

T: +44 (0)1865 260200

e: ctooth@appbroadcast.com

Live  Radio interviews and feeds will be available via ISDN (G722), pre-recorded interviews and "cuts" with cues available via e-mail (MP3) from Friday 13 October - Sunday 15 October
For more information, contact: Tracey Clarke, Event Broadcast

Email: tc@eventbroadcast.org

During  regatta - mobile: Tracey Clarke 07768 806699

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

Tracking technology takes off at Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta
13 October

This weekend's Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta (13-15 October) at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy will feature an innovative tracking experiment which the organisers hope will help bridge the gap between live sailing and spectator entertainment.

In conjunction with UK-based Traxu and Norwegian company Pro Sail, the organisers will run live GPS tracking of the finals races on Sunday 15 October.

During the finals for each class, the top ten teams after two days of qualification, will race in a double point scoring, non discardable medal race to decide the final positions. Each of the boats, the start line and marks will have a unique GPS tag that will which will then transmit live data to the event specific website.

In conjunction with this live tracking of the boats, the 30 minute races will also feature commentary provided by Airwaves technology featuring expert input from America 's Cup commentator Andy Green. Joining Andy will be Skandia Team GBR Olympic Manager Stephen Park to provide additional insight into the tactics and strategy.

This will be the first time that live tracking with audio commentary has come to Olympic classes sailing, where the technology required is much harder to achieve due to the need for self powering units and restrictions on weight. Although commonplace in the America 's Cup, this weekend's events will mark a significant breakthrough for the smaller Olympic classes.

The tracking developments are not only expected to enhance the shore-side spectator experience, but it is hoped that the initiative will also provide data for coaches, information for Race Officers in helping to police OCS, as well as helping on the safety side as the position of each boat that is tagged will be known to the organisers.

The Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta hopes to continue such technical developments on the spectator interface with future projects linked to live TV images on the shore, which will allow the regatta village to start to come alive.

To watch the live tracking on Sunday 15 October go to www.ryaevents.org.uk/sailforgold

End s

For more information, please contact:

Copyright free images for editorial use are available to download from:

OnEdition on-line image library at : http://www.w-w-i.com/sail_for_gold/

For assistance or specific requests please contact :

Tim Stonton

OnEdition

M: +44 (0)7841337649

e: Tim@onEdition.com

Broadcasters can request rights free access footage from the host broadcaster by contacting:

APP Broadcast

Carrie Tooth

T: +44 (0)1865 260200

e: ctooth@appbroadcast.com

Live  Radio interviews and feeds will be available via ISDN (G722), pre-recorded interviews and "cuts" with cues available via e-mail (MP3) from Friday 13 October - Sunday 15 October
For more information, contact: Tracey Clarke, Event Broadcast

Email: tc@eventbroadcast.org

During  regatta - mobile: Tracey Clarke 07768 806699

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

Olympic and Paralympic sailors from more than 20 nations will take to the water this weekend for the inaugural Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta (13-15 October) at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

Over 260 boats have so far entered across the ten Olympic and three Paralympic classes at this three-day event, which sees double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson making her return to competitive Olympic classes sailing for the first time since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and just 13 weeks after giving birth to twins.

Sailing with her new team of Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor, 38-year-old Robertson will compete in the 15-boat Yngling fleet which includes her former crew and Skandia Team GBR teammates Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, sailing with Pippa Wilson. There will inevitably be some focus attention on how the former teammates fare against each other, but it's not something which Robertson is dwelling on.

"Our priority for this event is just to start working together," said Robertson. "It's still early days for us as a team so we've just kept everything simple, simple equipment and no changes. If we can get out there and do the basics right then I'll be quite happy."

This Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta - which incorporates the European Championships for the new SKUD-18 Paralympic class - marks the first time that an international Olympic classes regatta has returned to the UK since the early 1990s.

"The turnout here has been really impressive," remarked Robertson, "particularly as it's in October as it's traditionally a slack month.

"But people are really keen to see what it's like here, and from our point of view it's perfect to have this event at home."

The 49er class will see strong competition both from home talents including reigning World Champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks, and European titleholders Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, as well as international contenders such as Spanish Olympic champions Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez amongst the 44 boats currently entered.

The Laser class boasts the biggest entry, with 52 boats due to compete. World number one and European Champion Paul Goodison headlines the fleet, while European and Pre-Olympics bronze medallist Penny Clark will be hoping to continue her excellent form this season with a result on British waters.

After a stint standing in for Shirley Robertson in the Yngling, Helena Lucas returns to Paralympic class racing this weekend in the 2.4mR. Nominated for ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award for her achievements this year in both the Olympic and Paralympic class sailing, world silver medallist Lucas will count Frenchman Damien Seguin, Thierry Schmitter of the Netherlands and Norway's Bjornar Erikstad amongst her main rivals.

The host nation will be hopeful of honours in the men's 470 event, with Athens silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, and newly-crowned World Champions Nic Asher and Elliott Willis both in contention, while Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark head the women's 470 fleet.

New European Champion and world bronze medallist Ed Wright will be the man to beat in the Finn class, while Skandia Team GBR's World Champions John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas will be pushing for home glory in the Paralympic Sonar class.

For the Tornado entrants, this event will prove a good warm-up for their end of year World Championships in Argentina this December, while the RS:X windsurfing events will provide a chance for youngsters such as Richard Hamilton, fifth at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, to compete up against experienced campaigners such as Athens bronze medallist Nick Dempsey.

Racing at the Skandia RYA Sail for Gold Regatta is due to get underway at 1200 on Friday 13 October and will run through until Sunday 15 October.

For more information visit www.ryaevents.org.uk/sailforgold

End s

For more information, please contact:

Copyright free images for editorial use are available to download from:

OnEdition on-line image library at : http://www.w-w-i.com/sail_for_gold/

For assistance or specific requests please contact :

Tim Stonton

OnEdition

M: +44 (0)7841337649

e: Tim@onEdition.com

Broadcasters can request rights free access footage from the host broadcaster by contacting:

APP Broadcast

Carrie Tooth

T: +44 (0)1865 260200

e: ctooth@appbroadcast.com

Live  Radio interviews and feeds will be available via ISDN (G722), pre-recorded interviews and "cuts" with cues available via e-mail (MP3) from Friday 13 October - Sunday 15 October
For more information, contact: Tracey Clarke, Event Broadcast

Email: tc@eventbroadcast.org

During  regatta - mobile: Tracey Clarke 07768 806699

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

Olympic medallists come out on top at National Ranker
9 October 2006

Britain 's Olympic sailing medallists were out in force at this weekend's first RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking event (7-8 October) at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy .

Yngling Olympic Champions Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, 470 silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, bronze medal-winning windsurfer Nick Dempsey and 49er bronze medallists Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks all came out on top in their respective classes after a weekend of solid breeze and world class racing at the 2012 Olympic venue.

In winds of up to 20 knots, Skandia Team GBR's World Champions Draper and Hiscocks emerged victorious in the 40-strong 49er fleet, with the Weymouth locals winning by just one point in spite of a strong start by Spain's visiting Olympic Champions Iker Martinez and Xavier Fernandez . Austria's Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch finished second, with the Spanish duo squeezed into third.

The 470 men's fleet promised an interesting battle between Athens silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, and newly-crowned World Champions Nic Asher and Elliot Willis. The two-time Olympians took an early grip on the race series, with three firsts in their opening three races, and a further bullet in race five which helped them to a four point win over Asher and Willis. Ally Martin and Lottie Clay won the 470 women's event.

Nick Dempsey cruised to victory in the RS:X men's fleet, gaining such a commanding lead that he could sit out the sixth and final race - an approach also employed by Yngling sailors Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, sailing with Pippa Wilson on the bow, and also newly-crowned European Champion Ed Wright in the 11-boat Finn event.

World silver medallists Leigh McMillan and Will Howden were made to work for their win in the Tornado class, but eventually secured a two-point margin of victory over second placed Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley, and Hugh Styles and Tom Peel in third.

"This is another good result for us in the build up to our Worlds," said Howden.

"We were pleased to get the four wins in conditions which are not normally our strongest, but we still have to start the regattas better!  There are 3 more events before our Worlds so there is still plenty of practice to get in shape for our most important event of the year!!"

European Champion Bryony Shaw clinched the win in the RS:X 8.5m discipline, while Megan Pascoe took the win in the 2.4mR Paralympic class. There was disappointment for world silver medallist Helena Lucas, who was forced to retire from the 2.4mR event when her tiller and the foot pedals in her boat both broke.

"We saw some excellent racing conditions this weekend, and with such a star-studded entry both from the top the Skandia Team GBR sailors and international visitors, it was a great start to the 2006 National Ranking Series," said RYA Competitions Manager Rob Andrews.

"All eyes will now be on the inaugural Sail for Gold Regatta next weekend, where Olympic hopefuls both from home and abroad will be pushing for good results on the 2012 Olympic waters."

The three weekend National Ranking Series at WPNSA (7-8 October; 13-15 October in conjunction with the Sail for Gold Regatta; 28-29 October) will feature Skandia Team GBR's top talent against the new breed hoping to challenge for 2012, as well as domestic Olympic class racers.

The National Ranking Series forms the qualification for British sailors for the ISAF Olympic Class World Championships 2007, and, combined with the early season RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series are used as part of classes international championship places qualification and RYA grants for key Olympic regattas. Details of the grants and places selection system can be found at in the Olympic Classes Handbook at www.skandiateamgbr.com/events

For full results from the National Ranking event, visit http://www.wpnsa.org.uk/results.htm

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Notes for Editors

Ø The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

About Skandia

Skandia in the UK launched in 1979 and is now one of the leading international long term savings groups providing pensions, investment and protection products through intermediaries in the UK and overseas, with assets under management of £26.7bn (as at 31.10.05). Creators of the MultiManager approach, Skandia has teamed up with the world's top fund managers to create a range of funds tailored for investors' individual needs.

Skandia UK is part of a worldwide group founded in Sweden in 1855. The group is a leading, independent provider of long-term savings solutions.

In the first quarter of 2006 Old Mutual Plc completed a successful bid for the worldwide Skandia group and full ownership of the Group is currently being progressed.

Ownership by Old Mutual makes Skandia part of one of Europe 's largest financial service groups with a strong financial base. Old Mutual is a FTSE 100® company, headquartered in London , which understands Skandia's markets and customers well.

It has developed and evolved constantly over the years to reach its present position as one of the world's leading long-term saving companies with operations in over 20 countries and assets under management of £46.9 billion (as at 31.12.05). For more information on Skandia Insurance Company Limited visit www.skandia.com .

No pits for Cherry at RYA National Match Racing Championship
8 October

This weekend (6-8 October), Team Cherry had a near- perfect performance at the RYA National Matching Racing Championship, winning 10 of their 11 matches to be crowned the latest RYA National Match Racing Champions at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

Sailing on the RYA's J80s, 21 year-old Cherry, with High Wycombe's Nick Houchin, Hamble's Matt Adams and Connor Myant from London , proved to be a strong leader and a cunning opponent.

"It feels great to have come out of the event at the top." Southampton 's Cherry enthused. "I had a really good team behind me. We've been sailing together for three years and have put in a lot of practice recently so it's fantastic to have done so well."

Friday, the first day of the three day event, brought autumn gales with 55 knots gusting off the pontoons. Due to high winds and much to the frustration of the eager sailors, racing was cancelled.

However, Saturday dawned as a better day, with ideal match racing conditions breaking across Portland Harbour . In 15-17 knots racing got underway and the round robin with 22 flights was completed to determine the 2006 winner.

While Cherry's 10-win-one-loss record is impressive, the competition was still strong out on the water, with each team displaying effective boat handling, good use of rules and a strong understanding of the conditions.

Cherry continued, "It certainly wasn't an easy event to win. Everyone sailed well and there were some top sailors competing."

To claim the title, Cherry was able to count one more win than two-time national champion, Mark Campbell James and his tried and tested team of Andy Clark, Andy Yates and Graham Sunderland who finished the event in second overall.

Warsash-based, Andy Clark, bowman for Team Campbell James reflected on the event. "It was a shame to lose the first day of racing but the race committee did a great job getting the event back on pace and completing the round robin.

"We're disappointed not to have won the event, but Nick sailed well all weekend. You win some you lose some, that's all part of Match Racing. We'll be back again next year to try for a hat trick."

Results

1. Nick Cherry, Nick Houchin, Connor Myant, Matt Adams

2. Mark Campbell James, Andy Clark, Andy Yates, Graham Sunderland

3. Ali Hall, Rob Grieg-Gran, Gaz Owen, Tudur Owen

4. Andy Cornah, Andy Bryson, Matt Findlay, Rob Miller, James Roche

5. John Greenland, Tom Montgome, Annie Lush, Dan Sanders, Paul Harris

6. Robbie Allam, Tom Makey, Adam Richards, Ali Haylet, Matt Pinner

7. Ed Hill, Athol King, Andy Mackay, Chris Carden

8. Andrew Shaw, Nick Blevins, Dan Schieber, Tom Hodkinson, Elliott Parsons

9. Katie Archer, Victoria Rawlinson, Kate Fairclough, Hannah Kemlo

10. Mark Lees, Nicky Macgregor, Matt Radmore, Mary Rook, Lucy Macgregor

11. David Tabb, Rob Kemp, Ben Scroggig, Matt Waterhouse

12. Roger Tait, David Wallace, Robert Yeamans, Ewan Stirling

Round robin results can be found in the Match Racing area of the RYA website,   www.rya.org.uk/AboutRYA/programmesinitiatives/matchracing/MatchRacing2006.htm

End

For further media information, please contact :

Myrrh Walker

RYA Racing Communications Assistant

t. 02380 604 219

m. 07769505203

e. myrrh.walker@rya.org.uk

Notes for Editors

About the RYA:

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and Great Britain is the world's top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

Back to top

The most successful Weymouth Speed Week ever!
8 October

The harbour record was broken on the first day by Kitesurfer Nigel Bowley with an amazing 36.85 knot run which was not beaten all week and netted him $1000 prize purse donated by DaKine. The previous record holder Bjorn Dunkerbeck was not there on the day to challenge Nigel as he was on route from the Sylt World Cup event. He arrived champing at the bit to get out and reclaim his title, but other contenders were also hungry for the title including David (Whitey) White the current production world speed record holder. They got within 0.2 of a knot but could not beat Nigel's time.

With Whitey beating Bjorn by the slimmest of margins only 0.07 of a knot! It was not proving to be Bjorn's week. But showing the top sportsman that he is, he was the first to congratulate Whitey and vowed to return next year to reclaim his crown.

Other records broken were, the Ladies Harbour Record set by Zara Davis at a very respectable 32.44 knots. The previous record had stood for 22 years, set back in 1984 by Jenna de Rosnay. Zara finishing 1 st Lady and 18 th overall, which considering the company she was keeping, is a result to be proud of.

Dan Simpson the top junior from last year set a new Junior Record at 28.39 knots and won an X15 race sail from Tushingham.

From the boat camp, It was good to see the mighty Basilica, a 40 foot Extreme catamaran with six crew, flying the course with one hull raised and achieving a commendable 27.24 knots.

WSW came under much more of media a spotlight this year, which is great for speedsailing specifically, and windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing in general. If you were there look out for yourself on SKY, Extreme sports channel, Discovery and the BBC. We also succeeded in attracting sponsorship from inside and importantly from outside the industry, in the case of Maui Jim, who provided their polarised sunglasses to the timing and support crew's and prizes for contestants, worth over £3000, and Kangaroo Poo who provided clothing and paid for the Saturday night Barbie.

But Weymouth is not all about winning records it is a place that ordinary sailors can pit there skills against each other, achieve their own personal bests and have a great time. This year a record number of 59 contestants achieved over 30 knots. Which goes to show the improvement in equipment and skill that is out there. Its also about experimenting with new Ideas in hull and sail design, the wackiest must be the dinghy with the spinning bernouli effect rotor built by Stephen Thorpe which achieved over 5 knots, or perhaps Graeme Fullers high aspect sail pictured, I know it looks like it was altered in Photoshop, but I assure you it wasn't.

We also had a new category this year with recognition to the amateurs that take part every year and with a prize of a brand new F2 Missile, the competition was hot. Simon Hinkley was the eventual winner with 34.11 knots. A special mention must go to a local sailor Tony Robinson who won the Rookie category, he has seen WSW running over the years but always thought it was too good for him. With some persuading from his friends and family he showed up gave his best and won a holiday from Club Vass for his trouble. He says he will be back next year to take the harbour record!

Speedsailing one of the simplest sports around you don't have to be able to tack or jibe you just have to be able to go fast from point A to point B and age is no restriction either. Our youngest contestant was 9 and our oldest was 72. Come on next year what is stopping you? But get in early as we had to turn people away as we were full by August.

Finally the question is.

Winners

Fastest Craft and Kite Overall Nigel Bowley 36.85K $1000 Chq *

2 nd Fastest Kite Jeremy Waitte 30.99K Maui Jims

3 rd Fastest Kite Stacy Vass 29.13K Maui Jims

Fastest Pro Windsurfer David White 36.64K Maui Jims *

2 nd Fastest Pro Windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck 36.57K Maui Jims

3 rd Fastest Pro Windsurfer John Sanderson 35.76K Maui Jims

Fastest Amateur Windsurfer Simon Hinkley 34.11K F2 Missile

2 nd Fastest Amateur windsurfer Robin Penna 33.65K Naish bag

3 rd Fastest Amateur windsurfer Peter Cunningham 33.17K Anemometer

Fastest Master (+45) Windsurfer Robin Penna 33.65K DaKine B/Bag

2 nd Fastest Master windsurfer Pete Davis 32.45K Gaastra ext

3 rd Fastest Master windsurfer Barry Mason 30.20K Maui Sails Q/bag

Fastest Rookie Windsurfer Tony Robinson 32.29K Club Vass Holiday

2 nd Fastest Rookie Rupert Fisher 31.97K Fiberspar Mast

3 rd Fastest Rookie David Strudwick 31.09K Naish Bag

Fastest Lady Windsurfer Zara Davis 32.44K Gaastra ext *

2 nd Fastest lady Jane Sanderson 24.60K Naish Harness

Fastest Junior ( W/end only) Dan Simpson 28.39K Tushingham Sail *

2 nd Fastest Junior Richard Jones 26.19K Tushingham prize

3 rd Fastest Junior Sam Gooch 26.09K Tushingham prize

Fastest Boat Basilica 40' Cat 27.24K Maui Jim Glass's

2 nd Fastest Boat Trifoiler Exp/foil 23.51K Maui Jim Glass's

3 rd Fastest Boat Exajet Exp Cat 15.00K Maui Jim Glass's

Fastest Veteran Brian(Bruno)Warner 23.65K Dakine Harness

Wipe out of the week Tony Ireland Stiff neck & double vision

*New Harbour Record

Back to top

Olympic Classes National Ranking Series kicks off in Weymouth
6 October 2006

This weekend (7-8 October) sees the first event in the revised RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series, held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy .

The three weekend Series at WPNSA (7-8 October; 13-15 October in conjunction with the Sail for Gold Regatta; 28-29 October) will feature Skandia Team GBR's top talent against the new breed hoping to challenge for 2012, as well as domestic Olympic class racers.

Amongst the entries so far are Olympic gold medallists Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb in the Yngling class, Athens silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield and newly-crowned World Champions Nic Asher and Elliott Willis in the 470 men's fleet, world silver medallist Helena Lucas in the 2.4mR Paralympic class and 49er European Champions and world bronze medallists Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes.

For 2006 the RYA overhauled its UK Olympic Classes events in order to ensure both the best possible attendance from world class sailors, to provide quality national racing opportunities for aspiring 2012 sailors and to continue to provide quality racing and venues for the UK Olympic class sailors generally.

"With the new 2006 format the NR series should be the most keenly fought UK Olympic Classes Series for many years especially considering the attendance of Athens medallist in  in most classes and 2007 World Championship qualification places up for grabs," explained RYA Olympic Development Squad Manager Barrie Edgington.

"The winners of all the classes will have to be on top form to win and therefore the series champions will represent the best of British."

The National Ranking Series will form the qualification for British sailors for the ISAF Olympic Class World Championships 2007, and, combined with the early season RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series are used as part of classes international championship places qualification and RYA grants for key Olympic regattas. Details of the grants and places selection system can be found at in the Olympic Classes Handbook at www.skandiateamgbr.com/events

For further event information, visit www.ryaevents.org.uk/nr

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Notes for Editors

Ø The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo.

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

About Skandia

Skandia in the UK launched in 1979 and is now one of the leading international long term savings groups providing pensions, investment and protection products through intermediaries in the UK and overseas, with assets under management of £26.7bn (as at 31.10.05). Creators of the MultiManager approach, Skandia has teamed up with the world's top fund managers to create a range of funds tailored for investors' individual needs.

Skandia UK is part of a worldwide group founded in Sweden in 1855. The group is a leading, independent provider of long-term savings solutions.

In the first quarter of 2006 Old Mutual Plc completed a successful bid for the worldwide Skandia group and full ownership of the Group is currently being progressed.

Ownership by Old Mutual makes Skandia part of one of Europe 's largest financial service groups with a strong financial base. Old Mutual is a FTSE 100® company, headquartered in London , which understands Skandia's markets and customers well.

It has developed and evolved constantly over the years to reach its present position as one of the world's leading long-term saving companies with operations in over 20 countries and assets under management of £46.9 billion (as at 31.12.05). For more information on Skandia Insurance Company Limited visit www.skandia.com .

This weekend a battle of tactical wit and boat handling skill will ensue as some of Britain's top-ranked match racers fight it out for the RYA National Match Racing title.

In a three -day format, the RYA National Match Raing series will once again be held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, from 6 -8 October and will be contested in the fleet of RYA J80s.

The 2006 final will see an elite line-up of 1 2 teams with several familiar faces competing against some new names.

Mark Campbell James and his successful team are back to defend their title, hoping to win their third consecutive National Match Racing title. Team Campbell James are currently ranked second in the UK match racing rankings, just behind Ian Williams who will be absent from the event. After storming to victory in 2005, winning all their matches bar one, Team Campbell James are expected to pose a good challenge for the title.

Ranked third in the UK, Andrew Cornah with his team of Andy Bryson, Matt Findlay, Rob Miller and James Roche will aim to better their third place finish at the same event last year.

After finishing fourth at the Match Race Finals in 2005 Nick Cherry has a score to settle and will hope to wrestle away the trophy. The Southampton-based sailor has pulled together a familiar crew featuring Nick Houchin, Connor Myant, and new team-mate Matt Adams in the hope that this team will fit the bill.

The Women's National Match Racing Champion, Katie Archer, also from Southampton will helm the only ladies boat at the event, with her crew of Victoria Rawlinson, Kate Fairclough and Hannah Kemlo expecting to follow on from their good performance at the Women's finals.

Archer will go up against another sailor that she knows well, as her boyfriend, John Greenland, will also be competing with his team. If the two sailors go head to head in the first round robin, one of them might be walking home.

Scotland's Roger Tait, winner of the Scottish qualifier which took place for the first time in 2006, will make the trip down from Shetland with his crew David Wallace, Robert Yeamans and Ewan Stirling to contest for the top prize.

Mark Lees and David Tabb bring some new blood to the event with each helming their own team in a challenge to some of the more familiar names on the circuit.

Three youth teams will also join the foray, to try their hand at un-seating some of the more mature teams. Andrew Shaw, Robbie Allam and Ali Hall, who finished fifth in the 2005 event, will each helm their own teams.

Racing starts on Fri day 6 October and continues through to Sunday 8 October.

End

For further media information, please contact:

Myrrh Walker
RYA Racing Communications Assistant
t. 02380 604 219
m. 07769505203
e. myrrh.walker@rya.org.uk

A real David and Goliath battle is developing at the 2006 Weymouth speed week. On the first day a kitesurfer Nigel Bowley broke the harbor record, achieving an amazing 36.8 knots! He has therefore laid claim to the $1000 prize fund put up by Da Kine. Bjorn Dunkerbeck the previous title holder was not there to defend his title set in 2004 which previously had stood for over 22 years, as he was on his way from an international competition in Sylt, Germany. Bjorn has now arrived in Weymouth with his caddie and is determined to get his title and the $1000 purse.

With strong winds forecast for Thursday and Friday 40 plus knots is being predicted.

Let Battle commence!

Peter Davis spokesman for the event said "What an amazing start! We knew it would be good with a record number of entries including a 40 foot racing catamaran Basilica, and the largest number of 1 st timers ever. But no one could have predicted this, with strong winds coming and more competitors arriving including the juniors who knows what we can achieve"

Major talent on show at the RYA Zone Championships
3 October 2006

Winners have been named and prizes have been handed out at RYA Zone Championships, a multi-venue regatta that saw Britain 's best junior sailing talent gather across England .

Racing took place this weekend 30 September-1 October, in each of the six RYA Zones with nearly 1000 sailors signing up to take part in an event that would not only decide Zone Champions but would also help select the RYA Junior Racing Squads for the next competitive year.

Once again, the RYA Zone Championships have proved to be the biggest RYA Junior Racing event of the season and the most popular, with around 800 boats and boards competing across the country.

SOUTH
The South Zone Championship hosted by the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy boasted the largest entry of the six zones with over 300 sailors taking part.

Saturday in Weymouth brought gusting winds of up to 20 knots but with the weather forecast to bring stronger winds on Sunday, the sailors bravely hit the water to get in some racing.

Laser 4.7 sailors from around the UK attended the South Zone Championships, the last qualifier for the National 4.7 Squad. Close racing dominated the fleet with Martin Hayes, Shane Terry and Charlotte Greenhalgh gunning for the top three places. After some exhausting racing with sailors fully hiking to keep their boats upright, Hayes from Blithfield Sailing Club took the win with Terry in second and Greenhalgh in third.

The girls led the way in the Cadet fleet, with three female helms winning the top three places along with their crews. Joanna Freeman and Holly Francis from Poole finished in first overall and added another trophy to their growing collection, followed by Phillipa and Michael Horne from Frensham and Sophie Pearson and Liam Pardy from Parkstone.

As predicted Sunday brought winds gusting up to 29 knots and as a result, racing was called off and prize giving held early to recognise the sailors who had finished at the top.

SOUTH WEST
In the South West Zone , the Championship was hosted by Plymouth Youth Sailing who made the decision early to get in as many races possible on the first day of the event.

Racing in a brisk 12-16 knots, a battle between sailors from Restronguet SC quickly ensued in the Optimist fleet, with five sailors from the club finishing in the top five. George Wilson and Christian Townrow finished on equal points with Wilson winning on count-back with two firsts and two seconds. David Grant finished just behind them in third.

The Mirror fleet had some good racing with most boats capsizing in the fresh breezes. Rob and Will Searle got off to a rocky start with a DNF but followed it up with three first place finishes giving them the win. John Harvey and Alex Parks took second and Freya Adams and Mike Chapman took third.

WEST
The West Zone Championship , held at Blithfield Sailing Club saw over 130 sailors and the largest windsurfing fleet of all six Zones gather together to compete in the varying 6-15 knots of wind.

Blithfield, a relatively small lake, threw up several challenges for the race committee, none smaller than that of getting over 130 boats competing in a restricted area.

The 40 windsurfers were treated to a morning of training before hitting the racecourse, where Tom Dickinson from Covenham Sailing Club put his new skills to the test, going on to win all five races in the 5.5 Open Fleet.

The Bic Techno fleets also had some close racing with Finlay Forster Davies from Astbury Sailing Club finishing top of the heap on the 7.8 and North Lincolnshire 's George Bowles on the 6.8.

Draycote Water's Michael Wood was also on top form in the 51-boat Topper Fleet, counting only first place finishes on his score card. It was a close race for second and third with Andrew Salt from Chelmarsh just edging out Sam Watson from Nantwich for the second place position.

NORTH
At Derwent Reservoir , host of the North Zone Championship , the first day of racing brought a bright, late-summers day, with the wind filling in as if on cue, straight after the competitor briefing.

When the rest of the country were struggling with strong winds, a light shifty breeze descended on the reservoir, testing all the competitors to the limits throughout out the four races on day one and the one race on day two.

The Optimist fleet saw some hot competition with Ben Pole from Saunton Harold Sailing Club and Northampton Sailing Club's Lucy Childs tussling for first place. Ben mastered the light and shifty conditions on the first race of the first day posting a convincing win, enabling him to take the top spot. Racing between Ben and Lucy was nip and tuck all weekend, with Ben just scraping through to victory by one point.

The Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club Novice trophy, awarded to a sailor who had never competed in a championship before, was given to local Optimist sailor Daniel Trotter who finished 19 th out of 34, an awesome feat for a junior who has been racing for less than a year.

EAST
Strong winds were also on the table at the East Zone Championship , held at Dabchicks Sailing Club and West Mersea Yacht Club where racing took place on three courses on the River Blackwater.

The event, sponsored by the East of England Co-operative Society, got off to a rocketing start. Saturday saw three races completed for all fleets with winds increasing from 10 knots to 16 knots over the course of the afternoon, accompanied by gusts of 22 knots, often catching out the unsuspecting sailor. On Sunday the wind increased and continued to build making it possible to complete only one race before racing was abandoned for the day.

The 22-strong windsurf fleet had an action packed two days.  The conditions were tough for the younger competitors but all showed tenacity and determination, resulting in some spectacular racing. For many of the sailors this event marked their first experience sailing on the sea and all handled it well.

Racing in the Optimist fleet was full of excitement, with the top three boats all tied with five points following the final race. Ben Harden from Burnham on Crouch finally took honours on count-back with local sailors Sam Curtis and Ollie Gozzett from Dabchicks SC finished in second and third respectively.

The RS Feva class saw the weekend's most consistent performance with Nathan and Anna Ackroyd from Norfolk Broads YC placing first in all four races to convincingly win the class.  The pair took home the RYA Eastern Regions Junior Champions Trophy for the best overall performance at the event

SOUTH EAST
141 sailors made the trip to Bewl Valley Sailing Club for the South East Zone Championship . With 8-14 knots on the first day sailors got three races in with the Windsurfing fleet having a morning training session before beginning to compete for the Championship title later in the day.

Sunday brought bigger breeze but with 20-30 knots on the course, sailors still braved the conditions to get in some races and for some a bit of swimming.

The Topper fleet was dominated by Freddie Connor from Bexhill Sailing Club, who showed a high standard of racing from the moment the first starting gun was fired. Julia Beck placed second and finished as the highest placed girl in the Topper Fleet, proving an inspiration for many young female junior sailors.

"We had a host of bright young sailing talent participating in what I believe was the biggest RYA Zone Championships to date," said Duncan Truswell , RYA Junior Racing Manager.

"The conditions have been tough this weekend but we saw some fantastic sailing which bodes very well for the future. We have received many positive comments from all concerned but predominantly that the sailors were a credit to their sport.

"On behalf of the RYA I would like to reiterate our gratitude for the huge number of people who provided RIBs and the hundreds of volunteers who helped out nationwide."

For further information and results please visit the event website www.ryaevents.org.uk/zonechamps

End

For more media information, please contact 

Myrrh Walker
RYA Racing Communications Assistant
Tel: +44 (0)23 80 604 219 
Mobile : +44 (0) 7769 505 203 

Notes for Editors

Ø Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing.

Ø The RYA is recognised by all government offices as being the negotiating body for the activities it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 103,000 personal members, the majority of whom choose to go afloat for purely recreational non-competitive pleasure on coastal and inland waters.

Ø It represents a further estimated 500,000 boat owners nationally through its 1600 affiliated clubs and boat owner associations.

Ø Olympic and Youth sailing is a beneficiary of the Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP) and administered by the Sports Councils. The Programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk and Sport England's website at www.sportengland.org . The Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme are supported by Volvo. 

Ø Further information can be found at www.rya.org.uk

Lord Coe to visit 2012 sailing region and WPNSA
23 September
Sebastian Coe will be in South West England next month to further promote the region as it gears up to host the 2012 sailing events.

Lord Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, will be visiting Weymouth and Portland on October 3 and be hosted by leading members of Team South West - Juliet Williams, chairman of South West of England RDA, Ged Roddy, chairman of Sport England South West and Guy Lavender, South West England director for the 2012 Games.

Lord Coe, himself a former Olympic champion, will open Weymouth College's new Sports Centre and start the Team South West relay around Weymouth and Portland at 10.45am. The race is for people of all ages and abilities, who will participate in a range of sporting disciplines (To be determined) to cover the area.

Invited guests from the region and the local area will hear first hand about the progress towards hosting the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and Guy Lavender will provide a regional update.

Guy Lavender said: "Lord Coe's visit will be a further boost for South West England as preparations for hosting 2012 events get into full swing.

"The opening of the Weymouth College's new Sports Centre by Lord Coe underlines how important the London 2012 Games will be for the region and what a focus our area will have for the Games. We thank Lord Coe for his time in coming to see the great progress we are making towards 2012."

Lord Coe will also visit the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy to see how this facility is already contributing to a sporting, community and economic legacy.

ENDS

•  The South West of England Regional Development Agency was established by government in 1999 to promote the long-term economic success of the region. It does this by working with others to give people the skills they need, encouraging enterprise, improving infrastructure, helping communities with regeneration and promoting the strengths of the region.

•  Sport England is the agency tasked with the development of community sport in England and invests Lottery and Exchequer funds into sport. Sport England has nine Regional Sports Boards, each made up of experts from areas such as business, local government, sport, health and education. The RSBs provide the strategic lead for sport in their regions and distribute investment for grassroots sport. Sport England has invested more than £2.2 billion of Lottery funds into sport across England and more than £550 million from the Exchequer. www.sportengland.org

•  The South West England Directorate for the 2012 Games is funded by the South West RDA and Sport England and has been developed to ensure South West England secures a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The director is Guy Lavender, who will be an advocate for the Games at all levels across the region. On a practical level he will manage and co-ordinate the South West England operational team for the 2012 Games. He will work with the public and all partners around the region to capitalise on the opportunities provided by hosting the Games, as well as contributing to the successful hosting of the sailing events in Weymouth & Portland in Dorset.

•  The South West England Director's post is jointly funded by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA) and Sport England South West.

For further information or to arrange an interview with Guy Lavender, please contact the RDA Press Office on 01392 229583

For information about Sport England South West, please contact Jason Lyons on 020 7273 1840 or email jason.lyons@sportengland.org

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J24 Autumn Cup at Portland - Jardine back in top spot
10 September 2006

The J/24 Autumn Cup brought a long overdue return to the top spot for former National and European Champion Stuart Jardine.  But the weekend's most notable feature - once again - was the close racing enjoyed by the J/24 Class.  With the Sailing Academy hosting and Race Officer Derek Abbott and the team in charge, the closely matched fleet of 11 was guaranteed excellent facilities and racing, both in the wind and waves of Saturday and the gentler conditions of Sunday.  This was also a final chance for teams to shake down before the European Championships in two week's time at Parkstone YC. 

Saturday's South Easterly breeze had moderated from the stronger winds of Friday, but began squarely in the mid range for Jibs, with seas   that were difficult upwind, exciting downwind.  With Bob (the "Special One") Turner away, his rotated squad ( Serco Defence helmed, as usual, by Al Clarke), took the early lead, winning race one and placing 2nd in race two.   David Ellis' Hitchhiker's Guide stormed back from his disappointing initial showing by winning races two and three, the latter in a closely fought tussle with Jardine's Stouche - as competitors tried to decide whether Jibs or Genoas were quicker in the moderating breeze.  None of which fully captures the closeness of the racing - places continually changing, both up and down wind - with Duncan McCarthy's Madeleine and Jim Anderson's Boomerang closely grouped with the leaders.  Indeed, the upwind finish to race three required a second recount from the Returning Officer, before the places 3-5 were finalised.  Overnight, Clarke led by two points from Ellis and McCarthy (tied on points), with Anderson and Jardine a further three points back and looking out of the hunt. 

Sunday was a perfect late summer day for racing.  With the lighter breeze veering back towards the same direction as Saturday and the tide - strong by Weymouth Bay standards - thowing further variables into the mix, the first beat of race 4 presented an interesting conundrum.  Derek Abbot's square course and start line gave no clues, and the fleet divided off the start.  Ben Williamson's Rumble went right, followed by Jardine,  believing the wind had a little further to go that way and hoping that this