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As the football World Cup wraps up in Brazil, Brazil’s President says the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be a top priority from Monday 14 July 14. President, Ms Dilma Rousseff recently met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach in Brasilia as they looked ahead to the 17 days of Olympic competition, which gets underway in just over two years’ time. ‘Brazil and Brazilians can be proud,’ Bach said after the meeting. ‘I was pleased to hear the …

Racing at the 2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Tavira, Portugal came to a thrilling conclusion as the medals across the eight events were decided. For the first time in their history the Spanish team have won the ISAF Youth Worlds Nations Trophy after a controlling display. Across the eight fleets Spanish sailors picked up three gold medals and a silver. Three of the teams finished in the top ten ensuring they were the most consistent nation out of …

Hamilton Island Yacht Club CEO, Iain Murray told Sail-World that the decision to withdraw from the 35th America’s Cup was only made in the last 48 hours. ‘This challenge has grown to the point where the gap between the commercial side and the competitive costs’ are out of HIYC’s comfort zone ‘The Cup campaign has grown into a far bigger cost and potential risk, with which they are not comfortable.’ ‘We’ve had a detailed assessment of the campaign, and have …

It was a day for the underdogs in many cases on the third day of competition at the 2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship with improvements made and personal goals attained across the fleets. Historically the ISAF Youth Worlds has seen French, Italian and British teams dominate proceedings but in a light westerly breeze, sailors from Slovenia, South Africa, Portugal and Argentina shone brightest in their fleets. The South African boys Brandon Wijtenburg and Todd Fisher wrapped up the day …

Changes in the nature of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 have as expected moved the race from a technical boat design competition to an emphasis on sailing ability. British Volvo Ocean Race veteran 44 year Ian Walker is very happy with the change. After winning silver medals at two Olympics, 1996 silver in the 470 Class, 2000 silver in the Star, then coaching Shirley Robertson to the 2004 Olympic Gold, Walker turned his attention offshore racing. In 2008-09, he skippered …

Tuesday 15 July 2014 It was a late start and a late finish on the second day of competition at the 2014 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Tavira, Portugal with the last competitors reaching the shore at 21:00 local time. The breeze came in late in the day and the first start came at 16:01 local time before the final competitors reached the shore at 21:00. A light yet consistent westerly breeze ensured all eight fleets completed a full …

The adventure is now over for the 8 young South Africans aged between 18 and 23 who were selected to create a ‘tag’ team in a initiative funded by the Sapinda Group and supported by the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund. Info on the 8 South African ambassadors can be found here: Clipper – SapindaRainbow Project Ambassadors_PDF Eleven months ago, the 8 young South African ambassadors of the Sapinda Rainbow Project were in Durban competing against 20 other hopefuls to be …

“The best thing about sailing – I would say the way in which it mirrors life, and the lessons that you learn from it. Things may go your way, things may not! The only thing you can do is try your best from the very beginning to the very end, and then the results will come.” These are the humble and wise words of Ryan Robinson (17) who is heading off to Portugal to compete in the ISAF Youth World …

The island of Bermuda and the city of San Diego have been shortlisted as potential host cities for the 35th America’s Cup. Chicago, which had also been under consideration, is now a likely venue for America’s Cup World Series racing in 2015 and 2016. “Both Bermuda and San Diego have made very compelling cases to be the host for the next America’s Cup,” said Russell Coutts, Director of the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA). “We will be in good hands …

MSC Week 2014 – Day 4 results here: MSC Week 2014 Results Table FINAL The final day of MSC Week 2014 dawned with the weather forecasters getting it slightly wrong with the North Easterly filling in early enough for the Race Officer to get the cruising fleet away on a shorter course to get there race completed before the forecast South Westerly arrived. The rest of the fleet sailed one race which was shortened to allow the yachts to get …

 by Euan Hurter So we have finally left the piece of land named Germany! We did however stay until Wednesday last week. The Monday and Tuesday after the Europeans were mellow, calmed down sessions and allowed us to regain our sense of humour. The weather was still utterly useless and we only had the odd moments of 10 knots. Tuesday was then cut short by thunderstorms and rain squalls that lasted the whole afternoon! That however gave us plenty of …

overall results here: MSC Week 2014 day 3 Results Table Another glorious day dawned on the MSC Week 2014 fleet on day 3 of the regatta. By the time the racing started there was 8 to 10 knots of NE wind with a bit of a lump on the swell. The cruising fleet started promptly at 11h00 and soon split between those opting for the offshore routte and those deciding to go up the beach. Stoked gave Bellatrix a run …

RESULTS here: MSC Week 2014 Results – day 2 After two afternoons of registration most competitors were ready to face 4 days of racing off Durban in weather that only Durban can offer during Winter. The welcoming function kicked off with some lovely dancing entertainment after which the usual formalities were concluded including the welcome by the Commodore of the Point Yacht Club. During the conclusion of the welcoming function, Rob Main-Baillie was slowly spun round revealing an MSC banner much …

ISAF is seeking a modern, lightweight catamaran designed with spinnaker and daggerboards to be used at future editions of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship . Following the selection of the Nacra 17 for use at the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition, ISAF Council adopted submission 052-13 at the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference which sought to determine the most appropriate multihull for use at the ISAF Youth Worlds. An important aspect of the ISAF Youth Worlds is that all the …

The Singlehanded TransPacific Yacht Race takes place on even-numbered years (biennial) from San Francisco Bay, California, to beautiful Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii – a distance of 2,120 nautical miles…alone. This event has been described by some of the racers as life-changing. Former South African Gary Burton, who now lives in Oregon, USA, is competing on a Westsail 32 named Elizabeth Ann. And he’s doing rather well too, so check out the event and follow his progress at: http://sfbaysss.org/shtp/