In this Issue:
Grand Rapids Boat Show- Happening Now !
Whitbread: Southern Ocean Checkup
S2 9.1 News
Royal Sun Alliance- Progress Report
Gold Race - Any changes ?

Grand Rapids Boat Show- Happening Now !

  Just a reminder as you read the Grand Rapids boat show is underway. Torresen Marine is there to serve you. Please stop by and see us !

Whitbread: Southern Ocean Checkup

    The Whitbread fleet has finally hit the Southern Ocean and its 'liquid himalayas'. The fleet has had some wild sailing and also some damage.

    Two of the competitors have suffered rig damage. Saturday night as the wind blew 45 knots, EF Education suffered a detached shroud. It was the D2 between the first and second spreaders. Despite the crews efforts to repair it, they are now heading to
the Cape Horn area to effect repairs.

    The fleet tehn bombed through the Southern Ocean until Tuesday. That day Silk Cut lost the top half of her mast while sailing under spinnaker in 30 knots of wind. The crew still has half a mast with which to work. They will sail this jury rig to Ushuia which is just inside of Cape Horn. Here they will take on diesel and motor north, perhaps to Sao Sebastiao where they will step a new rig.

    The boats still racing are led by EF Language. Swedish Match trails her by 24.7 miles, and in 3rd place is Toshiba 62.6 miles back. The boats are screaming
downwind with sustained boatspeeds in the 20 knot range.    Let's wrap up with this quote from Merit Cup's Grant Dalton. "As I look out of the hatch, not more than 200 metres away there is Toshiba absolutely flying. It is one of the most dramatic sailing scenes you could imagine. These two yachts at a point on the globe which is as far away from land as anywhere else on earth, going as hard as they can. This is not safe at all, the way we are sailing now, but what choice do you have."

    As always to follow the Whitbread on a daily basis see the official Whitbread site:
www.whitbread.org

S2 9.1 Meter News !

    The s2 9.1 meter class has announced its schedule for the 1998 sailing season.
    The Great Lakes One Design Championship will consist of races at these regattas. They are:

• South Haven Invitational June 6&7 (5 races)

• Chicago NOOD Regatta June June 19-21 (5 races)

• Milwaukee Grand Prix August 1&2 (5 Races)

• Muskegon Governors Cup September 5&6 (3-5 Races)

    The series scores for each boat will consist of the best 70% of completed races.
    The Chicago NOOD regatta will serve as the s2 9.1 Meter North American One Design Championship.

    For Further information on this growing, competitive and friendly class contact:
Scott Corder Class Secretary e-mail: scorder@gr.cns.net

Royal Sun Alliance Progress Report  

 
    The 92' catamaran with the all women crew is sailing its way around the globe. The question is: are they fast enough to break the current record of 71 days ?

    As they start their 9th day at sea they are off Africa, at 10 degrees north latitude. When you compare their position to record holder Sport-Elec they are virtually even.
    So, while not by any means battering the record they are certainly in a position to beat it.

    For day by day information on their attempt go to the Royal & SunAlliance website:
www.rsachallenge.com

Gold Race- Any Changes ?

    As the fleet of 3 Open 60's approaches Cape Horn they are beating in winds ranging from 40 to 60 knots. For the fatalists out there the fleet will round Cape Horn on Friday the 13th.

    Yves Parlier and his crew will then receive the Guy Cotten Trophy for being the first to round the tip of the South American continent.

    Race leader Yves Parlier says this about Cape Horn: "The weather faxes for the Horn look really impressive. I say to myself, who’d want to go there? "

    The standings Wednesday morning are unchanged in order. Aquitaine Innovations is 1st, with PRB 227 miles back, and Geodis 3rd 492 miles out of 1st. With the speeds as they are, a change in the order is not likely. Then again, more strange things happen at Cape Horn than anywhere else.

    To keep up with the race you have 2 different website choices. You can go to: www.aroundalone.com and read about the race in english, or go to: www.goldrace.com for french text.