Professional sailor Steve White has announced his intention to break the current world record for circumnavigating single-handed, non-stop the 'wrong way', against the prevailing winds and currents. Steve will be sailing a Volvo Open 70, which would usually be crewed by ten people.

Taking place this winter, the attempt will mark the 40th anniversary of the original record set by Sir Chay Blyth (CBE BEM) on ‘British Steel’, who embarked on the epic journey described by The Times in 1970 as the ‘Impossible Voyage’. The current record for completing the 22,000 mile course is 122 days, 14 hours and 4 minutes, and is held by Frenchman Jean Luc Van Den Heede.

Steve White says, 'After the amazing experience of the 2008 Vendée Globe, it seemed like the right time to focus my attention on this record that I have been thinking about for a long time, and which fits in nicely before the next Vendée Globe in 2012. The record is acknowledged as probably the hardest and certainly the most gruelling record in sailing, and I am under no illusions about the enormity of the task in hand, both of sailing upwind and against the current in the Southern Ocean, and about the power and size of the boat we have chosen. Jean-Luc Van Den Heede is a legend and his record will be tough to beat, but I think it is achievable'.

Efforts to inject new life into the world's oldest sporting contest, the America's Cup will start in Valencia next week with television trials to determine whether audiences are more captivated by monohull racing or multihull action.

America's Cup holders BMW Oracle will stage a series of trials over four days to assess the media impact both online and on TV, of different types of vessels. The format of racing will also be scrutinised following criticism in recent years that overtaking opportunities on the racetrack have been severely limited.

"We are testing many different concepts," said Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW Oracle Racing Team.

"Would making the first leg downwind instead of upwind be better? Can you have exciting boat-on-boat action with multihulls? Are there alternative racecourse formats which might provide more overtaking opportunities?"

Read the full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/sailing/7895303/Americas-Cup-to-...

Shifty conditions again dominated on the penultimate day of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Istanbul. For the third day in a row the sun burned down on the Marmara Sea and competitors were held ashore until the sea breeze filled in.

It created a difficult scenario for race officials but by midday the postponement flag was lowered for the Blue course, followed shortly afterwards by the Yellow and Orange courses. By 15:00 hrs local time all classes were out on the water, but there was a difference of approximately 6-8 knots in wind strength between the courses.

Read the full story here: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/news/article/2010/july/youth-worlds-racing-day-...

Cornish sailor Pete Goss has said he would jump at the chance to enter the Vendee Globe for a second time.

Goss first completed the single handed round-the-world race in 1996, when he finished fifth on Aqua Quorum.

The 48-year-old, who has entered the Route de Rhum transatlantic race in October, told BBC Spotlight: "I'd love to do another Vendee.

"If someone came up and said 'here's an Open 60, would you like to do the Vendee' - I'd bite their arm off."

Goss added: "There's another Vendee in me definitely. I'm 50 next year, so maybe that'll be my 50th birthday present."

After his last appearance in the Vendee Globe, Goss was award a Legion d'Honneur, the highest civilian decoration in France, after saving the life of fellow sailor Rahael Dinelli, whose boat capsized during a storm in the Southern Ocean.

And with a return to solo-ocean racing now on the horizon in October, Goss is relishing the challenge the 3,500 mile course of the Route de Rhum will provide.

"I love single-handed sailing," said Goss. "The Route de Rheum is one of the world's classic races and I haven't done it because I've been doing other things.

"So this opportunity came along with Team Concise and it was just irresistible, a really good gear change."

Over 60 yachts are expected to take part in the Route de Rhum which begins in St Malo on Sunday, 31 October.

Boatbuilders CNB organised their second annual Bordeaux 60 rendezvous, a sociable regatta that aptly celebrates and highlights the quick success of this class, with some one design racing in partnership with Raymarine and Volvo Penta France.

Unfortunately the poor preceding weather made it impossible for two B60's, Eolic 6 and Si Remote, to join the fun. Nethertheless the eight remaining boats and their crews, made up of a mix of experienced racers and complete families, enjoyed the opportunity to meet and race together in beautiful conditions.

An Olympic triangle course on 11 July made for lots of position swapping under Asymmetric spinnakers, but it was Marijosé that best capitalised on the shortened course to take the Volvo Penta race in front of Kismet and Nina. The overall rankings, announced in the end of the afternoon during the farewell cocktail party, followed this order, with Marijosé's owner thanking Dumia for making the same 'overstaying the mark' mistake that they had the day before!

250 boats were rigged in the dinghy park in the blazing Istanbul sun early on the morning of the second day of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, waiting for a sea breeze to form.

Competitors had to wait until 16:30hrs local time for the breeze to fill in and then when the start gun fired, the fleet sailed into the late afternoon sunshine to try and complete at least one race. The breeze was around seven knots on the three courses but it remained puffy and made for a long day on the water for both the race officials trying to set the courses and for the several hundred young sailors.

The RS:X boys and girls and the 29ers did complete two races but the Laser Radials, the SL 16 cats and the 420 boys and girls only managed one race.

Read the full story here: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/news/article/2010/july/youth-worlds-racing-day-...

J/109 European Championships
Eighteen J/109s are competing at Cork Week for the European Championship and they enjoyed some fantastic racing today. Robert O'Leary, steering Jeroboam, got a cracking start, right under Weavers Point, they went on to win the race by over two minutes. Steven Tapper's Stalker was second and Jonathan & Andrea Tithecott's Judgment Day taking third.

Jeroboam is owned by Jim Prower from Britain but is crewed by students mainly from University College Cork, including Robert O'Leary, who is just eighteen years of age, in his first year at the University.

'We started right under Weavers point to get out of the adverse tide and got a bit of help from the surf down the shore. After that, getting under Carlisle Fort was the way to go, again due to the tide,' explained Robert O'Leary.

Jeroboam led from the start and in clear air they were pulling away from the rest of the fleet, after a cracking first two legs, Jeroboam led the fleet out of the Harbour to Ringabella Bay and then headed offshore. Jeroboam were leading the fleet but only by about 30 seconds.

'The further offshore we went the more the wind started to go east and we got our lay-line spot on, we had a good run back but didn't pull away from the pack. We were still vulnerable but we have some great local knowledge and once we got into the harbour for the second time we felt that this would pay. We also managed to slow the opposition down by some good boat on boat work; after we rounded Cobh Mark, we hoisted our spinnaker and gybed immediately on to starboard, several boats behind us had to give way. With a comfortable lead, we could then sail more conservatively.

IRC Super Zero
The Clash of the titans was on the Slalom course today, and it was exciting stuff as Paprec Recyclage tactician, Sebastien Destremau explained: "We were happy with our boat speed and performance in Race One but it was pretty difficult out there. These boats are really powerful and the corners come up a bit too fast. The boats were really close together in Race Two. However the boats in the other classes which were on the same race course were not a problem as far as I am concerned."

Johnny Vincent's TP52, Pace came back in a light airs second race to win by a tight margin from Gray and Laidlaw's Farr 52, Bob with Paprec Recyclage in third. After two races the big boat class is led by Pace, Paprec Recyclage is second, Bob third.

IRC Zero
Anthony O'Leary's Ker 39 had a solid start to the series and is the overnight leader. Class Zero has some exceptionally close racing and Antix tied with Kieran Twomey's Corby 38, Gloves Off on corrected time in Race Two. A second on their first race puts the Irish Rolex Commodores' Cup captain in pole position. Bernard Lambilliotte's Swan 45, Nemo of Cowes is second, finishing the day on a high note by taking Race Two. Gloves Off is third by just half of one point. It was a mixed day for Richard Matthews and his crew on Oystercatcher XXVI. The Humphreys 42 will have fancied their chances on the slalom course and took the gun in race one by a country mile but were over the line in Race Two and had to go back and take a 20% penalty, meaning that they drop out of the top three, at the end of the first day.

An American teenager, known as the Barefoot Bandit, who is wanted in four states for burglary, shoplifting and stealing boats and private planes has been arrested after trying to flee on a stolen boat from a marina on Harbour Island, Bahamas.

Originally from Washington State in the far north-west of the USA, 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore taught himself to fly and stole four light aircraft during a two year $3million cross-country crime spree, during which he also broke into people's houses, stole groceries, cars and boats.

Since crash landing in the Bahamas last week, Harris-Moore is implicated in the theft of a 40ft boat from Great Abaco and a 15ft tender in which he arrived at Romora Bay Resort and Marina. He escaped from the marina and staff disabled the boat.

But when he returned, police and the marina security guard immediately gave chase and he allegedly stole another boat, this time a 30-foot speed boat that was moored at the marina.

He reportedly ran aground and police disabled the boat by shooting the outboard engine.

He is the prime suspect in as many as 100 burglaries on a string of islands in Washington state’s Puget Sound, where speedboats were used to gain access to empty summer houses on private islands.

He is now in custody in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, and is likely to be brought before a court tomorrow.

F18-Worlds 2010- Two finals races today for the Gold fleet at the 2010 F18 Worlds in Erguy,France and the series is set for a thrilling finish tomorrow

Australian Darren Bundock and Brit Will Howden lost the lead in a tight fought day, they sailed without too much luck to score a ninth and 10th place. From Bundy we heard ' 'It would be nice to get around the first mark in good shape. Spent the day catching up.'

Bundock is looking to win his 13th multihull world championship and will be looking for a big final day to try and peg back Olivier Backes (FRA) who is sailing very conistently with a 5,5 day and Hugh Styles (GBR) who rocketed back up into second place with a second place and a win.

Britain's continued failure to win the football World Cup or any of the trophies on offer at Wimbledon, may just have left the door open for the less well-known sport of offshore solo and short-handed sailing to provide a new sporting hero and champion.

The Artemis Offshore Academy, based at Britain's olympic sailing venue the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), aims to help the best of British short-handed sailing talent win major offshore solo and short-handed races.

British skippers consistently race well and win medals in the Olympic sailing events and numerous world championships, yet in events such as the 5 Oceans and the Vendee Globe, so far there have been no winners. Dame Ellen MacArthur briefly held the world record for fastest circumnavigation but shows no sign at present of setting out to regain the title.

The WPNSA will be working closely with the Artemis Offshore Academy supporting a UK training programme designed to help them win major offshore solo and short-handed races in the future. The ultimate goal is to put a British sailor in a strong position to win the Vendée Globe in 2016 or 2020.

A further base in the South of France, La Grande Motte - already an established French Figaro school - has been earmarked for training during the winter.

John Tweed, Chief Executive at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy commented, "Looking across the channel, it is clear that French sailors' success in short-handed sailing is backed by a strong network of training centres. I have no doubt the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy has the world-class training facilities in place to harness the talent of the Artemis Offshore Academy sailors."