San Francisco has put forward a strong, venue proposal and is now the only city in the USA under consideration to host the 34th America's Cup match.

The city is home to the Golden Gate Yacht Club, whose team BMW ORACLE Racing, won the 33rd America's Cup in Valencia, Spain on 14 February. The next edition is scheduled for 2013 or 2014, the year to be determined by infrastructure development lead-times.

"Our team has said from the outset that San Francisco and the Bay Area have the potential to provide a superb stage on which to host a memorable America's Cup," commented Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing. "Our team owner, Larry Ellison, has called the Bay ‘a fantastic natural amphitheatre'."

In being granted status as the sole venue candidate in the USA, San Francisco can forge ahead with plans to provide the necessary facilities for the America's Cup along the City's waterfront, south of the Bay Bridge. It also now allows San Francisco to "nationalize" their efforts and to seek support from the State of California and the federal government in Washington, D.C. Under the Cup's governing rules, the Deed of Gift written in 1852, the winner and hence Defender for the next Match chooses the venue.

San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom said, "We are very honored to lead a national effort to host the 34th America's Cup. Larry Ellison has a transformative vision for hosting the Cup on San Francisco Bay, and we are prepared to leverage the nation's support to make this a coast-to-coast campaign and to realize that vision." Other US cities have been excited by the prospect of hosting the America's Cup match, notably Newport, Rhode Island where Cup racing was held from 1930 through 1983, San Diego, California which hosted Cup defenses in 1988, 1992 and 1995, and Long Beach, California, site of the 1984 Olympic yachting regatta and the annual Congressional Cup.

Plastiki, the boat made from 12,500 plastic bottles, will leave New Caledonia this week for the final leg of its journey to Sydney.

The 60-foot catamaran has sailed nearly 7,000 miles since leaving San Francisco 108 days ago to raise awareness of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the vast, floating, rubbish patch in the world's largest ocean.

Inspired by the 1947 trans-Pacific Kon-Tiki expedition from South America to Polynesia by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl on a raft made from carved-out balsa husks, British adventurer, ecologist and banking heir David de Rothschild, 31, concocted the idea after reading a UN report on ocean ecosystems.

Plastiki, in which the bottles provide 68 per cent of the buoyancy, has already stopped in the Line Islands and Western Samoa.

The voyage, which aims to highlight the dangers of plastic pollution, over-fishing and climate change to the world's oceans, is expected to start its last and most challenging leg tomorrow after arriving in Noumea, New Caledonia, last week.

Brunnen was at its best - brilliant weather, time of onset of thermal-wind and a super panorama provided a good sailor mood. With the onset of wind we have expired. He has also been properly enforced then with 3-4 Bft, when we arrived at the starting vessel. When first run, I already felt as a safe third when Stephen suddenly came flying from behind me and just before the goal nor reconditioned. The clear tip, Roger, Dieter, was scratched just two times, once by Cyril in his 1 st race with his new boat and once by me. Overall, the field was close together, so that exciting fights were for seats. Between the runs, we were able to recover well in the sheltered bay - almost too long until the Fireballs and the Tempests were all cross the finish line.
On Saturday evening, most of which are then assembled in a cheerful round of the Italians. This is just a well-functioning class also. Since it was a little later, I then spent the night in the gravel pit, but with the 'Regattaverein Brunnen' that's no problem.

On Sunday morning we went to the water and we sailed again three great runs. Just in time for the last run of the wind has stopped, so that the port race then demanded all the sailing skills. For the ceremony, there was again the already famous "Brunnen" - knife.

A great sailing weekend! Hopefully next year will find more Musto sailors the way to Brunnen. See you soon!

Results

1. SUI 308 Oswald Roger Musto Skiff SCE
2 SUI 306 Brunner Dieter Musto Skiff Simpl
3 SUI 203 Selb Fritz Musto Skiff
4 SUI 407 Zuellig Stephan Musto Skiff 3
5 SUI 428 Winkler Cyril Musto Skiff
6 SUI 259 Gasser Andres Musto Skiff
7 SUI 426 Koch Philipp Musto Skiff
8 GBR 154 Archer John Musto Skiff RORC
9 SUI 301 Rolf Schindler Musto Skiff YCAs
10 SUI 232 Bell Marc Musto Skiff
11 SUI 234 Keller Hene Musto Skiff RCO

Sailor Charlotte Dobson hopes to continue her medal winning form at the Laser Radial World championships and further boost her Olympic credentials.

The British number one, ranked third in the world, will be among the fleet of 120 from 41 nations challenging for the women's title in Largs.

"I've had a good string of results since April," Dobson told BBC Scotland.

"I was second in the World Cup event in Hyeres and I was second in the Europeans in Tallinn last month."

Scot Dobson believes the Clyde estuary at Largs provides an ideal competitive environment.

Team GB have amassed 34 medals in the last three Olympic Games and Dobson draws great belief from being part of a team with such a successful history.

Porto Cervo, 3rd July 2010. Team Germany has taken victory in the Audi Sardinia Cup 2010 – ISAF Offshore Team World Championship. The event, organized biennially by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda since 1978, saw eight teams representing seven nations competing for the coveted Sardinia Challenge Trophy. Each team was composed of a Farr 40 and a Melges 32, Wolfgang Schaefer’s Farr 40 Struntje Light represented Germany together with the Melges 32 Teasing Machine, owned by Jean Francois Cruette.
Due to an almost total lack of wind off the north east coast of Sardinia no racing took place yesterday and, despite a long wait for the teams on the water, the same was true of today. The overall classification at the conclusion of the event which took place from 28th June to 3rd July has therefore remained unchanged since Thursday 1st July when the fleet had completed 5 windward leewards and a coastal race.

1- GERMANY: STRUNTJE LIGHT (3,6,6,1,1,1 =18 ); TEASING MACHINE (3,3,1,4,4,1 =16): Total pts. 34
2- ITALY 2: Farr 40 JOE FLY (1,5,3,5,3,5 =22); Melges 32 B-LIN (1,1,7,5,1,7 =22): Total pts. 44
3- USA: BARKING MAD (7,3,4,2,2,2=20); BLIKSEM (2,6,5,3,6,5=27): Total pts. 47
4- ITALY: NERONE (5,2,1,4,4,6=22); FANTASTICA (7,7,4,2,2,4=26): Total pts. 48
5- MALTA: ENFANT TERRIBLE (4,1,2,6,DSQ,4 =26); RUSH DILETTA (4,5,3,1,DSQ,2= 24): Total pts. 50
6- MONACO: PLENTY (2,4,5,3,5,7 = 26); AUDI GIACOMEL (6,2,2,8,DSQ,8 =35): Total pts. 61
7- UNITED KINGDOM: MANGUSTA RISK (8,7,8,7,6,3=39); NGONI (5,4,8,6,5,6=34): Total pts. 73
8- SWITZERLAND: VANITAS CUBE (6,8,7,8,7,8= 44); I.NOVA 2 (8,8,6,7,3,3=35): Total pts. 79

Rating rule authorities in America and Britain have been commissioned to draft the rules for the next generation of America’s Cup yacht.

In asking US SAILING and the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Seahorse Rating affiliate to write the rules, BMW ORACLE Racing and Golden Gate Yacht Club, winner of the 33rd America’s Cup last February, has ensured the process is neutral and independent.

“We’ve always said that the new design will be for the America’s Cup community. The result with be a ‘non-partisan yacht’ rather than a ‘defender’s yacht’,” said Ian Burns, Design Coordinator for BMW ORACLE Racing. “A great deal of input was sought from the America’s Cup community and the concept briefs given to the rule writers reflect that feedback.”

In a twin-track process, US SAILING will author a multihull rule and the RORC’s Seahorse Rating a canting-keel monohull rule.

Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, faced yet more unwelcome headlines last month when went sailing around the Isle of Wight. Mandrake can disclose that his his £200,000 yacht, named "Bob", will be racing again next week, at the Cork Week regatta in Ireland.

A spokesman for BP insists that this time Hayward, who has been described as "the most hated man in America" after he, bravely, agreed to be the face of the company's response to its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, will not be on board, though.

"Mr Hayward will not be in Cork on those dates," the spokesman says. Hayward co-owns the yacht with Sam Laidlaw, the chief executive of Centrica, and Rob Gray, of Deutsche Bank.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff called Hayward's decision to take a day off to attend the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race as the latest in a "long line of PR gaffes and mistakes".

Environmental groups said Hayward's behaviour was "incredibly insulting" given that millions of gallons of oil is still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico following an explosion at BP's Deepwater Horizon well.

David Miliband, the Labour leadershiop contender, defended him, however. "Tony Hayward is a chief executive of a company," he said. "He is accountable for the actions of the company. Does that mean he's not allowed to have a day with his son? No."

Ocean sailor Lia Ditton is to race a state-of-the-art yacht, non-stop around the world with systems wired to stream live data, to record the physical forces of wind and waves, for top musicians, orchestras and web users to mix and broadcast during the 25,000 Barcelona Race.

‘The Voice of the Ocean' will be heard and seen worldwide during the race and after in a big venue, live music experience in Barcelona, on World Ocean Day -June 8th 2011.

The Dragon Edinburgh Cup, hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Cowes, put on a fabulous show in stunning conditions as they completed the first two of their six race series for the British Open Dragon Championship.

With hot sunshine, a good south westerly breeze of 10-17 knots and what Andrew "Noddy" Norden, bowman for reigning Dragon world champion Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, described as "without doubt the strongest Edinburgh Cup fleet I've ever seen", it was unquestionably some of the best racing the Solent has witnessed in a long time.

It was cut and thrust at every single mark rounding but, although he had to fight very hard for it, ultimately it was five time Dragon Gold Cup and European champion Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, sailing GBR745 Danish Blue with Theis Palm and Andrew Norden, who rose to the top of the heap to claim the winner's laurels in both races. Hoj-Jensen's biggest challenger all day was Norway's Klaus Diederichs, sailing NOR282 Fever with Andy Beadsworth and Simon Fry, who lies second overall, four points behind Hoj-Jensen thanks to a second in race one and a fourth in race two.

Read more: http://www.cowes.co.uk/zonexml/story?cp=0;story_id=9571

The Round Spain Race finished during the night in Barcelona with a stunning overall victory for Safran. Sailed by Marc Guillemot and his crew, the big grey and orange monohull took second place in the sixth and final leg, winning four of the six legs in this Vuelta España a Vela.

At 22:21 GMT last night, Safran crossed the finish line in second place - just a few minutes after PRB. However, Marc Guillemot's crew achieved a clear overall win, with a set of near-perfect results: four wins and two second places. This final leg between Palma de Majorca and Barcelona offered the lightest winds and was therefore the slowest race in the event, but was also one of the most hotly contested.