Groupama 3

After 24 hours on the water, Groupama 3 is conceding a deficit of nearly a hundred miles in relation to the reference time. However, this minor discrepancy at the start of this round the world is nothing to worry about, since it was all part of the plan for Franck Cammas and his crew as they set sail from Ushant on Sunday afternoon.

On paper, this might appear worrying, but on water the situation is becoming favourable again for the giant trimaran this Monday afternoon: the calm conditions settling over the Bay of Biscay are now a distant memory for Groupama 3. This was the first challenge during this impromptu start, which only really took shape 24 hours before they set off. Indeed the chance to be part of the 'meteorological window' was worth taking And for the time being the forecasts are holding true on the water. The ride across the Bay of Biscay was fairly quick until the early hours, where Franck Cammas and his nine men had to put in a gybe to anticipate the NE'ly wind shift.

Groupama 3 had to link together three gybes to clear Cape Finisterre and free herself from the coast (and the shipping) in order to benefit from an E'ly wind, which was increasing in strength the further south the giant trimaran got. From midday, Franck Cammas and his nine crew were racking up steadier speeds again for the long drop down towards the equator. As such the haemorrhage of miles conceded in relation to the reference time has been stemmed and this afternoon the boat was making the same speeds (over 22 knots) as its predecessor, Orange 2. Groupama 3's position has become favourable as she will now be able to make the descent towards the Cape Verde archipelago on virtually one tack.

Louis Vuitton Trophy

The World Sailing Teams Association (WSTA) and Louis Vuitton today announced more Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas for 2010 and early 2011. These new international events follow the successful regatta held in Nice, France, last month. Each Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta is a stand-alone regatta sailed in event-supplied 85-foot long AC Class yachts that require a crew of 17 top sailors to sail. The regatta concept is designed to transform a port venue, regardless of its previous sailing culture, into the capital of professional yacht racing for two weeks, along with all the associated activities and excitement, on and off the water.The concept of the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas was inspired by the acclaimed Louis Vuitton Pacific Series raced in Auckland, NZ, last February.

The schedule for the next events covers four distinctly different parts of the world:

Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland: 9 - 21 March 2010
Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena, Sardinia: 22 May - 6 June 2010
Louis Vuitton Trophy Middle East: 13 - 28 November 2010
Louis Vuitton Trophy Hong Kong: 9 - 24 January 2011 (To be confirmed)

*The venue in The Middle East is embargoed until January 15th 2010

World Yacht Racing Forum

Russell Coutts, CEO and Skipper, BMW Oracle Racing shaking hands with Brad Butterworth, Skipper and vice president, Team Alinghi after the American`s cup debate: what is the future for challengers at the 2009 World Yacht Racing Forum 2009 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The World Yacht Racing Forum (WYRF) returns in 2009 with more speakers, more exhibition showcase displays, more networking sessions, more evening social functions and even greater industry participation.
A packed programme of plenary address presentations, 8 interactive panel sessions, 9 hours of networking time built into the programme, 2 evening social functions and a host of other benefits will ensure all participants have the time and opportunity to meet and engage during the two-day event.

Extreme Sailing Series Asia

OC Events, organisers of the award winning iShares Cup, the European Extreme 40 Sailing Series, has announced today the creation of the inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia to be staged between November 2009 and March 2010. The first year of the Asian series will include events in Hong Kong, Singapore and Oman with the possibility of a fourth venue to be confirmed, and with a plan to grow this to a six-event series by 2011/12. Bids have already been received for the future series from a number of other venues across Asia.

After the spectacular finale of the six-stage European iShares Cup circuit last weekend in Almería (Spain), five of the boats were packed up to be shipped directly to Hong Kong. Mark Turner, CEO of OC Group, which includes the Series’ organisers OC Events, declared: “The iShares Cup has been running very successfully for three years now in Europe and the Extreme Sailing Series Asia is the next step in the evolution of this exciting sailing format - a format which has become a benchmark in terms of changing the way sailing is seen. Our aim is to build this series each year on the same foundations on which the European iShares Cup has been built - a comprehensive sailing entertainment event that packages the sport to appeal to the public, media and provide experiential VIP client hospitality. For this inaugural series in Asia we won’t be focused on the public side directly, instead we will work hard on the VIP and media aspects, as we did in the early iShares Cup years. But, of course, our aspiration is to build this circuit up over the coming years to match the award-winning iShares Cup format including a strong public element.”

Each event will consist of five days of racing, combining the established format of short, easy to understand races, a media day, VIP sailing days and special events. The Extreme Sailing Series Asia Notice of Race has been issued today and the announcement of the first of the competing teams will follow imminently. Five boats have already committed to the Asian circuit, as in the first year of the iShares Cup series in Europe.

Aegean Rally

The International Aegean Sailing Rally is a traditional yearly event organized by the HORC (Hellenic Offshore Racing Club). It is the oldest and most prestigious sailing regatta in Greece. Since 1964, it gathers contestants from around the world as well as all of Greece's top sailing teams. Every year the top boats show up on the starting line for a race. Among them there are some of the finest yachts and best trained crews of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The 46th Aegean Rally starts today from the Saronic Gulf. This year the rally visits Syros, Leros and Samos, before returning to Cape Sounio.

Date of Next Match

After the court hearing yesterday, it was decided that the America's Cup Match can take place in the Northern Hemisphere regardless of the date, which Justice Kornreich said can be agreed through mediation. In the event of no agreement being reached, Alinghi, representing the SNG, will race BMW Oracle, representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, in February 2010. In another important decision, Justice Kornreich ordered the GGYC to stick to the specifications of their Notice of Challenge and instructed the Challenger of Record to provide the Custom-House Registry as soon as possible.

Notice of Challenge from Italy

The Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), today received an official Notice of Challenge from the Circolo di Vela Gargnano (CVG) with a certificate for a 90x90foot vessel as per the Golden Gate / BMW Oracle challenge for the 33rd America's Cup.

SNG welcomes the Italian entry; CVG was a challenger in the 32nd America's Cup and is world renowned for its prestigious Centomiglia regatta. It has now challenged with a multihull as per the Golden Gate challenge.

SNG and Alinghi have always supported a multi-challenger event and continue to do so. At a meeting on 23 April, the Swiss Defender asked the American Challenger of Record to open the challenger selection series. SNG continues to encourage a 33rd America's Cup with multiple teams from different nations; however the decision to accept the Italian challenge in a multihull lies with the Golden Gate Yacht Club and BMW Oracle Racing.

Alinghi/SNG cannot accept a second challenge without the agreement of the Challenger of Record, BMW Oracle Racing/GGYC.

BMW Oracle Closed Doors

The 33rd America's Cup defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), regrets that the Challenger of Record, the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), rejected an invitation to resume talks on terms for the 33rd America's Cup. It also appears to have closed the door to other teams using its latest legal action to disregard Italian team Green Comm's challenge.

In a letter sent on 5 May, the SNG invited the GGYC to meet to continue discussions, including such areas as the date, the venue, the race format, the participation of other challengers and the presentation of the Custom-House Registry of vessel. To the SNG's disappointment, the GGYC responded simply by reminding the defending yacht club of the court hearing scheduled for the 14 May in New York.

The SNG plans to persevere with its appeal to GGYC to join its representatives around a table to discuss these matters face to face. The invitation to negotiate remains open.

Alinghi Starts Multihull Training

Alinghi, 33rd America's Cup Defender, has started its 2009-2010 multihull campaign in Switzerland launching the two Décision 35 catamarans that will be used as training platforms towards a multihull America's Cup in May 2010. The sailing team will be dedicated to multihull training, racing the Challenge Julius Baer on Lake Geneva for the rest of the season and withdrawing from other monohull commitments.

In addition to Ernesto Bertarelli's original SUI1, the team has chartered a second Décision 35 (SUI6) for the season and the two grand prix multihulls will race the eight events that span the summer, starting on 8 May with the Grand Prix Corum. Ed Baird will helm Alinghi SUI6 with Brad Butterworth as tactician while Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi president, will helm Alinghi SUI1. “Ernesto and his team have been strong in this class for years, we look forward to learning from and with them throughout the season,” said Baird. “We realise we have a lot to learn, and there will be a number of great crews to race against, so we're excited to have the opportunity to get back on the water in a competitive environment.”

The Alinghi multihulls will face a strong 10-boat fleet that includes some of the best offshore multihull sailors in the world, and while an Alinghi team has won the last two championships on the Lake, the group is candid in its expectations: “We are here to try to win, just as we did last year, but this season is going to be tough: the circuit has two new boats (Veltigroup and Banque Populaire) manned by highly professional multihull sailors with lots of experience, so the starts of the races will be more challenging. We will definitely be trying to keep the trophy in our hands though!” said Yves Detrey, Alinghi bow/mastman.

The first event, the Grand Prix Corum is from 8-10 May at the Société Nautique de Genève, so the Alinghi teams will start training from next Monday, “the D-35's represent a more sophisticated racing multihull than we have experienced before, and we need all the training opportunities we can get as we prepare for an America's Cup in multihulls,” Ed Baird concluded.

Statement from SNG

“BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) and its club Golden Gate (GGYC) have again chosen the New York law courts, instead of accepting an invitation to another meeting to discuss the terms of the 33rd America's Cup. They have ignored both our proposal to open the competition to other challengers and our invitation to agree to mutual consent terms.

As Defender of the America's Cup, Alinghi and the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) are duty bound to fulfill the Deed of Gift that governs the event. The document clearly states that May is the earliest possible date for a race in the Northern Hemisphere, where both clubs are located. The New York Supreme Court Order does not instruct us to breach our duties as trustee.

The Deed of Gift also states that the Challenger of Record should provide the Defender with a Custom-House Registry of the vessel ‘as soon as possible'. This they also ignore. The Deed of Gift is not a document to be cast aside at convenience: the wording is clear on the matter of the dates and cannot be dismissed because it does not suit GGYC and BMW Oracle Racing's current wishes.

The Société Nautique de Genève is prepared to defend its position, which fully respects the Deed of Gift as the governing document of the America's Cup, before the New York Supreme Court and will require BOR and the GGYC to do the same.”

Valencia Hosts AC Pre-Regattas

The 33rd America's Cup event authority, AC Management, today signed a Host Venue agreement with the Valencian Municipality and Regional Government for the Spanish city of Valencia to hold two America's Cup pre-regattas, the first from the 10-19 July and the second in October.
Should the pending litigation concerning the future of the 33rd America's Cup be resolved in favour of the multi-challenger event as proposed by the Defender, Alinghi and the Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela, these two regattas will be part of the 33rd America's Cup, with the Match scheduled for 2010.

The Defender and the Challengers will meet off Malvarrosa Beach with the ACC Version 5.0 yachts in just three months time for a combination of fleet and match racing much like the highly successful Acts held in the lead up to the 32nd America's Cup.

Alinghi and Club Náutico Español de Vela held the sixth Competitor Meeting yesterday in Valencia with the entered teams and discussions centered on base allocation and plans for Version 5.0 yacht allocation during the two 33rd America's Cup pre-regattas, the first of which begins on 10 July in Valencia. The group of teams, having worked on the document for the past months, decided to publish the Competition Regulations for the 33rd America's Cup this week.
The next 33rd America's Cup Competitor Meeting is on 28 April.

America's Cup Competitor Meeting

At a fifth 33rd America's Cup Competitor Meeting in Valencia, Alinghi, the Defender, the Spanish Challenger of Record and 16 of the 17 challengers (China absent) discussed amendments to the Competition Regulations, which are now in the final drafting stage. They also agreed a Protocol amendment which will loosen the restriction on designers moving between teams. The group appointed two additional members of the Arbitration Panel. The 19 competitors also named David Pedrick (USA) Technical Director for the 33rd America's Cup.

The Host City agreement was also discussed, along with plans to run the pre-regattas in 2009 and the Match in 2010 in Valencia. Negotiations are moving forward with the Spanish administrations and AC Management is confident of announcing a deal with Valencia in the near future. The competitors decided that participation in the 2009 pre-regattas on ACC Version 5.0 yachts is to be compulsory for all teams and it is intended that syndicates be allocated bases once they confirm their participation in these races.

ETNZ Winner of Pacific Series

The Race Committee delayed the next start while it waited for conditions to moderate. However, three hours later with the wind gusting over 30 knots, it abandoned racing for the day and said it would shorten the best-of-seven final to a best-of-five. Racing resumed the next day.

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, congratulated Emirates Team New Zealand on winning the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.

Alinghi won the first match of the best of five series, but ETNZ took the next three to claim the LVPS Cup. Next for these 33rd America's Cup teams are the pre-regattas scheduled for July and October this year, followed by the Spanish Challenger of Record's annual regatta in November.

Alinghi Passes to Final Stage

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, competing in Auckland, New Zealand this month in the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series has raced its way into the Finals beating rivals BMW Oracle Racing 2-0 in a best of three competition. The Swiss team now passes into the final stage against Emirates Team New Zealand for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup which begins on Friday and wraps up on Saturday. In the LVPS Finals draw this evening, Alinghi drew NZL92 as their race yacht for the rest of the series while ETNZ will race NZL84. Emirates Team New Zealand drew the preferred starboard entry for tomorrow's first race.

3rd Victory for Greeks

It was three out of three for Greek Challenge on Monday and a fantastic end to their participation in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. The America’s Cup newcomers from Greece met the South African team for the third time, and were victorious in the sail-off for 8 challenger spot in this prestigious event.

Similar to the other two races, the prestart was aggressive but again Brady got the upper hand, crossing the line with great style in what was described as one of the most convincing starts of the regatta. The Greek stretched out a lead in the first beat, at times leaving Shosholoza 120 meters behind.

The crew carried out an excellent spinnaker hoist after the mark and soon Brady put a lid on Cian’s ambitions in the run, rounding the leeward gate comfortably ahead.

Trying to play it safe, the Greeks sailed conservatively in the 2nd beat, giving Cian the opportunity to momentarily come back. Shosholoza then tried to get the umpires in the game by forcing a possible port-starboard incident at the second weather mark but didn’t succeed. The Greek boat was on the left layline powering on towards the mark while Shosholoza was slowing down on the right one. The two boats were on collision course but Brady had more than enough space to safely round the buoy ahead of the South African team.

Greek Challenge didn’t give their opponent any breathing space in the last run, making sure they matched them gybe for gybe. A good tactical call on the last stretch allowed the Greek boat to take advantage of a puff of wind on the right side of the course and gain an additional couple of boat lengths, crossing the finish line half a minute ahead of Shosholoza.

The Greek team leaves Auckland on a very positive note. The sailing team was formed a mere month ago, trained only one week in Valencia onboard the K-Challenge boats and then another few days in Auckland, prior to the start of official racing. The goal of sailing competitively has been achieved by the Greek team and the 3 wins are the icing on the cake. The foundations have been laid for more success in the future.

LVPS Round Robin2

Racing in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series took on fresh intensity today as a newcomer team from Italy defeated hosts Emirates Team New Zealand and champion Swiss team Alinghi snatched a last minute victory from Britain's TEAMORIGIN.

The biggest upset of the day came as the newcomer, Damiani Italia Challenge, steered by Francesco Bruni convincingly put away undefeated Emirates Team New Zealand in the best tacking duel seen in this series after winning the start.

The ten international teams were racing in the first of five day's competition in the second round of the match race regatta on Auckland Harbour. After a long wait for a northerly breeze to fill in they raced in conditions that ranged from ten knots for the first of five races to 18 knots by the end of the day.

China skipper Ian Williams narrowly held off Shosholoza's Paolo Cian until the start of the second run when the South African boat had gennaker problems that saw them trawling the big chute like a giant drogue.

There were two other races. Cup champion Russell Coutts dished out a master class on starting technique in his matchup with Italy's Luna Rossa sailed by Peter Holmberg. The Americans won by 58 seconds.

There was a closer race between Gavin Brady steering the Greek Challenge and the French boat Pataugas K-Challenge with Sebastian Col at the helm. The French prevailed all around the course.

Greek Helmsman on AC Boat

After Saturday’s first ever victory, Greek Challenge wrote another page in the history of Greek sailing. For the first time ever, a Greek sailor took the helm of an America’s Cup yacht during a world-class event. Theodoros Tsoulfas, prominent offshore Greek sailor, helmed the Greek Challenge yacht in the team’s last race of Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Round Robin 1, against Team Origin from the UK.

Gavin Brady, the New Zealander that steered the yacht so far in the Series, switched positions with Tsoulfas on Tuesday and called tactics in what turned out to be a very tricky and shifty day. In addition, 11 out of the 17 crew were Greeks, marking another first. Never before in the Series, Greek sailors were the majority onboard.

The race was closer and tighter than what one would have expected, especially against an outstanding helmsman of the caliber of Ben Ainslie, 3-time gold Olympic medalist. Greek Challenge crossed the starting line on the right and Origin on the left, slightly ahead. During the first beat, the Greeks managed to stay on Origin’s trail, rounding the first weather mark a mere 14 seconds behind the British yacht. Despite being a novice, Tsoulfas was able to stay close and round the leeward gate 17 seconds behind Ben Ainslie. In the second half of the race, Greek Challenge slipped back and crossed the finish line 58 seconds behind the British yacht.

Greek Challenge finishes Round Robin 1 with 1 win and 3 losses. Due to the penalty received in the race against Alinghi, Greek Challenge has no points and will now compete in the Silver Fleet, together with China Team, Shosholoza and Pataugas K-Challenge. There will be no racing on Wednesday and the Greek team will come back on the water of Waitemata harbor on Thursday, facing Pataugas K-Challenge.

AC33 Rule Boat

The AC33 has been designed through consultation between the Defender, the Challenger of Record and the 17 other entered teams. Designers and team managers from the 19 America’s Cup syndicates met regularly in Geneva, Switzerland, and Valencia, Spain, since the design process began in early November 2008.

This group agreed to develop a boat similar in cost to the America’s Cup Class Version 5.0 boat, but with a more exciting performance. The AC33 Rule evolved to a race yacht of 26m maximum length overall, with 5m of draft and a displacement of 17.5tonnes.

The sail plan area is greater than with the ACC Version 5.0 but without overlapping headsails, and as with the AC90 Rule contemplated in 2007, the boat has a bowsprit and the spinnaker area is limited only by sheeting constraints, not by measurement of dimensions. Given the lighter displacement, the AC33 will be more demanding to sail upwind, and will provide sparkling performance on the runs. Maximum beam is 4.8m, which will seem wide to people used to the appearance of the Version 5.0 yachts, where the last generation of yachts had a beam not much more than 3m in many cases.

Team Greek Challenge

In the opening race today (Friday) France's Pataugas K-Challenge will race aboard USA 98 against China Team in USA 87. The second race will see Britain's TEAMORIGIN in NZL 92 starting against Italy's Luna Rossa 84. The third race will be Emirates Team New Zealand in USA 98 versus Damiani Italia Challenge sailing USA 87. The last race of the day is the newcomer Greek Challenge in NZL 84, up against Switzerland's powerful Alinghi.

Greek Challenge presented on Friday morning its crew line up for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. Without losing its Greek identity, the team crew has a strong Kiwi flavor, with a total of 8 New Zealanders out of the 21 sailors that will be racing off Auckland's harbor for the next 2 weeks. Twelve Greeks will be defending their home colors and the 21-man roster in Auckland is completed with 1 South African.

Gavin Brady, 5-times America's Cup helmsman, will drive the boat in the team's maiden participation in a world-level regatta, against the world's top America's Cup teams. In fact, the first ever Greek team for the America's Cup will have to face none other than Alinghi, current defender and 2-time winner, in its first race.

The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series is the first step in a long-term effort to develop young sailors from Greece and create a stable platform that will lead to a competitive America's Cup team.

Greek Challenge Crew List

Bowman: Kevin Batten, NZL
Mid Bowman: Michail Pateniotis, GRE, Pavlos Kagialis, GRE (Reserve)
Mastman: Dimitrios Benakis, GRE
Pitman: Jeremy Scantlebury, NZL
Pit Assistant: Anestis Karayiannidis, GRE
Port Grinder: Angelos Boubouras, GRE
Starboard Grinder: Konstantinos Chaniotis, GRE
Upwind Trimmer: Carsten Schon, NZL
Downwind Trimmer: Athanasios Pachoumas, GRE, Zachary Hurst, NZL (Reserve)
Mid Grinder: Stu Clarke, NZL
Mainsail Trimmer: Rodney Keenan, NZL
Traveller: Dan Slater, NZL, Panagiotis Mantis, GRE (Reserve)
Helmsman: Gavin Brady, NZL
Floater: Antonis Bougiouris, GRE
Navigator: Marc Lagesse, RSA
Aft Grinder / Skipper: Sotiris Buseas, GRE
Runner: Alexandros Tagaropoulos, GRE, Theodoros Tsoulfas, GRE (Reserve)

Greek Challenge made history today by engaging for the first time with another LVPS team in the waters of Auckland's Waitamata Harbour and winning. They finished Thursday's practice session more upbeat than any other team, because they obtained an advantage over BMW Oracle during their light air practice session this morning. Was it a fluke, or will they be able to repeat the performance in their first matchup in the Round Robin series against Alinghi on Friday afternoon.

Little is known about Greek Challenge CEO, Sotiris Buseas' herculean effort to build the nascent syndicate... The Greeks turned to ISAF #1-ranked match race skipper, Sebastien Col and his World Match Racing Team colleagues for on the water coaching in the Pataugas K-Challenge boat. Nervous at first, Col was impressed with the Greek team. All are very good sailors in their own disciplines, but aside from Marc Lagesse, they had never sailed an America's Cup class boat before. To everyone's surprise, the total immersion ACC training sessions worked well and Patugas K-Challenge's boat was no worse for the wear when the rest of the K-Challenge team arrived in Valencia for pre-LVPS training.

America's Cup in 2010

AC Management today announced the entry list for the 33rd America's Cup that includes 19 teams, eight of which are new entries. All of the 32nd America's Cup challengers have re-entered, but one.

Aside from the Defender, Alinghi and the Challenger of Record, Desafío Español, a total of 21 teams presented a Notice of Entry and 17 were accepted. Three of the entered teams are pending minor details towards their official registration and have been granted an extension until January 15. Three other teams were denied entry as no further documentation beyond the Notice of Entry was received by the December 15 entry deadline. Carbon Challenge has withdrawn.

The teams have been working together over the past few months at regular Competitor Meetings to amend the 33rd America's Cup Protocol and to design the new class rule; this process is ongoing and will continue into the New Year with further meetings planned and a publication date for the class rule scheduled for the end of January.

The 33rd America's Cup schedule is for two pre-regattas in Valencia in 2009, the first in July and the second in October, plus the Club Náutico Español de Vela annual regatta in November, followed by an America's Cup Match in 2010.

33rd America's Cup teams (in order of entry):
Alinghi, Société Nautique de Genève (SUI) – Defender
Desafío Español, Club Náutico Español de Vela (ESP) – Challenger of Record
Shosholoza, Royal Cape Yacht Club (RSA)
TeamOrigin, Royal Thames Yacht Club (GBR)
Team New Zealand, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (NZL)
DCYC, Deutscher Challenger Yacht Club (GER)
Green Comm Challenge, Circolo di Vela Gargano (ITA)
Ayre Challenge, Real Club Náutico de Dénia (ESP)
Victory Challenge, Gamla Stans Yacht Skallskap (SWE)
Argo Challenge, Club Nautico Gaeta (ITA)
Mascalzone Latino, Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia (ITA)
Team French Spirit, Yacht Club de St Tropez (FRA)
Luna Rossa, Yacht Club Punta Ala (ITA)
Russia Team - Fiona, Yacht Club Seven Feet (RUS)
Joe Fly, Società Canottieri Lecco (ITA)
K-Challenge, Cercle de la Voile de Paris (FRA)
Greek Challenge, N.O.K. Poseidon - Nautical Club of Kalamata (GRC)
Dabliu Sail Project (ITA)
China Team, Qingdao International Yacht Club (CHN)