Volvo Ocean Race

What began at 4am under the darkness of night and a full moon, ended more than two hours later in the morning dawn. Following a 20 mile trip, PUMA Ocean Racing's new boat for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 made its way from Goetz Custom Boats in Bristol, Rhode Island to the Newport Shipyard in Newport, where it will receive final preparations before going in the water.

PUMA's new racing yacht left Goetz Custom Boats at 4:07am Eastern time under the power of a 16-liter VT800 Volvo Truck. What normally takes 25 minutes for passenger cars took more than 2 hours as the wide load and 70-foot boat had to navigate over a closed 2-lane bridge, around streets signs, through narrow turns and over curbs. A dense layer of fog on the historic Mt. Hope Bridge, made for an especially tricky but photo-worthy drive. At 6:25 with the sun slowly rising, PUMA's new boat arrived at the Newport Shipyard.

World ARC: Entry List Opens for 2010

Building on the success of the 2008 Rally, World Cruising Club has announced that the entry list is now open for a second edition of the Rally, World ARC 2010. Billed as an adventure of a lifetime, World ARC 2010 will leave the Caribbean in January 2010, cruising across the World's great oceans on a circumnavigation of the globe, returning to the Caribbean 15 months later.

The response to the announcement has been enthusiastic with three entries received within 24 hours of the list opening. Places are limited to a maximum of 45 boats. To register your interest, contact WCC in Cowes or visit the website.

Yachts in the 2008 rally are currently cruising through French Polynesia visiting remote islands in the Tuamotos and Society groups.

Artemis Transat

Winner of the solo Vendée Globe in 2004 and race favourite in the two-handed Barcelona World Race in 2007, before suffering mast failure, Vincent Riou has done more than enough ocean miles to qualify for The Artemis Transat, but it was a requirement for Riou to qualify the boat and mast in its new configuration. So Riou took PRB offshore for 36 hours off the south of Brittany and completed a 300-mile passage that has now qualified PRB ! for The Artemis Transat. Riou was more than happy with the boat's performance: "In 20 knots of breeze, we had boat speeds of no less than 17 to 18 knots!"

Mike Golding, skipper of the IMOCA 60 ECOVER 3, has been forced to abandon his hopes of defending his IMOCA 60 title in The Artemis Transat, and has officially withdrawn from the list of entries. ECOVER 3's replacement carbon keel blade will not be ready sufficiently early to safely allow the team to compete in this tough transatlantic event without compromising the campaign's goals.

Farr40 Worlds

Vincenzo Onorato and his Mascalzone Latino are the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Champions, achieving a first in the sailing world - three back-to-back victories in this ultra-competitive one design class. This evening in addition to the World Cup, Onorato was presented with a commemorative Rolex timepiece at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Awards party. The day initially lined up as an all-Italian battle pitting defending champion Mascalzone Latino (ITA), the leader of the series since the first race, against Joe Fly (ITA), the second-place, well-sailed boat. In reality Barking Mad (USA) became part of the winner's fate when it was fouled by Joe Fly during the first mark rounding of race nine (Saturday's first race). Mascalzone rounded in the same group and filed a protest against Joe Fly. Next year, the Class will travel to Europe to Porto Cervo, Sardinia for the 2009 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship.

1. Mascalzone (ITA), Vincenzo Onorato
2. Joe Fly (ITA), Giovanni Maspero
3. Mean Machine (MON), Peter de Ridder
4. Nanoq (DEN), HRH Crown Prince Frederik
5. Calvi Network (ITA), Carlo Alberni
6. Alinghi (SUI), Ernesto Bertarelli
7. Ramrod (USA), ), Rodrick Jabin
8. Barking Mad (USA), Jim Richardson
9. Opus One (GER), Wolfgang Stolz
10. Nerone (ITA), Massimo Mezzaroma/ Antonio Sodo Migliori

Farr 40 Worlds

In a stark contrast to yesterday's 18-knot winds and lumpy seas, today's light-air conditions gave the international fleet competing in the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship a new challenge. With a total of six races completed so far in the 10-race series, Italian teams hold the top two spots -- Mascalzone Latino in first, with a three point lead, over Joe Fly in second. Two-time world champion Barking Mad (USA) climbed up from seventh place into third overall. America's Cup champion Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi slipped from third and finished the day in fifth overall. The Greek team Atalanti also managed to climb from 8th to 6th overall.

Farr40 Worlds Start

Current World Champion Mascalzone Latino charged to the head of the 33-boat fleet on the first day of racing during the 2008 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. With three races completed in the 10-race series, there are at least a dozen boats that can win the overall title, however today belongs to the Italians. "It's a long time left to sail and we just have to enjoy ourselves on the water," said Onorato moments after returning to the dock. "The others feel the pressure; we are two-time world champions and we are here to enjoy ourselves."

Despite a last minute change of tactician with American Morgan Larson arriving this morning on the red eye from the West Coast to fill in for Adrian Stead who returned home for the birth of his first child, Onorato had nothing but praise for Larson's ability to jump in and assist with a 3-12-1 scoreline. "Of course he (Larson) did a very nice job and we dedicate this victory to the new Lucas Stead, born yesterday. If you look, we are sailing with a blue stripe on the back of the boat for him."

Tall Ships Regatta

The ports of Falmouth in the UK and Funchal in Portugal have now reached their maximum capacity for the large Class A ships for this year's Funchal 500 Tall Ships Regatta. Smaller vessels are still able to enter but these two ports are unable to berth any more Class A ships.

Falmouth now has ten Class A ships registered to take part in the first race to Ilhavo in Portugal, together with another nine vessels of the smaller classes. The second race, which ends in Funchal, has 11 Class A vessels registered with seven smaller vessels also taking part.

The Class A ships taking part include two of the biggest in the world, Mir and Sedov from Russia as well as Cuahtemoc from Mexico, Shabab Oman from Oman and Capitan Miranda from Uruguay which will make for a colourful and multi-cultural event. The latest Class A ship to join is Pelican from the UK, racing for the first time this year.

The Funchal 500 Tall Ships Regatta starts in Falmouth from 10-13 September where the first race will commence. The fleet will race down to Ilhavo in Portugal where they will enjoy four days of festivities, 20-23 September, before racing to Funchal where the fleet will form a centrepiece of the city's 500th anniversary and Maritime Festival for four days, 2-5 October.

Rolex Farr 40 Worlds

Sometimes the days can seem endless when you're spending time in a tropical paradise such as Miami Beach, Florida, but not so for the 33 international teams making last-minute preparations for the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. The regatta - scheduled for April 16-19 and the 11th in the Class's history - has brought together the top names in professional sailing that will be found alongside some of the best amateur sailors in one design racing.

After sailing in the Rolex Farr 40 Pre-Worlds, April 11-12, followed by two days of further sail measurement, crew weigh-in and boat tuning, no one can be accused of slacking off before the big event. Most teams put in full days of training and tuning, and today many can be seen out on the Atlantic Ocean lining up in practice starts and mark rounding maneuvers as boat-handling consistency is one main ingredient for obtaining the top-10 scores needed in each race to assure a victory in this cut-throat fleet.

Commodores' Cup

Organisers, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, expect 14 or 15 three-boat teams to take to the water for this increasingly fiercely contested international competition and challenges are anticipated from Hong Kong, Ireland, France (winners in 2002 and 2006), The Netherlands, Spain and Great Britain (winners in 1996 and 2004), which includes a team representing Scotland. Other teams known to be close to forming are Germany (winners in 1998) and Russia (debutants in 2006).

As has been the norm in recent events, the French, Irish and British will enter multiple team challenges. Elsewhere, the nation challenges will comprise single teams. But the work for these groups is no less intense and demanding. One such challenge is currently being finalized and will be formed out of Hong Kong, where Gerry Daughton a member of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is marshalling the preparations. Hong Kong's only other appearance at the Rolex Commodores' Cup was in 1992.

Daughton is looking forward to bringing a team to The Solent, "Hong Kong is a vibrant sailing centre and has just hosted the Rolex China Sea Race, one of the major events of the season. Entering the Rolex Commodores' Cup is seen as very important for Hong Kong, helping to put it back at the forefront of international yachting, especially in this year of the Beijing Olympics."

Two of the three boats required are already confirmed. The small boat will be a J-109; the former Jeronimo that used to belong to Jonathan and Lisa Goring and which did well for the GBR Red team in 2004. This will be skippered by Jamie McWilliam whose brother Tom is also part of the team. The middle boat is a new X41, owned by Rick and Inge Strompf, and which will be helmed by Mark Thornburrow. The big boat is close to confirmation, but at this point the name could not be divulged.

For the RORC, the overall signs are wholly encouraging. The interest and activity is on a par with two years ago when 13 teams lined up and the event was not decided until the end of the final race of the weeklong series.

The Rolex Commodores' Cup will be held off Cowes, Isle of Wight, from 29th June to 6th July 2008. Entries, which must be made by Member National Authorities, close on Monday 26th May.

Antigua Sailing Week

An impressive fleet of Swans is once again poised to impart a significant presence on Stanford Antigua Sailing Week, the 41st edition of which is set for April 27-May 3. With just over two weeks to go before the action commences in the blue seas of the Caribbean, a solid roster of 16 Swans are among the 122 entrants registered thus far.

The collective Swan fleet is both interesting and eclectic. Representing five different nations, it ranges in size from British sailor Barry Sampson's brand new Club Swan 42, Long Echo, to his countryman's well-campaigned Swan 70, Stuart Robinson's Stay Calm. Robinson, an extremely active competitor known for his success on the racecourse with a TP 52 of the same name, is currently on a roll. With his 70-foot Swan and a veritable platoon of crewmen, Robinson's fresh from a well-earned victory in his Performance Cruising class at the recent, windy BVI Spring Regatta.

However, Stay Calm is just one of many Swans with the wherewithal to wreak havoc on its competition. The wildcard of them all may be U.S. sailor Frank Savage's Swan 56, Lolita, which won the Lord Nelson Trophy as the overall winner of Antigua Sailing Week in 2003. Savage, who named his boat after his wife, not the novel, has reunited his crew for a return to Antigua after a brief hiatus from ocean racing. It will be interesting to see if Savage and his team will manage to quickly ramp up to speed and recapture the magic of the 2003 event.

One boat very well aware of Lolita's potential is Clay Deutsch's Swan 68, Chippewa (pictured at right); the two stateside entries have enjoyed many a memorable duel. Deutsch, a Pittsburgh native who races out of the British Virgin Islands, returned to yacht racing after a 20-year absence, and did so with a vengeance. Chippewa's many recent victories include class triumphs at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, the Swan Caribbean Cup, and Key West Race Week. Chippewa is also a defending champion at Stanford Antigua Sailing Week, having won its class in 2007. Like Lolita, Chippewa's tight, cohesive crew - none of whom are professional sailors - will be hoping to revisit past glories in 2008.