4 December 2011 - The paradox could not be ignored - a parade of historic vessels meandering down the Swan River as a symbolic launch to one of the most intense international sailing competitions of the decade. But, somehow, it seemed appropriate. The four-hour Parade of Sail was the centrepiece of yesterday's elaborate opening ceremony for the 2011 World Sailing Championships, in which about 1100 competitors from 78 countries will spend the next 16 days fighting for world titles and Olympic qualification. Seven vessels, each representing a local yacht or sailing club, carried the official championship flag for a leg of the journey. They also carried a part of WA's sailing heritage. It began with Royal Perth Yacht Club's 100-year-old gaff-rigged yacht Mercedes, followed by a 14-fo...

Nov 29th 11 By Rebecca Cahilly   Things have just gotten a little easier for yacht crew when it comes to visiting certain Caribbean islands. While immigration regulations remain strict the world over, these amendments will simplify the headache for captains and yacht agents - and just might entice owners and guests to try a once off-limit island this season.Crewmembers hailing from various countries around the world, other than the Netherlands, have historically been required to produce a Netherlands Antilles visa when visiting the Dutch Antilles. However, for the past five years, agencies have been working with the local government to allow these crew easier access, and their efforts have finally paid off. As of summer 2011, the islands of the Netherlands Antilles now acc...

24 November 2011 - A quartet of robots set out last week on a 300-plus day journey that will take them 33,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean - the longest voyage ever attempted by an unmanned sailing craft, according to various reports. BBC News reported last Friday that the four robots, which were created by an American company called Liquid Robotics, departed from the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco on November 17. At first they will travel together before pairing off into groups of two, one of which will head to Australia and the other embarking en route to Japan in order to support a Mariana Trench dive. "During their 300-day journey, the surfboard-sized Wave Gliders… will collect vast amounts of real-time data on ocean conditions and bea...

  November 24, 2011 - 1400 UTC Leg 1 Day 20 - Record-breaking conditions and breakneck speeds were heating up a high-seas game of pursuit on Thursday as CAMPER pushed hard against Leg 1 leaders Telefónica, while Groupama faced yet another fateful tactical decision.Team Telefónica notched an impressive 548 nautical miles over one 24-hour period, averaging 22.8 knots. Never far behind, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand posted 546nm, an average of 22.7nm.While the teams were falling short of Ericsson 4's monohull record of 596.6nm set in the 20080-09 Volvo Ocean Race, they hit speeds as high as 28 knots -- more than 50kmh.CAMPER's Australian navigator Will Oxley said conditions were exhilarating, with the Volvo Open 70s finally showing what they are...

23 November 2011 - A helicopter pilot is lucky to be alive today ... after his bird went down while attempting to set up a massive Christmas Tree in New Zealand this morning ... and the whole thing was caught on tape. According to reports, the blades got tangled in some cables ... knocking the chopper into a tailspin ... and then the whole thing came crashing down to the ground. Miraculously, nobody on the ground was injured.   video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

November 23, 2011 - 1630 UTC Leg One Day 19   - The Volvo Ocean Race fleet are set for some high adrenaline action over the next two days with the three remaining boats hoping to ride a fast moving South Atlantic cold front all the way to the first leg finish in Cape Town. On board leader Team Telefónica, skippered by Spain's Iker Martínez, the crew have battened down the hatches ahead of the storm system, the first effects of which have already pushed their peak boat speed up to almost 30 knots. Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/ - Team Telefonica during leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa. Despite travelling at breakneck speed navigator Andrew Cape says the crew and the boat are under c...

San Diego, California, 17/11/2011 - Artemis Racing has advanced into the Semi Final of the AC World Series Match Racing Championship in San Diego, beating a red-hot Aleph team to join the final four. The last match of the day was a cat and mouse affair, the result in doubt until the very end, but finally, Artemis Racing prevailed. © 2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget  "It was never over, until it was over," said a relieved Terry Hutchinson, the skipper of the Swedish boat after racing. "It was dicey out there… We had to hang tough. It's a testament to the team that we were able to get through." "We did a good job in both starts, had a nice lead, but it really didn't count for much," agreed Artemis tactician...

18 November 2011 - Graeme Taylor already holds a commanding lead at the end of day one in the 55 boat fleet contesting the Zhik Etchells NSW State Championship at Pittwater.   Consistent sailing paid off for the Magpie team with three consecutive seconds in the first day of racing. Taylor remained in control of each race while those around him bounced on the results table. It was only in race two of the day that he showed some frustration with not achieving a first. Photo – . Zhik Etchells NSW, Graeme Taylor's Magpie team delivered consistent results on day one Photographer – Damian Devine "We could have won that race," Taylor said after crossing the line. "It was my mistake. I should have listened to the old fellow (Steve Jarvin) and...

13 November 2011 - Cheoy Lee built a radical and sporty yacht to a design of Micheal Peters Yacht Design and introduced it at the recently concluded Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The yacht created quite a buzz with passers-by wondering who possibly built her. The CL Apha, aimed at being the 'head of the species' made quite a splash on her debut. She has an interior by Luiz de Basto Designs that is described as being 'sophisticated'. The quality of materials and finishes should be self-evident. For this reason Luiz de Basto designed an interior that is practical. Starting with overall space planning, the Cheoy Lee Alpha 76 gives the feeling of a much larger yacht. She has been built in composite materials makin her light and strong at the same time over other construction ma...

GPS is really handy when practicing those hard earned Day Skipper skills.  If when cruising the GPS shows that your chart work is wrong then it's easy to see your mistake and work out where you went wrong, or to find someone to set out how to do it, hopefully with no harm done.  But could it be dangerous to rely solely on GPS when navigating? Caused by huge fluctuations in the magnetic field of our sun, sunspot activity increases and decreases on an 11-year cycle, and predictions are that 2012 will not only be the peak of this sunspot cycle, but also signal the largest increase in solar activity recorded for decades. Intense sunspot activity brings with it solar storms, emitting waves of particles to bombard our planets' atmosphere. These storms can...