Gill, the technical sailing clothing specialist has announced an exciting new partnership with Emirates Team New Zealand, one of the strongest sailing teams in the world.  Gill has been appointed as the Official Technical Clothing Supplier to the team.

Gill will be supplying a range of its technical product for both the prestigious Louis Vuitton Trophy events during 2010, and the TP52 taking part in this season’s Audi Medcup - which the team so impressively won in 2009.

Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton said he is pleased to welcome Gill to the team. “The partnership brings together Emirates Team New Zealand and Gill, an acknowledged world leader in research, development, design and production of high-performance technical sailing clothing.”

Mastervolt, the Dutch-based manufacturer of innovative new electrical products, has proudly launched a range of three new 6-volt AGM batteries.

Each high-capacity model is designed to form a building block for a fully customised battery bank, allowing for 12, 24 or 48-volt banks to be created in restricted space onboard.

The new batteries are entirely maintenance free, and can be mounted either vertically, or horizontally. They are also completely safe, as any gasses released during charging are reabsorbed inside.

The cases are sealed, and are ventilated by the surrounding air, so there is no need for complex vented battery boxes. Should the battery be significantly overcharged in a faulty system, then a special safety valve will vent away the pressure.

In a race that has thrown everything at the crews and seen positions on the leader board change daily, Spirit of Australia has claimed their first victory of Clipper 09-10. Having moved into the lead five days ago, the Australian team were able to hold their nerve at the front of the fleet and crossed the finish line at 1307 local time on Saturday 20th February.

“Spirit of Australia is number one into Qingdao!” exclaimed skipper Brendan Hall as they crossed the line. “After an incredibly tough race, we have come through and snatched a victory all of us can be proud of and remember.

The UK division of Marina Marbella, Europe’s biggest motorboat retailer, is moving its headquarters from Hamble Point Marina to new premises in Poole.

This April, after almost 20 years on Firefly Road at Hamble Point Marina in Southampton, Marina Marbella UK will be moving a short hop westwards along the coast to new premises in Parkstone Bay Marina in Poole, Dorset. The new offices are located amongst some of Europe’s most popular leisure boating waters, between Poole Quay and the prestigious Sandbanks neighbourhood.

Nanny Cay, the British Virgin Islands’ flagship resort and marina, has launched the Nanny Cay Challenge for the round Tortola record. 

Yachts visiting the British Virgin Islands are invited to make an attempt to beat the latest round Tortola records which have been established by the monohull and multihull times set in the 2009 PegLegs Round Tortola Race.

The current multihull and overall record is held by Triple Jack, a Kelsal 47 trimaran with a time of 3 hours, 33 minutes, 27 seconds.  The monohull time to beat of 4 hours, 15 minutes and 5 seconds, was set by Dave West’s Jurakan, a Melges 32.