This year Lombard Marine Finance is to proudly sponsor the Festival of Power and Sail event, to be held in the Port Solent Marina from the 29th – 31st May, 10am – 5pm. 

Ian Braham, Head of Lombard Marine Finance says: "We are very pleased to support the Festival of Power and Sail this year and we look forward to assisting customers in buying their boats. With interest rates at the lowest they have been in living memory, the cost of financing the purchase of a boat has never been more affordable.

Temperatures on board are dropping and the pressure is rising with the fleet closing in on Boston. As the leaders leave the warm waters of the Gulf Stream behind, the sea temperature has plummeted.

But relief is in sight. In Boston, as the race village opens to the public today, the warm spring afternoon is forecast to approach the historical record high for the day.

Out on the race track, some 300 miles away, and as reported by Mark Chisnell in this morning's TEN ZULU, the leaders have been fighting through a ridge of high pressure for most of the day. Their progress has been slowed dramatically by the light conditions. The final miles to Boston will be hard-earned.

Pictured with two of the new generation of solo sailors, Dee Caffari and Steve White the sailing legend marks his unprecedented British success in the 1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe yacht race in central London.

On April 22 1969, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston made history as the first man to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world. He was the only competitor to finish the Sunday Times Golden Globe yacht race after 312 days alone at sea and to this day remains the only British sailor to win a single-handed round the world race.

April 22 2009 saw the pioneering skipper mark the 40-year anniversary of this incredible accomplishment in central London. Having once again sailed alone around the planet only two years ago at the age of 68 in the VELUX 5 OCEANS, Sir Robin brought his original boat from 1969, Suhaili, up to Tower Bridge.

To date Scorpion has always built its RIBs to order. As part of its growth plans however, the company is introducing a limited range of standard boats. The first of these is an updated version of the 6.5 metre, a model that was last produced from the Lymington-based yard in 2001. 

According to Patrick Byrne of Scorpion RIBs: “The 6.5m was a very popular boat. We have had many requests for its re–introduction and the originals are in high demand. We are expanding our sales base and introducing a range of products that customers can buy ‘off the shelf’. The 6.5m is a good place to start. This boat is competitively priced and in the past the residual values have held up very well, so it is an ideal Scorpion starter boat …until of course you get drawn into the attractions of long distant ribbing.”

Telefonica Blue was first to the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha tonight. The Spanish boat crossed the landmark at the South Atlantic archipelago at 19:58 GMT.

Bouwe Bekking and his men pick up four points for their efforts. Their lead over second-placed Ericsson 4 was 22 miles at the point of reaching Noronha. Delta Lloyd was seven miles further adrift and Telefonica Black one mile behind.

It was the second time Bekking had been first to reach Noronha after a similar feat on Leg 1 in the 2005-06 race. On that occasion, he pipped ABN AMRO ONE (re-invented as Delta Lloyd in 2008-09) for the points.