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The Royal Engineers will make history by appearing at the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show for the first time since the Show began in 1954.
The Corps of Royal Engineers will bring an impressive collection of military boats that will be displayed both on the water and on land outside ExCeL, London, where the Show will run for 10 days from Friday 8 – Sunday 17 January.
Visitors will be treated to dramatic demonstrations of the military craft in action three times a day on the Royal Victoria dock for the duration of the Show. A Support Boat and Rigid Raider will wow crowds on the water as The Royal Engineers give insight into their lives as British soldiers who play a vital role in the effectiveness of the British Army as well as the Navy and RAF.
Little Zephyr Hamilton Elevators is battling the elements in her efforts to become the smallest boat since Zeus II to win the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
Should James Connell and Alex Brandon’s Sea Nymph 33 be successful in her bid to win the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s (CYCA) famous 628 nautical mile race, she will be the smallest yacht since 1981, when Sydneysider Jim Dunstan sailed his Currawong 30 Zeus II to victory in the corrected time of 3 days 19 hours 25 minutes 59 seconds.
Connell needs to cross the finish line in Hobart’s Derwent River by 1.31am tomorrow (Friday) morning. As of 5.00pm this evening, Zephyr Hamilton Elevators is due to finish at 11.46pm this evening.
The Baltic Ultimate lifejacket has undergone an upgrade and now can be bought with all the extras included in the package.
Now called the Baltic Ultimate Extra the jacket comes with sprayhood, light and crutch strap as standard.
The Baltic Ultimate Extra is also provided with an integrated safety harness approved to EN1095.
The Baltic Ultimate comes with a neat inspection window revealing a status indicator.
The two indicator bars show if either the automatic head or the CO2 cylinders have been used and therefore if the jacket needs rearming.
Neville Crichton’s New Zealand supermaxi Alfa Romeo has taken line honours in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, crossing the finish line opposite Castray Esplanade on the Derwent River at 22:02:10hrs for an elapsed time of 2 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
Averaging 10 knots in a reasonably consistent N/NW breeze on the river, the silver maxi made easy work of the final stretch. At last the seasoned crew of twenty two Australian, New Zealand and British round the world and America’s Cup sailors could stop looking over their shoulders.
Crichton led the race from the early hours of Sunday morning when she opened a 20 mile lead on Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI and Mike Slade’s British supermaxi ICAP Leopard.
The new British yacht RÁN has taken the overall lead of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this afternoon, Niklas Zennstrom and his crew making an early charge on Zennstrom’s hope to win the 628 nautical mile race on handicap, adding to his overall win of the Rolex Fastnet Race in August. The Judel/Vrolijk designed 72 footer launched only this year, has some of the world’s top sailors such as Steve Hayles, Adrian Stead and Richard Bouzaid aboard, helping to power the big grey yacht through a 20 knot southerly gusting to 25 at times on a bumpy sea. RÁN’s early overall lead is no surprise according to Limit’s principal helmsman, Ian ‘Barney’ Walker, who has stated a couple of times this week: “RÁN is the boat to beat,” and “the forecast will suit it – it’s great in moderate upwind conditions and will probably get away from the rest of us.”
Standings after five legs
After consideration of the damage incurred in the Southern Ocean on Leg 4 and the completion of the relatively benign Leg 5, the overall standings are:
1st RAF with 12 points 2nd Army with 16 points 3rd RN with 19 points
Sqn Ldr Neil Cottrell, Exercise TRANSGLOBE Project Team Leader sums up the Exercise thus far:
The busiest event in the capital’s boating calendar, the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show, will host over 70 new product launches, including 18 global debuts, when it opens its doors at ExCeL, London from Friday 8 – Sunday 17 January.
A diverse collection of more than 400 exhibitors will showcase products ranging from sailing and motor boats to marine equipment, chandlery and clothing with first showings of brand new products emerging from most sectors.
Andrew Williams, Managing Director of National Boat Shows, comments: ‘We’re delighted that so many of our exhibitors have chosen the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show to officially unveil new products. This pays testament to our exhibitors’ opinion of the high profile of the Show, and with 18 world launches planned, we’re in for an exciting 10 days.’
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) has made a decision to ban Dyneema® lifelines for the 2010 RORC race programme.
At the ISAF annual conference in Busan Korea in November Dyneema® fibre was approved as a material for use in lifelines for offshore race boats. The material has been used for a number of years in Melges 24 and Melges 32 and on IMOCA 60’s in the Vendee Globe.
The RORC committee, made up of very experienced offshore racers, expressed collective concern about the suitability of the material for offshore boats where the crew are constantly hiking, especially in rough conditions and unanimously decided to ban its use for RORC races in 2010.
The Home Affairs Select Committee has today published the report of its investigation into the Government’s £1.2 billion e-Borders programme.
The report concluded that “the e-Borders programme is therefore, as far as we can ascertain, likely to be illegal under the EU Treaty” and we understand that the European Commission has written to the Government in similar terms.
Reports from the national media suggest that the Home Office has now agreed that travellers will not be obliged to give personal information when they travel, in order to ensure that the whole scheme does not fall foul of EU rules on the free movement of people within the EU.
The past few weeks have been the icing on the cake in an already brilliant year for Sailing Logic, the Southampton-based sail training company that was recently awarded the RORC (Royal Ocean Racing Club) ‘Yacht of the Year’ 2009 Award for their Reflex 38 Puma Logic racing campaign.
Sailing Logic crews have also just secured the 1st and 2nd podium positions in IRC 1 in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series with Puma Logic and their other Reflex, Jaguar Logic.
The team behind Sailing Logic has spent the past six years building the business and its reputation to become the most successful offshore race charter company in the United Kingdom.