Bernard Stamm on ‘Cheminees Poujoulet’ on a very Southerly course, is leading the race 1000 miles ahead of his nearest rival Kojiro Shiraishi skipper of ‘Spirit of Yukoh’. Kojiro had almost no wind on Monday night and spent most of the time hand steering. Ahead of him is a high pressure block. Meanwhile the next three competitors are a further 1000 miles behind him.

Unai Basurko on ‘Pakea’ recently overtook Graham Dalton skipper of ‘A Southern Man AGD’. Dalton is now back on the water after a 50 hour stop-over in Bluff, New Zealand and he was recorded a short while ago as 150 mile North of Basurko. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on ‘Saga Insurance’ is up there too.

Jim Gray 63, founder of Microsoft’s Bay Area research Center has gone missing in his yacht off the Northern California coast. Jim was sailing solo on board his 40 ft. C&C yacht ‘Tenacious’ bound for the Farallan Islands to scatter his Mom’s ashes. The disappearance has the Coast Guard perplexed as the weather was fine, ‘Tenacious’ is in good condition and Gray has no reported health problems. A C 130 Cargo Plane joined the search for the missing yachtsman and yacht on Monday evening.

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems are trying to keep the construction with Blohm + Voss secret however it is all over the media. According to Der Spiegel Magazine, Germany, the construction is already taking place at dock 5, Steinwerder Quay. Blohm + Voss were responsible for a recent re-fit to ‘Le Grand Bleu’, another Abramovich yacht. The new yacht has apparently already been named ‘Eclipse’ and at 155 Metres/ 508.5 feet it will be the longest yacht in the world.

On Saturday 27th the Rolex Miami OCR came to a thrilling end when finalists fought for medals in 11 Olympic Classes. The conditions were good with sunshine and 8-10 knots of breeze. On Friday the medallists from the 3 Paralympic Classes were determined. In a replication of the Olympic format to be used at the Olympic Games in China in 2008 10 overall finishers in the Olympic Classes raced to compete for single medals on the day. Total tally for the U.S.A. was 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. For a full story and result visit Regatta News.

Graham Dalton, New Zealand solo sailor on A SOUTHERN MAN ABD in the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo race had to put into Bluff, southernmost port of South Island, as his foodstuff had become contaminated from a broken diesel tank. Dalton will encounter an obligatory 48 hours forfeit for receiving onshore help. His current position at third ahead of  Unai Busurko and Sir Robin Knox-Johnson will undoubtedly be affected by the penalty.

Bernard Stamm (SUI) on CHEMINEES POUJOULAT and Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) on SPIRIT OF YUKOH are lying first and second 

 http://www.velux5oceans.com