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Whitewater on the deck, whitecaps on the Waitemata and warning whistles on the onboard overload alarms characterised the high tempo sailing action today at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) today confirmed the receipt of the Regatta Report Forms from the ISAF Race Officials appointed to the 33rd America's Cup Match.

By Margot Samson – Windsport Correspondent...

Windsurfers from around the globe converged to the Calema Midwinters this past weekend, and tropical Merritt Island, Florida treated us to 40F every morning and no higher than 55F during the day. You see, you call something ‘midwinters’ long enough, and it’s going to start believing it. I just looked up ‘midwinters’ on Wikipedia to file a complaint with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and hold on to your earmuffs, here’s what I learned: it actually refers to the beginning of winter, the Winter Solstice, a special date in all ancestral cultures when the last feast celebration was held before deep winter set in, and a time when most cattle was slaughtered so it wouldn’t be fed during the cold months. Charming, ain’t it? I don’t know where we got it wrong, but there’s nothing here that says ‘Spring Break.’

Oh, but we’re resourceful: we wore socks with our sandals and bought rubber gloves at the local drugstore against frostbite. We were here to sail, darn it! And at the sound of the horn, we were off and racing on the Banana River as if we were at the Olympics and nothing else mattered. Now, that’s a particularly clever transition because this year, the event was the North American continental qualifier for the Youth Olympic Games coming up this summer in Singapore (check out the excitement at www.singapore2010.sg)! Kids flew in from Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Guatemala and the USA to earn a spot: altogether, nearly 30 of us on shiny Techno293 gear. The pressure was high, and we promptly started the regatta with a general recall.

Over the course of the next three days, eight races were run to decide who would qualify. The wind was from the North, light to moderate, and pretty shifty. The gusts in these parts of the country have to negotiate their way around the maze of pipes, liquid hydrogen tanks and extraterrestrial radio waves at nearby Cape Canaveral, and they come out of that totally confused. But we overcame the challenges and got it done with a pinch of strategy and lots of pumping!

Four spots were available for the Youth Olympics at this qualifier: Mexico and Puerto Rico earned their way in for the boys, while Canada and the USA (yours truly!) qualified for the girls. What an honor. I had a great regatta the week before at the Island Classic in Sarasota, and was fortunate to carry that good form to the Midwinters. Kudos to Nicole Level Solis Camara and Marion Lepert, who couldn’t officially take part in the qualifier but gave us a taste of their immense talent. Special mention to Rasmus Sayre as well, who led the Under 15 category throughout the regatta and managed to keep up with the top half of the fleet despite having to make his way around the course on a smaller sail.

If that were not enough, Formulas (with pros Paulo Dos Reis, Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel and Gabriel Browne leading the way), RS:X, Konas, Long Boards, and a number of Sports fleets were on the water as well. Add it all up, and it’s more than 100 sailors who came together to celebrate Calema’s 25th anniversary with our gracious hosts Susie and Tinho Dornellas. It isn't every day you hear more Spanish than English on the race course around here, and that was great. We were all impressed with the organization and treated to some special meals, groovy music, upbeat MC’ing on the beach, and all around great companionship throughout the weekend. Apparently, the Gods were impressed as well, as the temperature climbed into the mid-60’s on Sunday for a positively balmy afternoon. Many of us got sunburned and cracked lips, but we smiled big nonetheless. It’s Spring Break after all!

Ride along with Hot Sails Maui's Jeff Henderson and Philipp Schreyer as they film their epic crossing from Maui to Molokai and back.

British sailor Simon Payne moved into pole position following day three of racing at the PUMA Moth World Championship in Dubai, UAE.

Brian McCaan, the son of Dewey Beach, Delaware’s legendary Walt McCaan, volunteered his time to paint a fantastic mural on the Vela storage container. Walt is a long time friend of Vela Aruba, but I swear he has several ‘look-a-likes’ as we always see Walt, very distinguished with white hat and beard, windsurfing and kiting at many of the East Coast ABK stops. Many of us believe Walt was born with that hat and beard but the reports are unconfirmed! On a very sad side, Walt’s wife Marie passed away last year, and Brian painted the Vela mural in memory of his mother, who also enjoyed long stays in Aruba.
 
Brian does murals and faux painting as a profession, and also paints custom sails, logos, ‘win indicators’ (i.e. a torpedo for each victory on a boat/sail) etc. Brian lives and works in the Philadelphia, PA area, and frequently travels to Aruba. He may be contacted at bam1016@msn.com or http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianamccann/. We’re all stoked on his work at Vela Aruba, check out his website for other interesting creations.

A shipment of new goodies arrived this week with some new sails, booms, RDMs and fins. We spent a good day upgrading some of our rigs. Experienced guests can use the new MFC slalom fins on the iSonics. The winds have been light, with people needing big sails to plane, while some took out big boards/small sails to work on light wind freestyle. Some of the guests took our stand up paddleboards out and checked out the fish, reef, and the wreck down the beach. Yesterday some waves came in, so quite a few took a try at surfing on our Starboard Stand Up Paddleboards (SUP). One of our guests and I put a sail on SUPs and were amazed at how quietly and quickly it glided on a small 4.9 NP Firefly. The wind was a little off for catching waves, but I did manage to get a couple and had some fun rides.

Not quite as fast as on land, one our more famous guests, Juan Pablo Montero, successful driver in Formula One, CART, and now in NACSAR, is at Vela Aruba for a few days vacation. Fortunately the famous Aruba winds are coming back to satisfy his need for speed, at least on the water! All the guests are glad to be back planing and jibing,  while I’m finally back to working on those Vulcans (YEAAAAH – 98 JP and 5.3 plane again!).

On some light wind days, or if people want to try something different, we provide our guests with some alternatives. Beach Tennis is big in Aruba, with lessons, games, and tournaments becoming frequent. Courts behind one of the local spots, Moomba, are nearly always full. On the light wind days, Vela has setup their own court for the guests, locals, and staff to use and to provide entertainment for the rest of us. See www.arubabeachtennis.com if you want to give it a try or take lessons while in Aruba.

Breaking News: Last Wednesday evening, strong winds combined with rumored structural weaknesses caused the Palapa roof of one of the beach bars (Moomba) to collapse. Fortunately no one was seriously injured and work has already begun on rebuilding the structure. The other bar/eating structures were unaffected and remain open. As of a day later, with a temporary roof, the collapsed bar is now back in business! So much for Island Time!

Safe. Enjoyable. Lifetime. Learning. Dan Jaspers, ISAF Training and Development Manager, provides an update on the resources available to ISAF's Member Nations to boost sailing participation in your country.

Safe. Enjoyable. Lifetime. Learning. Dan Jaspers, ISAF Training and Development Manager, provides an update on the resources available to ISAF's Member Nations to boost sailing participation in your country.

France and New Zealand top the tables in the latest release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings with Kiwi World Champion Adam Minoprio top in the Open Rankings and French skipper Claire Leroy returning to #1 in the Women's.

Rockley International, one of ISAF's Connect to Sailing Partners, has successfully completed a Racing Coach Training course for the Turkish Sailing Federation in Bodrum, Turkey.

Galway in Ireland has been named as the final port and finish of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race.

Sixteen nations are set to start racing in the waters of Grand Cayman on 10 March for the Byte CII North American Championship and for the four boy's and four girl's country qualifying positions in the upcoming 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games.

American-based Kiwi Gavin Brady and his largely international team of Latin Rascals took the fight to host Emirates Team New Zealand in their Louis Vuitton Trophy race today, only to lose after a gear failure.

A co-ordinated promotion among Belgian sailing clubs was launched recently and several clubs have already ordered RS Fevas as part of a joint programme to build junior sailing in the country.

Australia's Andrew McDougall extended his overall lead to nine points after a further three races on day two of the PUMA Moth World Championship in Dubai.

With a little over 5,000 miles left before reaching Ushant, the virtual separation between Groupama 3 and Orange 2 has been yo-yoing for the past three days.

Worldwinds Windsurfing in Corpus Christi, Texas is proud to introduce our first ever freestyle school.  This new curriculum is designed to offer a variety of light wind, planning and aerial maneuvers.  Freestyle is not just for the pro's anymore.  We have courses for all levels of aspiring freestylers.  Freestyle is a great fun way to help enhance your sailing skills in all conditions.  

Worldwinds is also excited to offer dedicated freestyle boards in the rental fleet to help with your freestyle progression.

Check out our WEBSITE HERE for more details.

Freestyle School
WHERE:   Worldwinds Windsurfing, Inc. at Bird Island Basin    
FOR INFO CONTACT:  1-800-793-7471   worldwinds@worldwinds.net
COST:  $75 Private Lesson     

Christiane Kutz-Böhm, Administration Secretary at the Deutscher Segler Verband, reports on her recent visit to the ISAF Secretariat in Southampton, part of a new initiative to provide ISAF Members a closer look at the workings on the ISAF Office.

Azzurra, the Italian boat with the old name and the young crew, defeated Britain's TEAMORIGIN in the closest of four hard-fought races on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland.

We break down the budget to get your boat sailing this spring and tell you what can be put off until next year

More than ever, sailing is a crucial part of a sound mental health plan. At the same time, many boat owners find themselves with a significantly reduced budget for the sailing season. The good news is that there are some corners that can be cut at fitting out time, but the trick is know what they are and how long you can put them off.
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A good place to start is with the engine and running gear. I recommend that the engine oil be changed, so just do a quick check to see that the oil is topped off. It is a good idea to consider changing the raw water impeller every season as good insurance, but impellers are expensive. This year, it would be OK to just remove the impeller and check that it is in good shape, with the intention to replace it next season. Finish off the engine by giving a quick inspection to look for any loose bolts, linkages or wires, and do a check on all the hoses. I like to clean up the engine and engine room with a little spray cleaner, it makes the engine look nice and helps find any leaks and belt wear as the season progresses.