World Sailing Speed Records

The World Sailing Speed Record Council was established by the International Yacht Racing Union (now renamed the International Sailing Federation) in 1972. The object was to provide impartial results for increasing numbers of claims to high speed sailing craft (on water: never on ice nor land!). Records are based on a leg of 500m or offshore attempts.

• Bank Populaire Transatlantic record Skipper Pascal BIDÉGORRY (FRA) and his 11 crew onboard Banque Populaire V crossed the finishing line at Lizard Point at 14:13:30 UTC on Sunday, smashing the four-day barrier for the North Atlantic. They covered the 2,921 nm at an average speed of 32.94 knots, including an incredible peak speed of 47.15 knots. The new record time is 12 hours, 32 minutes and 6 seconds faster than the previous record set just two years ago by Groupama 3
• Leopard 3 Transatlantic speed record 2,925 Nautical Mile Crossing From New York To The Lizard, Cornwall, UK, In Just 7 Days, 19 Hours & 21 Minutes. Video

Sailing Officials

In a match race and team race, an umpire is the on-the-water official appointed to directly enforce the racing rules of sailing (as opposed to fleet racing, where an off-the-water protest committee hears complaints from competitors).

• ISAF Race Officials section;news, search, event management, publications, become an official, seminars and clinics

Open 60's

One of the fastest boats in sailing - built in carbon fibre using the latest hi-tech structures, they are designed to be as light as possible (for speed) but strong enough to withstand the worst the seas can throw at them. Designed from the outset to be sailed by just one person ..read on

• IMOCA Class Association the governing body responsible for the technical rules and regulations of IMOCA Open 60 (ft) yachts
• International Monohull Open Class from Wikipedia
• Latest Open 60'snews from Yachts and Yachting

Swan 42 Class

an exciting one design racer-cruiser designed by German Frers, Jr. and built by Nautor Swan that is suitable for inshore day races, cruising, and offshore competition requiring open ocean passages. The purpose of the class is to foster highlevel sailing competition between predominantly amateur yachtsmen. The rules are designed to protect
the value of existing boats, reduce the cost of ownership to the lowest reasonable level and avoid
unnecessary expense whenever possible. More, from the Swan 42 Class Association.

• New York Yaht Club Invitational Cup Held every 2 years. Corinthian sailors from the world's pre-eminent Yacht Clubs to compete in a fleet racing regatta held in Swan 42 Class yachts.
• Sawn 42 class offical rules downloadable pdf file
• Swan 42 Class Association Over 40 yachts in 3 divisions- America, Europe and Oceania. History, results, gallery

J Class Yachts

10 J Class yachts were built between 1930 and 1937, at the leading edge of technical development and made just for racing, for winning the "Americas Cup".  Fortunately three survived, and since 2000, the J Class fleet has steadily been reborn. The J Class has now announced their outline plans for a series of spectacular regattas in England during 2012 - the Olympic Year. This will bethe first time in history that more than four of these imposing yachts will race together in a fleet, with the potential existing to have up to nine J Class. From Scuttlebut.

• J Class regatta shedule frm Scuttlebut;
• J Class official site; news, events, history, the 10 early yachts
• The J Class Yacht overview from Wikipedia; the 1930's, list of the yachts, specification, bibliography.
• Velsheda - a J Class yacht sailing in the solent

The Laser Dinghy

The International Laser Class sailboat (also called Laser Standard, the Laser One) was desiged by Bruce Kirby focussing on simplicity and performance. Although the Laser Class Rules states the boat may be sailed by either one or two people, though it is rarely sailed by two. It can take various sail plans and also some different laser branded hulls, but only Laser, Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7 are official Laser Class boats. See Wikipedia for more detail.

Olympic Classes

• History of the Olympic Sailing Classes from Wikipedia
• Olympic Class detail From the Official Olympic site covering Sailing; the boats, equip,ent, history, images
• Olympic Classes from US Sailing; each boat, its design and use, links to key sites.

International OK Dingy Class

Racing the OK - a 4m long single-handed sailing racing dinghy based on conventional plywood construction, which celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2007. The name OK, is basd on the initials of the designer (Knud Olsen), in reverse.

• The International OK Dingy from Wikipedia; history and design basics
• The OK Dingy from the ISF; class detail. technical, documents
• The OK Dingy International Association

International Star Class

The Star is one of the most prolific keelboats in the world for a reason: it is an incredible boat to sail. Designed in 1911 by Francis Sweisguth, it has proven to be a classic in every sense. It is the oldest Olympic class, having first been used in competition in 1932, and still at the heart of that competition today. Supported by a worldwide association the Star as a class is one of the best organized in sailing, with over 7,500 yachts built over its 80 year history, and 2000-plus actively racing today. [from the official site]

• International Star Class Yacht Racing Association The boat, regattas, class details
• International Star World Championships
• Star Class Racing Yacht from patricktaylor.com
• The Star yacht from Wikipedia; the boat and its International use.

International 14's

The International Fourteen was originally the National Fourteen and it was but an amalgam of this country's principal 14ft dinghy classes of the early part of the century. Today there is a wide choice of International and National dinghy classes and examples of each can be found in most sailing centres. See ­History of the International 14's by  TJ Vaughan.­

• History of the International 14's a detailed account by Tom Vaughn in 9 parts
• ISAF coverage of the International 14's Class Details, technical details, rules and reports, events, resultds and galleries.
• The International 14's Official Site; forum, class informatiom, articles, history, the I14 World Championships, I14 Knowledge base, ....

Tall Ships

- large, traditionally rigged sailing ships. The term tall ship is only a recent term, with the advent of The Tall Ships' Races, and was not generally used in the era when such ships were the norm. Clipper Races was a more typical term of the day

• The Tall Ship overview from Wikipedia
• Tall Ships Tall Ship Race - Atlantic Challenge 2009. Includes reviews of participating vessels, history of the event, schedules and tracking of the race results.
• Tall Ships Photo gallery by Roberta Etter
• Tall Ships Races Latest news from the fleet, results, The Tall ships Atlantic Challenge - a spectacular odyssey around the North Atlantic Ocean of more than 7,000 nautical miles following the traditional route taken by sailing ships of a by-gone age
• Videos of Tall Ships Races from a variety of sources.

Volvo Ocean Race

Teams in Open 70's are race in 9 legs around the World - the Holy Grail of the Yacht Racing Community

• Volvo Ocean Race Round the World Official site- the race, ports, teams, news....
• Volvo Ocean Race from Wikipedia; the race, history, the yachts, results

ISAF Sailing World Cup

The ISAF Sailing World Cup was a new world-class annual series for Olympic sailing, introduce in 2008. It is open to the sailing events chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. It brings together the existing major events on the Olympic sailing circuit, starting in Australia, before moving to the USA and finishing in Europe. Over 2,000 of the world’s leading sailors representing 65 nations competed in the first season of the World Cup, 2008-2009. By scoring competitors across all events included in the season, the ISAF Sailing World Cup will offer a definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in the Olympic sailing world. From the official site.

• ISAF Sailing World Cup Official Site; background, classes, scoring, news, photpos, videos, venues
• ISAF Sailing World Cup on Facebook video, comments and aalysis as the Cup progresses
• ISAF Sailing World Cup Standings for each class and event
• Sailing World Cup Channel on U-Tube - watch the action!

Round The World sailing

• Clipper 09-10 round the World 8 legs, 15 races, 8 continents .... Sign up for the 11-12 Clipper World

Transat Jacques Vabre

• Transat Jacques Vabre Official Site - in French. The race follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil, taking place every other year in odd years and is open to multihulls and monohulls classes: ORMA, IMOCA, Class 2 Monohulls, Open 50 Class and Class40
• Transat Jacques Vabre from Wikipedia:the race, winners

Global Challenge

Dubbed 'the world's toughest yacht race', it goes the 'wrong way' around the world against the prevailing winds and currents. Crewed by amateurs, the identical fleet of 12, 72-foot cutter-rigged sloops, designed specifically for the demanding race conditions by renowned designer Rob Humphries, ensures that only the seamanship, skill and determination of the people taking part make the difference between winning and losing.. For more information from Challenge Business

• Global Challenge From Wikipedia; 54,000 km round the world Yacht race held every 4 years, tehe course, the boats, previous races
• Global Challenge Race official site; the race, yachts, coverage of the race
• Global Challenge video from a variety of sources

Vendee Globe

After negotiating southwards through the waters of the Atlantic to South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, competitors enter the perilous Southern Ocean. They then circumnavigate the Antarctic continent, rounding infamous Cape Horn before heading north for the finish back in Les Sables d'Olonne. Referred to as 'The Everest of the sea', racing 50 ft monohulls for amateurs or 60 ft for the professional. Based on the original voyage by the American Joshua Slocum who sailed the 42,000 kilometres solo round the world in three years, between 1892-1895. The current ships will complete the course without assistance in about three months....More from Angela Bird

• Vendee Globe Background and history from Wikipedia
• Vendee Globe Official Site (in French). Follow the race around the globe
• Vendee-Globe From Angela Bird; an overview of the latest race covering the boats and the skippers. The world's most notorious circumnavigation, this non-stop, single-handed and unaided sailing race departs every four years from the Vendée port of Les Sables-d'Olonne.

America's Cup

• America's Cup from Wikipedia - the oldest active trophy in international sport, predating the Modern Olympics by 45 years; history, challenges and defenders, in the media
• Watching the America's Cup ESPN360.com; See also The official America's Cup Site or BMW Oracle Racing
• BMW Oracle Racing
• Team Alinghi
• New Zealand Herald has the latest and archived news for the Americas Cup
• America's Cup Hall of Fame Herreshoff Marine Museum
• Americas Cup Museum Only complete set offine art illustrations of all of the yachts that have sailed for the America's Cup through its history;
• Cup in Europe A non commercial site which carry news about all America's Cup related subjects

Sailing Events in Japan

• Nippon Cup 2003

Sailing Rules in Ireland

Sailing Organisational bodies in Ireland

• Irish Sailing Association News,events, Racing, clubs, youth sailing
• National Yacht Club Ireland racing news, events, calendar of events, Round Ireland Race, tides.

Sailing Events in Ireland

• Conwy River Festival - the premier yachting festival serving the whole of the Irish Sea including the Isle of Man, Ireland and the ports and harbours of the North West of the UK. Held in August. Schedule, results, sailing rules
• Round Ireland Yacht Race In December from Wicklow: 704 miles and the rules state "leave Ireland and all her islands to starboard". Teams, crew, last years event

Sailing Events in Malta

• Rolex Middle Sea Race 25-30 high-profile boats compete on the 607mile round the islands from Sicily, an offshore classic founded by The Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club 1968.

Sailing Events in Spain

• The Discovery Route Cadiz - San Salvador - the same as that taken in 1492 by Christopher Columbus when he set off to discover the New World; record attempt

The History of Sailing in the United Kingdom

• History of the Thames barge The Thames barge has gradually evolved from the Middle Ages up to the present day and is even continuing to evolve now, albeit slowly. The Middle Ages forerunner of the Thames Barge was a medium-sized seagoing vessel rigged with a single mast and one large square sail. She was no great sailer but was a useful cargo carrier.

Sailing Equipment in the United Kingdom

• Sailing equipment reviews and price comparisons on Ciao.co.uk

Sailing Organisational bodies in the United Kingdom

• Wayfarer Association UK
• UK Laser Association
• National School of Sailing "promotes sailing as part of the educational experience of young people, working with the RYA"; events, news links, articles
• Royal Yachting Association (RYA) -UK News, training, affiliated clubs, classes, events for water-based activities including racing, cruising, windsurfing, motor-boating etc;
• UK Catamaran Racing Association Links to all the UK Cat Associations, results and race reports
• UK Dinghy Racing Hints, Tips and links on sailing high performance dinghies, together with a huge Free Ads section to sell or buy secondhand gear and boats.; comprehensive listing of clubs, bookstore and much more.
• UK Laser Association
• International Europe Class Association (UK) Events, forum, hints and tips, history, nrew, rankings, results. Links to other National Associations
• OK Dingy UK Association Events, results, reports, forum ...

Sailing Events in the United Kingdom

• Cowes Week UK annual regatta on the Isle of Wight
• Three Peaks Yacht Race The Barmouth to Fort William Three Peaks Yacht Race combines yachting and mountain running and cycling into one of the greatest adventure challenges in British sport. Follow the race, Forum

Sailing News in the United Kingdom

• Yachting Life Sailing ezine for Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland.

Sailing Players in the United Kingdom

• Helen Macarthur Team Helen and the latest record breaking attempt
• MIke Golding Yacht Racing The team, the boats, news, upcoming and past events

Sailing Portals in the United Kingdom

• UK Sailing Index Many links for finding all about sailing
• Sailing Index comprehensive sailing directory

Sailing Ezines in the United Kingdom

• Yachts and Yachting UK magazine for the racing fraternity, with map-based Club database classes events, calendar, tips and boat tests, articles on techniques etc

All about Sailing in England

Play/Watch Sailing in England

All about Sailing in Northern Ireland

• RYA Northern Ireland Events, clubs

Play/Watch Sailing in Northern Ireland

• County Antrim Yacht Club

All about Sailing in Scotland

• Scottish Sailing Institute "being developed to provide Scotland with the resources capable of holding the best European and World sailing events, for all Olympic and Youth Classes and across all disciplines"; latest news, facilities available, events, results, training,

Play/Watch Sailing in Scotland

Play/Watch Sailing in Wales

Sailing Events in Antigua and Barbuda

• RORC Caribbean 600 - a 605 mile race around the Caribbean islands starting from Antigua, first run in February 2009

Sailing Organisational bodies in Canada

• Wayfarer Association Canada

Sailing Events in Canada

• Van Isle 360; Around Vancouver Island a biennial, 580 nm. point to point race circumnavigating wild and rugged Vancouver Island, B.C. Sailed in ten legs the course provides inshore, offshore and overnight legs through some of the world's most challenging and beautiful waters.

The History of Sailing in the USA

• History of America's Sail - the tall ships It began in 1986 as the Four Sisters Project, which referred to the four "sister ships, "GLORIA, GUAYAS, CUAUHTEMOC, SIMON BOLIVAR; an idea conceived by Frank O. Braynard, one of the founders of Operation Sail. The idea was to initiate regularly scheduled international tall ship races in the Western Hemisphere.

Sailing Rules in the USA

Sailing Organisational bodies in the USA

• Wayfarer Association USA
• USA Sailing Association National Governing Body; training, safety, youth sailing; racing rules, events and results; Olympic Sailing, Calendar of events.
• Laser Class North America
• American Sail Training Association ASTA - tall ships training
• New York Yacht Club Founded in 1844 in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island, it is one of the world's most distinguished and influential yachting institutions. History, Yacht racing, team racing, archives, calendar, Invitational Cup

Sailing Events in the USA

• Aruba Catamaran Regatta Caribbean. Eight races, two races per day, plus a semi long distance and a long distance race along the white beaches and through the mighty lagoons than surround the island.
• The Congressional Cup Run by the Long Beach Yacht Club, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious Match Racing Events in the world. The Cup showcases many of the skippers from past and future America's Cup teams and is the preeminent Match Race Regatta in the United States. Held in March.
• Key West International Regatta January in Florida where the tropical weather and outstanding race management have made this one of the elite events on the world calendar.
• Key West Regatta Live coverage from Scuttlebutt, when sailing is on
• New York Yaht Club Invitational Cup Held every 2 years. Corinthian sailors from the world's pre-eminent Yacht Clubs to compete in a fleet racing regatta held in Swan 42 Class yachts.

Sailing Ezines in the USA

• North East Boating Magazine Comprehensive magazine for this area

Sailing Organisational bodies in Australia

• Short-handed Sailing Association of Australia The national sporting body for double-handed and single-handed sailing.
• Sail Melbourne International Regatta; events, classes, news, results
• Yachting In South Australia Classes and associations,clubs, links
• Australian Sail Training Association Tall ships

Sailing Events in Australia

• Rolex Sydney to Hobart Official site. The race, with over 60 ocean racers and sailors from many countries, is conducted on the waters of Sydney Harbour, the Tasman Sea, Storm Bay and the Derwent River.

Sailing Players in Australia

• Nick Moloney Sailing Team

What is Sailing in New Zealand

• Boating from New Zealand Articles and information on all aspects of boating and sailing. Live weather forecasts, free classifieds and forums.

Sailing Organisational bodies in New Zealand

• Blind Sailing New Zealand "to involve more blind and sighted volunteers, in all New Zealand centres, in all types of sailing experience"
• New Zealand Marine industry Events, directory, boat shows, race-log, boating industry training organisation (BITO), boating in New Zealand,
• NZ OK Dingy Association NZOKDA; racing the 4 metre single-handed racing yacht

Sailing Events in New Zealand

• 2010 OK Dingy World Championships Wellington, New Zealand 1st to 12th Feb