Congratulations to Terry McLaughlin and the entire Royal Canadian Yacht Club crew for their convincing win in the second edition of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. Tour de France style, the Canadian team was awarded the golden spinnaker after their first race and never relinquished it, dominating the event with consistent finishes. Well done!

Clipper Round the World yachts are inching closer to their next destination, the South African port of Cape Town. While Gold Coast Australia hangs on to the lead, Visit Finland is now nipping at their stern having gained 20 miles on them in the last day. After witnessing a wide variety of selected routes, the yachts are now converging as skippers are getting ready to engage in the last sprint to the end. The next few days should remain interesting!

Quantum Racing (USA) was crowned champion of the 2011 Audi MedCup Circuit 52 Series; not an easy task given the depth of the competition this year. They arrived in Barcelona last week-end with a mere 3.5 points lead but managed a podium finish to secure the overall championship. Local favorite Bribon (ESP), was relegated to the 2nd place on the podium by Niklas Zennstrom RAN and, as a result, couldn’t catch the overall leaders; still a great campaign for Jose Cusi and Bribon who is retiring the boat this year after being involved since 2005. Canadian Olympic medalist Ross MacDonald has been a major contributor gain this year calling tactics from the back of the boat.

With only 36 days top go before the start of the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race, some teams are have already set up camp in Alicante, Spain in preparation for the October 29th event official start and in port race . Stay tuned to Sail-World for the latest details. Between the VOR 70 in-port race and the start of leg 1 on November 5th, the city will also host the Volvo Ocean Race Legends and Reunion to celebrate the 38-year history of the Volvo and Whitbread races. Yachts from the 1973 inaugural event, such as Tauranga and Copernicus will be joined by other great classics like Great Britain II and Steinlager 2; many original skippers and crew members will be in attendance for the celebrations.

Guy Perrin
Sail-World Canada Managing Editor

Photo Caption: ‘Royal Canadian Yacht Club at the finish Line – New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup’