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A testing, northwesterly offshore wind of 12-17kts produced fantastic racing conditions today at the Rolex TP52 World Championship on the Bay of Palma out of Puerto Portals as Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon took control of the title race. They posted two first places and a fifth to lead the championship by seven points going into the final day, Thursday.

Pieter Taselar’s Bliksem team provided a masterclass in success through making the least mistakes rather than winning races on the opening day of the M32 World Championship on Lake Garda. The US-based Dutch team never won a race but never scored worse than a fourth leaving them with a might nine point lead, ahead of Don Wilson’s second-placed Convexity, in turn just a point ahead of Larry Phillips’ Midtown.

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If the Bay of Palma has a reputation for consistent, steady seabreeze conditions, the second race of the day rather upset that notion. A 25 degree shift in wind direction complicated the first run, the prelude to a funky, challenging second half of the race, which was completed in a dying, very unsettled breeze. After winning the first race of the day, Race 3 of the world championship, Sled were able to hold fast through the tricky moments.

The ORC Sportboat fleet has gathered in Portoroz and is ready to race starting tomorrow Tuesday 27 August having passed their measurement checks and registration and inspection formalities. These include weighing all boats, checking all sails to be used (and measuring them when necessary), and checking all safety equipment. 

A pair of third places gained in light sea breeze conditions from the white-hot, 11-strong fleet gives Tina Plattner and the crew of Phoenix 12 the overall lead after the first two races at the Rolex TP52 World Championship on the Bay of Palma. Theirs was a very encouraging opening, and caps a good day for the Plattner family crews as father Hasso on Phoenix 11 finished second in the second race and lies fifth overall.

A day of light wind saw a slightly disrupted race schedule on Day 2 of Ready Steady Tokyo – Sailing, the official test event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.

After four days of intense racing at the 38th Copa del Rey MAPFRE, competition is about to get that bit more serious.  Heading into the final two days, the leading boats in the Swan One Design classes may look to be sitting pretty, having built up solid leads over their closest rivals, but a new scoring system introduced this year by the Real Club Náutico de Palma means those in pole position are less secure than they might seem.

While the toughest competition in the Rolex Fastnet Race will be within the individual classes, the ultimate kudos comes from winning the Fastnet Challenge Cup, the outright prize for IRC corrected time for the world's largest offshore yacht race. The challenge will be all the harder for this year's race has an immense fleet of 336 boats (excluding the 60 racing in the non-IRC fleet).