SAIL.SailMagazine

If your mental satellite dish is tuned into the cold, scary, wet station known as the Volvo Ocean Race, these are heady times. Virtually every day there are new photos and reports of launchings, christenings, and first test sails. On the team end of things, each syndicate is rapidly closing the gap on their final list of sailors, and the Spanish-flagged Telefonica is no exception.

Plans are being laid to launch an Ocean Racing World Cup in 2009. The effort is marketing-driven, on the European model rather than the American yacht club model, and as seen below, the Royal Ocean Racing Club is "lending its expertise." We're not sure whether this belongs under Racing News or Industry News (probably both). Here is what they're telling SAIL:To date, Ocean Racing has

Since the days of Clipper Ships, sailors heading for England on fast boats have faced an obvious challenge: Break the trans-Atlantic record, starting from Ambrose Lighthouse, off New York Harbor, to the iconic Lizard off England’s southern tip. Given the number of boats and fine sailors who have made this journey, you can bet that the bar for this record has been set high. Very high. In fact,

It’s a funny thing: offshore sailing in the Midwest. But that’s exactly what the Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac is, featuring 333 miles of sailing, often requiring sailors to negotiate a wide variety of wind and sea-state conditions en route to an island (Mackinac Island, that is) that doesn’t allow cars, but instead condones pedestrians, bicycles, and horse-drawn carriages. But that’s an