Two times in one month! Not a bad start to the year for the 2008 Paralympic Gold medallist Paul Tingley (RNSYS) who has already secured his own spot for the 2012 Paralympic Games. Paul's second place result at Miami OCR today will be his second trip to podium this month after winning the bronze medal at the 2012 IFDS World Championships in Port Charlotte, FL. Tingley attributes part of his success to his passion and dedication to the sport. 'I enjoy the game of chasing that invisible force of nature – the wind. It's addictive'.

The 104th Chicago Yacht Club (CYC) Race to Mackinac Notice and Conditions of Race (NOR) and Mackinac Safety Regulations (MSR) have now been released. These documents reflect a series of changes implemented by the committee to enhance the safety of the Race for all participants.

'The committee has been hard at work over the past six months in collaborating with naval architects, US Sailing’s offshore committee and other race organizers,' said Lou Sandoval race chairman.

Polish up your pearls, Dig out the Brylcream and Come prepared for a 'realllly big shewww' as Ontario Sailing presents the Celebration of Sailing Mad Men Gala!

Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Boulevard Club, Toronto ~ 6pm until the dancing stops!

Join us for a THE event of the year! A great way to reconnect with your fellow sailors and kick off the 2012 season!

The IFDS Worlds in Port Charlotte are now in the history books and the competitors are transferring their equipment to Miami for OCR. The Canadian Sailing team sailors fared very well for this event, some were here for trials and some for more international experience. Paul Tingley from RNSYS was on the podium with a third place overall for the event! Today he ended up seventh but at times during the race he had enough separation to get second place. With the 2.4 course location close to shore, the shifts were very unpredictable the results for many of the top competitors were all over the map.

International Yngling World Championship is being held in Sydney, Australia from 2nd to 8th January 2012. The regatta has got off to a great start with the combined Yngling Open Championship and Youth Gold Cup setting the pattern for spectacular one design racing on Sydney Harbour when the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron hosts the 2012 Worlds next week.

The Yngling World Championship is the first of two world championships being hosted by the Squadron to mark their 150th anniversary, the second being the International Etchells in February.

2012 Fireball World Championships are set to be sailed in Mandurah, Western Australia commencing Tuesday 27th December 2011 through to Saturday 7th January 2012.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, this international event will set sail from Comet Bay, which is bound by the Indian Ocean, two popular beaches and the picturesque Mandurah Ocean Marina breakwater.

Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race fleet have completed race six, from New Zealand to Gold Coast Australia. The fleet will set sail for Singapore in race seven of the 15-race series on Christmas Eve.

Gold Coast Australia, one of the ten yachts competing in the race, now has another, very special message to carry around the world after the 2018 Commonwealth Games logo was unveiled for the first time this morning on the hull of the 68-foot ocean racer.

Sailor Helena Lucas of Great Britain took the win in the 2011 U.S. 2.4mR Class Association Pre-Worlds over Paul Tingley of Canada and Bruce Miller who tied for second place.

Tingley, who led the regatta on the strength of two wins on Day One, managed only two eighth-place finishes, one a throw-out, on Saturday. Millar posted two –fifths Saturday to catch Tingley after starting the day three points back.

At the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth, fantastic sailing conditions were delivered for what was to be the Canadians' final day. Action kicked off with the medal race in the Star class with the Canadian team of Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn holding down the final spot for medal race contention. The medal races took place very close to the shore which made for great racing entertainment.

The Canadians had a good start and rounded the first mark in fifth place.

Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships – Star classes were back on the water today, Friday 16 December, racing on the Leighton Course in Fremantle, Australia.

A great day on the water for Canada today!!! The Fremantle Doctor was back and Canada was firing on all cylinders.

Richard Clarke and Tyler Bjorn have qualified Canada and themselves for the 2012 Olympic Games next summer.

The Doctor wasn't needed today, as a solid SSE system breeze and some localized showers brought plenty of breeze and with it a great degree of variety to the race courses. Winds again ranged from as little as 7 knots to upwards of 20 knots in the localized squalls. The variance in the breeze was to the liking of some and chagrin of others.

The second week of the event is starting to take shape with some interesting story lines developing. In Star land, the series leader after 4 races, defending Olympic Gold Medallists from GBR Percy/Simpson, received their second yellow flag for kinetics (pumping rule) in Race 5, forcing them to withdraw from that race.

The 'Doctor' took a break for today as the day began overcast with an offshore breeze. After a gentle start to the day the breeze slowly built topping out in the low twenties. Race one across the majority of courses was in a building breeze, starting in and about 10 knots and finishing up in the mid-teens. Race two was mid-teens to the low twenties depending on the course area you found yourself on. The off-shore breeze is the talk of the boat yard as most have become expectant of the doctors arrival, and presenting a new option early in the racing for everyone. There were big scores put up by numerous players across a number of the fleets, creating some interesting early dramas.

The demand from the IOC is that Olympic sports improve their ratings. ISAF has responded with medal races and here at Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, with a stadium course.

But television steps onto the field of play…

Yesterday, in the name of more exciting television, the ISAF contracted Sunset & Vine TV boat twice powered down the run, following the Finn class race leader Pieter Jan Postma and putting significant wash on Ben Ainslie.

The Medal Race day provided entertainment for the fans crowding the grandstands and Bather's Beach board walk. Although far from windy there was enough breeze to provide solid racing for all with the wind ranging from 7-13 knots. Each of the four fleets had intriguing story lines and tight battles throughout the top 10. Full results of these races and more can be found at www.perth2011.com. Nine different countries secured medals today out of the 12 medals available, with the Netherlands and GBR being the only countries to score more than one medal on the day.

An invitation to watch The O CANADA Project Sunday December 11 at 7pm on CBC’s Documentary Channel. Rogers 325, Cogeco 170, Bell TV 336, Shaw Direct 513, Shaw 124, and Videotron 151. The O CANADA Project tells the story of New Zealand boat builder Alan West rebuilding the former Spirit of Canada boat, skippered by Canadian Derek Hatfield in the 2006 Vendee Globe singlehanded race.

After a full weekend of racing, the 2011 Cork Fall Regatta and Great Lakes Championships has come to a close.

After a total of five races in the Laser fleet, local sailor and Canadian national team sailor, Robert Davis from the Kingston Yacht Club is the new Great Lakes Champion ahead of fellow Queen’s engineering students, Evert McLaughlin and Matthew Ryder (Toronto, Ontario). The overall winner and Great Lakes Champion of the Laser Radial class is Malcolm Lamphere (Lake Forest Illinois).