Chairman'sWelcome - London Boat Show

6AllAt Sea newsTall ships fleet extendedNATIONAL youth sailing charity, the Tall ShipsYouth Trust, is expanding its voyageprogramme for 2010 with a new vesseladded to its fleet.The new 62-foot vessel, Tall Ships Cat, willbe launched in the spring to enable the trustto extend its work with young people withspecial needs as it provides an excellent andstable platform for sail training.For more information about Tall Ships YouthTrust and the range of events and voyages, go to stand N069A at theBoat Show. Contact the Head Office team on 023 9283 2055 or visitwww.tallships.org.Eastern promiseFELIXSTOWE Regatta, to beheld on 3 and 4 July, has a neworganising committee chairmanin Peter Cockayne. The event isone of the best on the East Coastand will be held in DovercourtBay. It includes a series of racesfor modern IRC rated, locallyhandicapped cruising yachts andsports boats. For more detailsvisit www.felixstoweregatta.co.ukGoing soloAMATEUR sailor PaddyMacklin, 52, has left Falmouthin his 27-foot yacht Tessa in abid to sail non-stop around theworld with no hi-techequipment apart from a satellitephone. Paddy, who has madethree solo Atlantic crossings, isfinancing the ú100,000 venturehimself with no corporatesponsor.Search milestoneSkipper lines upHot off thepressOLYMPIC Sailor Ben Ainslie isdue to sign copies of hisAutobiography “Close to theWind” at the Tullett PrebonLondon International Boat Showat Excel. The triple gold and silvermedallist is expected on the HenriLloyd stand - N043J from 12.30to 2pm and at Mail Speed Marine- N064J from 4 to 5pm onSaturday January 9A COASTGUARD search and rescue helicopter, scrambled to helpDorset Police search for a missing person, clocked up the 3,000thmission for the helicopter base at Portland. A search and rescuehelicopter base has been at Portland since 1995. It was initially basedwith the Royal Navy at HMS Osprey and now has its own base atOsprey Quay built by the MCA.SportingsuccessRYA Performance Directorand Racing ManagerJohn Derbyshire, 54, was madean OBE for his outstandingservices to sport the New YearHonours. He began workingwith the RYA as a coach in 1984and was the Olympic Managerfor sailing from 1996 to 2000.He managed the British sailingteam at the Sydney 2000Olympic Games, whichbrought home three gold andtwo silver medals.CLIPPER Ventures has confirmed Polish skipper ZbigniewGutkowski as the fourth entry in the new Eco 60 Class in theVELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11. The 36 year-old skipper, knownas Gutek, is one of Poland’s leading sailors with over 100,000miles onboard 60 foot multihulls and 60 foot monohulls.Skippers from Canada, the USA and Belgium are alreadycommitted to race and six further entries are likely to beannounced soon. The VELUX 5 OCEANS is the oldest singlehandedround the world yacht race and has run every fouryears since 1982.Brighter futureSHIPBUILDERS Cammell Lairdhas recruited 18 apprentices agedbetween 16 and 20 and all fromMerseyside where it is based. Thistakes the total number ofapprentices at the yard to 59.The recruitment drive is critical tothe shipyard’s future growthambitions. The apprenticeprogramme will be run with theneighbouring Maritime andEngineering College North West.Towing thelineTOW-BOATS for theInternational Waterski &Wakeboard Federation (IWWF)will be provided by MasterCraft,the manufacturer of inboardwakeboard, waterski andperformance boats. A six-yeardeal covering the worldchampionships for tournament,and disabled waterskiing,wakeboard and the waterski &wakeboard world cup series hasbeen agreed. Dates for theevents will be announced soon.Love me tenderHERE’S something you don’t see too often...a Sunseeker with aCatherham 7 in the tender garage. Visitors to the Show will besurprised to see that the new Predator 108 Special Edition has acar “in the boot”. The boat costs a cool £7.1 million, butCatherhams start at a rather more affordable £12,995, althoughyou might not fancy one much in this weather!Distributed by Aquafaxwww.aquafax.co.ukVisit the stand (No. NO32C) andleave your card for a chance toWIN a Laptop Bag Every Day