www.Sail-Search.com: The Olympic women’s sailing team Mirabaud - made up of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson - won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing. The ‘Mirabaud Girls’, who compete in the Yngling Class (feminine keel boat), were sailing under the British banner.

The three athletes got the title during the medal race (the final regatta, with the top 10 boats), on Sunday 17th August in a steady wind. They finished the event with a comfortable margin ahead of Mandy Mulder’s Dutch Team and Sofia Bekatorou’s Greek entry.

"When we crossed the line, the three of us just looked at one another”, said Sarah Webb. “I can't describe the feeling, because you just know that you're the best in the whole world at what you do," she said

Kindly nicknamed ‘Three Blondes in a boat’, the British trio proved once again its international leadership in this category. The crew had indeed already won the gold medal at Athens’ Olympic Games, as well as the world champion title in 2007.

Antonio Palma, Limited Partner of Mirabaud & Cie Banquiers Privés, and Member of the Executive Committee of Mirabaud, said he was delighted with this result. "We are particularly happy to be associated with this victory, and to live one of the greatest moments of our three years long partnership."

Mirabaud’s partnership with the British Olympic team is one element of a sponsoring strategy focused on sailing. Indeed, Mirabaud & Cie supports many projects in this field, amongst which the Bol d’Or Mirabaud (www.boldormirabaud.com), Europe’s biggest regatta held on a lake (to which Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson took part in 2006) and Mirabaud LX, a revolutionary boat that sails on its hydrofoils and doesn’t have a hull (www.jundt.ch/mirabaudlx). The colours of Mirabaud can also be seen on three "Surprise" one-design yachts based in Geneva, and mainly used for corporate sailing and as a sailing school. Last but not least, the Lake Geneva championship of the “Surprise” yachts is called the Mirabaud Trophy.

www.Sail-Search.com: Team Isigungu, South Africa's Olympic Entrants in the Yngling class sent this report through:

Well, it’s been a couple of days since our last newsletter, so much has happened. I’ll try and fill you in as best as possible.

Racing on the 14th was postponed due to lack of wind…. Surprise surprise. We really wanted our races in, we needed them.

We hung around on shore until 3pm, until the committee eventually called it a day, as we were supposed to be on E course and we needed 1h30minutes to get there. Just not enough time for the breeze to fill in.

The prediction for the 15th was for 10 - 18knots, we got out and wow, what great breeze. We were all hiking and fully powered up, ready for action! The Finns were scheduled to start 10 minutes before us and about 1 minute to go to their start the postponement flag went up and never came down until 15h15. 15 knots became glass within a matter of minutes.

The wait was killing us, every hour we waited we knew another race was lost. Time was against us, we had 10 points to catch up on and we were down to one race. Then, just in time the breeze came back, beautiful 14 knots. A few teams changed to heavier jibs, but we stuck with our light, one should know by now, the breeze never lasts in China!

We had a great start, the boat was feeling alive. We really worked hard and got to the top mark 5th. With a tight inside rounding, we got two boats on the jibe set. Things were tight.

On the second beat, we almost threw it all away. Shifts came in from the left and the right and the hole back was over us from both sides. We had a choice… pick a side. With the breeze all over, this was the only option.

It worked. We were back in 7th. A close downwind in a dying breeze kept us on our toes.

Although we had a really good race, it just wasn’t enough to put us in the medal race, so our regatta and Yngling campaign ends on a high note.

All 3 of us have had the most amazing 3 years, great times and experiences, wonderful memories. And we have you all to thank. Things are winding down here for us, we have packed the boat and she is ready to be strapped into the container. Rather an emotional time for us, as we are still contemplating our futures.

Is 2012 an option?

Thanks again to all of you who have contributed to our campaign, without you none of this would have been possible.

To all our supporters who never failed to send through sms’s, emails, thoughts and prayers over the last few years, you have kept us pushing that much harder.

A special thanks to Devonvale Golf and Wine Estate, MACS shipping, Capestorm Clothing Apparel, SAS, SASCOC, OPEX, Lion of Africa Insurance, Central boating (MUSTO), Virgin Active, Holiday Inn Coquelles, Dennis Moss Architects, Royal Cape Yacht Club, Family, friends and Fellow Sailors.

We are still in the village for a few more days, just hanging out and watching the medal races, very exciting, very close. Just wish we were there.

Penny is off to Korea tomorrow and Kim and I will be off to Beijing soon.

www.Sail-Search.com: Team Isigungu, South Africa's Olympic Entrants in the Yngling class sent this report through:

Things are getting tight, hopefully 3 races to go!

Well, the prediction for light breeze was correct, but it was not only light but all over the place too! We waited over two hours in the heat until eventually we got a race in at 15h30. We weren’t certain about our plan for the race as the left had been paying most of the week but the wind was supposed to shift steadily to the right. We had a reasonable start, two boats were called OCS and returned back to clear themselves. We took a hitch off to the right and crossed more than a few boats, things were looking good about half way through the beat, until we under tacked another bunch and went further right…… may have been our downfall, our break point….. From there on we tried to play catch up, but the fleet had already spread out a fair bit and catching up seemed impossible.

We are still in 13th spot, who ever said that was a lucky number, lied! 10 points off the medal race and hopefully 3 races to go.

Keeping holding thumbs and praying for us, we are so close and need all the help we can get.

www.Sail-Search.com: Nicolas Troussel finished 18th on the last leg of La Solitaire du Figaro, but the 6 hour lead he had over his closest rival was more than enough to clinch the overall win of the 39th edition of La Solitaire last night. Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) and Frédéric Duthil (Distinxion Automobile) take 2nd and 3rd places respectively. François Gabart (Espoir Région Bretagne) wins the 2008 Beneteau Rookie Ranking by finishing 17th overall for his first time participation on the race.

Nicolas Troussel

Nicolas Troussel owes this win to an exceptional race on the first leg from La Rochelle to Vigo. The battle to get ahead in the light conditions and reach the wind first allowed him to continually extend the lead, a lead in terms of time that his fellow 49 competitors would never break over the course of the three legs. Recognition for Troussel's astounding success story is unanimous among the skippers. The ability to build such big gaps and to climb places from behind is astonishing. "Nico sailed really well on the first two legs. On the first, I was close to him when he managed to get away. I was tired and he still had the willpower and clear mindedness to try anything, to go and search and grab the opportunities. This does not come down to good luck, this comes down to pure talent." Describes Frédéric Duthil. I have been sailing like this for some years now" explains Troussel, "I believe in myself and my strategy and not necessarily just intuition. I try and see the long-term situation. When it works out it is a bit like a spiral, and that is were I do well. I am also confident in my ability which has just grown over the years," continues Nicolas.

Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) enjoys his best performance so far after 13 participations in La Solitaire and takes the 2nd place in the overall rankings. The 2nd spot in Aber Wrac'h assures him the place and "even though I came to win, I still feel I have had a great Solitaire. He confides, "It all came down to the first leg when Nicolas (Troussel) pretty much killed the race. He has sailed brilliantly. I have finished 3rd so many times so finishing 2nd it great…now I have to come back next year to win it!" concludes a grinning Gildas.

Frédéric Duthil (Distinxion Automobiles) takes the third place and can be proud of two excellent years on La Solitaire. In 2007 he won two legs and came second to Michel Desjoyeaux and this year, the Olympic trained sailor has not once stepped down from a podium finish. "It is funny, Nicolas (Troussel) wins the first leg and overall, Gildas (Morvan) wins the second leg and is second overall and I win the third leg and am third overall. We have had to work hard but then what is really self-assuring is that I have been very regular and finished on the podium on all the legs. I think that I have become more of an all rounder and more consistent." Concludes Duthil.

Jeanne Grégoire (Banque Populaire), on her 7th participation finishes just behind Eric Tabarly (Athema) to take 5th place, her best to date. She equals the best female ranking when Clare Francis finished 5th overall in 1975. François Gabart. (Espoir Région Bretagne), the 25 year old competing for the first time, wins the overall rookie rankings and proves worthiness of being selected to train in one of France's best established training camps, the Centre d'Entraînement de Port La Forêt. "I was expecting lots of things but then none of them where what I actually experienced. You have to do this race to understand it. I found out lots of things about myself, about what drives me to want to win, about what I am good at. I tried to keep going the whole way. The only little fright I had was on the second leg when I crossed paths with whale and we missed colliding by just a couple of centimetres. On the third leg I went hell for leather, it was a real sprint and even broke things on the boat. I thought I was going to enjoy it and I just loved it!" enthuses Gabart.

"We have had two legs where low pressure systems have meant we could not sail the planned courses, but then we just have to adapt" explains the race director, Jacques Caraës, "I am so happy now to see all the boats safely back and think that everyone is pleased now and when you see the level of these competitors you understand why this Solitaire has such a high standard", continues Jacques. "It is no fluke that you see these very talented and experienced sailors on top of the podium. I am also truly surprised by the rookies, the first three are of extraordinary ability, François Gabart, Adrien Hardy and Isabelle Joschke, but then they are good sailors who train hard and perform well all year long."

This brings a close to the 39th edition of La Solitaire du Figaro, we will have to wait for the 4th of December to find out where the race will go to celebrate the 40th year of Europe's oldest solo offshore yacht race.

www.Sail-Search.com: Team Isigungu, South Africa's Olympic Entrants in the Yngling class sent this report through:

All is still open, 11 points separate 3rd and 13th !

Hello all,

I am sure by now most of you have studied the website and results on: http://www.sailing.org/olympics/resultscentre.php

If not, you will see that it’s not over by a long shot!

Race day 3 was hot and humid as usual with not much breeze on shore and not much predicted for the day. We were again on course E, about 40 minute tow for most coaches, but that’s no match for coach Dayne who gets it done in under 20minutes! (who needs a pep talk when you get enough of an adrenalin rush from the white water wake that starts at the bow and ends at the rudder!). I wasn’t thinking when I packed my bag and got caught out with no hiking pants, we had 12knots of good breeze, Yeah!! But that was just the morning breeze and by 12h30, things were back to normal. 4 – 6knots and heaps of chop!

We followed 10 minutes after the Finns again, the committee seems to rotate which fleet starts first (I think I forgot to mention that we are sharing our race course with the Finns (single men’s heavyweight class).

We didn’t have the best start in race one, and were forced to tack away. This was against our prestart plan of going left but we also wanted to protect the right, so we used this opportunity to get a bit of leverage on the fleet and some clear air. We came around the top mark in about mid fleet, but right on the heels of the leaders. We separated from the fleet downwind, and knowing that it was the wrong thing made it even worse. We got blocked out by the Greeks.... And and and, ended 11th.

Race 2 was slightly better, but with the single recall flag going up at the start, things were a bit nerve-wracking up the first beat.

As it turned out, we were safe but Greece and Finland were called OCS (on course side) for the start and therefore had to leave the field of play immediately.

We hung in around 5 – 8th most of the race and had a very close finish with 5 boats crossing the line seconds apart. We held our position from the top mark, which is a real relief since we had been struggling downwind terribly.

Today, we had a rest day (AKA Shopping day!!). after a short gym session, breakfast and team chat we all headed our separate ways to spend our pocket money! Decathlon (massive sports store), tailor, supermarket, Starbucks, foot massage, dinner and now finally home to watch another episode of Grey’s Anatomy our new favourite series!

Tomorrow is predicted to be light breeze, but whatever we get, it is going to be our day. I can feel it in my bones!

Thanks to everyone who has been emailing us, it is truly awesome to know that we have so much support all around the world.

PS: have a look at www.sailing.org and see picture 3 on the home page nog al!!

Thank you for your support,

Dominique Provoyeur

www.Sail-Search.com: Frédéric Duthil crossed the finish line at 17:24 and 30 seconds on Monday the 11th of August to win the third and final leg of the 39th edition of La Solitaire du Figaro from Cherbourg to Aber Wrac'h. The skipper of Distinxion Automobiles covered the 470-mile course 71 hours, 23 minutes and 30 seconds at an average 6.6 knots. It was a duel for the 2nd and 3rd podium spots 5 minutes later; in an exiting match race right to the finish line, Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) beat Laurent Pellecuer (Dr Valnet-Aromathérapie) to second place by just 21 seconds. Nicolas Troussel (Financo), who leads on the overall rankings, is expected to finish in the next couple of hours to take the overall time win for the Solitaire, his second in 3 years.

Experiencing a victory is always and amazing thing and it must even be more so when it is along the beautifully rugged and rock strewn coastline of Northern Brittany. The finish line, set inside the Aber Wrac'h, one of the natural inlets that provide shelter to sailors along the infamously dangerous coast, provided a difficult but dramatic backdrop to the finish of the race on Monday evening.

The pedigree of these three winning skippers is undeniable; Fred Duthil won two legs last year, one in Crosshaven and another in the Sables d'Olonne, Laurent Pellecuer savoured victory in Ireland back in 2005 and Gildas Morvan has had four wins, one just last week in Cherbourg. The three solo sailors fought every inch of the way right down to the finish line, including a luffing match right up to the finish for 2nd place!

The 470-mile course was like a giant windward leeward race with 2-day upwind beat against in strong winds and currents to the Brittany Buoy weather mark out in the Atlantic and a fast downhill spinnaker sprint to the finish. "It was the toughest upwind beat of my life," declared Duthil last night. Upon rounding the mark, the three leaders managed to detach themselves from the pack today and break away on the long and tactical ride west to finish. Duthil, waving from the bow as he crossed the finish line declared that it was just "never-ending, so it is fantastic to win the leg. I really had to focus hard on this leg and I realised I could win it 10 miles from the finish and just dug deeper and deeper to get here. What is funny is that Nico (Financo) wins the first leg and gets the 1st in the overall ranking, Gildas (Cercle Vert) wins the second leg and gets second overall and I win the third leg and take third place overall."

The time differences for the first three come down to very little, with Gildas Morvan crossing 20 seconds ahead of Laurent Pellecuer and just over 7 minutes behind the winner. Erwan Tabarly (Athema) finishes in 4th after a great race that has seen him in up with the leaders right from the start, but looses his third place on the over leader board to Duthil. Nicolas Troussel, who holds the overall lead in terms of time, is expected to cross the finish line within the next couple of hours to take the overall win on the 2008 edition of La Solitaire du Figaro.

Interview with Frédéric Duthil – winner in Aber Wrac'h

This must be a nice win for you?

"I am really, really happy! I really had to look for this one, I pushed and pushed and pushed…never giving up. I just had to follow each little wind shift; I can tell you that this leg was much harder than it looked. The upwind beat was incredibly long and hard, I think the hardest in my life. Psychologically, you had to stay on top of things.."

At the end of the day, there is a happy ending?

"It is funny: Nicolas (Troussel) wins the first leg and is going to win the general, Gildas (Morvan) wins the second leg and is going to be second and then I win the third and am going to be third overall."

It was an epic finish with the three of you. When did you realize you where going to win?

"When I reached the Livinter plateau! Well, really, about 10 miles before the finish line, when we lowered the spinnaker, just then. It was so close and so tough, on the whole leg. I could see Gildas Morvan and Laurent Pellecuer just behind me and they were chasing me down, but I kept between them both, to mark them so unless something broke, I was able to mark them and keep ahead. I just kept going to the finish."

At the end of the day it was like an Olympic course, did your windsurfing past come to mind?

"Yes it did a bit! It was a long windward leeward, the longest I have ever done! Playing tactics up to a mark that is 2 miles away I can generally do, but then over 300 miles is something else!"

www.Sail-Search.com: With little over a month until the 15th edition of the Rolex Swan Cup, preparations are in full swing with over 100 entries already confirmed. Swan owners and international sailors from around the globe are readying themselves for a week of intense racing from 8 - 14 September in Porto Cervo. The biennial regatta is hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and offers some of the best sailing and social activity around.

Entries from over 15 countries will compete in a number of classes, including: Club Swan 42, Swan 45, Swan Maxi and Classics. And, with the regatta forming the final event in both Swan Maxi and Club Swan 42 Mediterranean circuits, it promises to be a thrilling occasion and impressive sailing spectacle.

A wide range of performance cruising and racing models will compete from the smallest yacht registered, the Finnish Swan 371 Rosinante to the largest, the Spanish Swan 112 Highland Breeze. For over half of the fleet, it will be their first experience at Nautor's Swan's flagship event.

The biggest yachts in the fleet will compete in the Maxi class, open to yachts over 18 metres in length and racing under IRC handicap. The class will include the one-design Swan 601s and counts as the fourth and final event in the inaugural Swan Maxi Class circuit. The Swan 601 Spirit of Jethou (GBR) goes into this regatta with a one-point advantage over the Swan 80 Favonius (BVI), having won two of the previous events. A strong performance from either could wrap up the title.

Some of the toughest racing is expected to be found within the two one-design classes. Twenty three Swan 45's are already confirmed, with entrants having the added pressure of racing for the 2008 Gold Cup. Current World Champion, Alex Roepers will be hoping for a repeat performance of 2007 after steering Plenty (USA) to Gold Cup victory in waters off Cowes. Roepers believes the team have a good chance of defending the title.

"It's always a close contest in Swan 45 class and I'm looking forward to the challenge. We won the last Gold Cup in Cowes and this will be our third championship event. We haven't competed in the Mediterranean Circuit as much as some of the others in the class but I feel that we have a strong team in place this year and every chance of a top three finish."

Plenty will face strong opposition from some well known names in the class, including current International and Mediterranean circuit leader WISC (GBR), a class winner at Rolex Capri Sailing Week in May; the 2006 Rolex Swan Cup class winner DSK Comifin (ITA) and 2007 Gold Cup runner up Fever (USA).

The Rolex Swan Cup will also welcome the Club Swan 42 class to the regatta for the first time. The eight-boat line up represents six nations and includes two from the USA and Italy, and one from each of France, Greece, Lithuania and The Netherlands. Kora 4 (ITA), the Italian Club Swan 42 owned by Paolo Scerni, has enjoyed a good run of form of late, taking class honours at the Trofeo Aurora in Portofino and Giraglia Rolex Cup. Scerni is a regular on the Club Swan 42 circuit and this will be his fifth consecutive appearance at this event.

"The Rolex Swan Cup is always a great event that captures the true spirit of Swan. Since our first Rolex Swan Cup in 2000 the racing has become more intense and we've gone from sailing a Swan 80 to a Club Swan 42. The Club Swan 42 Class is fast and challenging and I'm looking forward to racing against the USA contingent. We've enjoyed some good form recently and hope to repeat the performance in Porto Cervo. We plan to head out to Sardinia in the weeks leading up to the event to familiarise ourselves with the waters and get some practice in."

In addition to racing on his Club Swan 42 Mr Scerni has recently taken delivery of a new Swan 90 FD and plans to bring the yacht down for the event. The intention is to prepare the yacht for racing in next season's Swan Maxi Class and will be in Porto Cervo not to compete, but to make the most of the stunning cruising grounds on offer.

"It will be great to see her out on the water at her first Swan regatta. We will test the boat in the winter before joining the other over 60 footers in the Swan Maxi Class next year." The Club Swan 42 Cuordileone (ITA) owned by Nautor's Swan President Leonardo Ferragamo has also enjoyed some success since its launch last year, bursting onto the racing scene in September 2007 and winning its class at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez on the model's Mediterranean debut. It then went on to win the first event in the European Circuit, the Primo Cup, edging victory over Kora 4.

The fourth class will be the Classic Class, aimed at boats under 18 metres and raced under the unique Nautor's Swan Rating system also based on IRC but which credits boats for adherence to the original design.

The full programme of shoreside activity will begin on Monday with a welcome cocktail party. The following race days will include prize giving ceremonies and glamorous socials throughout the week, including the Owners' Dinner hosted by Rolex on Friday and Rolex Crew Party on Saturday. The final prizegiving is scheduled for 6.00pm on the final Sunday at the close of the week.

www.Sail-Search.com: Team Isigungu, South Africa's Olympic Entrants in the Yngling class sent this report through:

Yesterday was Penny’s birthday, but not too many chances to celebrate as we had a busy day with 2 races out on E course.

We will make up for it after the Games though!

We started off first, ahead of the Finn fleet, on time at 13h00. There was about 8 – 10knots, from about 115 – 120 degrees. During the first race the wind died to 5 knots, but luckily the current wasn’t as strong as we’ve seen before and we were still able to make head way down wind.

We were still struggling with the last run of the first race and it could have been positioning or just pure lack of boat speed, but we went from 7th to 11th in the last run. Disappointing and frustrating.

We tried everything we could to make the adjustments, and to try and get the boat moving, but nothing worked.

On the second race, we felt good pressure out on the left of the course, a bit risky since ¾ of the fleet went right…. But it paid off in our favour and we rounded the top mark in 2nd. Dom sat on the weather side for a better feel and view, maybe this could have helped as we weren’t as slow downwind anymore. There was however a few more knots of pressure.

We are also now trying to lay the mast further forward as this is what the rest of the fleet is doing and it seems to be faster…

2 more races today… give it horns!

www.Sail-Search.com: Team Isigungu, South Africa's Olympic Entrants in the Yngling class sent this report through:

For those of you looking out for us on the TV for the opening ceremony, unfortunately we were not there, we started racing the next day, 435miles from Beijing, so we couldn’t make it!

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs, I suppose for many of the teams. But we in particular, let ourselves down on the last run of both races. We thought we were going well up wind and were in the top 5 at the top mark a few times.

With the light breeze and current, finding the right direction for the bow and right angle of heal was tough. We seemed to battle downwind and didn’t feel comfortable. We think we have realised the errors and will give it a better go today.

We finished in 13th and 10th for the day, 13th overall….. Bit of work to do today, but hey, there is still more tricky stuff to come and as we are reminded, just enjoy the Olympic Games.

Last night was the opening ceremony in Qingdao, and the Chinese put on a fantastic show. We had a great time, walking with the flag into the stadium. JJ, Judy and Annie were able to join us, which was also great.

Team Isigungu and Supporters in Qingdao, China

www.Sail-Search.com: A fierce battle for the lead ensues on the final leg of La Solitaire du Figaro yacht race. Nine boats are within just a mile of each other as they furiously beat upwind to the Brittany Buoy, 20 miles further out to the East before they turn and make the final direct run back to l'Aber Wrac'h. Just 38 boats remain with 8 abandons since the start on Friday in Cherbourg. The front that swept over the fleet yesterday bringing with it over 30 knots of wind and heavy seas has finally eased and settled.

The lead continually changes hands among the first nine boats, often within sight and just 1.2 miles of each other. Last night it's Eric Drouglazet's Luisina, then Frederic Duthil's Distinxion Automobiles, or now Erwan Tabarly (Athema) and Nicolas Bérenger (Koné Ascenseurs)…"It is quite amazing to think that after 200 miles of racing upwind we find ourselves so grouped together," exclaims Bérenger, polled in joint first position at 16:00. "I am a bit fed up of this constant tacking and am going to go off and do my own thing," continues Duthil.

"It has been a slow and laborious process to beat up to the mark," describes Nicolas Lunven (Foncia), in 7th place and 1 mile from the leader. The deliverance will come upon rounding the Brittany Buoy, when "we will dry out and have a chance to have a hot meal, but then the sea is still messy and we are going to have to take care on the spinnaker run, so we might have to wait for that hot meal until we get to l'Aber Wrac'h!" continues Lunven. Two days into the race and exhaustion is taking its toll on the solo sailors. "In the difficult conditions I only been able to snacks and right now having my first hot meal since the first night" recounts Nicolas Bérenger (Koné Ascenseurs) as he holds on to the narrow lead.

The rookies are also enjoying a close battle; François Gabart (Espoir Région Bretagne) holds a 0.5-mile advantage over his closest rival Adrien Hardy (AGIR Recouvrement) and both are up front just over 3 miles behind the leading pack. Andy Greenwood (Imtech), who chose the more northern route, is trailing behind by 26.9 miles in 35th place. Whilst Nicolas Troussel (Financo), keeps gaining ground, grappling back ten miles off the lead throughout today and continues to sail above the bulk of the fleet, now 24th place and 10.2 miles behind. The sailors furthest north have an average one-knot edge on the average boat speed, which will see the deficit reduced on the final approach to the Brittany buoy.

At 17:00 on Sunday, the Race Office announced a further change to the course. Instead of heading down to a mark off the Isle of Sein, the fleet will head direct for l'Aber Wrac'h upon rounding Brittany Buoy, this cutting out some 30 miles of route. The reason for this decision is that a further depression bringing strong 40-knot winds is expected to sweep over the race area on Tuesday between 02:00 and 05:00 am. This shortened course should see the sailors reach port safely from Monday afternoon.