Italy

Caligari, Sardinia, Italy - "If you go overboard, you're dead."  Some form of that is the mantra of many an ocean sailor, and particularly solo sailors.  The idea is to stay on the boat, no matter what.  So on Friday, during the solo (singlehanded) Cap Istanbul Race, when Matthieu Girolet came upon competing boat SIRMA flogging in the darkness with a torn spinnaker, the horror of what had happened was soon obvious.  SIRMA was empty, and her skipper Christophe Bouvet was somewhere out in the darkness, lost at sea.

Sardinia, Italy - After a week of sailing in yachts that range from "Mini-Maxi" to what truly earn the title "Super-Maxi," the winds have died, the results are in, and on the podium there have been a few surprises. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda hosted some big names and big yachts in this 19th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and the varied sailing conditions were a perfect test of the boats' and crews' abilities and performance.  With 40 boats, four classes, and some of the most spectacular

Lake Garda, Italy - The 2008 RC 44 Malcesine SLAM Cup concluded last week in one of the most beautiful inland sailing venues on the planet. This fourth sailing regatta of the RC 44 Championship Tour opened with match racing, and the one-design yacht fleet enjoyed the land breezes for which the lake is famous, completing all scheduled round-robin matches. As the week progressed to the fleet sailing events, however, the winds diminished, and only four yacht races were run.

Caliari, Sardinia - It was an extraordinary week's sailing as the Audi MedCup wrapped up in Caliari for the Region of Sardinia Trophy Regatta.   With a variety of conditions, including warm sea breezes and the cold Mistrals, the courses were challenging, and the races often tight to the finish as the TransPac 52's battled it out in 10 races over the last five days.  In the end, Quantum took this third regatta and is squarely in first place overall for the 2008 MedCup series.

Twenty three of the world’s largest and most luxurious yachts sailed away from the quays of Porto Cervo marina this week during the Superyacht Regatta. Though the racing wasn't the most exciting of the week, the boats were incredible, as you can see in this shot taken by Rick Tomlinson.

Genoa, Italy - Neville Crichton and his crew on the yacht Alfa Romeo have beaten the course record in the Giraglia Race, prevously held by none other than Neville Chrichton and crew on the old Alfa Romeo. The 100 foot yacht sailed from St. Tropez, past Giraglia rock on Corsica, and into into Genoa Italy in just 18 hours, smashing Crichton's previous record set in 2003 by 4 hours. The new yacht has 10 more feet, a canting keel, and power winches.