SAILING: If you're back from the Southampton Boat Show with plans to buy the biggest yacht in the country, it may already be too late. Challenger has arrived, a sloop that weighs 29 tonnes, built of high-tech carbon construction and has 20 berths.
Her Irish debut at last weekend's Kingfisher Autumn League effectively rewrites the concept of big-boat racing in Irish waters for she is twice as big as anything else previously seen on Irish waters.
In a former life, as Uruguay Natural, the round-the-world racer won her class in the Sydney-Hobart race in 2001. She has been purchased by Team Prosail Ltd, a commercial initiative supported by two Irish businessmen in the advertising industry, Stuart Fogarty and Daragh Cafferky for racing and corporate charters.
But although she towered over the rest of the 190-boats off Ireland's Eye she only narrowly beat the second biggest boat in the bay area, Azure, (some 40 foot smaller) by a stone's throw.
Elsewhere, in the Howth League, the larger than expected turnout in class three has led the Autumn League committee to divide the class into gold and silver sub groups to provide additional daily race winner prizes. So, in addition to the above, there are class three gold (International Rule Club) IRC and ECHO results and class three silver IRC and ECHO results.
It's a further indication of the popularity of the north Dublin league that draws competitors from Carlingford, Wexford and Sligo for its short, sharp format.This Sunday the league reaches its halfway stage but so far there have only been light winds.
Although one of the smallest classes with only seven entries, the Beneteau 31.7 one-design fleet saw for a second week running Don Breen in Sosumi in first place on both scratch and IRC.
Thirty Something, skippered by John Hall of Dún Laoghaire took second in both handicaps and Sligo Yacht Club's Martin Reilly's Extremity took third on Scratch.
Abroad, just when it appeared that Australia's long-standing relationship with the AC was over, Sydney Yachtsman Ray "Hollywood" Roberts has emerged, according to Seahorse magazine, as its saviour.
It is possibly the first rustling of the bushes in terms of entries for next July's event on Dublin Bay and it will hearten hosts, Royal St George, to hear of preparations this far in advance.
The journal of the Royal Ocean Racing Club reports Roberts is actively canvassing other Australian yacht owners to join him in a national team. His own plan is to ship "Hollywood Boulevard" to Dún Laoghaire in time for the biennial event.
Meanwhile, keelboats classes in the Olympic Games could be in line for a further cut following a request from the IOC president to review the sports, disciplines and event programmes for the 2008 Olympics due for China.
The three-man Soling keelboat was cut from the Athens line-up immediately and there is mounting speculation the women's Yngling keelboat, only introduced for 2004, may have the shortest of Olympic lives.
Lying in bed with 'flu with one week to go before racing starts is not Ian Walker's idea of perfect preparation, but it is better that it is this week than next the GBR Challenge skipper says optimistically.
The bookmakers have just published the odds for the America's Cup and the GBR team are ranked as 51 to 1 outsiders. Only the French and the Mascalzone team are ranked lower at 101 to 1 and 126 to 1. The GBR Challenge for the America's Cup had both of their new yachts, GBR 70 (White Lightning) and GBR 78 (White Magic), testing for the first time together in Auckland on Tuesday.
It was only the fourth day's sailing for GBR 78 which was flown out to Auckland from the team's Cowes base in mid-August.
The plan is to race GBR 70, which has had more development work, in the first round-robin where Britain race each of the eight challengers once.
