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U.S. Coast Guard Offloads Six Tons of Cocaine in Miami The above headline for the story below is funny. Like, where in Miami did they offload it, and how much can I buy at once? Are there quantity discounts? Haha! On Tuesday, the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Confidence delivered a massive haul of six tons of cocaine to a secure pier in Miami, Florida. The drugs were seized in a series of interdictions by the Coast Guard and its partners in the Caribbean Sea, and the combined value of the haul came to an estimated $160 million. The counternarcotics mission in the Caribbean is a truly international effort. The U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Netherlands Navy and Royal Navy all provide vessel platforms for Coast Guard law enforcement teams in the region. Partner nations in Central and South America contribute to surveillance and enforcement in coastal waters. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducts overflights to spot inbound narcotics boats. The U.S. government's remote-sensing and R&D community also contributes to the task of vessel detection.  More here....

As an exercise in effrontery, this one is hard to beat. The King and Queen of Spain have traveled to Barcelona to present America’s Cup CEO Grant Dalton with a City Promotion Award. Seriously. Dalton squeezes well North of $100m out of Barcelona for the “right” to host AC37 and now he has the bald-faced cheek to accept a gong for his efforts.   But there’s worse to come. In late November the AC Magical Mystery Tour will decamp to Jeddah on the Red Sea. For those who don’t know their geography, Jeddah is the second city of that wonderful, sport-loving, democratic nation of Saudi Arabia. We can’t be sure how much Dalton extracted from Jeddah but it must be a small fortune. That deal was done more than a year ago, while the world was condemning Saudi Arabia for the murder and dismemberment of a journalist who’d had the temerity to question the conduct of its ruling King and Crown Prince.  Dalton was clearly untroubled; at the March 2022 announcement of the Jeddah deal, he even went so far as to claim that it would “transform lives through sailing and the technologies associated with it”.  Regrettably, those "transformed" lives will not include the lives cut short by the routine imposition of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia where there have been up to 80 executions in a single day.  This is a country with no national elections or political parties. It ranks 150th out of 157 on the Democracy Index. It sponsors terrorism, censors the internet, and discriminates savagely against women. None of that seems to concern Dalton and his America’s Cup Event operation.  And how this must all stick in the craw of the New Zealand public.  For decades they contributed huge amounts of taxpayer and corporate funding to contest...

Big Pimpin' The tech wizards at Vakaros are bringing a new instrument to the market suited for the more cost-conscious dinghy sailor who still wants peak performance. The Atlas Edge combines powerful hardware and a 100+ hour battery life with the simplicity so many sailors have been asking for. This instrument integrates class-compliant modes and is legal in the Lightning, Thistle, Dragon, and more one-design classes. The Atlas Edge is on preorder for a limited time at $599, learn more and check out all the options today!...

Look at that kite get sucked under the Super 52  Vayu at the Puerto Portals regatta. Thanks to Max Ranchi for the timely photo......

Nick Craig just won the OK Dinghy Autumn Trophy with 8 straight bullets!...

Big Pimpin' As we were watching a small number of Imocas battling it out around the globe fully crewed for the first time, a new generation of 60s was being launched and put through its paces. To try to understand the latest thinking in structural design, and to evaluate how far the most recent boats had evolved from the previous generation, we spoke to Gurit’s Paolo Manganelli, Yoan Stephant and Nicolas Poidevin. The firm has been involved in three of the most recent projects, in each case with a different set-up: directly contracted by Jérémie Beyou’s Charal team, in collaboration with VPLP for Malizia, and coming in to doublecheck the work for Eric Bellion and Jean Le Cam’s efforts. Three configurations, three different philosophies… and a host of new parameters to play with. For Malizia the focus was firmly on reliability, with a ‘clear demand from the team’ on that aspect, stresses Paolo. Compared with the previous generation of boats this meant significantly pushing the requirements in terms of structural strength. Read on....

As is customary every year around this time, the Rolex PR machine has trundled out a media release gushing over the early entries for the Sydney-Hobart race. The start on December 26 is still 98 days away but more than 60 boats have already submitted their initial paperwork. Four 100-footers have entered: the usual suspects Andoo Comanche, LawConnect, and SHK Scallywag, plus Wild Thing 100 (the former 80-foot Beau Geste which has now been stretched to 100). But what the release from the race sponsors doesn’t mention is the elephant that isn’t in the room.  Wild Oats XI, the Reichel/Pugh supermaxi that has headlined the event since 2005 and won line honours nine times, is not listed as an entrant.  SA readers will recall that WOXI was damaged during the recent Hamilton Island regatta. She was then nursed home to Sydney and is now waiting for access to her shed at Woolwich Dock.  Entry to the dock by water has been restricted since the fire that destroyed Andiamo, the 92-foot motor yacht that also belongs to the owners of Wild Oats.  Gossip in the offshore community is that Oats will not be heading South on Boxing Day, and is probably soon to be offered for sale.  Another prominent yacht yet to lodge their entry is 2022 overall winner Celestial.  That might be of interest to fellow TP52 Caro. The Fastnet winner ran a close third to Celestial in the 2022 Sydney-Hobart and has entered the Australian classic again.  – anarchist David...

At 07:20 UTC Captain of Triana (66) FR, Jean d’Arthuys, contacted Ocean Globe Race control to request an urgent medivac from the vessel. Yesterday at 1300 UTC the crew member Stéphane Raguenes slipped on deck in heavy weather causing a severe laceration on the back of his leg behind the knee. Stéphane was taken below for immediate first aid to stop the blood flow. He was sedated and given painkillers. He was conscious, talking and made comfortable by his crew mates. MSOS, the OGR 24hr telemedicine team and TMAS International Telemedicine support were contacted and photos of the injuries were transmitted via satelite for diagnosis. Medical advice was provided to the crew. OGR declared a Code Orange and OGR protocols were put in place. Next of kin were informed. Captain Jean d’Arthuys considered various options, including an emergency evacuation to a nearby container ship or transferring Doctor Tanneguy Raffray from Neptune (56) FR, another French OGR entrant. Neptune was just 12 nm away at the time. Unfortunately, 4mtr seas and moderate wind conditions ruled out both options. Diverting to Portugal was also considered but it was decided to continue South to Las Palmas and later Madeira. This option offered the least overall risk to all involved.d a soft spot for PEN DUICK VI designed especially for the first round the world race, the Whitbread 1973-1974.. More here....