Everyone, except two passengers presumed drowned, got to safety after the ship ran into Gil Island on March 22, 2006 en route from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy.  "Essentially the system failed that night. Sound watch-keeping practices were not followed and the bridge watch lacked a third certified person," said Wendy Tadros, chairwoman of the TSB.

The vast expanse of debris -- in effect the world's largest rubbish dump -- is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.

Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."

Young and pretty, it's hard to imagine Jenner, 27, as the skipper of one of the 10 yachts competing in 2007-2008 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The only female skipper in the race, she is determined to steer her boat to a podium position. She does not see the fact that she is the only female skipper as any reason to lag behind.  "I use it as an advantage," says Jenner. "Other skippers quite often write you off and won't see you coming because they're busy concentrating on other people. I definitely want to win and beat the boys!"  Jenner led her crew to the third place in the 6th leg from Singapore to Qingdao, which is described as tough by male skippers and crew including the skipper of "New York", Duggie Gillespie, who won the first place in this race.

London's successful bid team promised that the ship - named the Olympic Friend-ship - would spend four years travelling around the world.  The full-size ocean-going clipper had been due to set sail this August.

Crewed by young people, artists, philosophers and students, the ship was to be run by professional officers. London's bid book claimed the ship would: "... carry a cargo emblematic of the UK's cultural riches.

"In turn, every nation visited will have the opportunity to contribute to the vessel's cargo - either in real terms or via the website.

Source:  BYM News-- It seems as if every headline in the marine trade press these days have the words "profits down," "boat sales down" or "attendance down" in the title. While I know this isn't really the case on a worldwide basis or in every segment of the market, there's no denying that we are facing one of the toughest domestic market environments in recent history.  Without doubt, the economic uncertainty, the anemic housing market, rising fuel costs, and the fact that everyone seems to be working harder than ever, is having a serious impact upon the boating market and leisure activities in general.

Despite this doom and gloom there are still some bright spots in the market. The export market is strong thanks to the weakening dollar and the "new wealth" in the emerging markets, with many companies experiencing solid sales in Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Companies that have aggressively pursued new product introductions in the U.S. and abroad are fairing better than companies that have stuck with the same old tried-and-tested products. Many manufacturing companies are also seeing goods cost less through better outsourcing of products and components, and more efficient manufacturing processes. 

Overall, the sailing market seems to be holding up better than the powerboat sector. High fuel costs are the primary reason for this advantage, but sailing is also more in line with the cultural and social aspirations of many people. Sailing is healthy, invigorating, exciting and, above all, GREEN. With growing environmental awareness and concern, sailing will be regarded as an "alternative fuel" vessel and, let us hope, will become the preferred choice for boaters.