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On a range of issues from the Olympics, record attempts to the BBC's coverage of the America's Cup

Regarding Graham Dalton's late qualification for Around Alone and his subsequent penalty Denis Inman from California had this to say:

Sounds fair to me. The race organisers were not able to display the yacht prior to the event in order to raise more public interest, but decided to bend the rules in order to allow everyone to race. While Hexagon did not commit any on the water infractions, it is not unreasonable that the commitee assess some sort of penalty to Dalton for not living up to his agreement to abide by the rules set up long before the start of the race.

This is a commercial venture as well as a sport. competitors, sponsors, and race organizers have a responsibility to each other to see that all interests are satisfied. If the commitee throws out the rules that are set up to accomplish these goals for one competitor, others will complain that they could have used the more time for preparation as well.

To be honest I think the penalty Hexagon was awarded was more to do with safety issues. The qualification of skipper and boat are an essential part of this and Dalton failed to qualify within the allocated time period. Strictly under the rules the Race Committee needn't have allowed him to race. On the public interest side - this seemed pretty limited in Newport and the marina wasn't really geared up for visitors, with a barrier across the main entrance, etc.

Matthew Barton adds the following on this subject:

Harsh decision. From previous coverage is sounds like there was considerable confusion about his first qualification attempt in the southern hemisphere, however in this instance there was clear intent to meet the qualification requirement in time. It is unlucky that he dismasted and will be late, however 60 hrs onto your first leg time is excessive, considering that he will have made no material gain in getting to the start late, in fact it probably makes things harder. I can't imagine HSBC will be chuffed or will be queuing up for further sponsorship of yachting. A bad decision all round I think.

There is only so much rule bending that can go on...

Has Cork Week not outstripped Cowes? Clive Higgins thinks so

Cork Week has now gone ahead of Cowes Week and other English regattas by a long way at this stage for the fun and excitment both on and of the water. At least in Cork all the boats sail in fair wind and tide not like the Solent where it is all about local tides and winds and you always have to have a local on board to sail in the Solent if you are a visitor. Regards Clive

Christopher Gillingham adds this:

Cork Week was a splendid regatta, well organised with good sailing and excellent partying... The beer tent at Cowes could do with staying open for a while longer.

Yes, and English licensing laws need to take a step into the 21st century too

Following our report on the Cherub Nationals Mike Cooke writes

Fantastic - more please! The Cherubs were doing the assymetric thing ages before boats like the 29er/rs400 came along and it is the development classes that will produce the ideas and inspiration for tomorrows boats...

In response to our article about the 60ft trimarans lifting their leeward floats where we asked how long it would be before monohulls did the same, one reader felt this:

Trimarans are the most stable and user-friendly platforms, for sailboats, known to man. Many have been equipped with lifting foils, typically in the leeward ama, with only minimal, if any, speed gains. Fitting effective lifting foils to a monohull would be difficult to impossible. If you think about the most efficient (Open 60) monohulls they already utilise lifting foils, in the form of daggerboards, to combat leeway lifting foils and lead pendulems really don't mix, so, no, I don`t see any chance of airborne monohulls.

In response to our article some while back about Reichel-Pugh's canting ballast-twin foil system designer Dave Hubbard replies:

RED HERRING A 55ft slender double ended ketch with a canting keel was built for Van Alan Clark of Marion Mass. by Eric Goetz in 1982. It has 8.5' beam and weighs about 12,000 lbs. I was the designer. Van Clark's intent was for a fast easily handled cruising yacht for him and his wife. It has two pivoting centerboards and a rudder. The keel is held in a cage that allows the bulb to be lifted to a 4.5' draft.

His son Steve, who is the present holder of the Little America's Cup, has since made improvements with the design assistance of Duncan MacLane. changing the keel/ bulb to an IACC configuration with a daggerboard forward and carbon fiber masts. Red Herring can cruise easily at 12 knots and has reached 17-18 knots in favourable conditions. I have often wondered whether the name Red Hornet was "a tip of the hat" to the innovative Red Herring.