David Roache has been elected commodore of the Little Ship Club in London. Roache has committed to ensure that "the Club will secure its place in the future of sailing in the UK."

"The Club was formed by Maurice Griffiths and a small group of amateur sailors when Griffiths was just 25 years old," he continued. "Our sport needs to be more available to younger people so I want to broaden our appeal to younger members."

Originally set up as a club to bring together London-based sailors for sailing camaraderie and training, the Club has recently become involved with more competitive events such as Pelican Racing’s Cayman Islands City Racing Challenge and informal groups like Solent Sailors in the City.

The Club’s President is Sir Robin Knox-Johnston who, whilst no youngster, still enjoys messing around in an Open 60.

Commenting on David’s election as Commodore, Sir Robin said: "David has taken the helm of the Little Ship Club at a critical time. In my sailing career I have made the transition from round the world in a wooden boat held together with iron nails to sailing the globe in a carbon fibre Open 60. Now the Little Ship Club is navigating a course that takes the best of its history and tradition and positions it as a dynamic hub for sailors in the 21st century."

With the start of the Rolex China Sea Race just three weeks away, a competitive fleet is lining up for this 565-nautical mile Asian offshore classic. To date, 29 boats are registered, with several more anticipated to enter the race, which starts on Thursday, April 1 in Hong Kong and finishes in Subic Bay, northwest of Manila, the Philippines.

Organised by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, in co-operation with Manila Yacht Club and the Subic Bay Yacht Club, this will be the 25th edition of the biennial blue-water race that will start, weather permitting, amidst the hustle and bustle of seagoing activity - sampans, ferrys, and ships - of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.

From the starting line off the RHKYC, there is a short leg to a windward mark before the fleet heads eastwards across the South China Sea, along the west coast of the Philippines to the finish off Subic Bay. That is the simple geographic course description of course; seasoned competitors know it is never that easy, as typically the weather the first day and night in the South China Sea can feature a boat and crew-testing combination of lumpy seas and a strong headwind. The race then becomes fairly strategic as tacticians and navigators have to decide how close to sail to the Philippine shoreline in search of breeze.

(Photo - Clipper Ventures PLC)

It appears that yesterday's prediction made by Qingdao's skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major, that the worst was still to come has been proved correct. According to the skipper of California, Pete Rollason, the past 24 hours have been extremely tough for all the teams as they race across the largest ocean on the planet.

"The crew are all feeling the fatigue that goes with prolonged periods of rough weather when any task, however small, takes great effort," says Pete. "We are just approaching the last of the small islands off the coast of Japan and will be heading directly for the scoring gate from there."

If things weren't hard enough already, the Californian crew were further tested when their steering wheel became stuck, much to the dismay of the helmsman at the time.

"A quick investigation in the lazarette revealed that the aquavac we use to pump the bilges had dislodged from its usual storage space and wedged itself in the steering quadrant. It was quickly removed and the steering was once again back to normal, unfortunately the same cannot be said for the aquavac!"