Sailing Schumann sings Admiral's song

Sailing

STUART ALEXANDER

reports from Sete, France

A German former rear commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Hans- Otto Schumann, has come to the rescue and provided his 45-footer, Rubin, to race for Britain in next month's Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup.

At the same time an un-named group of RORC members will pay for the charter of another German yacht, the 40-foot Astro, to complete the team. Neither was successful in the trials for the German team.

Rubin will be renamed Seahorse, the emblem of the RORC, and be skippered by the veteran campaigner, chairman of selectors, and friend of Schumann, Robin Aisher. Harold Cudmore will skipper the re-named Seahorse Astro. The third boat is the already selected Mumm 36, Group 4, skippered by Mike Golding.

In making the announcement the Royal Yachting Association, having taken over the job of organising the British team from the RORC, emphasised the joint nature of the selection, which all eight competing countries must announce by Monday.

The Coupe Brut de Faberge match racing here was tantalisingly poised at the quarter-final stage with four skippers 2-0 up in the best-of-five series - Peter Gilmour against Luc Pillot, Ed Baird against Neville Whittey, Thierry Peponnet against J J Isler and Roy Heiner against Bertrand Pace - when lack of wind prevented further racing.