Sailing: Spain duty for Smith

THE leading British skipper, Lawrie Smith, signed a deal with the state tobacco company Tabacalera in Madrid yesterday which puts him at the head of the major Spanish bid to win the 1993/94 Whitbread Round the World Race, writes Stuart Alexander.

He flies to Palma de Mallorca on Monday to bring the 82 ft maxi Fortuna back to the Solent for a major development programme. Rob Lipsett's Vision Yachts yard at Cowes will fit a new keel and rudder, make further changes to the hull they stretched last spring, and, if the rule-makers give the green light, build a new beak bow.