Colors: Yellow Color

Eric de Turckheim's French Nivelt-Muratet 54 Teasing Machine is the overall winner of the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race. Whilst many of the record 23 yacht fleet are still racing, none of them can better Teasing Machine's corrected time under IRC. Teasing Machine is the smallest yacht to win the RORC Transatlantic Trophy which has been previously won by yachts in the Maxi Class.

"To win the RORC Transatlantic Race is just fantastic," commented Eric de Turckheim. "It is not just a personal achievement to win my first ever transatlantic race because it has been such a massive team effort. Teasing Machine was only taking part in its second offshore race and to build a team to that performance level within four months has required a huge commitment from everyone, but especially Laurent Pages."

Teasing Machine tactician Laurent Pagès and Navigator Jean-Luc Nélias form a formidable partnership. The Frenchman took the same roles for skipper Franck Cammas, winning the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, and Nélias won this year's Transat Jacques Vabre on Sodebo Ultim with Thomas Colville, smashing the race record.

"There were three main stories to this book," explained Laurent Pagès. "The start of the course put us in the wind shadow of the Canary Islands which was very difficult, but we had a very good first 24 hours. It was very important to be as early as possible to the ridge of high pressure because the door would close at some stage, and we did a very good job crossing the area of light winds. After that we knew we would have to go south eventually and we tried to remain in the pressure. Teasing Machine is a powerful boat that likes to stay in the wind. It has been a privilege to discuss the strategy of the race with Jean-Luc Nélias. It is another great victory and I hope there will be many more."

RORC Chief Executive Eddie Warden Owen was very pleased with the result and the race: "It has been no easy task for the Teasing Machine team to win this race and they have been pushed hard by a number of very competitive boats. Eric and his team showed their determination and expertise, setting a strong pace from day one and never letting up. This race marks the start of the 2018 RORC Season's Points Championship and Teasing Machine has set the standard required for the rest of the fleet who have their eyes on this prestigious prize."

 

If more proof were needed that the Rockies are in great shape, the Lake Louise Audi FIS Ski World Cup reached a positive snow control with FIS confirming the men's downhill and super-G races on November 25 and 26, 2017. The ladies will follow on December 1st.

Early season visitors will also be able to enjoy the Banff Craft Beer Festival which takes place November 23 - 25, 2017 in the Cave & Basin. Visitors to Marmot will have to wait until February 2nd when the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge will host the first ever Craft Beer and Barley Summit.

Jasper in January runs this year from January 13th-28th at which time there are deals on lift tickets and lots of extra activities such as fun races, a Dark Sky snowshoe and live entertainment.

Heritage Golf Club won the title of "Best Indian Ocean Golf Course" for the fourth consecutive year (2014,2015,2016,2017) at the 2017 World Golf Awards. This award highlights the constant efforts and hard work of the teams to stay on top. Whether it's management, course maintenance, Club House or the Academy, Heritage Golf Club is a course that is constantly questioning itself and which seeks to innovate in order to offer an ever improving experience to its clientele.

A pledge of quality and excellence that allows Heritage Resorts to organize and host the third edition of the prestigious AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, the world's first tournament jointly sanctioned by the European, Sunshine and Asian tours, at Heritage Golf Club. Appointment

World Golf Awards, excellence in golf tourism

The World Golf Awards ceremony celebrates and rewards excellence in golf tourism, including international standard courses and golf destinations. The goal is also to help improve and enrich the golfers' experience in order to stimulate the international market. The 2017 World Golf Awards focused on the 130 major countries that are shaping the future of this dynamic industry.

Votes were cast by professionals working in the golf travel and tourism industry, including senior executives, tour operators, travel agencies and media professionals. The public also has the right to vote. Votes are cast on a first past the post system to ensure impartiality and independence and are submitted online on the World Golf Awards website. The winners of each national category face the winners from other countries before the international winners are announced.

Boasting extensive five-star facilities and a world-class golfing pedigree, Spain's La Manga Club has everything needed for a luxury golf getaway, and guests can take advantage of outstanding value when booking a stay-and-play break this winter. Boasting extensive five-star facilities and a world-class golfing pedigree, Spain's La Manga Club has everything needed for a luxury golf getaway, and guests can take advantage of outstanding value when booking a stay-and-play break this winter.

Recently granted royal status and awarded the title 'Real Golf La Manga Club' in recognition of its key role in promoting Spanish golf, the Murcian resort is synonymous with golfers across Europe for its golfing excellence and is offering a choice of three, five and seven-night packages over the coming months.

Featuring three 18-hole golf courses, a nine-hole academy course and outstanding practice facilities, La Manga Club also offers an average of more than 300 days' sunshine a year and is the perfect solution for players eager to escape the clutches of winter.

Bookable until March 31, 2018, the eye-catching breaks include the opportunity to play all three of the resort's renowned 18-hole courses – the North, South and West, all ranked inside Spain's top 40.

Bed-and-breakfast accommodation is available in either La Manga Club's five-star Hotel Principe Felipe or four-star Las Lomas Village, while guests keen to hone their golfing techniques before taking to the course can do so at La Manga Club's recently-opened Golf Training Centre.

Carlisle golfer Mike Kelly put 11 years of frustration behind him to bag his first ace and join his son in the exclusive 'hole-in-one-club' after playing the popular Million Dollar Hole in One (MDHIO) competition in Portugal.

Kelly, 51, who plays off a seven handicap at Carlisle Golf Club, made his mark at Vale do Lobo's Royal Course, in the Algarve – one of MDHIO's 40 associated courses across Europe – to book his place in the grand final where competitors get the chance to shoot for a whopping $1m.

The MDHIO par-three challenge allows competitors to win a selection of golf-related prizes, from balls to pitch-mark repairers, for landing on the green.

If a competitor gets a hole-in-one they win an expenses-paid trip to the USA to play for a $1m prize if they can repeat the feat. And, from 2019, the winner also gets the choice of a trip to either the USA or Europe.

Kelly, a retired police officer who is now a British Red Cross volunteer coordinator, said: “My son Adam is 23 and had a hole-in-one when he was 12, so it's always been a goal of mine to match him. When I messaged him from Portugal, to tell him I had done it, he simply replied 'welcome to the hole-in-one club'.

“When Adam struck his hole-in-one, I was immensely proud but also very envious having never done it myself. It has taken a long time. I have been playing golf for 40 years, so it is fantastic to have finally done it. I was delighted.

“We are a competitive family. Over the years we've competed in our own Kelly Challenge competition, involving brothers and cousins – but not another hole-in-one from any of us. Adam would often remind us of that …”

Kelly was among a group of 24 golfers on the trip to play Vale do Lobo's two courses when he paid just €10 to enter the MDHIO game. His feat took place on the temporarily shortened 105-yard seventh hole on the Royal Course.

He added: “I hit it as sweet as I could; it landed six feet past the hole and slowly spun back. We all watched it go in and jumped for joy. It did cost a few bob as I was part of a large group, so there was a hefty bar bill.

“It was a great weekend, though. I have played MDHIO twice before. It is great fun and €10 well spent. You can also win prizes for landing on the green and I previously won a pair of sunglasses and a towel. I'm so pleased I paid my €10 … I mean why would you not? Imagine if you hadn't paid and you holed it!

“I'm now looking forward to the finals event in Las Vegas; yes, there's a chance to win $1m, but let's be realistic, it's taken me 40 years to get my first hole-in-one,” he smiled.

MDHIO, which has been running since 1990 in the USA and since 2000 in Europe, has steadily grown in popularity over the years with more than 50,000 people each year trying their luck at the various par-three holes at courses across Portugal, mainland Spain, Mallorca and the UK. Almost 50 golfers have achieved their ace while playing MDHIO in Europe, while more than twice that number missed out by not entering and acing the hole.

The annual final is held at a host of top venues in the USA and Europe, where finalists enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip and the chance to shoot for $1m, with this year's showdown held at the prestigious Golf & Spa Resort Grand Tirolia Kitzbühel, in Austria, which was attended by former England and Newcastle United football ace Alan Shearer.

MDHIO also offered golfers another chance to scoop $1m this year, after teaming up with American Golf. The retailer ran a simulator challenge at participating stores across the country with anyone who netted an ace – or the 10 nearest to the pin – going through to a final shootout at the Belfry.

A ‘Bee City’ and a successful reintroduction scheme for the short-haired bumblebee are among the innovative projects highlighted today by Defra Minister Lord Gardiner as inspirational examples of action to protect our pollinators.
The annual Bees’ Needs Champions awards, hosted at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, celebrated 17 bee boosting projects from volunteers, schools, charities and councils across the country which are helping pollinators thrive both in the countryside and in our towns and cities.
From buzzing bumble bees to beautiful butterflies, the UK’s 1,500 species of pollinators play a crucial role, helping our flowers, fruit trees and crops to grow and contributing £400-680million per year due to improved productivity.
Speaking at the Bees’ Needs Champions Awards, Minister for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity Lord Gardiner said: “We must all be thankful for our essential pollinators who do such vital work on our behalf, flying from crop to crop, tree to tree, helping us to grow our food. The champions I had the pleasure to meet today are doing exceptional things to return the favour and look after our pollinators.  We must not leave them to it. We can all play a part.
“Whether it is leaving grass uncut to give bees a home over winter, or inspiring young people to be the pollinator protectors of the future, our combined efforts make a real difference.”
Among the champion projects creating a buzz were the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s short-haired bumblebee re-introduction scheme and the Secret Garden project in Salisbury with their ‘Bee City’ and ‘Bee Trail’.
 
Goldthorpe Primary School in Barnsley and St Albans Primary School in Havant also featured for their pollinator-encouraging enterprises, including building bee hotels, creating wildlife meadows and campaigning in the local community. St Albans school has set up a ‘pollinator promise’ to get the local community involved, too.
Outdoor education teacher at St Albans Primary School, Julie Newman, said:
“By working together as a community, Pollinator Promise is about inspiring others to give hungry and homeless bees food and shelter. Each small individual change adds up to make a big difference to pollinators and people.”
 
Friends of the Earth Bee Cause campaigner, Paul de Zylva, said:
“This year’s Bees’ Needs Champions show how anyone anywhere can help our bees and other vital pollinators not just to survive but to thrive.
“The ten year National Pollinator Strategy is now in its fourth year and relies on action by businesses, community groups, farmers, land owners and local councils to improve conditions for pollinators. Doing so is essential to restore nature across the nation.”
 
With winter fast approaching, bees need our help more than ever to provide them with the food and shelter they need to survive the cold.
 
Everyone can follow our three top tips on how we can all help pollinators this winter. You do not have to be an expert gardener to make a difference: from installing urban window boxes to planting the right bulbs, everyone can play their part to ensure bees have food and a home.
  • Plant flowers, shrubs and trees that thrive in winter. The evergreen mahonia is excellent winter food for bees, while the pendant bells of winter flowering clematis can give pollinators a sugary energy boost. Ivy plants are also an ideal source of food for bees in late autumn - avoid cutting them down.
  • Leave suitable places for hibernation undisturbed. Letting areas of a lawn grow long until the spring can provide a hibernation home while cool, north-facing banks are ideal places for bees to burrow. The hollow tubes of dead stems of plants in borders can also serve as a great nesting spot.
  • Planting early flowering bulbs like crocus, primrose, snowdrop or coltsfoot that flower in February and March to help support bees and pollinators looking for an early feed. Winter is also the perfect time to plant bee-friendly trees, such as acacia, blackthorn and hazel.
 
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