SUFFOLK sailor Nick Bubb has two reasons to celebrate.First the new boat, in which he will compete in the Mini Fastnet and Mini Transat races this year, was launched at Suffolk Yacht Harbour, Levington.

SUFFOLK sailor Nick Bubb has two reasons to celebrate.

First the new boat, in which he will compete in the Mini Fastnet and Mini Transat races this year, was launched at Suffolk Yacht Harbour, Levington. And Nick, who lives in Woodbridge, announced he has a new title sponsor.

Alan Riegler, of Northern Computers, announced that his company would be paying Nick's expenses for the summer's campaign.

The building of the boat was financed by Richard Woolf, of Ipswich-based company Majestic Security, and Richard's wife Jane named the boat Northern Exposure, with the traditional bottle of champagne.

"Majestic Security is a very good customer of ours," said Alan. The sponsorship deal, finalised just 48 hours before the launch, grew out of that relationship, he said.

"We are hoping that this will be an on-going partnership."

Nick said the sponsorship deal meant that "the financial pressure's off and I can concentrate on racing."

He thanked all the people who had worked so hard to get the boat finished in time for his first race, which starts in France in April.

"The last three or four weeks I have averaged about two hours of sleep a night, but all of a sudden the boat looks awesome!"