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Brought to you by Yachtworld.com Europe and Boats.com Europe, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to
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Most Back In The Water... But Delta Lloyd Still In The Shed
Photo by Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race. Click on image to enlarge.
PUMA is already back in the water, Green Dragon is measured and the rigs have gone back in on the Ericsson and Telefonica boats. Some of the sailors have even returned to work, signifying the official resumption of normal business in the Volvo Ocean Race.
A day of measured activity at the Pasir Panjang wharves in Singapore saw all the campaigns edge closer to a state of readiness ahead of in port racing on Sunday January 11th.
A fleet of truck-mounted cranes was stationed along the wharf to assist in lifting the 37 metre masts, each weighing 650 kgs, and lowering them carefully into the boats. There was no wind to disrupt operations and shore crews stayed cool, despite the sultry tropical heat.
Ericsson 4, then Telefonica Blue and Telefonica Black were next to see their boats take shape with Ericsson 3 standing in the queue.
Delta Lloyd remained in the shed, having the keel rams reinstalled and the housing surrounding it rebuilt. The shore crew reported that they were only one day behind schedule and well on track to be ready for the in port race.
"We have taken on two more shore crew from Team Russia and as of last night, have started round the clock shifts," said Jeff Condell, shore manager. But a set of replacement panels for the structure had already delaminated, summing up the bad luck that Delta Lloyd are currently experiencing. More replacements were on order and a full ultra sound test was conducted through the hull to ensure no more faulty layers.
Questions are still being asked about why the rams ripped out of the boat and how they caused so much damage. Both the boat designer's office and the ram manufacturers were investigating. -- Kate Laven
* A crew led by Team Russia skipper Andreas Hanakamp left the marina at Singapore today on their way to Cape Town, after an emotional dockside farewell.
Ten days after they arrived at the One 15 Marina on Sentosa Island to reveal that the campaign was in trouble due to the world financial crisis, the Humphreys-designed Kosatka slipped anchor and motored out to Singapore and beyond through the Straits of Malacca, en route to Africa.
The crew, comprising Hanakamp and seven fellow Austrians all wearing Team Russia shirts, were given a damp send off when the heavens opened just as they were leaving, their exit thereafter accompanied by torrential rain.
"We will try and secure more funding but in the current economic climate, it is difficult to get anyone to make quick decisions," said Hanakamp.
"It is personally very disappointing because I was looking forward to the long leg to Rio, but it is a professional game and I was just doing a job so we have to get on with life."
Over the next few days, it will become clear whether any Team Russia crew member has found a job on any other boat but if not, all will be hoping to resume racing later in the year.
"We are hoping that we can secure more funding and can be back in the race in Rio or Boston. There is a lot of activity on a round the clock basis finding sponsorship and hopefully we have found companies that might say yes, but are not saying it quickly."
www.volvooceanrace.org
Helly Hansen, Since 1877
For us, the most important thing when being outside is to enjoy the power of the elements. It has been the conviction and drive behind Helly Hansen's gear since we started in 1877. Regardless if you work on an offshore oil rig or if you are the heli pilot flying the workers there, an offshore sailor or a professional skier - we have the gear you need to thrive in the performance zone. Ever since our founder Captain Helly Juell Hansen's days, our main test lab has been nature itself. The feedback we get from professional rescue personell, mountain guides, skiers and sailors sets the standard.
From today's state-of-the-art Odin Mountain Workwear, winning the Red Dot Design Award, and all the way back to the original oilskin apparel that won the 1878 diploma for excellence at the World Expo in Paris - we've always been the enabelling layer between human will and nature's forces.
www.hellyhansen.com
And Now Down To Fourteen...
Jonny Malbon, racing onboard Artemis Ocean Racing II today took the hard decision to retire from the Vendee Globe. Until only days ago the British skipper, 34, had been confident of completing the gruelling 24,000 mile circumnavigation. However, Malbon today informed the race organisers that the existing and continuously worsening damage to his mainsail was too severe for him to realistically continue racing.
Artemis Ocean Racing II's mainsail has been slowly and frustratingly delaminating and breaking down for the past three weeks, and a one metre vertical split in the sail added to the challenges in the last 24 hours. With the isolated expanse of the Pacific & Southern Oceans ahead and no land until South America and the often treacherous Cape Horn the loss of a reliable mainsail at this juncture, coupled with earlier damage to his starboard daggerboard sustained in early December, has forced Malbon to make a cold hard rational assessment of the situation and take the decision to retire, which is the sensible thing for himself as skipper, the boat and Artemis as sponsor.
Jonny Malbon commented: "I am absolutely devastated. We (AOR II and I) have been through so much since the start and survived it all - I think I always imagined that if I went out of this race it would not be something I would have to weigh up and decide, it would just be something that happened and be beyond my control. The thing with this is that I could carry on for a bit but it is only a matter of time - it is no longer if but when the mainsail will just disintegrate completely, so heading out past New Zealand back into the Southern Ocean is just not feasible. My heart is telling me to go on but my head is telling me I have to stop and in the end it is true - I have no choice. Words cannot describe my disappointment that this has come to an end."
Malbon, who is currently around 300 miles south of New Zealand's South Island, will now turn north to make port where he will be met by members of his shore team. -- Tim Kelly / Camilla Green, www.artemisoceanracing.com
* What is Mich Desj's secret? Before the start the rumour-mill was humming with speculation on how the skipper of Foncia had been extremely attentive to the adjustment of his autopilots during the preparation phase of the race. But he has also suggested that Foncia carries a sail that is particularly well suited to the Southern Oceans: a staysail specially designed for heavy weather sailing, which he should be putting away once he has rounded Cape Horn. It is believed that this creation is the 'perfect sail', which can be used when the wind reaches 30 knots, right up to when it goes beyond 50, with no need to furl it.
Whether this 'perfect sail' exists, or is a little more gamesmanship in the tactical contest at the front of this Vendée Globe, may well have to wait until the fleet return to Les Sables.
* Cape Horn is more than just a physical obstacle on the Vendee Globe course, it's a psychological one too. The great 'left-hand turn' represents the end of a chapter in the race, marking the exit point of the Southern Oceans.
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) can be expected to round the tip of South America at some point over the next day - in the lead, just as he did in 2001; for him there are just hours rather than days left in the south. Second-placed Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment) has shed a few of the miles he gained yesterday by holding onto a more easterly course while Mich Desj has tracked south for a more direct line to the Cape, currently sailing in around 35-plus knots for a fast passage around. Bilou is currently 150 miles to the north and will have to gybe down the western coast of Chile.
These two have pulled a little further away from third-placed Jean Le Cam (VM Materiaux), who has lost 50 miles to the leaders in the past 24 hours, while Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cleac'h (Brit Air) remain locked in partnership just 20 miles apart.
As they entered the Pacific, only 450 miles separated the first six boats. Now there are only three within that distance. With around 7,000 miles let to sail, the 700 miles separating Riou and Le Cleac'h from Desjoyeaux, represent 10% of the course.
0500 HRS GMT Sunday 4 January Top Five Rankings:
1. Michel Desjoyeaux, Foncia, FRA, 7375.5 miles to finish
2. Roland Jourdain, Veolia Environnement, FRA, 73.2 miles
3. Jean Le Cam, VM Materiaux, FRA, 452.8 miles
4. Vincent Riou, PRB, FRA, 701.7 miles
5. Armel Le Cleac'h, Brit Air, FRA, 724.2 miles
www.vendeeglobe.org
Down to a Matter of Hours
After an incredible week sprinting along the coast of Argentina and Uruguay, during which Thomas Coville was bordering exhaustion, exploiting every stormy squall to ultimately make up over four days on the record time, the Maxi trimaran Sodeb'O is today making headway close on the wind in very, very uncomfortable conditions.
The N'ly wind - force 6 to 7 with 25 to 33 knots of breeze - is picking up a short sea on the nose, which is causing both the sailor and the boat to suffer. Midway through the course of tonight the skipper is likely to change tack and adopt a N'ly course, which may well enable him to begin clawing back more miles on the record holder. Coville and his routers took the inside track by daring to go through Le Maire Strait "which has enabled us to envisage a shorter course to the west. As such we were also able to benefit from two weather systems which took us to the Rio gateway on a virtual single tack, the main bonus of which was the high speed" highlighted Richard Silvani from Meteo France this morning. "Right now all that's needed is to reposition ourselves to the East in order to hunt down the famous tradewind".
The weather forecasts for the coming week will carry the Maxi Sodeb'O along at good speed as far as the equator, which she is set to reach on Wednesday 7th January. As for the Doldrums, situated at 6 or 7 degrees North, these don't appear today to be very active. In order to beat the record set by Francis Joyon last year, the Maxi Sodeb'O will have to cross the finish line in Brest prior to 15th January, 03h27'20'' UTC. -- translation by Kate Jennings
www.sodebo-voile.com
* A Frenchman may break one of his compatriots' records when he arrives back in France next week, but the common denominator in the record attempt is British: Nigel Irens, the trimaran designer.
Thomas Coville's surprise streak up the South Atlantic in his 105ft trimaran, Sodeb'O, has given him an outside chance of breaking the solo round-the-world record of 57 days 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds set by Francis Joyon on IDEC II, his 97ft boat, in January last year. Irens has been glued to the internet and spoke to Coville last week. But both trimarans were designed by him and his business partner for the past ten years, Benoît Cabaret. Irens is the intuitive one and Cabaret, who came to work for Irens for two weeks and has stayed ten years, is the analytical one who makes the ideas fly.
Both boats bear the unmistakable hallmarks of Irens's "big ideas" from 35 years of thinking up boats; most obviously the long and slender snout of the main hull, rather than heavy wide beams of many multihulls. Both are evolutions from the 75ft B&Q/Castorama on which Ellen MacArthur set her round-the-world record of 71 days in 2005.
Irens, 62, is one of Britain's unsung heroes of design and innovation, modestly going about his business from his home in Devon. "We didn't even go out to tender [on B&Q]; we went straight to Nigel," Mark Turner, MacArthur's business partner, said. "Ellen knew him and he'd taken her under his wing. He's a legend really, it's going to be hard to break these records. -- Matthew Pryor in the Times, full article at
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/sailing/article5447296.ece
London International Boat Show
London's Biggest Boat Show Returns for its 55th Year
The London International Boat Show returns to ExCeL from 9-18 January 2009, celebrating 55 years of bringing the best of boating to the nation's capital.
Come along and enjoy the thrill of being onboard one of the hundreds of fascinating boats on display, from historic replica vessels to the latest in marine technology. With over 500 exhibitors showcasing power and sail boats, dinghies, deck equipment, charter holidays, sailing courses and more, the Show will welcome over 120,000 people and promises to offer something for enthusiasts and first time visitors alike.
boatshow.seatemwebservices.com/london/ShowDatesCombo.aspx
Key West Countdown
Tough competition, sunshine, and warm breezes will greet entrants as they head for the race course. In less than two weeks the 22nd edition of this winter classic, Acura Key West 2009 presented by Nautica, will welcome entrants from across the country and around the world.
Three-time Farr 40 World Champion Mascalzone Latino, Melges 32 Gold Cup Champion New Wave, Melges 24 World Champion Uka Uka Racing are just a few of the marquee programs on the scratch sheet.
IRC boats are stronger in number than last year with new designs and international favorites lining up. IRC 1 will have four TP52s, all with strong finishes and international experience. IRC 2 debuts the new Mills 43 Cool Breeze, features three King 40s (Sailing World's Boat of the Year), and three Santa Cruz 37s (SAIL Magazine's Best Performance Boat for 2009). Add in the hot Elan 450 from Switzerland, an AC 40 and this is has the makings of one exciting class.
One Design classes will be as exciting as ever with Melges 24s, Melges 32s, Farr 40s, and J/80s showing up in strong numbers.
Jim Richardson's Farr 40 Barking Mad will defend his Key West championship against a field that includes Vincenzo Onorato's World Champion Mascalzone Latino, Giovanni Maspero's 2nd Place finisher Joe Fly , and William Douglass's North American Champion Goombay Smash.
Terry Hutchinson, the leader of Quantum Racing's TP52 Med Cup triumph and recent World Championship, will again team up with Richardson. Onorato has Adrian Stead as tactician; Douglass has Morgan Larson; and Maspero will be guided by Francesco Bruni.
The Melges 32 Gold Cup Championship New Wave team of Mike Carroll and Marty Kullman won the prestigious 2008 Acura Grand Prix Trophy last March. Awarded to the best combined score for both Acura Key West and the Acura Miami Grand Prix, this year the series will include the recent Gold Cup results as well.
Defending Melges 32 Key West champion Jeff Ecklund's Star and podium finisher Joe Wood's UK boat Red will face off in a strong 20 boat class. This year, they will be racing on the same division as the Melges 24s.
Always the largest class in Key West, the high performance Melges 24 class can boast of entries from no less than eight countries and over 12 states.
Lorenzo Bressani's 2008 World Champion UKA UKA Racing (ITA) team faces Key West veterans and perennial top ten finishers. Riccardo Simoneschi's Giacomel Audi was 2007 Boat of the Week and Class Champion.
More at www.Premiere-Racing.com
SDYC Files Amicus-Curiae Brief
The San Diego Yacht Club and the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation jointly filed an Amicus-Curiae Brief (friend of the court) to the New York Court of Appeals on December 31, 2008.
As many members know, the fate of America's Cup is currently in the hands of the New York Court of Appeals. The final hearing will be held in that Court on February 10, 2009 with a decision expected in late March 2009 or early April 2009.
Given San Diego Yacht Club's prior involvement in the America's Cup as a former Trustee and defender of the America's Cup races held off of the coast of San Diego during 1992 and 1995, the San Diego Yacht Club Board of Director's and the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation felt compelled to provide written evidence to the court in support of Golden Gate Yacht Club's position relative to the definition of an "organized" yacht club as described in the America's Cup Deed of Gift and, therefore, the necessary qualifications required for a yacht club to be accepted as a Challenger of Record.
San Diego Yacht Club's and San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation's position is supported by the New York Yacht Club who also filed a separate Amicus-Curiae Brief to the New York Court of Appeals on the very same day.
Read the brief: scuttlebutteurope.com/pdf/SDYCamici_brief.pdf (1 megabyte!)
* BYM News has a report on an impending "bombshell":
Following Amici Curiae filed by the New York Yacht Club and the San Diego Yacht Club, it is believed that several prominent America's Cup figures are intent on making another submission to the New York Courts.
The nature of the submission is not yet clear, but signatories are believed to include Bill Koch, who won the America's Cup, in 1992, with America 3, and John Bertrand, who skippered Australia II to an America's Cup victory in 1983.
Opinion, in America's Cup circles, is divided about the likely impact of the Amici Curiae filed on both sides. The consensus appears to be that the NYYC Amicus in support of GGYC, coming from the original trustee, will carry considerably more weight than the 10 Amici, from 'would be' AC33 contenders that support SNG. The value of the SDYC Amicus is considered moot, especially as one of the Appeal Court judges, Justice Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, is the judge that invalidated the results of the races between Dennis Conner's catamaran, Stars & Stripes, and Michael Fay's monohull, New Zealand, in the 1988 America's Cup. In her ruling, Ciparick said that the San Diego Yacht Club had "violated the spirit of the Deed of Gift." -- full article at www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=48627
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The Last Word
We don't deliberately set out to offend. Unless we feel it's justified. -- Graham Chapman
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