Scuttlebutt Europe #3320

Brought to you by Seahorse magazine, 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

ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres
Photo by Richard Langdon/Ocean Images, www.oceanimages.co.uk. Click on image for photo gallery.

The fan was turned up for the final day at ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres as an exciting finale played out across two racing areas.

18-20 knots of breeze ensured the regatta concluded with thrills and spills aplenty. Seven races unravelled on the live broadcast area whilst a further three concluded nearby.

Across the ten Olympic disciplines, ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres medals were awarded, a share of the €72,000 was distributed and ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots were picked up.

Sailors will now regroup and review ahead of the Delta Lloyd Regatta which takes in Medemblik, the Netherlands from 26-30 May 2015. The Delta Lloyd Regatta acts as the qualification regatta for ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland which takes place at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition venue from 8-14 June.

The world's best 40 Olympic and Paralympic sailors will put their skills to the test once again in Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain with World Cup honours and Abu Dhabi Final places on the line.

Top three in class:

49erFX
1. Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN) - 87
2. Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA) - 94
3. Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) - 99

Women's 470
1. Fernanda Oliveira & Ana Luiza Barbachan (BRA) - 45
2. Jo Aleh & Polly Powrie (NZL) - 53
Camille Lecointre & Helene Defrance (FRA) - 54

Men's 470
1. Sime Fantela & Igor Marenic (CRO) - 40
2. Mat Belcher & Will Ryan (AUS) - 55
3. Luke Patience & Elliot Willis (GBR) - 59

Women's RS:X
1. Lilian de Geus (NED) - 90
2. Charline Picon (FRA) - 101
3. Patricia Freitas (BRA) - 104

Men's RS:X
1. Pierre le Coq (FRA) - 74
2. Piotr Myszka (POL - 81
3. Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) - 83

Finn
1. Giles Scott (GBR) - 38
2. Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) - 62
3. Ed Wright (GBR) - 75

Laser
1. Tom Burton (AUS) - 49
2. Nick Thompson (GBR) - 57
3. Robert Scheidt (BRA) - 66

Laser Radial
1. Evi Van Acker (BEL) - 25
2. Gintare Scheidt (LTU) - 48
3. Josefin Olsson (SWE) - 50

49er
1. Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (NZL) - 49
2. Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) - 98
3. Erik Heil & Thomas Ploessel (GER) - 144

Nacra 17
1. Billy Besson & Marie Riou (FRA) - 57
2. Mandy Mulder & Coen de Koning (NED) - 84
3. Renee Groeneveld & Steven Krol (NED) - 98

Full Results: www.sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php

Olympic Sailing Events May Be Moved From Rio's Polluted Bay
The world governing body of sailing threatened Friday to move all of its events for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics out of the city's Guanabara Bay if action isn't taken quickly to clean the heavily polluted body of water that many sailors have described as an "open sewer."

Alastair Fox, the head of competitions for the governing body ISAF, said sailing officials had become "frustrated with it all" after seeing little done to clean the bay of raw sewage and floating debris.

"If we have to race all the races outside the bay, if that's what it comes to, to ensure a fair regatta, then that's something we're going to explore and could do," Fox said in a telephone interview.

Fox said two sailing courses located just outside the bay in the open Atlantic - and a third being planned there - could be used for all races. Three other courses have been planned inside the bay, but may not be used.

Fox said the ISAF had asked the Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee to pressure Brazilian politicians. He said the local organizing committee was not at fault, putting the blame on the government.

"We are going to review the situation and make some more recommendations - demands is probably the right word - to make sure things are done," Fox said. -- Stephen Wade, AP

m.apnews.com/ap/

Seahorse June 2015
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Update
Andy Claughton of BAR is happy to be working on the AC48, Terry Hutchinson is not quite as enamoured with the AC35 changes, Julian Everitt sums ‘things’ up and Blue Robinson talks to SCA’s Sophie Ciszek

Bol d’Or Mirabaud
And the first classic of the 2015 European season

Keeping it in proportion
Rob Weiland asks if the big regattas have not become too dependent upon sponsor largesse...

Less complex than we thought
Burns Fallow and the Emirates Team New Zealand aero team talk to Ivor Wilkins about AC wing design

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Guadeloupe To Antigua Race
Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70, Phaedo3 has smashed the race record for the Guadeloupe to Antigua Race, completing the 42-mile course in 1 hour, 27 minutes, 0 seconds, at an astonishing average speed of 28 knots and a top speed of 34 knots.

Any record that has lasted over 10 years is hard to beat. Back in 2004, the 140 foot Mari Cha IV was a sensational yacht, obliterating the West to East Transatlantic speed record by over two days. In the same year, Mari Cha IV set the Guadeloupe to Antigua Race record in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 42 seconds. Fast forward to 2015 and Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo^3 - which is half the size of Mari Cha IV - completed the course at almost double the speed.

The CSA Racing Division had a popular winner, Jean Michel Marziou's Dufour 45 Triskell, was the victor after time correction. Jean Michel is from the Triskell Organisation of Guadeloupe which organises the start of the race and, in conjunction with the Deshaies Tourism Department, a reception in Guadeloupe on the last evening. Eran Gindi's Finot 73, Runaway Bunny was second and Markus Blaesi's Swiss team, racing Hanse 470 Wei Mer was third.

In the Bareboat Division, three German yachts from KH+P yachtcharter filled the podium. Martin Poulsen's Malanga was the winner, Herbert Muenzel's KH+P Let Me Go was second, followed by Martin Sager's KH+P Cayenne. -- Louay Habib

www.yachtscoring.com

Pearns Point Round Antigua Race
Photo by Rachel Jaspersen / Team Phaedo. Click on image for photo gallery.

With clear blue skies and tropical heat, the Pearns Point Round Antigua Race was a gentle introduction for close to 40 international teams, racing 52 nautical miles around Antigua. The relatively light wind of 12-15 knots conspired to create a slow race, but the weather was absolutely fantastic and the race was an ideal way to tune up for Antigua Sailing Week.

The glorious mild weather did not stop Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70, Phaedo^3 setting a new record for the Pearns Point Round Antigua Race of 3hr, 26mins, 09 secs, raising the bar by over an hour. Jean-Paul Riviere's Dolphin 100, Nomad IV with a Russian/French crew was the first monohull to complete the course and was declared the winner of the Yachting World Trophy.

On corrected time, Daniel Figueirido's Argentinian team racing Soto 53 Humilidad Zero won the class for the best corrected time under CSA. Jonathan Bamberger's Canadian J/145, Spitfire was second. Antigua's Bernie Evan-Wong, racing RP37, TAZ was third. -- Louay Habib

www.sailingweek.com

Skipper Guo Chuan Eyes On Record-Setting Arctic Navigation
On April 5 of 2013, Guo Chuan returned to the northeastern port city of Qingdao, his home town, becoming the first sailor from China to complete a non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe after a gruelling 138-day, 21,600-nautical-mile voyage.

Now the skipper sets his eyes on another record. Guo and other 4 top sailors from Russia, France, Britain and Norway respectively, will set sail in early September of this year aboard the super Trimaran IDEC named "Qingdao.China" from the Murmansk port (68"58' N and 33"05' E) in northern Russia. They will go through the Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea and Chukchi Sea in the south of the Arctic Ocean through the Northeast Passage without any stop or extra-supply, and finally reach the destination, namely Provideniya (64"25' N and 173"13' W) on the Bering Strait of Russia.

The first world record on this route will be then created. This navigation covers 3,300 nautical miles (6112 km) all within the Russian territory and will last for about 15 days.

Last September, Guo Chuan and his team submitted the application to the World Speed Sailing Record Committee (WSSRC) of the International Sailing Federation for this world record challenge, and soon they received the written approval. They will set the first world record of multiple-person non-stop navigation through the Northeast Passage of the Arctic Ocean once the navigation is completed.

www.ecns.cn/2015/04-24/163045.shtml

Hundreds Of Clipper Crew Allocated To International Teams
More than 500 of our 2015-16 crew assembled in Portsmouth Guildhall today with their family and friends to discover which team and professional skipper they will be sailing with when the tenth edition of the Clipper Race starts on Sunday 30 August.

The global appeal of the Clipper Race continues to grow, with crew joining the 2015-16 edition from Lebanon, Latvia and Colombia for the first time. For the allocation ceremony, crew had travelled from all over the UK and Europe to be there to meet their skipper and team. Many more have come from as far away as Canada, Australia, South Africa, China and the USA.

For the first time there will be two female skippers in the race, Wendy Tuck from Australia and Diane Reid from Canada. The first French skipper Olivier Cardin and the first Ukrainian-German skipper, Igor Gotlibovych are also leading teams. At 27-years-old, Igor is the youngest of this edition's skippers and his team will represent the Chinese Olympic sailing city of Qingdao.

There are a few places available and you can join this epic adventure by contacting Crew Recruitment Manager Della Parsons or calling +44 (0)2392 526 000.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

CANAL+Group Secures Broadcast Rights In Over 50 Territories For The America's Cup
Bermuda: French broadcaster CANAL+ has acquired the broadcast rights to the America's Cup for more than 50 international territories, including France, Monaco, and French-speaking Switzerland.

Under the new deal, CANAL+ will broadcast live racing and highlights from all events, including the America's Cup World Series in 2015 and 2016 (beginning in July 2015 in Portsmouth, UK); and the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, America's Cup Qualifiers; Challenger Playoffs; and the Finals in Bermuda in May/June 2017.

America's cup broadcast live on premium channel CANAL+ SPORT will also be available full-length on catch-up TV via the CANAL+ On Demand service.

The America's Cup World Series opens with three events in 2015, beginning with live racing from Portsmouth, UK on the 25th and 26th July.

www.americascup.com

French J/22 Open
Nantes, France: For the second year in a row over the Easter weekend, the German-French team led by Reiner Brockerhoff sailed the mighty yacht JAZZY to first place in the French J/22 Open in Nantes.

With only 16 points after 12 races, an amazing DSQ-2-1-1-1-1-3-1-3-1-2-3 record permitted this fast team on JAZZY to win by 13 points ahead of the second place EUROPEAN HOMES.

For more French J/22 sailing information www.j22-france.com/index.htm

LBYC Names Ficker Cup Skippers
Long Beach, California, USA: Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC) has announced the eight skippers who will compete in the 36th running of the Ficker Cup match racing regatta, May 8 to 10, 2015.

The roster leads off with New Zealand's Chris Steele (ranked no. 11 by the International Sailing Federation - ISAF); followed by rivals hailing from all corners of the U.S.: Chris Poole (25), David Storrs (29), Peter Holz (75), Dustin Durant (84), Christophe Killian (91), Charles Lalumiere (111), and Dave Hood (302).

The following week (May 13 to 17) LBYC will dial it up another notch, when the world's top-ranked sailors come to Long Beach to compete in the Congressional Cup regatta, the season opener for the 2015/16 World Match Racing Tour.

The top two from the Ficker Cup will sail in the Congressional Cup. The Ficker Cup was established by LBYC in 1980 to honor Bill Ficker, winning skipper of the 1970 America's Cup, and world class Star boat champion.

www.lbyc.org

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Glenn T. McCarthy: This week, I sent an email to the leaders of the Member National Authorities of ISAF showing them the research to prove that Guanabara Bay is incapable of providing a "fair contest." They can't pretend that they didn't know how bad it is. Read on -

www.chicagonow.com

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