Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, Yachtworld.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 Going Into The Medal Races As a consequence, most leaders conserved their earlier position with changes only in the Laser, Laser radial and Star. In the Finn class, Marin Misura (CRO) who truly enjoyed the conditions this week is comforting his lead after claiming one more race. "I am very fast in these conditions. I had good starts which is important to have clear winds. Hyeres is my first regatta this year and it's a good preparation for the Europeans next week in my hometown, Split!" Two races were sailed in the RS:X classes. The light conditions didn't permit for a third race as there were no planning conditions (as specified in the class rules). Byron Kokalanis (GRE) continues on his good form after winning Palma. A victory and a fifth increase his lead and chances to secure Gold tomorrow as he takes the top place. In the women division, Bryony Shaw (GBR) collected near perfect scores with a first and a second. She has secured an 18 points lead over Bianca Manchon (ESP). Mixed results were scored in the 470 men Gold fleet with all the top teams collecting bad scores. The French teams of Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer Dieu (FRA) and Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron conserve their lead in their division. Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA) climb to second position overall. SOF last year winners the Danish team of Koch/Sommer miss on Medal Race on 12th position. The new 470 team of Golden Yngling medallist Sarah Ayton and Saskia Clarke finish in 14th place. Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith (GBR) place second twice today and keep their first place. Austrian team of Dellekarth/Resch jump to second after a bullet collected today. In the Laser class, only the top three will be able to take Gold or Silver tomorrow. After winning the Trofeo Sofia Mapfre in Palma last month, Javier Hernandez took a narrow one point lead over Olympic Gold medallist, Paul Goodison (GBR). Athens Silver medallist Andrea Geritzer (AUT) is in third position. Some class favourites have missed narrowly the medal races. Michael Leigh (CAN), Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) and Mathias del Solar (CHI) have suffered from the light conditions. Sari Multala (FIN) suffered in the last races today and dropped from 1st to 14th position overall. Ausra Mileviciute (LTU) and Spanish Alicia Cebrian and Fatima Reyes are taking the top three races before the medal race. The Norwegian Stars Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland take the lead in the seven Stars fleet. They will sail a medal race tomorrow. Today saw some intense matches in the Women Match Racing. After the quarter finals The German team of Silke Hohlbrock defeated Kathy Spithill (AUS) 3-0. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) defeated Claire Leroy (FRA) 3-1. Follow the medal races tomorrow with live tracking, on the event website. PUMA Announces Core Team For Volvo Ocean Race PUMA has named Juan Yacht Design, of Valencia, Spain as the lead boat designer of the new PUMA Ocean Racing yacht. Juan Kouyoumdjian's designs have a perfect record in the VOR since the inception of the Volvo Open 70 Rule. They are credited with designing the 2006 VOR winner, ABN AMRO 1 and the 2009 VOR winner, Ericsson 4. Two new key members of the team include multiple Volvo Ocean Race winners, Brad Jackson and Tony Mutter. Each sailor was integral to the winning teams in both the 2006 and 2009 races. Jackson is a three-time winner of the VOR and will serve as design coordinator for PUMA Ocean Racing, mixing the sailing team's input with Juan Kouyoumdjian's creative and technical expertise. Mutter is a two-time VOR winner and will run the aero program, working closely with Steve Calder of North Sails and mast designer, Scott Ferguson. While sailing, Tony and Brad will also serve as watch captains. Returning from PUMA's 2009 campaign is bowman and systems manager Casey Smith. Rob Greenhalgh also rejoins the PUMA crew after being a late but welcomed addition in the last race. Returning shore-team members include: Kimo Worthington, General Manager, and Tim Hacket, who will serve as the Shore Team Manager. New sailing team members include navigator Tom Addis (Telefonica Blue Co-Navigator), Jono Swain (Telefonica Blue watch captain) and Andrew Lewis (Rambler trimmer and ABN AMRO 2 tactician). Ullman Sails Named Exclusive Tornado Sailmaker Invest in your performance. 250% Increase In Fans Christian Scherrer, President of the Organising Committee for St Moritz Match Race, commented, "the involvement of Volvo with Stage 6 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour is very positive, it will bring Volvo closer to their customers. They will be running a national newspaper competition for one lucky fan to win an all expenses paid trip to St Moritz Match Race. We hope this new sponsorship will increase our spectator figures, 2009 saw 5,000 visitors attend the event and we are expecting a significant percentage increase this year". This new dedication to the supporter has seen a massive rise in onsite fans from 2,000 in 2009 to 5,000 in 2010 equating to a 250 percent increase. One of the longest standing events on the Tour, Match Race Germany, starts shortly in May running 19 - 24, this event also has a committed long term team managing on site proceedings. Eberhard Magg, Director of Match Race Germany, is delighted to have Match Race Germany as one the prestigious ISAF World Match Racing Tour events, "I have seen the world wide recognition of the Tour develop and increase in profile, as well as the Match Race Germany brand evolve and deepen". RC 44 Austria Cup Absent from the Championship Tour since last year's Portoroz Cup due to his America's Cup commitments, Russell Coutts immediately confirmed that he hadn't lost his magic touch, giving perfect advice to his helmsman Larry Ellison and winning his first three matches. The fourth one, against Paul Cayard's Katusha, turned out to be the best one of the day, with the two teams staying in close contact throughout the race and inflicting each other all of match race's dirty tricks. Paul Cayard won the match, but the duo Coutts / Ellison got its revenge in the next flight during another superb match, this time against James Spithill on board RC 44 Challenge. Winner of the season's first match race in the United Arab Emirates, Team Sea Dubai confirmed its great match race skills by winning four regattas today. Markus Wieser and his team are currently second of the provisional ranking, on a tie with Team Aqua. Also on great form, Cameron Appleton and his crewmembers could well be sitting on top of the leader board alongside BMW ORACLE Racing if they hadn't lost a precious point to Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. After leading the entire race, Team Aqua was nearing the arrival line and only had a penalty turn to perform to grab the point. However, the exercise turned into a nightmare when the spinnaker fell in the water, stopping the boat and opening a precious gap for the Spaniards. Five more flights will be sailed tomorrow, weather permitting. The forecast isn't good; the temperature should drop whilst showers and light wind are predicted. Every new flight will be welcomed; however the tournament is already valid with the seven flights completed today. Match-race, provisional results after seven flights: (Ranking, name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points) 1. BMW ORACLE Racing (Russell Coutts / Larry Ellison), 5/1, 5 points Bermuda International Invitational Race Week Erin had been on the last leg of the last race on Tuesday. She was flying her spinnaker in a building 30-knot breeze. As the boat rounded up in a massive broach, she put her mast in the water and flooded the cockpit and cabin. The boat didn't right herself and just sank to the bottom, sails and all. No one was injured. Chase boats on the course picked up Lynch and his crew of Barry Surbuchen, Steven Musicant, Natalie Luthi, Tiffany Wardman as the floated near the mast of the sunken boat. Several racing boats diverted to render assistance as well. Bermuda Olympic hopeful Rockal Evans knocked off traditional Bermuda winners Brett Wright and Malcolm Smith as the Laser fleet concluded its racing in Bermuda International Invitational Race Week. The fleet got in all eleven scheduled races. Evans had 17 points. Wright won a tiebreaker with Smith to come second with 21 points. According to a recent article in the Bermuda Sun, Evans, who is the son of former Olympic sailor Howard Lee, will attend the Emerging Nations Programme (ENP) in Perth, Australia that consists of a series of comprehensive training programmes that place specific emphasis on the enhancement of fitness and technical skills. The ENP is an exciting initiative designed by the Perth 2011 Organizing Committee to assist developing sailing nations, such as Bermuda, in qualifying for the Olympics. Eugene "Penny" Simmons wins IOD "A" Series Not Mine wins Bermuda Race Week J105 Class A close finish is shaping up for the Etchells Class which has only one more race in the series. Thursday Tim Patton had a top flight performance taking two bullets. He now has 12 points, one ahead of fellow Bermudian Martin Vezina. Patton is the current Keelboat Bermuda National Champion. In the J24 Class, Scott Snyder from Denver, Colorado continues to hole the lead he grabbed on the first day. going into Thursday racing he had five first place finishes. Thursday he finished 2,4,3 so his total is 10 points. Peter Rich follows with 17 and Sean McDermott stands third with 22 points. Racing starts at 1100hrs on Friday for the Alpha course J24, Etchells and IOD Classes. The Prize Giving Party at RBYC concludes Race Week on Friday. -- Talbot Wilson New Superyacht Facility On The South Coast Of The Uk With an 'open policy', yachts can select their preferred contractors to carry out maintenance or refit, or arrange for highly skilled local teams to complete specialised work. Solent Refit is fully ISPS compliant with secure access and managed by Yacht Project Associates. Visit: www.solentrefit.com Fireball Worlds: Edwards & Potts (Gbr) Lead After Race 3 After 3 races, British boats are holding the top 2 spots with DJ David Edwards in 1st, followed by Kevin Hope and Russel Thorne. Australians Ben Shulz and Phillip Bowley currently sit in 3rd. Top ten: 1. David Edwards / Simon Potts, GBR, 7 Complete results: www.fireball-worlds.com/results In House Certification (IHC) and IRC Endorsed Certificates To date the RYA have certified 3 GBR sailmakers for IHC with another 3 expected to be certified over the coming summer. More are anticipated during the course of this year. The RORC Rating Office, acting as the IRC Rule Authority for IRC in GBR, have now decided that with effect from 1st January 2011, sailmakers submitting sail data for an IRC Endorsed certificate for British owned boats will be required to be IHC certified. Currently, the RYA carry out the initial consultation for IHC approval free of charge. It is planned however that sail lofts that have not registered with the RYA by 1st November will be charged for any pre‐audit consultation. The cost of an audit to obtain any IHC licence is £150. To take advantage of the free consultation and to continue in future to be qualified to submit sail data for IRC Endorsed certificates, as well as for all the RYA National Classes, please contact . Mini Tonners Join The Vice Admiral's Cup As usual there will be a 50-52ft Class incorporating the TP52s and Farr 52s and a 44-46ft Class incorporating the Farr 45s, Swan 45s and DK46s. Both the big boat classes are expecting an excellent turnout this year so we can look forward to some spectacular action on the water between these tightly matched boats. The J/109 Class is returning to the Vice Admiral's Cup for the second time and with this class going from strength to strength both the quality and quantity of this fleet is expected to be very high. The regatta will again include the Quarter Ton Class whose enthusiasm and competitive spirit seem to know no bounds. With boats from all three iterations of the Quarter Ton Rule expected to compete the pace will be fast and furious as these wonderfully restored little boats battle it out once again. Brand new to the event will be the Mini Tonners. These boats were originally built to an IOR rating not greater than 16.5ft with an overall length of approximately 20-24 feet. The revival class encompasses both one off custom race boats and many one-design classes including the E-boat, Limbo 6.6 and Hunter Sonata. www.rcyc.co.uk NOR for 2010 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship The New York Yacht Club will host the 12th edition of the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship from 20 - 25 September 2010 at its Harbour Court facility in Newport, Rhode Island. The Notice of Race for the 2010 event is now available to download from the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship microsite at www.nyyc.org/ISAFWOMENS/ The ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship was first held in 1999 in Genoa, Italy. Women's Match Racing will be featured for the first time in the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. Racing will take place in the NYYC's fleet of 13 Sonars on Narragansett Bay in Newport, Rhode Island. Twenty of the top women's match racing teams of four sailors from around the world will be invited to participate in the 2010 Championship. Invited skippers will include the defending champion, Nicky Souter from Australia, as well as top sailors from the ISAF Women's Match Featured Brokerage Brokerage through Pierre-André JEANNE Yacht Broker: www.yachtworld.com/paj/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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