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Transat Jacques Vabre: Riou and Le Cam Win IMOCA Class
Photo by Jean Marie Liot/ DPPI / Transat Jacques Vabre. Click on image to enlarge.

Itajai, Brasil: reaking the finish line on an overcast, humid morning in Southern Brasil, French duo Vincent Riou and Jean Le Cam won the IMOCA Open 60 class at 10h 41min 47 sec local time (12h 41m 47s UTC/GMT) completing the 5450 miles course to Itajaí from Le Havre.

The elapsed time for their race is 17d 0h 41mn 47sec‏, sailing at an average speed of 13.21 kts for the theoretical course. In fact they sailed 5771 miles on the water, at a real average speed of 14.12 kts.

When they finished, the second placed IMOCA Open 60 was around 50 miles behind in second.

It is the first major transoceanic race triumph for Riou since he won the Vendee Globe solo round the world race in 2005 and the biggest recent win for veteran Le Cam.

Appropriately as winner of the class in this 20th anniversary edition Riou was one of the competitors in the very first edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre in 1993 racing a multihull. The duo win their class despite an express pit stop in Madeira to replace a rudder fitting.

"Rudders are broken now because of the pressure we put them under, whether ours or that of MACIF" commented Le Cam prior to finishing, referring to near rivals MACIF (Francois Gabart and Michel Desjoyeaux) who also made an early pit stop, in Portugal, to complete a similar repair.

The duel for second place was being played out as PRB finished, only a few miles separating second placed Safran (Marc Guillemot and Pascal Bidegorry) and Maitre CoQ (Jeremie Beyou and Christopher Pratt). 

Race Tracker URL: tracking.transat-jacques-vabre.com

www.transat-jacques-vabre.com

Brazil's Robert Scheidt Crowned 2013 Laser World Champion In Oman
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Robert Scheidt was crowned 2013 Laser World Champion in Oman for the ninth time today after winning the final race of the regatta then proclaimed this Laser World Championship title as his best so far.

The 40 year-old Brazilian sailor started the last race just one point ahead of rival Pavlos Kontides but put in a flawless performance to win by two boat lengths, raising the Brazilian flag as he crossed the line to a round of cheers and applause from spectators and other competitors.

"Rio is still a long way off and I shall have to see how my body holds up over the next few years but the next Olympic Games in Rio is definitely how I want to end my career."

Had there been no racing at Mussanah Beach, his one point lead overnight would have earned him the championship and with ten minutes to go before the 3pm cut off time, there was no sign of any racing due to the light and shifty breeze.

But at 2.56pm the start gun was fired and Scheidt, Kontides and third-placed Tonci Stipanovic from Croatia all made good starts

Final top ten:

1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 29 points
2. Pavlos Kontides, CYP, 42
3. Philipp Buhl, GER, 68
4. Rutger van Schaardenburg, NED, 68
5. Jesper Stalheim, SWE, 69
6. Tonci Stipanovic, CRO, 70
7. Juan Ignacio Maegli, GUA, 80
8. Bruno Fontes, BRA, 101
9. Tom Burton, AUS, 105
10. Matthew Wearn, AUS, 118

omanlaserworlds2013.com/eng/

Sailing Legends - The Story of the World's Greatest Ocean Race
A special numbered limited edition signed by the authors to make the perfect Christmas gift

The Whitbread Round the World Race - now the Volvo Ocean Race - spans 40 years, ten races and more than 300,000 miles across the most inhospitable seas. From gentlemanly competition in yachts designed more for graceful living than screaming around Cape Horn, the race has progressed to purpose built craft with few creature comforts, crewed by fanatical, professionals.

Millions have been spent, legends created and six men have died. No one takes the race lightly and no one tells the story better than journalists, Bob Fisher and Barry Pickthall who have been there for every race from the first in 1973. They mark the anecdotes, highlight all the major stories, and provide biographies of sailing's greatest names from the first handicap and line honour winners, Ramon Carlin and Sir Chay Blyth, to double winner Conny van Rietschoten, French legend Eric Tabarly, those great New Zealand rivals Sir Peter Blake and Grant Dalton, through to the latter day Volvo race winners. They also detail the awesome advances in design and construction that make today's yachts formidably tough, surfing greyhounds capable of hitting 40knots + and sustaining 600 mile daily runs. The book also lists every crewmember to have taken part.

176 pages. 128 colour pictures and illustrations.

By Bob Fisher and Barry Pickthall - Endeavour Books
£40 + postage and packing

Order online: www.southatlanticpublishing.com/sl_intro.htm

The Obscure, The Unranked
There are now two races within the Mini Transat. Those who still hope to achieve victory or a place of honor continue to fight for every tenth of a mile gained or lost, gybing at the right moment and changing sails at the right time. For those who wander in the soft underbelly of the rankings or have been delayed by technical problems and abdicated any hope of victory, the adventure and the desire to complete a journey are taking over.

The tussle continues at the head of fleet between Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian) and Benoît Marie (benoitmarie.com). It's the same in the series boats, behind the immovable Aymeric Belloir (Tout le Monde Chante contre le Cancer), Justine Mettraux (TeamWork) and Simon Koster (Go 4 It) continue to cross paths and tensely battle it out for the second step on the podium. The trade winds appear to be building in the southern part of the race area, but for the soloists it is very difficult, with a wind that seems to be turning more openly to the northeast, to go directly downwind in order to gain in the south.

There is a small group that has managed to work their way south who are already beginning to display speeds worthy of a Mini in the trades. In the prototypes Louis Segre (Roll my Chicken Roll), seventh, Annabelle Boudinot (Agro 650), eighth and Nicolas Boidevezi (Nature Addicts) are approaching speeds of 10 knots. In the series boats Alberto Bona (Onelinesim.it) and Jerome d'Aboville (Bel ) could reap the rewards of their choice.

Top five:

Cegelec / Eurovia Ranking (prototypes) at 16.00 (GMT +1)

1. Giancarlo Pedote, Prysmian, 1466.4 nm to finish
2. Benoit Marie, benoitmarie.com, +12.6 nm
3. Remi Fermin, Boreal, + 106.4 nm
4. Bruno Garcia, Sampaquita, + 133.3 nm
5. Bertrand Delesne, TeamWork Proto, + 170.3 nm

Yslab Ranking (series boats)

1. Aymeric Belloir, Tout le Monde chante contre le Cancer, 1604.1 nm to finish
2. Justine Mettraux, TeamWork, + 85.3 nm
3. Simon Koster, Go 4 it, + 100.4 nm
4. Jean-Baptiste Lemaire,Oeuvre du Marin Breton, + 147.1 nm
5. Eric Cochet, Abers&co, + 296.9

minitransat.fr

New Kiteboard Race World Champions Crowned
Boao, Hainan, China: Reigning women's kiteboard racing world champion Erika Heineken (USA) ended an almost flawless series to take successive titles on the final day of the event in China.

But brother Johnny Heineken (USA) was deprived of a similar feat by the stellar racing of 19-year-old Florian Gruber (GER) who snatched to the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) course racing world title from the American's grasp.

The final day of event at Boao, Hainan, was characterized by extremely light and fickle winds that all but prevented racing and sealed the rankings as they stood at the end of day four, with the exception of one or two swapped places.

With the breeze filling in as the final cut off for racing fast approached, race officials decided to try got the top ten men in the platinum fleet on the water for the first of three scheduled races. But it was only possible to complete one race with the men flying their 17m and 19m kites.

www.kiteboardtour.asia

Seahorse December 2013
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Start your engines...
Bob Fisher tags a ride as Team SCA start sailing in earnest on the first Volvo Ocean 65

Passion, madness and hope...
52 Super Series manager Rob Weiland

One week in September
So how did Oracle turn things around so very dramatically? Key Oracle USA team members including Paul Bieker, Scott Ferguson, Eduardo Carroll, Michel Kermarec and Philippe Presti provide some of the answers

Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2

1yr Print Sub for UK residents: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

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Star Winter Series
Photo by Meredith Block / Star Winter Series. Click on image to enlarge.

Coconut Grove, Florida, USA: 23 year old Swede Philip Carlson with crew Frithjof Kleen sailed to a flawless result today, vaulting past Augie Diaz/Arnis Baltins to take second place for the opening regatta of the 2013/4 Star Winter Series Presented By EFG.

Newport Beach, California's Jim Buckingham finished just behind Carlson in both races, enough to hold on to a 4-point lead and earn the 2013 Schoonmaker Cup.

The true standout today was Sweden's Philip Carlson, the 23-year old Viking who's made Coconut Grove his home for the past few winters in search of as much top-level sailing he can find. After an unsuccessful Olympic bid in 2012 (his main competitor for Sweden's spot was Freddy Loof, who won Weymouth Gold), Carlson continued to sail in the class, giving a strong performance during last year's Star Midwinters and several overseas events. But today he surpassed all that, showing major boatspeed advantages both upwind and downwind against a deep Star Winter Series fleet.

The second event of the 2013/4 Star Winter Series Presented By EFG is the XX Cup on December 14-15.

Final Results, Schoonmaker Cup and Overall Star Winter Series (Top five)

1. 8440, Jim Buckingham / Austin Sperry , USA, 11 points
2. Effective Sailing, Philip Carlson , SWE, 15
3. 8465, Augie Diaz / Arni Baltins , USA, 18
4. Star, Arthur Anosov / Valentin Veytsman, USA, 23
5. Pied Piper/National Marine, Jack Jennings / Brian Sharp , USA, 25

starwinter.com

Cammas and Vandame Win The 2013 Saint Barth Cata Cup
Steadiness paid off for the duo Cammas/Vandame (Hotel Guanahani 2) who won the 6th edition of the Saint Barth Cata Cup beating Bundock/Van Leeuwen (Hotel Guanahani 1) and the Boulogne Brothers (Allianz-Saint Barth Assurances). The Formula 18 sailors aboard Guanahani 2 were able to remain in the top four from the very first moments of the regatta.

The weather on Sunday was a little more challenging than the rest of the week. The winds peaked higher than 17 knots, while large waves with heights of two meters close to the rocks and rain made sailing quite difficult. That caused more than a few boats to abandon the race, but the regattas were help with the upmost safety under the attentive eyes of the organizers.

At the end of the day, Bundock and Van Leeuwen won both of Sunday's races and won the Marche U prize, sponsored by the supermarket located on the island since 2010 and which is very supportive of numerous local associations.

The prize for the youngest sailor went to Arthur Boc-Ho and that for best Caribbean team to Jeff Ledee and Vincent Jordil, who came in 17th overall.

www.stbarthcatacup.com/en/pages/Bienvenue/1/

Team Beau Geste's Hat Trick
Photo by Saltwater Images. Click on image for photo gallery.

Two bullets and a second capped off Team Beau Geste's Sydney City Marine TP52 Southern Cross Cup round three victory and series hat trick, with one stage remaining.

Having experienced four seasons in three days, Sydney put its best foot forward for finals day; cool 10-12 knot sou'east breezes and picture postcard conditions for the deciding three windward/leewards on a short course from Taylors Bay, Mosman to a top mark off Shark Island.

Karl Kwok's Hong Kong registered 52-footer, Team Beau Geste, sailed a quiet and classy series. They came to this Sydney round with a cherry-picked mostly Kiwi crew and impeccably prepared boat, strategically picked the nearest TP52 in terms of calibre and made sure that boat was jammed up at the start, then stayed between them and the finish line.

For round three Rob Hanna's Shogun V from Geelong was fair game. Prior to this edition Marcus Blackmore's Hooligan, now in transit to a new overseas owner, was the marked boat.

Shogun's impressive rear-guard of winning AC mainsheet trimmer Kyle Langford, tactician Stu Bannatyne and strategist Ben Lamb wasn't enough to tackle the might of Brady's bunch, though they did take two wins off them to finish second overall with 11 points, three points off the gun boat.

The closing stage of the inaugural four-part TP52 Southern Cross Cup will be hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on Sydney's northern beaches December 13th-15th, 2013. The class is hoping for a boosted final round of up to seven starters.

TP52 Southern Cross Cup 2013 Round 3, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

Provisional Results

1. Team Beau Geste, Karl Kwok, 8.0 points
2. Shogun V, Rob Hanna, 11.0
3. Vamos, Connel Mclaren, 18.0
4. Frantic, Michael Martin, 27.0
5. Quest, Bob Steel, 33.0

Some Kiwi Sailing History: The Sanders Memorial Cup annd the X Class
Before the great war of 1914-18 competitive sailing in New Zealand was still in its relative infancy. Remember, New Zealand is a very new country! About the time that the schooner yacht 'America' sailed for England to challenge British sailors for that well known cup, our English forbears were still struggling to establish a foothold on our tiny land and any form of non-commercial sailing was restricted to a few wealthy families.

To give you an idea of the 'recent' development of sailing in NZ the best known of our 'clubs The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, was founded in Auckland in 1859. In Wellington, the Capital City, the club that was to be known as The Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, was formed in 1883.

Auckland was and always will be the centre of sailing in New Zealand and keel yachts abounded there from the earliest days, but during those early days there were problems establishing a suitable small dinghy class for young men of lesser means. Cutting a long story into a short story, things started to happen with a boom in yacht club membership following World War I and the efforts of a group of Auckland enthusiasts to establish a fourteen-foot sailing dinghy for boys.

Full story with historical photos and another of Jim's paintings in his blog:

abrushwithsail.blogspot.com

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 Rees Martin: After having just put down Rose Georges riveting book Deep Sea and Foreign Going, the recent winner of the Mountbatten Maritime Foundation award, I felt urged to pen the below letter to the Independent. The current Greenpeace Arctic escapade just seemed so reckless. The Independent kindly published it today and flushed with literary success, I thought Eurobutt readers might be interested:

"John Sauven of Greenpeace really should be asked to justify the risks involved in sending young passionate activists into such a dangerous situation. International waters are very dangerous places and from the expressions of relief from those activists released on bail, they must seriously question repeating such actions. Alexander Harris and Kieron Bryan were clearly terrified. No doubt Sauven would have briefed them of the risks but youthful zealotry doesn't do rational thinking. Surely Greenpeace could have attacked Gazprom's actions in a safer more public location - and created a much better effect. Gazprom has taken up sports sponsorship; why not campaign there without risking young lives? Greenpeace has laudable objectives but does tend towards often using dangerous methods. Like all provocative pressure groups they have their extremists; don't let this element undo all their good work.

Greenpeace should give each of their members and supporters a copy of Rose Georges book Deep Sea and Foreign Going. It graphically describes the complete lawlessness of the high seas. Contrary to current thinking that the absence of law is limited to Somalian waters and that international maritime organisations seek out perpetrators, merchant ships are regularly attacked in many parts of the world, crews are seized, tortured and killed. The sea is a very dangerous place; use it as your stage at your peril."

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Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
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