Brought to you by 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

Tell us about your preferred pub... in the Wight Vodka Favourite Yachting Bar competition: scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars.html

Canfield's Singin' In The Rain
Photo by onEdition / AWMRT. Click on image to enlarge.

Monsoon Cup The first big deluge struck the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia today, but Taylor Canfield shrugged off the hard rain to come through as top Qualifier in the concluding event of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.

It wasn't a perfect day for the talented 24-year-old from the US Virgin Islands however, as he lost a critical match to arch rival Ian Williams. The four-time World Champion from Great Britain managed to win a penalty against Canfield's USone team in a luffing match on the first beat of their race, and the GAC Pindar crew went on to secure victory in the light and fluky conditions.

If Williams could go on to win his remaining matches, he would topple Canfield from the top of the Qualifying leaderboard and get first pick of his opponent in the Knockout Rounds. But then the defending World Champion fell to Bjorn Hansen, and the opportunity was lost. Canfield was confirmed as winner of Qualifying, even with two of the 17 flights still to be completed tomorrow.

Through the tropical downpours, wildly shifting wind direction and ever-changing currents, the race committee, led by PRO David Tallis, have been tested to their limits, as have the sailors.

Tomorrow the final two flights of Qualifying will conclude before the top eight go through to compete in the Quarter-Finals.

Qualifying Results after 15 flights

Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone - 9-2
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar - 7-3
Mathieu Richard (FRA) GEFCO Match Racing Team - 6-3
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) eWork Sailing Team - 6-4
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing - 6-4
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX - 5-5
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa - 5-5
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing - 5-5
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team - 5-5
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team - 4-7
David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour - 2-8
Jeremy Koo (MAS) Team KFC - MYA/KRT - 0-9

wmrt.com

Murray To Head Australian America's Cup Syndicate
Iain Murray, the man in charge of this year's America's Cup in San Francisco, has been chosen to lead Australia's challenge in the next edition of sailing's most prestigious trophy.

The 55-year-old Australian was on Thursday named chief executive of Hamilton Island Yacht Club's Team Australia, which is the challenger of record so it represents all challengers in dealings with the defending team Oracle Team USA of the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco.

Murray was chief executive and regatta director of the America's Cup sailed on San Francisco Bay which ended in September.

Australian mogul Bob Oatley, who owns the Hamilton Island Yacht Club, said Murray was the only man for the job.

Software billionaire Larry Ellison, who owns Oracle Team USA, has yet to decide if the America's Cup will return to San Francisco, although his syndicate is in talks with the city. The venue must be picked before other key decisions are made, such as the year, the kind of boat and the format. It's believed that officials are looking to sail the regatta in 2017.

Murray competed in three America's Cups. He was the losing skipper in 1987, when Dennis Conner's Liberty swept Kookaburra III to regain the America's Cup for the United States after losing it to Australia four years earlier.

New Zealand Herald: www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/

Sailing Legends - The Story of the World's Greatest Ocean Race
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

A Very Close Finish
The closest finish of the Transat Jacques Vabre's IMOCA Open 60 class was saved to last as Tanguy de Lamotte and Francois Damien only just held off the effervescent Italian duo Alessandro Di Benedetto and Alberto Monaco on the final finish line. The delta between the two similar vintage IMOCA Open 60s Initiatives Coeur and Team Plastique which finished in ninth and tenth respectively in the Vendee Globe was timed at just nine seconds, or a matter of a bow after 5450 miles and 21 days of racing.

Approaching the latitude of Rio a few days ago the two IMOCA Open 60's which are of the same vintage, 1998 launches with five Vendee Globe circumnavigations between them, were glued together less than one mile apart. They took photos of each other to record the moment and spoke on the VHF. At 230 miles to the finish Alessandro Di Benedetto and Alberto Monaco chose to gybe earlier in the NWly breeze of last night. And in the morning the two teams met up again, Initiatives Coeur having lost an estimated 45 minutes when they had to detour around a fishing boat laying a long net, some 40 miles from the finish line.

On all present indications the Class 40 podium will be close. Leaders since the restart in Roscoff GDF SUEZ (Sebastien Rogues and Fabien Delahaye) revealed today that they have lost two of their three spinnakers, explaining their loss of miles to the second placed Spanish duo Alex Pella and Pablo Santurde on Tales Santander 2014 before they rounded Cabo Frio last night. The leading duo have a deficit of around 0.5 of a knot depending on the weight of wind. It would seem that their heavy spinnaker is intact. Their losses have stabilised now after they took stayed further offshore to find more breeze.

minitransat.fr

Rambler We Hardly Know You....
Last time the Irish maritime community were paying full attention to the super-maxi Rambler 100, she was white all over, she'd no keel, and she was upside down after her capsize near the Fastnet Rock during the race of 2011.

Now she's sailing again in full racing trim. But Rambler, we hardly know you. You're right way up. Your canting keel is presumably very securely in place. And you're black, black, BLACK.

The new campaigner who has undertaken the massive refurbishment - if that's the right word - is Australian owner-skipper Anthony Bell. The restoration was done in New Zealand, where the big Juan K-designed machine was built by Cookson's in the first place, but everything about the boat's current career will be Australian-centred.

Her official launch earlier this month was performed by the Oz Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and the boat is now Perpetual LOYAL in a sponsorship linkup between two leading Australian brands. And of course the Sydney-Hobart Race on December 26th will be the debut par excellence, for despite being around for quite a few years now, even while being constantly up-dated the big lady has never done the dash to Tasmania.

So naturally the battle for line honours between current record-holder, the 100ft Wild Oat XI (owned by 35th America's Cup Challenger of Record Bob Oatley) and Perpetual Loyal is going to grab the headlines. - WM Nixon in Afloat magazine:

afloat.ie/sail/

Don Wilson Wins Carlos Aguilar Match Race
St. Thomas, USVI: He has never sailed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, nor in an IC-24 or with this combination of crew. Yet, Chicago's Don Wilson proved his match racing prowess by winning the 6th Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR). Wilson defeated the USA's Dave Perry 2-1 in a first to two win Finals.

Wilson and his crew - tactician Jordan Reece, trimmer Willem van Waay, bowman Josh McCaffrey, and two Antilles High School students who served as floaters, Teddy Nicolosi and Amanda Engeman - led right out of the gate.

The USVI's Peter Holmberg and USA's Stephanie Roble went head-to-head in the first to one win Petite Finals. Ultimately, Holmberg won 2-1 over Roble to finish third and Roble fourth in the final standings. Holmberg won this event in 2009.

In other team scores, Finland's Antti Luhta finished 5th, the BVI's Colin Rathbun 6th, the USA's Dave Dellenbaugh 7th, the USA's Chris Poole 8th, Greece's Stratis Andreadis 9th, and USA's Jennifer Wilson 10th.

Sailors competed in IC-24s, a local adaptation of a J/24. The CAMR is an International Sailing Federation (ISAF)-provisional Grade Two event.

The Virgin Islands Sailing Association (VISA) is the organizing authority for the CAMR, namesake for the late Carlos Aguilar, who was an avid sailor. The CMRC is the major sponsor.

Final Scores

1. Don Wilson, USA
2. Dave Perry, USA
3. Peter Holmberg, ISV
4. Stephanie Roble, USA
5. Antti Luhta, FIN
6. Colin Rathbun, BVI
7. Dave Dellenbaugh, USA
8. Chris Poole, USA
9. Stratis Andreadis, GRE
10. Jennifer Wilson, USA

www.carlosmatchrace.com

Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship Attracts Grand Prix Entries
Middle Harbour Yacht Club's annual Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC) to be held over this weekend has attracted Tony Kirby's brand new Patrice and Darryl Hodgkinson's newly purchased Victoire among others ahead of the Sailing Instructions being released online yesterday.

Kirby, with his Ker 46, and Hodgkinson, sailing his canting keeled Cookson 50, will use the SSORC as a pre Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race hit out, as will Paul Clitheroe's Beneteau 45, Balance.

The CYCA trio will take on the best of the 'locals', including Bob Cox's DK46, Nine Dragons and Ian Box's XP44, Toybox 2. And the locals' best be warned, in Patrice's first and only outing, the 180 nautical mile Cabbage Tree Island Race, she led the fleet to the Island and finished fourth overall.

On Saturday, the SSORC will be bolstered by an extra 30 plus boats competing in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Ocean Point Score (OPS), which will use the event as Race 4 of their series, and will raise the stakes somewhat. OPS leader, Julian Farren-Price, will have to outsail more than the usual for his Cookson 12 About Time to stay ahead of the game.

"A thriller", is the best way to describe the Seven Islands Race which takes place on Saturday only and takes yachts from a pursuit style start at MHYC from 12.30pm to the most famous islands in the Harbour, passing Fort Denison to port on the way up and back.

The Farr 40's will add even more colour to the SSORC, as the class conducts the Aberdeen Asset Management One Design Trophy, featuring some of the biggest Australian names in sailing. -- Di Pearson, MHYC Media

www.ssorc.mhyc.com.au

Ellen Macarthur Trust To Benefit From New Cowes Ocean Safety Service Point
Photo by Paul Wyeth. Click on image to enlarge.

Ocean Safety The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, East Cowes, UK is set to gain regular donations from Ocean Safety. In a new agreement with the Trust life rafts and other safety equipment can be dropped off for servicing by Ocean Safety and Ocean Safety will make a donation from each item that is brought in for servicing.

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, which helps to rebuild the lives of young cancer sufferers through sailing experiences, is conveniently located at East Cowes Marina. It is easily accessible for yachts, whose owners want to remove life rafts and safety items such as lifejackets, EPIRBs and fire extinguishers.

The safety equipment is collected by Ocean Safety and taken to their main service station in Southampton for maintenance. It is then returned to East Cowes Marina, for the owner to collect after the work has been carried out.

Frank Fletcher, CEO at the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is delighted to be working with Ocean Safety. "Our base will provide a handy location for yachtsmen to drop off safety equipment for servicing. It is a tremendous benefit to the Trust that it will benefit from the donations Ocean Safety is making."

www.oceansafety.com

Filmless Composite Sails
Click on image to enlarge.

Seahorse Magazine In 2007 OneSails introduced the first continuous-fibre sails built without the use of resin or glue, eliminating delamination issues at a stroke. Now OneSails goes a step further, by introducing 4T FORTE membranes made from exclusive Multi Micro Structure (MMS™) technology (patent pending).

Multi Micro Structure is the result of more than 15 years of experience and of a life dedicated to high-tech fabrics and the passion for sailing by inventor-engineer PierCarlo Molta. Molta and his team started playing with textiles more than 30 years ago in the family business - a worldwide leader in technical textiles involving safety garments and footwear - located in Tuscany, a district that boasts more than 10 centuries of history in textile manufacturing. His vision to drive composite manufacturing technology from stiff to high-flexibility applications is the inspiration that today makes possible the creation of 4T FORTE sails.

The 4T FORTE composite structure incorporates high-modulus elements such as STR Solid Stripes, a new low-stretch exponent of MMS™ technology that eliminates both the glue and Mylar film

More in the January Seahorse: www.seahorsemagazine.com

For The Record
The WSSR Council announces the establishment of a new World Record

Record: World KiteSail Record
Venue: Port St Louis. FRA
Name: Alexandre Caizergues. FRA
Equipment: Kite Board. F.one kite
Dates: 11th November 2013
Course length: 501 metres
Current: Nil
Start time: 15;11;02.580
Finish time: 15;11;19.780
Elapsed time: 17.20 seconds
Speed: 56.62 kts
Comments: Previous record: Rob Douglas USA. Luderitz NAM. Oct 2010. 55.65 kts

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council

Alien-Like Sea Monster Captured On Film
Squid Footage of an Alien-like sea creature has been captured on film a mile and a half under water.

The video clip of the fascinating Magnapinna, or "big-fin", squid was originally filmed in 2007 by Shell but has recently started to receive attention after its appearance on social networking sites.

The footage was filmed at a drilling site owned by the oil company, some 200 miles off Houston, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico.

The squid's intriguing appearance and eerie method of movement has left many people describing it as "alien-like" and comparing it to a monster you might see in a horror film.

The Magnapinna's fins are up to 90% of its total body length, which is where the name big-fin squid originates.

It has been estimated that some big-fin squids captured on film previously measured around 26ft long, with the tentacles stretching to around 15-20 times the length of the body.

Watch the footage here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPRPnQ-dUSo

Read more at www.ybw.com

Featured Brokerage
Featured Brokerage Boat 1931 72' Frank Paine Custom Cutter. US$ 35,000. Located In Long Beach, CA.

Highland Light, a custom cutter, was built specifically for Dudley Wolfe for long-distance ocean racing. Launched just weeks before the 1931 Trans-Atlantic race start, Highland Light came in third and afterwards finished second by two minutes in the following Fastnet race. She then went on to win the Newport to Bermuda race fastest time in 1932, holding that record, twenty four years until Bolero beat her by one and half hours in 1956.

Highland Light was designed by Frank Paine, who had designed the America's Cup J-Boat Yankee in 1930. Both boats having been built at the George Lawley & Son shipyard near Boston. With the exception of a half-hull model and photograph, comprehensive plans have been obtained from the Frank Paine and McInnis-Lawley Collections at the Hart Nautical Collections of Massachusetts Institute of Technology to guide the restoration of the boat.

Brokerage through Flying Cloud Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/fcyachts/

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

The Last Word
Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected, in this case I would think interesting would suffice. -- Spock

About boats.com
boats.com is a highly powerful and effective global marketing solution for the boating industry. With half a million new and used boat listings, offered across the globe by manufacturers, brokers, dealers and private advertisers, it is the most comprehensive site in the World. Over 1.4 million boating consumers visit our sites every month, generating up to 16.5 million page views, with over 500,000 of these visitors coming from within Europe. Whether you are providing a product or service or selling new or pre owned boats, boats.com offers an extensive and varied range of solutions, tailored to suit all marketing budgets offering extensive local and international coverage.

Editorial and letter submissions to

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Search the Archives

SEARCH SEARCH

Our Partners

Seahorse Magazine

YachtScoring.com

Wight Vodka

Robline Ropes

Harken

Marlow

Navico

Translate