Scuttlebutt Europe #2037 - 26 February
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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 Beau Geste Takes Monohull Line Honours
This was the first time Karl Kwok has sailed in the Caribbean and by the smile on his face it won't be the last. "I really enjoyed it, great sailing except for the long beat to Guadeloupe which meant we had no chance of beating Leopard's record but this is a great race and well run by the Royal Ocean Racing Club." Helmsman Gavin Brady was very impressed with the race course as he explained dockside. "This race has something for everyone, certainly a race course where you have to concentrate all the time. I sailed in shorts and T-shirt the whole race, even though the wind strength got up to 20 knots. That's something you don't say very often after a 600 mile classic." Beau Geste crew: RORC Caribbean 600 site: caribbean600.rorc.org * Big wind-hole for the Class40s in the RORC Caribbean 600 With the RORC Caribbean 600 halfway mark reached just before midday on Wednesday, the three Class40s continued heading south between Antigua and Montserrat towards Guadeloupe. Daylight on the fourth day at sea showed a dramatic change in fortunes for the trio with 40 Degrees and Tradition Guadeloupe stalled off the southern tip of Guadeloupe and Ocean Warrior withdrawn from racing and moored in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. The long leg south from the northern turning mark off the coast of St. Maarten to the island of Les Saintes off the southern tip of Guadeloupe was an upwind surprise for the fleet with the breeze from the south, turning southwest early on Wednesday morning. Michael Boyd, Niall Dowling, John Patrick Cunningham and Miranda Merron led the Class40s south on 40 Degrees reaching the Îles Kahouanne off the north-western tip of Guadeloupe at 17:00 GMT yesterday (24/02), just as Joe Harris and his team on Ocean Warrior turned north-east and headed downwind back to Antigua, joining two other yachts retired from the race; the Open 30 Overproof and the MacGregor 65, 1700 Somewhere. As 40 Degrees worked south along the coast passing Pigeon Island, the wind began to disappear and just before midnight GMT as the Class40 drew level with Vieux-Fort on the southern tip of Basse-Terre and entered the channel between Guadeloupe and the port rounding mark of the Les Saintes islands, the boat speed had dropped just 1.5 knots. While the boats astern of 40 Degrees held the breeze slightly longer, the large wind hole south of the French island swallowed all the boats yet to turn round the southern point in the RORC Caribbean 600 course and begin the final 220 miles back towards Antigua. RC44 Maktoum Trophy
Team Aqua had a "blinder" as the Kiwis would say. The sailed very well in three of the races and got really lucky in the last one to come out with a 2,1,2,1. On Katusha we had an ok day with a 5,5,2,8 and we are in 5th. The fleet stays very close together in these conditions and small mistakes can cost 3-4 boats. We were over the start line early in the first race and battled back to 5th. Even in the race we were second, we were back in the pack at the first mark. So, there is plenty of mixing and you just have to hang tough all the way to the end. There is no "coastal" race here this time, so just more of the windward leeward racing tomorrow. The forecast for tomorrow and Saturday is for more of the southerly winds, even going southeasterly, and a bit stronger. Four races in this breeze is a good work out for everyone. -- Paul Cayard, cayardsailing.com Into One Design?! We've Got You Covered... Ullman Sails has been designing for fast sails in one design for over 40 years. Invest in your performance. That Thin Line Between Bold And Insane..
The reenactment, following the journey across the Pacific from Tonga to Timor, will launch on the same day (April 28th), at the same time and in the same place 221 years after the original mutiny journey. Not content with just taking on this huge challenge, McIntyre and his crew of 3 men are also attempting to raise over $250,000 for The Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease (SIF), which is building the world's first research Institute into Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The seven week expedition aboard the Talisker Bounty Boat - a 25ft long, 7ft wide, open wooden vessel - will see the crew -facing the same deprivations as the original crew that were cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific, including: no navigation charts; only two weeks of water; hardly any food; and, of course, no luxuries like a torch or toilet paper! Alongside Don McIntyre, one of Australia's most experienced sailors and adventurers, the international crew includes experienced English sailor David Wilkinson, US sailor and businessman Peter Stier and the youngest ever Solo circumnavigator, 17 year old Brit Mike Perham. The crew met together for the first time a little over two weeks ago and have spent the last fortnight together in Sydney, training and making last minute preparations for the journey, a journey that has been Don's dream to complete for 20 years. McIntyre does not underestimate the challenge ahead: "We're incredibly excited to get close to Captain Bligh and his crew; however everyone aboard the Talisker Bounty Boat will be pushed to the limit of endurance and survival, forever hungry and unsure of everything, except their own desire to fight through this." The voyage is sponsored by Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky, the only single malt whisky from the Isle of Skye which is also the origin of Don McIntyre's ancestry as his grandparents emigrated to Australia from Skye shortly after their marriage in 1901. To follow the expedition and donate to this cause, visit www.taliskerbountyboat.com The Normandy Channel Race Sirius Evenements, with the full backing of the institutional and sporting environment, is launching the 1st edition of the Normandy Challenge Race from 13th to 23rd May 2010. The start of this 1,000 mile double-handed race on Sunday 16th May will take the skippers around the coasts of Normandy, England, Ireland and Brittany. Today the Class 40 is one of the fastest developing international offshore racing categories and already boasts nearly a hundred craft. Initially devised to enable amateur skippers to gain access to offshore racing, it is attracting an increasing number of professional skippers. Midway between the Figaro Beneteau and the 60 footers of the Vendee Globe, the series is progressively building up its programme and the transatlantic launched in 2009 - the Solidaire du Chocolat - proved extremely successful both in sporting and media terms. The 40 foot monohulls, (12.20 m) which form the Class 40, enable a versatile programme with a dual oceanic and coastal vocation. This highly demanding course through some complicated navigation zones will give free rein to any number of tactical games at what is sure to be a very fast pace. Indeed the course spans some magnificent sea areas and an extremely varied course, half of which is raced in coastal zones whilst the other half is offshore in the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. Further challenges come with the marks which have to be rounded off the Isle of Wight, the Irish lighthouses of Tuskar Rock and the more famous Fastnet Rock, the Anglo-Norman islands of Raz Blanchard and the Pointe de Barfleur, among others. Race Management will be provided by Sylvie Viant, race director for all the big races for countless years, including the Vendee Globe, Route du Rhum and Jacques Vabre. -- translated by Kate Jennings www.normandy-race.com Bainbridge International Sailcloth - A History Of Innovation. Bainbridge has always been at the forefront of technical developments within the world of sailcloth. Through the skills of our technical team and with the support of our international network of Bainbridge offices and European distributors, we have developed a number of class leading products, including our award winning AIRX Spinnaker Fabrics, DIAX laminated sailcloth, Ocean and Ocean Premium Plus woven fabrics and our Sailman Full Battten Systems. These have been used by many high profile campaigns over the years including, America's Cup, Vendee Globe, Volvo 60, BT Challenge and the Ellen MacArthur Trust. In January this year we announced our exciting plans to sponsor Hilary Lister in the 2011 Fastnet Race. For more information and to request samples of our products, please email The Antipodal Point Still behind a depression circulating at 60 S, Groupama 3 is making headway in a slightly irregular breeze, both in terms of strength and direction, though the sea is undulating in an increasingly harmonious manner. As such making thirty knots of boat speed isn't a hard pace to maintain and the boat and crew alike are not suffering. Their excellent VMG is also scheduled to continue over the next few days too. Indeed a front is in the process of catching up with the giant trimaran, which will cause the breeze to shift round to the NW; an extremely favourable rotation for slipping along towards Cape Horn. The next virtual line to mark this round the world is the International Date Line, along the longitude of 180. It lies around 600 miles to the East of New Zealand and is diametrically opposite to the Greenwich meridian. As Jules Verne explained in his novel "Around the World in Eighty Days", Franck Cammas and his men will earn the right to experience 26th March twice over. -- Translated by Kate Jennings Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC) (Number of miles covered in relation to the optimum course for the Jules Verne Trophy) Day 23 (23rd February 1400 UTC): 702 miles (lead = 60 miles) WSSRC record for the Pacific Ocean crossing (from the South of Tasmania to Cape Horn) Short Tacks "Having recently retired from the McGuire VA Hospital and being a sailor, I thought it might be helpful to offer some of my expertise regarding common shoulder problems and their treatment," writes Richard Brisner, an occupational therapist/shoulder specialist. The primary reason for most shoulder pain is a muscle imbalance. This often occurs as we age, regardless of whether there is a known trauma or not. As the rotator cuff and scapula stabilizer muscles weaken, the stronger deltoid muscle creates a problem called "impingement" as we take the arm above 90 degrees and/or lie on it in a certain way at night. This pain is often "acute" and can feel like a burning sensation, radiating down the side of the upper arm. Sometimes it can be felt in the forearm and hand. Sailors are particularly susceptible to "impingement" as repetitive overhead activity can be required on a frequent basis. Full article at bwsailing.com/BWS_newsandnotes_Health-Tips-For-Sailors.html * Key West Race Week 2011 will take place in Key West, Florida in January 2011.The 24th edition of North America's first major regatta of the winter season offers five full race days for IRC, One-Design, PHRF, multihull and 20' sportboat classes. Enjoy world class competition and fun shore side parties in this warm water, spectacular venue. Premiere Racing's reputation for excellent race management and regatta organization promises to deliver another great winter get-away for racing sailors. Details on invited classes, exciting new information on logistics and planning will be posted on: Premiere-Racing.com For entry information or to update our mailing and email lists please contact: * A South African Adventure for the Phoenicia team We sailed into our first South African port, Richards Bay, at the end of January and had a wonderful welcome from a convoy of local yachts, press and public. Since Richards Bay we have called at Durban, East London and our current position Port Elizabeth. At each port we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the local yacht clubs (Zululand Yacht Club, The Point, East London and Algoa Bay) who have organised welcome flotillas, press conferences, accommodation, dinners, parties and even safari trips for the crew! We have featured on 3 national television channels in South Africa and made the headlines in many of the major newspapers so Phoenicia is really making an impact which will only increase as we reach Cape Town. Phoenicia is attempting to illustrate that 2000 years before the European, Bartholomew Diaz, rounded the Cape of Good Hope the Phoenicians had already achieved a circumnavigation of Africa. As such the expedition is attempting to put African history in its true context by retracing the route around Africa in a replica Phoenician Ship. -- phoenicia.org.uk * The organisers of Cowes Week are once again showing their support for the charity that saves lives at sea by selecting the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) as their official charity for 2010. In supporting the RNLI for the second year running, Cowes Week organisers recognise the charity's service to the sailing community in the busy waters of the Solent where the Cowes Week action takes place. All the money raised at the international sailing regatta will stay on the Isle of Wight, helping to fund the island's three lifeboat stations at Bembridge, Cowes and Yarmouth. The RNLI receives no UK Government funding and relies on donations from the public and the support of events such as Cowes Week to maintain its maritime search and rescue service. Its volunteer crew members are on call 24 hours a day and are willing to risk their own lives to save others at sea around the coast of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. www.rnli.org.uk Featured Brokerage 80' Americas Cup Yacht NZL38. Unique opportunity to purchase a test proven Americas cup yacht. 22 wins against a single defeat, helped New Zealand win in 1995 and retain the cup in 2000. Used for testing with Swedish challenge in 2003 and now overhauled and prepared by the current owners. Complete with sails, spares, container and shippingstorage cradle. Ready for further syndicate use or corporate charter. Brokerage through Ancasta International Boat Sales: www.yachtworld.com/ancasta/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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This morning, one of the greatest Australian adventurers of all time, Don McIntyre, formally announced his most recent expedition - to re-create one of the most extraordinary stories of survival and determination, Captain William Bligh's 4,000 mile open boat 'Mutiny on the Bounty' voyage.
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