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

Gladwell's Line: Can The Teams Survive The America's Cup Negotiations?
By our count, there are at least six reasonably serious and quality Challengers for the next America's Cup, being: Emirates Team NZ, the longest standing America's Cup team; the Challenger of Record, Team Australia - drawing on the top Australian Olympic talent; Ben Ainslie (GBR) expected to draw on the top British Racing talent; Luna Rossa (ITA) - long time Challenger for the AC; Artemis Racing (SWE) - already set up and sailing in San Francisco; and Franck Cammas (FRA) - Volvo Ocean Race winner and top large multihull sailor.

As we saw in the 34th Match, it is very possible for a competent team to go from a seemingly hopeless position to being clearly superior in the space of just seven race days. So how could anyone justify having a preliminary series outside USA, eliminating some teams - and then having a second round of qualification in USA, probably San Francisco? How do we know that a potential Cup winner is not being given a premature exit, after just sailing in the first qualifying regatta?

For what conditions does a Challenger design and optimize their boat - the first round in say, off Sydney Heads or in a light wind Mediterranean event or for the the real deal San Francisco? Remember the Challenger can only build one boat, and modifications are limited. The Defender can build two boats, if they wish and shift to an in-house campaign at any point of the regatta, according to information, last weekend, from the Challenger of Record.

Either way the Defender only needs to optimize their design for the Match venue. The Challengers must have an all-round boat.

Richard's full editorial at:
www.sail-world.com/USA/Gladwells-Line

Aarhus, Denmark To Host 2018 ISAF Sailing World Championships
The International Sailing Federation is pleased to announce that Aarhus, Denmark has been selected to host the 2018 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

Bid partners, the Danish Sailing Association, Sport Event Denmark, Sport Aarhus Events (City of Aarhus) and Sailing Aarhus bring together proven regatta organization skills in a venue offering world-class racing conditions.

The competition venue will be established at a new Aarhus International Sailing Centre in Aarhus Yachting Harbour.

Aarhus has welcomed several world class sailing events in recent years including the 2008 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, 2010 505 World Championship, 2011 A-Cat World Championship and the 2013 49er and 49erFX European Championships.

In March 2014 an Evaluation Commission appointed by ISAF received presentations by the following cities in their bid to host the event:

Aarhus, Denmark
Busan, Korea
Gdynia, Poland
The Hague, Netherlands

The Commission made their recommendation to the ISAF Executive Committee who unanimously endorsed the recommendation.

sailing.org

Onboard & Onshore With Hudson Wight
The Hudson Wight Performance Sailwear brand will be very evident both afloat and ashore throughout the season, supporting a variety of events as the official clothing sponsor and supplier to a number of high profile yachting regattas and events around the UK.

We are delighted to be supporting Sail 4 Cancer by donating Raffle and Auction prizes for 11 significant regattas. Competitors at all events will either win or bid for a high-value Hudson WIght voucher enabling them to choose or redeem against key items such as the much-lauded HW1 'oilies'.

As Official Clothing Sponsor to the Poole Regatta (24-26 May), Race Officers will be kitted out in event branded HW1 oilies, and top value prizes are being donated for class winners and the overall regatta winner.

The Hudson Wight pop-up-shops are proving really popular and there will be one up and running for the duration of the Poole Regatta.

Looking ahead to June, Hudson Wight is racing in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race on 21st June with solo offshore sailor Lizzy Foreman on the helm of Hudson Wight, her Mini 6.50. She's one of the great British hopes for next year's gruelling Mini Transat and Hudson Wight is on board for the duration of her campaign as her title sponsor.

www.hudsonwight.com

Susannah Pyatt Retains NZ Women's Match Racing Title
Susannah Pyatt will have her name engraved on the Leith Mossman Memorial Trophy for the second time after winning the 2014 NZ Women's Match Racing Championships for the second consecutive year.

All in all, although the regatta had to be shortened to the two round robins, a fair result was gained, a lot of fun was had and some old girls came back, some new girls joined in and the Leith Mossman Memorial Trophy was awarded to a great crew who are great supporters of Women's Match Racing.

Results for the 2014 NZ Women's Match Racing Championships

Susannah Pyatt - 9W/1L
Claudia Pierce - 7/3
Kylie Jameson - 5/5
Manu Merlo - 4/6
Michelle Tait - 4/6
Melinda Henshaw - 1/9

sailracewin.blogspot.de

BLU26 Class Championship In Ascona
Only one month away, the blu26 class championship will take place in beautiful Ascona on Lago Maggiore. The Notice of Race is now also available online. For those from far away or not owning a blu26 yacht themselves, charter yachts are availbale on site in Ascona. Find the Notice of Race with all information about the regatta and charter options online on the bluboats website in the news section

www.bluboats.com

A Secret Plea To Use London 2012
So worried are Olympic organisers by how far behind schedule the 2016 Rio Games has fallen, London has reportedly been asked, in secret, if it could host the event at the last minute. According to the London Evening Standard, an informal approach has been made by IOC chiefs to ascertain whether London's 2012 Olympic venues could be brought back into use.

The build-up to the Rio Games has been labelled a shambles, with every venue badly behind schedule, spiralling costs and accusations of negligence.

IOC vice-president John Coates has already called Brazil's preparations "the worst I've experienced", with just two years to go and a football World Cup to host in between.

An "unprecedented" special task force has been set up to try and speed up preparations but the situation on the ground is said to be "critical".

A source told the Standard: "At a comparable planning stage in 2004 Athens had done 40 per cent of preparations on infrastructure, stadiums and so on. London had done 60 per cent. Brazil has done 10 per cent - and they have just two years left. So the IOC is thinking, 'What's our plan B?'

"Obviously, the answer would be to come back to London. It's very unlikely but it would be the logical thing to do."

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/

How To Drink Ouzo Like A Greek
Lynda and her Greek husband, Kostas Ghiokas, own a charter business in Greece, and run crewed charters on their yacht, Stressbuster. "On every charter," Lynda explains, "nearly everyone wants to try ouzo, and I end up giving a mini-seminar on it—how it's made (from grape skins and stems, and then distilled/aged like fine wine); how not to drink it (you wouldn't believe how many guests try to do ouzo "shooters"); the proper way to drink it (always with mezedes [the Greek version of tapas], usually in late afternoon, always diluted with ice or water).

"Most definitions of ouzo call it an apertif, but nowhere in Greece is it drunk as a before-dinner cocktail; neither is it an after-dinner drink like sambuca or cognac."

Find out when and how ouzo is consumed by reading the full article, How to Drink Ouzo Like a Greek on YachtWorldCharters. Lynda also clues us in on the differences between various bottled ouzos: which are best, and which to avoid "at all costs."

www.yachtworldcharters.com

Seahorse June 2014
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

World news
And the next Vendee Globe is rolling already, as is the Transat AG2R and the Halvardmiranda show. Plus Maxi cut-and-shut in Auckland, getting off the line with Jimmy Spithill and Tom Slingsby and a smooth transition in St Thomas. Blue Robinson, Ivor Wilkins, Patrice Carpentier, Dobbs Davis

Rod Davis
Time for pastures new and time also to reflect on the pathway of Emirates Team New Zealand

ORC column
Refining the wish list. Dobbs Davis

Design - Powerful heritage
Farr Yacht Design president Patrick Shaughnessy on the significance of and the significant work that went into the new Farr 280

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

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Launchings
Brooklin (Maine, USA) Boat Yard has begun construction of a 74-foot cold-molded sailboat designed by German Frers. The yacht is a uniquely styled racer/cruiser that's scheduled to be completed and launched in spring of 2015.

The Frers 74 has a length overall of 73' 9" (22.m) and a waterline of 66' 4" (20.24m) with a beam of 18' 10" (5.76m). Her bulb keel draws 12' 5" (3.8m) and has 18,959 lbs (8,600 kg) of ballast. Her full displacement (lightship) is 54,454 lbs (27,400 kg). The hull is built with a foam core construction to maximize stiffness and minimize weight. The inner planking is Western Larch running fore and aft (at 0 degrees) covered with uni-directional carbon fiber (at 90 degrees) and infused with WEST epoxy. The outer planking consists of two vacuum-bagged diagonal layers of Western Red cedar (at 45 degrees and 135 degrees), a layer of 3/16" thick Western Larch, and a layer of infused bi-axial carbon fiber. The exterior of the hull will be finished bright. The deck is constructed separately from the hull of Western Larch veneers and Okume plywood skins that sandwich the foam core.

Updates on the boat's construction are available on Brooklin Boat Yard's website at www.brooklinboatyard.com

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The development of the S&S 30 design began in 1935. The inspiration for this new design was drawn from Sparkman & Stephens Design No. 0097, a 30' wooden sloop built for the Miami- Nassau race that year. The design was cutting-edge for the time, with a plumb bow and "cut-off" stern, as described by Rod Stephens. A well-defined keel and generous sail plan made her a competitive sailing boat, with very simple accommodations and minimal live-aboard comforts.

The redesign stemmed from a question posed to Olin Stephens during an interview late in his life, "of all these beautiful boats, which would you redesign?" He chose Babe.

The Sparkman & Stephens design team worked with Olin on a modern redesign for Babe to be of wood construction in 2008 - the year of his 100th birthday.

A partnership was formed with Bluenose Yacht Sales in late 2011 to bring the Babe redesign to life. Final construction and design details were hammered out and construction began in Rhode Island. The first hull hit the water in the fall of 2012, and the fleet has been growing ever since.

www.sparkmanstephens.com/ss30/

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The very concept of a sailing yacht with a below-deck deck saloon made the experts sit up and take notice. Construction of the 80-foot Bliss has now been completed at the Cyrus yard in Antalya, Turkey, and she has undergone her first trials following launch.

Beneath blue skies, in a calm sea and a moderate breeze this glass and carbon fibre composite yacht displacing around 36 tonnes surges forward immediately, carrying nearly 300 m2 of sail (Incidences) on her carbon rig (Hall Spars). Everything from the main boom furling system to the APM lifting keel (2.70 to 4.40 metres) and magic trim cylinder responds immediately at the touch of a button, precisely and reliably. "This yacht is really unique", ventures coxswain Hank van der Vaart. "There is probably no other yacht built with such attention to detail."

www.beiderbeckdesigns.de

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Francois Bich and the Multiplast yard are pleased to announce the exciting news that the famed catamaran Orange II will be given a new lease of life.

This boat led by Bruno Peyron, held the Trophee Jules Verne (around the world speed record with crew) from 2005 and 2010 in 50 days, 16 hours et 20 minutes. It was also the fastest boat accross the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and held the 24 hours speed record (766.8 miles with an average of 31.95 knots).

Passionate about multihulls, from Hobit Cat to Formula 40, Francois Bich is one of the rare boat connoisseur able to give a second life to Orange II. He knows he will get an exceptional boat on which to go around the world.

Jack Michal, Franck Martin and Yann Penfornis, three of the naval architects involved in the original design of Orange II with Gilles Ollier went through their old drawings and calculation notes in order to produce the modifications for Vitalia II, Francois Bich's new boat. The aim is to transform this boat into a (very) fast cruising boat without losing its racing DNA.

Thus, a 753 ft2 aerodynamic structure will be added at the back of the mast beam. Six cabins will be fitted in the hulls : three double cabins for guests and three more for the sailing crew.

Despite the owner's best concerted efforts to sail under the flag of a French pavilion, regulatory and technical factors have meant that the boat's transformation can only take place under the more flexible British system.

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Southern Wind Shipyard has announced the launch of the 32 metre superyacht Farfalla, the third of the SW 102' series. The yacht has been designed by Nauta Yacht Design for the general design, deck and interior design and Farr Yacht Design for the naval architecture, sail plan and appendages.

Farfalla includes a spacious flush deck, a tender garage for a 4 meter dinghy and a mainsail captive winch. She also features bright panoramic windows on the coach roof and an airy under-deck open saloon. The yacht interior follows Southern Wind Shipyard's most popular layout, with Owner's cabin forward and three guest cabins.

Farfalla is powered by twin Cummins QSB 6.7MCD diesel engines, with a beam of 6.9 metres and draft of 4 metres.

www.superyachttimes.com

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Imagine was put back in the water on Wednesday 30th April in La Trinite sur mer in Southern Brittany. It is aboard this VPLP-Verdier designed boat (ex Groupe Bel) that the skipper from Nantes, Armel Tripon will set off in the 2016 Vendee Globe. The boat delivered from Nantes will be officially named on the 9th May in La Trinite sur Mer.

A grey background and colourful logos... In la Trinite sur mer, the 60-foot Imagine certainly looks good. In her new colours, you would have to be an expert to recognise her as the former Groupe Bel that was bought from Kito de Pavant by a group of French investors brought together under the banner "Imagine", which aims to be a nursery for new talent.

After just two months of work on her at the new BS Production premises in Bouaye, near Nantes, the boat was transported by road to La Trinite-sur-mer, which will become her home port. On Tuesday, her keel was fitted and on Wednesday 30th April, Imagine had her mast stepped before she was launched without any problem thanks to the hard work done by Armel Tripon's shore team.

Featured Brokerage
2008 Murtic Yachts Ker 39. €235,000 + VAT. Located in France.

Inis mor is a standard Ker 39 'mark II' probably the most sucessful run of IRC yachts ever built. Work improvements for off shore races (cf ex run-under-deck garage and drains, omegas reinforcement etc).

Keel moved forward during build as per Jason Ker recommendation to improve performance Refit in Nov 2013 (incl boom, mast and deck paint, rod check by radio and replaced when need be).

New sails for 2014 and a refit over the winter make her to be an excellent option for a last minute entry for the Commodores Cup, or any future IRC regatta racing.

Contact:
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679222

Details

See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses. -- Johannes Kepler

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