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

Delta Lloyd Regatta
The 2014 Delta Lloyd Regatta came to a conclusion on Saturday 24, May with all classes completing their series, including eight medal races.

Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign (GBR) had already taken the gold in the 49er class after three theatre style medal races just off from the harbour mouth on Friday.

On Saturday there were eight more medal races, nine final races for the remaining boats, six races for the Paralympic fleets, four races for the Moth class and the full round robin series for Kites. It was a very busy day in Medemblik with the wind changing from a nice 12-14 knots early on, to cloudy day with light winds and finally a nice breeze and sunshine to finish the day.

2.4m
1. Megan Pascoe, GBR, 16 points
2. Barend Kol, NED, 38
3. Guus Bijlard, NED, 44

470 Men
1. Asenathi Jim / Roger Hudson, RSA, 27
2. Luke Patience / Elliot Willis, GBR, 28
3. Hugo Feydit / Charlie Agenau, FRA, 31

470 Women
1. Michell Broekhuizen / Marieke Jongens, NED, 12
2. Linda Fahrni / Maja Siegenthaler, SUI, 19
3. Anna Burnet / Flora Stewart, GBR, 21

49er
1. Dylan Fletcher / Alain Sign, GBR, 62
2. John Pink / Stuart Bithell, GBR, 67
3. Pavle Kostov / Petar Cupac, CRO, 71

Finn
1. Phillip Kasueske, GER, 14
2. Pieter-Jan Postma, NED, 16
3. Jake Lilley, AUS, 24

Laser
1. Sam Meech, NZL, 25
2. Nicholas Heiner, NED, 30
3. Mike Bullot, NZL, 33

Laser Radial
1. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 13
2. Evi Van Acker, BEL, 23
3. Manami Doi, JPN, 31

Moth
1. Chris Rashley, GBR, 11
2. Ben Paton, GBR, 15
3. Tom Offer, GBR, 25

Nacra
1. Billy Besson / Marie Riou, FRA, 44
2. Franck Cammas / Sophie de Turckheim, FRA, 53
3. Darren Bundock / NNina Curtis, AUS, 64

RS-X Men
1. Pawel Tarnowski, POL, 36
2. Piotr Myszka, POL, 39
3. Przemyslaw Miarczynski, POL, 42

RS-X Women
1. Zofia Klepacka, POL, 19
2. Malgorzata Bialecka, POL, 33
3. Kamila Smektala, POL, 34

Skud 18
1. Alexandra Rickham / Niki Birrell, GBR, 12
2. Marco Gualandris / Paola Bergamaschi, ITA, 15
3. Vera Voorbach / Jan Rein van Essenveld, NED, 25

Sonar
1. Bruno Jourden / Erid Flageul / Nicolas Vimont-Vicary, FRA, 23
2. John Robertson / Hannah Stodel / Steve Thomas, GBR, 27
3. Colin Harrison / Jon Harris / Russell Boaden, AUS, 29

Kite
1. Oliver Bridge, GBR
2. Florian Gruber, GER
3. Riccardo Andrea Leccese, ITA

Complete results results.deltalloydregatta.org

Azzurra Victorious In Capri
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

TP52 Super Series On the Barclays 52 Super Series' first visit to the island of Capri it was the Italian team on Azzurra which came away with top honours, clinching the first regatta title of the 2014 European TP52 season with an impressive second and a first place from the two difficult races on the final day.

Consistency proved elusive for some but Azzurra only finished out of the top three once and delivered a 1,2,1 salvo from the final three races. The team skippered by Guillermo Parada were the only one to win two races, four different boats, Vesper, Quantum Racing, Ran Racing and Phoenix, winning the other contests.

Capri lived up to its longstanding reputation for light airs. The coastal race and one day of windward leeward races were lost to calm or unsettled breezes, but the last day of racing was blessed with 7-10kts of breeze from the SE for the finale.

Niklas Zennstrom's Ran Racing won the penultimate race, leading from half way up the first beat. Azzurra rounded the top mark with Vesper second and Azzurra very close behind in third.

Final Results

1. Azzurra, ITA, (Alberto Roemmers ARG) 17 points
2. Vesper, USA, (Jim Swartz USA) 21
3. Quantum Racing, USA, (Doug De Vos USA) 23
4. Ran Racing, SWE, (Niklas Zennstrom SWE) 24
5. Phoenix, BRA, (Eduardo de Souza Ramos BRA) 30
6. Gladiator, GBR, (Tony Langley GBR) 34
7. Provezza 7, TUR, (Ergin Imre TUR) 35
8. Paprec, FRA, (Jean Luc Petithugenin FRA) 40
9. B2, ITA, (Michele Galli ITA) 46

www.52superseries.com

Local Swan 65 Claims Final Day Coastal Race At Capri
Photo by Carlo Borlenghi, carloborlenghi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Rolex Capri There were sighs of relief today as Capri and the Bay of Naples came good for the final day of Maxi and 52 Super Series racing at Rolex Capri Sailing Week. After two days of the best intentions, but ultimately no racing, today the Maxis were able to complete a coastal race as the 52s sailed two final windward-leewards.

The 20 mile Maxi course took the boats across to a turning mark off Punta Campanella on the south side of the Sorrento Peninsula, before back tracking into the Bay of Naples with a leeward mark at its eastern extremity, off Castellammare di Stabia in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. The boats then returned west to Capri with a final mark off the paradise island's Grotta Azzurra, finally finishing off the regatta's centre at Marina Grande.

Under skies clear, racing started in a promising 8-10 knot southeasterly, that built marginally before shutting down en route to the final turning mark off Grotta Azzurra. Thankfully it filled in enough to allow competitors to finish.

A wide spread of boats has been competing in the Maxi fleet at Rolex Capri Sailing Week, from the 100ft Esimit Europa 2 (IRC TCC of 1.841) to Giuseppe Puttini's Shirlaf, a classic Swan 65. Today favoured Shirlaf, which completed the course in four hours 38 minutes compared to Esimit Europa 2's three hours. Jeremy Pilkington's Baltic 78, Lupa of London, looked strong, but was eventually beaten by just two minutes on corrected time by Shirlaf.

Mini Maxi Racing-Cruising division
1. Good Job Guys (Enrico Gorziglia - ITA)
2. Shirlaf (Giuseppe Puttini - ITA)
3. Dos Much (Andres Varela - ESP)

Mini Maxi Racing division
1. Robertissima (Roberto Tomasini Grinover - ITA)
2. Jethou (Sir Peter Ogden - GBR)
3. Wild Joe (Marton Jozsa - HUN)

Maxi overall winner: Esimit Europa 2 (Igor Simcic - SLO)

52 Super Series
1. Azzurra (Alberto Roemmers, ARG)
2. Vesper (Jim Swartz, USA)
3. Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA)

Full results at www.imaresults.com/rcsw2014/rcsw_results.html

www.internationalmaxiassociation.com

Calling All Clubs & Class Associations!
Hudson Wight In advance of the arrival of its 2014 products, Hudson Wight Performance Sailwear has limited availability of the much-admired 2013 HW1 'oilies' made with 3-layer OceanVent fabric. Clubs and Classes can now offer these to members at 25% off via the Hudson Wight Affiliate Scheme, making a full set only £300 while stocks last.

Affiliates will still receive their normal commission of 15% on every order placed by members and friends using their unique Hudson Wight Affiliate code via the website www.hudsonwight.com

Hudson Wight's prices are already far lower than other brands because they only sell direct via this innovative Affiliate Scheme. It's therefore a great deal for members and friends as well as a valuable new source of revenue for Clubs and Classes. Existing Affiliates are already enjoying the benefits of the Hudson Wight Affiliate Scheme but the scheme is open to ALL Clubs and Classes.

If you're not already an Affiliate you are almost certainly missing out so please drop Hudson Wight an email to discuss joining the Affiliate Scheme at: and they will contact you immediately.

Get on board right here, right now! www.hudsonwight.com/affiliates/affiliate-scheme

Ocean Masters Prologue Race
On a stunning day in New York City, with clear blue skies and a light 6-8 knot breeze, the Neutrogena Sailing Team, with co-Skippers Spaniard Guillermo Altadill and Chilean Jose Munoz and their additional crew members won the prologue race by a mere 1 minute and 25 seconds over the French Safran Sailing Team. The race committee elected to shorten course and finish the race at the Verrazzano Suspension Bridge due to the lack of wind in the Hudson River.

As predicted the wind was extremely variable throughout the race, making it a tough tactical challenge for the three teams. Safran led the fleet out of Newport Bay and during the night Neutrogena overtook them and they both pulled out a bit of distance over GAES. In the early hours, the battle between the first two boats started and continued right until the finish line.

The final positions and finishing times (New York local time) were :
1st - Neutrogena - 1346 hrs and 55 seconds local time
2nd Safran - 1338 hrs and 20 seconds
3rd GAES - 1508 hrs

Great news too for Hugo Boss as they re-stepped their mast in Newport today and will make their way to New York as soon as they are happy with everything and ready to go.

Nandor Fa and Marcell Goszleth onboard Spirit of Hungary are also making great progress towards New York and hope to arrive there on Thursday 29th May.

www.imocaoceanmasters.com
imoca.org

Silvers Marine Scottish Series
On day three of Silvers Marine Scottish Series the CYCA fleets had a fantastic race on the MalinWaters Round Inchmarnock course. Starting South of Tarbert the yachts sailed in 15kts of breeze round Inchmarnock island with a great spinnaker reach all the way back to the finish at the entrance of Tarbert harbour.

Upper Loch Fyne did not deliver such consistent breeze for the other classes and it was down to the persistence of the race officials to get one race completed.

In IRC Class 1 it is still too close to call between the Commodore's Cup team. Steve Cowie's Zephyr and event sponsor Jamie McGarry and Colin Moore's Eala of Rhu are still tied on ten points with Rod Stuart's Aurora just one point behind.

Over in IRC Class 2 John Corson in Salamander XXI has a two point cushion going into the final day over Robert McConnell's Fools Gold who are well clear of Pat Kelly's third place Storm on 13 points.

IRC Class 4 has a clear leader in Craig Latimer and Wildebeest IV who ends today with a five point lead over Tim Ellis in T M Racing on 19 points and J Dryburgh and R Pilcher's TJIG IV back on 23 points. -- Joanna Turner

www.scottishseries.com

Clean Start For The Normandy Channel Race
At 1400 hours local time today the 17 duos took the start of the 5th edition of the Normandy Channel Race in a very light southerly thermal. GDF SUEZ is currently leading the convoy bound for the Isle of Wight.

Once at sea, the fleet made their way to the start line to the north of Ouistreham. Due to the lack of wind, Race Management decided not to do the coastal section and instead sent the competitors straight towards the first course mark: the Isle of Wight via a small windward mark without negotiating the Saint Marcouf islands to the west of the start line.

To the great delight of the support boats, the sun deigned to show its face on this Sunday 25 May and the fleet of Class40s set off gently in under 8 knots of southerly breeze, bound for the windward mark to the south of the line.

The wind is becoming increasingly scarce and the monohulls are now slowly making headway towards the English coast at walking pace. Just 1 mile separates the top 8.

It's going to be a long night for the 34 competing skippers and their mental alertness will be their main asset. However, some small fronts are forecast to join up with them imminently at which point the cards will be reshuffled. -- Translated by Kate Jennings

https://www.facebook.com/normandy.channelrace

Spinlock IRC 2014 Double Handed IRC National Championships
Unveiled by Mike Golding OBE at the RSYC's Double Handed prize giving in December 2013, this major new initiative for short-handed sailing in the UK has already attracted over 40 entries for an exciting weekend of racing on 28th and 29th June 2014.

The RSYC is proud to be the first UK club to be granted permission by the GBR IRC Owners' Association to run a Double Handed IRC National Championship.

The championship will be held in the Solent over one weekend in June 2014

On Saturday 28th June:
- A Laid Marks race of around 60 - 90 minutes will be followed by
- A round the cans race of around two to three hours with a passage flavour
- Supper at RSYC's Ocean Village Clubhouse

On Sunday 29th June:
- A race from the central Solent to the Nab Tower and back

Scoring: 3 races, equal points, all races count.

TCCs: Limited Validiity TCCs will be available for the event www.rorcrating.com/lv-tcc

An RSYC Championship for Club rated boats will run alongside the IRC Championship. Mike Golding also announced that these races will be part of the RSYCs Main Double Handed Series which in 2014 has increased from 8 to 12 races and now includes three Sub-Series:
The Inshore Series, a NEW Alongshore Series and the Offshore Series.

Entries for the Spinlock IRC 2014 Double Handed National Championships can be made via the RSYC website www.rsyc.org.uk/racing

Onion Patch Navigators Race Series
This year the New York Yacht Club is introducing a new division in its Annual Regatta (June 13, 14, and 15) for crews who want to do some relatively relaxed racing under ORR or PHRF while tuning up for the Newport Bermuda Race. Called the Navigators Division, this new division will race around government marks. There will be one race per day, each scored separately (with a party each night). Come race on one day or all three. It's a good way to warm up your crew the weekend before the Bermuda Race start.

There will also be a Navigators Division race under ORR in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta in Bermuda on June 27. With the Newport Bermuda Race, the Navigators Division races in Newport and Bermuda make up the new Onion Patch Navigators Race Series.

Meanwhile, there will be the usual racing under IRC on windward-leeward courses under IRC at the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta. With the Newport Bermuda Race, these races make up the traditional Onion Patch Series, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Navigators Division Schedule

- Friday, June 13: Around-the-Island Race (Conanicut or Jamestown Island)
- Saturday-Sunday, June 14-15: day races that qualify for the Onion Patch Navigators Race Series (one race per day) under ORR.
- Friday, June 20: Newport Bermuda Race start, first gun 1250.
- Friday, June 27: day race in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta that qualifies for the Onion Patch Navigators Race Series under ORR.

To register for the NYYC 160th Annual Regatta:
nyyc.org/yachting/racing/160th-annual-regatta To learn more about the Onion Patch series:
www.onionpatchseries.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 John Walker: Louay Habib has entered an interesting debate which sort of implies that PR organisations mostly churn out meaningless stories of little value on behalf of their sponsor or event organiser paymasters and only experienced boating people should be let loose on this valuable task, but regrettably this debate has no logical resolution.

As someone who has, over the years, occupied a place on all four sides of the boating square - journalist, press officer, event organiser and sponsor representative - I have seen some of the most grievous pieces of mismanagement ever perpetrated in pursuit of a story in the marine world, and from all sides. I have always been in favour of presenting intelligent well written media output brought together by people who know of what they speak, but I have never really overcome my dismay at once being told by the producer of a television programme on a London Boat Show that my approach was too anal and few of his viewers would be interested in anything beyond bubblegum reportage of the 'Ooh isn't that a big gin palace', 'Ooh isn't that expensive' persuasion. His approach is not completely isolated either.

By necessity, sponsors invest they do not give, and if the sponsor or event organiser expects column inches for stories of no real value then arguably they are paying for the wrong thing and though it is brave, their PR wizard should not be mortally afraid to tell them to cease and desist. The underlying question that pervades all our thinking should not be what can the sponsor do for me but what can I do for the sponsor and reader. If journalists cannot see the wood of the real story for the trees of corporate hospitality, then we are all in the wrong profession.

Methinks Mr. Habib's words have the smell of burning martyr about them.

* From Blue Robinson: I certainly agree with Louay and Adrian's letters and this is a thread worthy of comment. If you are writing or sending out regatta press releases, you are in the mighty world of S&M - sales and marketing, and if it's dull, people switch off. I give the writer one or perhaps two chances by reading their stuff. If it's boring, it's deleted next time without even opening.

A good example is food. If you are covering an offshore/ocean race, don't tell me what the crew are having for lunch; tell me what it tastes like. Use your skill to get across the metallic taste of something you have to eat whilst feeling miserable; that is interesting and gets me thinking about what the crew are dealing with. If that is done well, I can probably be tempted to read the next installment that stumbles into my inbox...

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The Last Word
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. -- Immanuel Kant

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

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