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

Midnight To High Noon
With just less than 100 miles to go this afternoon on Leg 4 of La Solitaire du Figaro-Eric Bompard cachemire it may be advantage to Jeremie Beyou (Maitre Coq) as the race leader has his main rivals behind him as he seeks to win this famous solo race for the third time, but the final set of the stage in to Cherbourg-Octeville still has huge potential for upsets.

Going into this last leg Beyou had four skippers within 24 minutes and two seconds of him.

For the 36 skippers on La Solitaire du Figaro-Eric Bompard cachemire's closing stages, life is how they would want it for their last night at sea. A good sea running, making good progress into a decent E'ly breeze with the numbers counting steadily down towards the final finish.

Alain Gautier holds the most southerly position in 10th place, 1.6 miles behind Corentin Douget but there are six sailors within one mile of the lead. Jeremie Beyou is just 0.4 of a mile off the lead and still has both of his main rivals behind him.

Sam Goodchild has been up and down the ranking slightly but the key is that he has held station from the lead at around +1.5 miles.

The winner of this final step should cross the finish line before Chantereyne Harbour around midday (between 11h and 13h).

Top ten at latest polling:

1. Maitre Coq, Jeremie Beyou, 37.26 nm to finish
2. AGIR Recouvrement, Adrien Hardy, 37.38, 0.12 nm to leader
3. SMA, Paul Meilhat, 37.45, 0.19
4. Groupe Queguiner Leucemie Espoir, Yann Elies, 37.67, 0.41
5. Bretagne - Credit Mutuel Performance, Corentin Horeau, 37.67, 0.41
6. Un Maillot Pour La Vie, Corentin Douguet, 37.79, 0.53
7. Guyot Environnement, Vincent Biarnes, 38.01, 0.75
8. Generali, Alain Gautier, 38.98, 1.72
9. Normandy Elite Team, Charlie Dalin, 39.24, 1.98
10. Gedimat , Thierry Chabagny, 39.35, 2.09

www.lasolitaire.com

Canfield And Hansen On The Ascent
Marstrand, Sweden: A change of conditions brought a change in fortune for several of the 14 teams competing in the second day of Qualifying at Stena Match Cup Sweden, stage two of the 2014 Alpari World Match Racing Tour.

Today the wind was lighter and blowing out of the southwest. This enabled the race committee to lay a course running along the length of the fjord to the south of Marstrand island. All was going well until a giant cloud stopped proceedings mid-afternoon causing the wind to flip through 180 degrees.

One of the few to maintain their consistency through this was Ian Williams' GAC Pindar crew. With three wins today, the British team has pulled clear ahead in this Qualifying stage with an 8-1 scoreline.

15 flights of the 24 total in Qualifying are now complete and the remainder will be sailed tomorrow and if required on Thursday. Racing is scheduled to get underway tomorrow at 11:00 after the Pro-Am race.

Stage 2 Stena Match Cup Sweden, Alpari World Match Racing Tour

Results after Flight 15
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar 8-1
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa 6-1
Phil Robertson (NZL) Waka Racing 6-2
Keith Swinton (AUS) Team Alpari FX 6-3
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Sailing Team 4-2
Mathieu Richard (FRA) LunaJets 4-3
David Gilmour (ASU) Team Gilmour 4-3
Nicolai Sehested (DEN) Trefor Match Racing 4-4
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone 4-4
Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) Team Trifork 3.5-3
Magnus Hoimberg (SWE) Team Magnus Holmberg 2-7
Viktor Ogeman (SWE) Team Accure 1-6
Ed Baird (USA) Quantum Racing 1-9
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team 0.5-7

www.wmrt.com
www.stenamatch

Lars Grael Wins Star Worlds Race 2
Race Day 2 of the 2014 International Star Class World Championship came to an thrilling end today after an intense battle between the top three boats and a near photo finish where only five seconds separated first and second place.

The 87 boat fleet completed today's race with great success beginning with a clean start, where Croatians Mate Arapov and crew Ante Sitic in CRO 7287 lead the fleet across the line at the pin end.

The top three boats maintained their positions for the remainder of leg 3, through leg 4, and on into the beginning of leg 5, but as they approached the last 1/3 of the race ITA 8491 Negri/Lambertenghi began closing in on BRA 8474 Grael/Gonvalves and CRO 7287 Arapov/Sitic. ITA 8491 Negri/Lambertenghi caught up 100 meters to the top two teams but at the final seconds of the race as all three approached the finish line, BRA 8474 Grael/Gonvalves crossed in first and received the winning gun. ITA 8491 Negri/Lambertenghi managed to edge out by a mere two meters to finish second leaving CRO 7287 Arapov/Sitic to finish third.

Top five after 2 races
1. Robert Stanjek / Frithjof Kleen, GER, 7 points
2. Eivind Melleby / Bruno Prada, NOR, 15
3. Augie Diaz / Arnis Baltins, USA, 16
4. Mark Reynolds / Beppe Oggioni, USA, 17
5. Diego Negri / Sergio Lambertenghi, ITA, 18

Full results

www.starworld2014.com

Dubarry Ultima - Classic Craftsmanship
It's been said of Ireland that it's a lovely country, just needs a roof. True, we get more than our fair share of rain from the storms that barrel in from the North Atlantic, but it's not so bad - it's not for nothing that we're known as the Emerald Isle.

In this part of the world we're also well used to making our living on the sea, in the sturdy Galway Hookers built by hand with traditional tools by local boat builders. These bluff-bowed gaff cutters have plied their treacherous trade on the often vengeful waters of the Bay for over 200 years. If ever there was a place where folk would appreciate a quality traditional sea boot - and had the craftsmanship to make one - it's here.

So it's here, in the town of Ballinasloe, just inland of Galway Bay, that Dubarry started making boots in 1937. We've honed our traditional boot-making virtuosity, found sources of the finest quick-drying, long-lasting leathers, and perfected the technology behind a warm, waterproof classic boot with award-winning grip. What else could we call the world's best traditional sea boot, other than Ultima?

Dubarry Ultima - Where will you go in yours?

dubarry.com

Freshening Winds Reach West Coast
In the Round Ireland Race, Monster Project has just passed Portrush, still leading on the water, and has gained a few miles this afternoon, now leading Teng Tools by about 20 miles. Newstalk about 8 miles behind Teng Tools has pulled away from Libertalia and is about 19 miles ahead.

Inis Mor still leads the chase about 27 miles behind Libertalia just off Tory Island, followed on the water by Phosphorous, Tanit, May Contain Nuts, Arwen and Fujitsu.

Endgame and Ruth lead the next group, which have spent the afternoon off Achill and Belmullet.

The tide is due to turn soon off Rathlin when the flood starts just before 10.00 this evening. This of course is good news for the lead boats, particularly Monster, and should give them a good lift as they are well-placed to take advantage.

At press time the VOR70 Monster Project was 104 miles from the finish, making 9.6 knots.

www.roundirelandyachtrace.ie

Ben Ainslie Racing To Set Up Permanent Team Base In Portsmouth
Click on image to enlarge.

Ministers today announced £7.5million of Government funding to support Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team and their proposal to be based on the Camber in Portsmouth. The news follows on from Portsmouth City Council's decision to give planning approval for the site of the new base.

The announcement took place today at 10 Downing Street in the presence of the Prime Minister.

The headquarters will initially employ about 90 people, with many more potential jobs in the supply chain. It will become the focal point for the design, construction and development of the team's boats and will also provide sports science and fitness facilities. An apprenticeship and training scheme will ensure the site is sustainable and there will be a drive to ensure the project acts as a catalyst to encourage participation in the sport of sailing, all areas of the marine industry and develop the talent of the future.

The project has the potential to bring significant economic and sporting benefits to the UK, particularly for Portsmouth and the wider Solent area. A recent report on Team New Zealand suggested that its base in Auckland created 1,000 jobs and brought an $88million boost to the local economy.

A visitor centre showcasing the sport, innovation, technology and sustainability will be at the heart of the base, and will welcome schools and community groups. Visitors will experience the construction and on-going operation of the team's America's Cup boats first-hand.

Foiling Boats Force Changes In Sailing Circuit
The spaceship has landed and this one, in the shape of spectacularly fast foiling boats first seen in the America's Cup last year, is forcing the brains behind sailing events such as the Extreme Sailing Series to rethink the future.

Before the AC72 was introduced to the world in San Francisco last year and set hearts and pulses racing with a rocket like thrust that whacked up the speeds from 25 knots to 40 in less than ten seconds, sailing high performance catamarans like the Extreme 40 was as good as it got.

America's Cup teams used the Extreme circuit as a platform for learning how to take corners at high speed.

But that was before foils and the world is now a different place.

The best sailors only want to race on foils because, according to Freddie Carr, the British America's Cup sailor who raced on Luna Rossa in the last America's Cup, foiling is an 'insane' experience. -- Kate Laven in The Telegraph

www.telegraph.co.uk

Sales Negotiator
A leading UK builder of quality cruising yachts has an opportunity for a sales negotiator at their East Coast facility. The successful candidate should be a knowledgeable, experienced yachtsman with a proven track record in sales, ideally within the marine industry. Additional language skills would be an advantage.

Applications in confidence by email to

Round Texel
Texel, The Netherlands: The 37th edition of the Round Texel, Saturday 28th June, was a day with bright sunshine, perfect sailing conditions, almost 300 boats and around 18.000 spectators spread out over the Dutch island. The overall winners of this challenging sailing spectacle: Nacra 17 sailors Visser and Van der Velden. The duo represents Aruba in the Olympic Nacra 17 class. This year they can add the title 'Round- Texel winner 2014' to their names.

The honour of 'first finisher' of the Round Texel last Saturday went to the team of Peter Vink and Mischa de Munck. On a Nacra 20 catamaran with modified daggers and rudders they 'flew' over the water. But the Round Texel is sailed in accordance with the so-called Texel Rating handicap system. That is a value used to calculate your adjusted time, so different types of cats can compete with each other. Bigger and smaller cats. Vink and De Munck sailed with a rating of 87, while the winner was expected to come from the smaller Formula 18 cats or the Olympic Nacra 17 class.

Last year, Visser and Van der Velden sailed all the way to Texel from Scheveningen, prior to the start of the Round Texel 2013. Thijs Visser was still a member of the Nacra 17 Dutch Olympic team and Van der Velden was hoping to become a member of the Talent-team. However, things worked out differently. Representing Aruba, they currently sail together in an Olympic Nacra 17. During the WC in Santander (September 2014) their goal is to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

roundtexel.com

18 Skiff European Championship
Photo by Christophe Favreau, www.christophefavreau.com. Click on image to enlarge.

We are waiting on reports from Day 1 but we have results: Leading after a clear hattrick is Howard Hamlin with three wins in a row, followed by Friedrich renner from Germany and Jarrod Simpson, all participants in the last world tour.

Top ten:
1. Howard Hamlin, USA, CST Composite 3 points
2. Friedrich Renner, Eurolink, GER, 10
3. Jarrod Simpson, Back Dog, GBR, 12
4. Nick Daly, Haier, AUS, 12
5. Grahm Catley, Maersk Line, NZL, 19
6. Glen Sowry, Event Clothing, NZL, 20
7. Miklos Huely, Gasparliberty Sailing Team, HUN, 22
8. Flemmng Clausen, Chia, DEN, 23
9. Murray England, Ascc, GBR, 27
10. John Winning, Yandoo, AUS, 28

www.18footer.org

Video from Tuesday's sailing

"How To Get Involved With Yachting - The Clear And Simple Way"
Blue Sky Marine, a new marine consultancy business based in Lymington, Hampshire, are providing a seminar entitled, "How to get involved with yachting - the clear and simple way!" The seminar is open to all and it will take place at Lymington Town Sailing Club on Saturday 12th July from 9.30 to 11.30am.

The purpose of the event is to demonstrate just how easy it is to get involved in yachting, at a reasonable cost, without having to spend vast sums of money on a yacht.

The seminar is free to attend and complimentary refreshments will be available from 9am. Attendees will be welcome to stay for lunch in the Club, with its superb view across the Solent.

Reserve your space today at: www.blueskymarine.com/seminar.shtm

Study Finds 88 Percent Of Oceans' Surfaces Contain Plastic Debris
Scientists warned Monday of their concern about the effect on marine life and the food chain, as a study shows that 88 percent of the oceans' surfaces contains plastic debris. The study was dubbed the Malaspina Circumnavigation Expedition 2010, and was led by the Spanish National Research Council.

Results of the study were drawn from the around-the-world cruise by a research ship, towing a mesh net at 141 sites worldwide, along with separate studies. According to the researchers, they estimate that the total amount of floating plastic debris in the open ocean is around 7,000 to 35,000 tons.

The study estimates only floating debris, and not plastic that may reside beneath the surface or on the ocean floor.

The debris is the result of plastic from bags, food containers, utensils, toys and other discarded plastic garbage that has made its way into the oceans via storm water runoff. The findings were based on more than 3,000 ocean samples collected worldwide by the Spanish science expedition during 2010. As this is an ongoing problem, matters can only get worse as more debris accumulates.

www.allvoices.com

Study in full: www.sciencedaily.com

Featured Brokerage
1993 Marten Marine New Zealand Endeavour. 220,000. Located in Elba Island, Italy.

A well renown racer. She has won many victory with famous NZ skipper Grant Dalton

1st Sydney Hobart Race 1993
1st Whitbread Round The World Race 93/94

She has sailed very little in the last 6 years apart from an Atlantic crossing and back in 2008.

Brokerage by Bernard Gallay Yacht Brokerage: www.bernard-gallay.com

Details

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

The Last Word
I do not see how a man can work on the frontiers of physics and write poetry at the same time. They are in opposition. -- Paul Dirac

Editorial and letter submissions to

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