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
Light Air Yields One Race and 5 Leaders at ORC Worlds
Kiel, Germany: A dominant high pressure center in northern Germany today challenged sailors and race managers alike in the first day of racing at the 2014 ORC World Championship, but there is one race on the scoreboard and five early leaders in the competition. The northerly breezes never topped 8 knots and dropped at times below five before shutting down completely and preventing further racing today.
In Class A, the slower boats benefited from a lull in the 7.2-mile race, and were able to gain back on the larger fast boats who initially held the lead. Thus Claus Landmark's Landmark 43 Santa from Norway won the first race by over 2.5 minutes over Morten Ulrikkeholm's Oxygen from Denmark.
In Class B, the fleet was quite aggressive, and race manager Stefan Kunstmann allowed two general recalls for each of the two 29-boat groups racing in this class before hoisting the Black Flag to control the crowd. Once off and running on their 7.5-mile windward-leeward course, Per Weiskvist's Ker 11.3 Visione 3.1 from Denmark found the correct path through the shifts and lulls to correct to first by over two minutes in the Yellow group, while in the Blue group it was a young team on the German Farr 30 H.E.A.T driven by Max Augustin who won by a similar margin.
Racing resumes tomorrow for all classes with the first offshore race, a 62-mile course that given another light wind forecast will keep the teams out on their tour of the Kieler Bucht for 8-10 hours. This course is designed to replicate the variety of wind angles found in the Offshore Single Number handicap used for this race, but if the wind dies out the Race Committee has the option of shortening the course at several rounding marks in this race.
www.orcworlds2014.com
www.orc.org
Grand Start: 33 Copa Del Rey MAPFRE
Palma de Mallorca, Spain: The wind arrived on time for its appointment at the Bay of Palma, and the fleet was able to fulfil the program sailing two races in its debut in the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE. Finally 117 boats crossed the starting line at 13h00. The wind blew from the south with a speed of approximately 8-12 knots.
14 teams took today's victories and eight lead the provisional classification in the different classes: "Shockwave" in Gaastra IRC 0, "Hurakan" in Gaastra IRC 1, "Tsaar Peter" in Gazprom Swan 60, "Quantum Racing" in Barclays 52 Super Series, "Rats on Fire" in BMW ORC 1, "Movistar" in BMW ORC 2, "Puerto Deportivo Benalmadena" in Nespresso X-35 and "Herbalife" in Herbalife J80.
The competition returns tomorrow, with two scheduled windward-leeward races for all classes at 13h00.
The 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organized by the Real Club Nautico de Palma and will take place from August 2nd to the 9th, 2014.
Provisional Classification 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE:
(Position/Boat/Country/Skipper/Results/Total Points)
Gaastra IRC 0
1. Shockwave, USA, George Sakellaris, 1+2=3
2. Alegre, GBR, Andres Soriano, 5+1=6
3. Bella Mente, USA, Hap Fauth, 2+4=6
Gaastra IRC 1
1. Hurakan, ITA, Giuseppe Parodi, 3+1=4
2. @robas, FRA, Logel, 2+3=5
3. Team Vision Future, FRA, Mergui Mikael, 1+5=6
Barclays 52 Super Series
1. Quantum Racing, USA, Ed Baird, 2+1=3
2. Ran, SWE, Niklas Zennstrom, 1+7=8
3. Azzurra, ITA, Alberto Roemmers, 3+5=8
BMW ORC 1
1. Rats on Fire, ESP, Manuel Doreste, 1+1=2
2. No Limits, ESP, RW Bol, 3+3=6
3. Elena Nova, ESP, Christian Plump, 5+2=7
BMW ORC 2
1. Movistar, ESP, Pedro Campos, 1+1=2
2. Airlan Aermec, ESP, Teo Matheu Riera, 2+2=4
3. Varador 2000, ESP, Lluis Blanchar, 4+4=8
Gazprom Swan 60
1. Tsaar Peter, RUS, Sergey Borodinov, 3+1=4
2. Bronenosec, RUS, Vladimir Liubomirov, 1+4=5
3. Windward, CHN, Lorenzo Bortolotti, 4+3=7
Nespresso X-35
1. Puerto Deportivo Benalmadena, ESP, Dani Cuevas, 3+2=5
2. Lelagain, ITA, Alessandro Solerio, 1+5=6
3. Audi e-tron, FIN, Teemu Kekkonen, 7+3=10
Herbalife J80
1. Herbalife, ESP, Javier Padron, 2+1=3
2. Factor Energía, ESP, Jose M Van der Ploeg, 1+2=3
3. Movistar, ESP, Carlos Martínez, 3+5=8
Marinepool Revolution NX Line - The New Generation Of Racing Gear
What if there was a racing top light weight like a shirt, ultra comfortable, made from highly flexible fabric, waterproof like the best offshore sailing gear and more breathable than anything you have ever seen or worn? Impossible? Too good to be true? Well, not any longer!
The new "Revolution" NX top by Marinepool combines all the above mentioned highly regarded qualities in one new innovative garment with Dermizax® NX technology. This high-tech and high-end racing top is one of the stars in the Marinepool 2014 collection. The Marinepool design team and Toray, the producers of the Dermizax® NX fabrics, have been working behind the scenes to bring this new product to market, while the world-class athletes on Extreme Sailing Series Champion "The Wave, Muscat" put it through it´s gears in a thorough testing programme.
The feedback was inspiring the name of this racing top: Revolutionary
Never before has a racing top ticked off the boxes like "Revolution NX" with unrivaled comfort, ease of movement and a breathability at 30,000+ g/m2/24h - 50% higher than most other top of the range products on the market today.
"Revolution NX" features highly flexible neoprene neck and sleeve cuffs, a 3D designed shape, printed reinforcements and an adjustable neoprene hem. Reflective prints provide increased safety. The top is complemented by light-weight and ultra-flexible trousers and bermuda shorts. Both are made from the same high-tech ultra breathable 3-layer fabric with Dermizax NX membrane and feature abrasion resistant Cordura® reinforcements at the knees and bottom, adjustable elastic waistbands, belt loops and a bulky leg pocket with water resistant zipper. The trousers have got pre-shaped knees for increased wearing comfort and mobility and adjustable leg cuffs.
Dermizax® membrane is a nonporous membrane, highly waterproof and breathable. Its smooth and soft texture, super light weight and elasticity significantly increase wearing comfort. Athletes who turn every stone to reduce weight and who always are in pursuit of a competitive advantage will look no further.
"Revolution" NX by Marinepool. Design. Technology. Passion.
Light Air Forces Aquece Rio Postponements
For Rio de Janeiro's thousands of tourists Monday 4 August was the perfect day with a beating Brazilian sun, clear South American skies and the occasional gust of light breeze to cool down bathers on Copacabana Beach.
Unfortunately, for the 324 sailors from 34 countries it was not perfect conditions for sailboat racing at the Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta 2014 as light winds forced the Race Committee to cancel all the day's racing by 16:00.
Light winds were predicted for the second day of racing with a maximum of 10 knots on the cards if the breeze played ball. The wind failed to materialise and the decision to cancel the Laser, Laser Radial and 470 fleets, who were scheduled to race on outside courses Copacabana and Niteroi, was made at 14:50.
Fleets racing on the inside courses - Ponte, Escola Naval and Pão de Açucar - were cancelled shortly afterwards to bring an early close to race day two.
The third day of racing will see a cold front pass through Rio de Janeiro that will bring showers, stronger breeze and an increase in wave size. Having lost a day of racing all of the fleets will sail three races on Tuesday with seven set to commence racing at the earlier time of 11:00.
www.aquecerio.com/en/competicoes.php
www.sailing.org/2014-test-event.php
Lysekil Women's Match
When Lysekil Women's Match begins Tuesday, the event is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a very competitive field of nine crews of six sailors each. The competition will be really tough, with seven of the eight first teams from the latest World Championship present in Lysekil
Ulrikkeholm holds the top spot on the WIM Series scoreboard, six points ahead of Kjellberg. Both are really keen on winning the Swedish event, but only Ulrikkeholm has no less than three consecutive victories to lean on.
Team Ulrikkeholm is sailing for the Royal Danish Yacht Club in Skovshoved, situated just a few kilometres north of the Danish capital Copenhagen. The DS 37 boats, raced there as well as in Lysekil, is a major part of the explanation to their success in the Lysekil Women's Matc
And it's not only in heavy winds the DS 37 puts the sailors to the test. Light conditions are just as challenging for the crews, as the boats then demand exactly the right trim, touch and moves to perform their best.
Skippers in the Lysekil Women's Match, stage 3 of the WIM Series:
Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN
Anna Kjellberg, SWE
Stephanie Roble, USA
Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN
Caroline Sylvan, SWE
Claudia Pierce, NZL
Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA
Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED
Linda Rahm, SWE
Standings in the WIM Series after two stages of five (skipper name, country, WIM Series points):
1. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 47
2. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 41
3. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 36
4. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 35
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 29
6. Annabel Vose, GBR, 25
7. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 24
8. Stephanie Roble, USA, 20
9. Morgane Fountaine, FRA, 14
10. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 13
11. Lucie Scheiwiller, FRA, 12
12. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 10
13. Mary O'Loughlin, IRL, 8
14. Rajaa Al Owaisi, OMA, 6
15. Laura Dillon, IRL, 6
16. Anastasia Guseva, RUS, 4
17. Anne-Christianne Kentgens, NED, 0
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:
Doug Devos (USA)
'A tireless and elegant supporter of sailing' - Dawn Riley; 'And not a bad driver either' - Scott Nixon; 'Slam dunk. Awesome sailor, awesome advocate of sailing, awesome person' - Terry Hutchinson; 'There's many things he's done to support sailing that we know about, but so many more that have been kept quiet' - Tom Burnham; 'Nicest, most humble man in sailing... don't ever change, Doug' - Kerry Clougher. 'Thank you, Doug!' - Ed Baird... and sincere apologies for using the wrong image last month!
This month's nominees:
Peter Morton (GBR)
Winning the Quarter Ton Cup yet again was pretty good, then going on to win the Half Ton Classics two weeks later was even better. However, Morty was really nominated for the amazing job that he (and his wife) have done in resurrecting Ton Cup sailing with 33 immaculate and well-prepared Quarter Tonners on the line this year, on the 10th anniversary of the first of these spectacular revivalist regattas
up at the first foiling Great Cup 32 regatta against some extremely tough opposition.
Natalia Brailoiu (ROU)
Rather like another famous helmsman, Bouwe Bekking, Brailoiu began her grand prix sailing career working the bow, before moving aft on to halyards some four years ago. Then late last year the crew of the Club Swan 42 - also named Natalia - suggested she get in some practice and have a go at helming for the Romanian-owned team. She took their advice and last month the team won the ORC European title in Class A
Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Musto, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!
Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month
To subscribe to Seahorse Digital £30 for one year with discount promo code SB2 click www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital
Rest Day Ahead as Tash Prepares For Her Toughest Leg Yet
'Sip and puff' sailing teen Natasha 'Miss Isle' Lambert is preparing to face the longest and most challenging leg of her Sea and Summit expedition. As she continues round the coast of Cornwall, her next sail will be the gruelling 60 miles taking her from Newlyn, around Lands End and ending up in Padstow.
Today (04 August) the 17-year-old, who has cerebral palsy and controls her boat by breathing through a straw in a specially-engineered bicycle helmet, completed the memorable 32 mile voyage to Newlyn (04 August) rounding Lizards Point with sunny skies, flat seas and a gentle breeze.
Sea and Summit is Natasha's biggest challenge yet - a month-long project sailing her specially-designed 21ft yacht, Miss Isle Too, single-handed around the South West coast of England to Wales. She will then swap her boat for her special Hart Walker to climb Pen y Fan, the highest peak in Southern Britain.
Through the Sea and Summit challenge Natasha will sail 430 miles and climb 2,907ft to raise money for the RNLI, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and the RYA Foundation, as well as the profile of sailing for people with disabilities.
Sailing has been Natasha's big love since she first went on holiday with the Calvert Trust aged nine. She then started sailing at home and spent two years sailing with the Even Keel Project and her local RYA Sailability. Last year she sailed across the English Channel, and in 2012, the 50-miles around the Isle of Wight.
To support Natasha's challenge visit www.missisle.com
For more information on getting involved in disability sailing visit www.rya.org.uk/sailability
The Little Yacht That Could
A century ago a sailing icon called the Herreshoff 12 1/2 was born. This year, for the first time, the captains and crews of Edgartown and Menemsha squared off in the first Vineyard Herreshoff Cup.
It was all very genteel, downright "Corinthian" as sailors would say, referring to the British tradition of "gentlemen sailors" who race around buoys for the pure honor of being able to say they won. But even though there were to be no Bowie knives thrown or hogs running wild, there was nonetheless a whiff of the Hatfields meeting the McCoys when the Edgartown Yacht Club and Menemsha Pond Races Herreshoff 12 1/2 (H-12) fleets agreed to tangle this summer for the first time in the Vineyard Herreshoff Cup.
What the two groups share is a love of sailing a legendary boat that was first designed and built exactly a century ago by the man some consider to be America's greatest yacht designer. Of the more than five hundred boats designed by Nathanael Greene "Capt. Nat" Herreshoff, the H-12 is the only one that bears his name. It's easy to handle, with a wide-open cockpit, and is the perfect boat to while away the lazy, laconic days of summer. Even if the name H-12 is a bit less than poetic off the tongue, with its gaff rig and sometimes tan bark-colored sails, the H-12 is made for an artist's rendering of a beach-side landscape.
H-12s have been a fixture around New England from Buzzards Bay to Maine for the past century, but boats are located throughout the U.S., and one is registered as far away as Turin, Italy. Today, more than sixty of the boats race among the fleets in Edgartown and Menemsha. Usually, however, they stay in their own corners of the Island and race in distinctly different formats. Each fleet has had its share of national and town champions, but bringing them together has never happened. Never before this summer, that is. -- Sean McNeil's full article in Martha's Vineyard magazine:
5 Races To Go To Determine Junior Offshore Group Season Winners
Following a mixed conditions race to Fecamp on 25th July with many competitors finding themselves drifting in no wind mid Channel, there's all to play for in the JOG series leaderboard in all classes. With just 2 offshore and 3 inshore races left in the season, there's silverware at stake ahead of the prize giving on 22nd November at the Botleigh Grange Hotel.
Next JOG Race: Cowes - St Peter Port, Friday 22nd August, first start 19:00 BST.
Fecamp race winners:
Class 3: Night Owl 2, Mat 12, Timothy Sheratt
Class 4: Pure Attitude, X37, David Lyons
Class 5: Comedy of Errors, HOD 35, Anthony White
Class 6: Xara, Swan 38 SR, Jonathan & Anne Rolls
Double-handed: Jings, J 133, David Ballantyne
Overall Offshore Series Leaderboard
Class 3: J Fever, J 120, Tim & Frances Lester
Class 4: Just So, J 109, David & Mary McGough
Class 5: Longue Pierre, Dehler 38, David Cooper & Paul England
Class 6: Raffles, Elan 295, Peter Cover & Matt Stiles
Double-handed: Exocet, Jeanneau Sunfast 3200, Deborah Fish & Michael Sisley
Overall Inshore Series Leaderboard
Class 3: Old Mother Gun, Rob Humphries Design, Philip Farrands
Class 4: Just So, J 109, David & Mary McGough
Class 5: Shades of Blue, J 110, Ed Holton
Class 6: Xara, Swan 38 SR, Jonathan & Anne Rolls
Double-handed: Jacana, J105, Paul Wood
Entry Forms, full race programme & crew available / boats looking for crew information all now available online at www.jog.org.uk
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The Last Word
Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug. -- John Lithgow
The Last Word
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. These two institutions screw us up enough on their own; both of them together is certain death. -- George Carlin
Editorial and letter submissions to
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