Scuttlebutt Europe #1942

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 \n

Ben Ainslie Wins Argo Group Gold Cup 3-1 Against Adam Minoprio
Photo by Charles Anderson. Click on image for event galleries.

Hamilton, Bermuda: Ben Ainslie got the gold he's been chasing all week. In the Argo Group Gold Cup finals match today, the three time Olympic gold medal winner (one silver), Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the finals 3-1. He has finally etched his name on the coveted King Edward VII Gold Cup along with a host of match race sailing legends. Ainslie and Team Origin also take home the first place prize purse of $50,000. Ainslie sailed for Team Origin with his crew of Matt Cornwell, Iain Percy, and Christian Kamp.

When he was down 0-2 Adam Minoprio made it a match and pulled a classic match racing maneuver to gybe on the approach to the finish, get a luffing overlap Ainslie and push him away from the pin end of the finish line. Minoprio was barely able to turn away from Ainslie and make it back to the line first for the win. But Ainslie was on his game today and that one win wasn't enough.

Adam Minoprio (NZL), ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing skipper, and his team of Tom Powrie, David Swete and Nick Blackman took second place. Minoprio is the top skipper in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) rankings and was second in the World Match Racing Tour going into the Argo Group Gold Cup. He is back on top of the Tour rankings now and headed for the World Match Racing Championship at the Monsoon Cup with $20,000 in his pocket for coming second.

Ian Williams (GBR and Eric Monnin (SUI) matched up earlier in the Petit Finals. For winning two races out of two, Williams took third place in quick order and his $10,000 prize while Monnin stands in fourth and has a check for $7,000.

Final Results
Ben Ainslie 3 v. Adam Minoprio 1

Petit Final
Ian Williams 2 v. Eric Monnin 0

Semifinal Results
Ben Ainslie 3 v. Ian Williams 1
Adam Minoprio 3 v. Eric Monnin 0

Consolation Results
5- Johnie Berntsson
6- Mathieu Richard
7- Blythe Walker
8- Torvar Mirsky

Tour Standings (After 7 of 9 events)
1. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 88 Points
2. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 86 Points
3. Mathieu Richard (FRA), French Match Racing Team 72 Points
4. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 71 Points
5. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar 70 Points
6. Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team 48 Points
7. Sebastien Col, (FRA) French Match Racing Team 41 Points
8. Ben Ainslie, (GBR) Team Origin 40 Points.

www.argogroupgoldcup.com

Shockwave Wrecked, Two Dead
Two veterans of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race were killed and 16 crew members had to be rescued yesterday after a multimillion-dollar maxi yacht ran aground off the NSW South Coast.

Shockwave skipper Andrew Short and its navigator Sally Gordon died when the boom swept them from the deck into the choppy ocean after the vessel hit rocks off Port Kembla.

The 80-foot yacht was taking part in a 92-nautical-mile lead-up race to the Sydney to Hobart classic when it struck rocks during rough conditions at Flinders Islet about 3am.

After the yacht's four-metre keel hit the rocks, the boom smashed into Mr Short, 48, a Sydney marina owner, and Ms Gordon, 47, of Darling Point, and a third person. The trio were knocked overboard.

The yacht began sinking quickly, taking water through its fractured hull, forcing the remaining 15 on board, including a 14-year-old boy, to abandon it. The crew scrambled onto the rocky island - the man knocked off the deck by the boom remained in the 20-degree water, tossed by the large swell.

Other yachts in the race, between Sydney Harbour and Flinders Islet, rushed to rescue those in the water.

Australian yachting great Syd Fischer, 82, the skipper of Ragamuffin, said his crew saw a yellow object in the water which turned out to be Ms Gordon.

"It was really dark. We saw that it was a person. We tried to [revive her]."

His crew gave CPR to Ms Gordon for the short journey to Port Kembla harbour where they handed her over to paramedics.

The crew of another yacht, Quest, fought to save Mr Short. He could not be revived. -- Caroline Marcus and Manuel Mitternacht in the Sydney Morning Herald, full report at www.smh.com.au

Seahorse December 2009
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Expert eye... we knew it wouldn't be too long before multiple skiff champion and renowned Australian sailing coach Rob Brown started to take a closer interest in the foiling classes and the wider implications for high performance sailing. We start with Rob's analysis of how the foiler Moths are getting on in the bigger scheme and where other classes may be set to follow

A cunning plan... well certainly a plan. As Alinghi moves its base of operations out to Ras Al-Khaimah, and also takes delivery of the next wing spar in its ambitious rig programme, we spend time with the team and learn in more detail about the changes they are making to bring their magnificent giant cat fully up to speed. You just knew they were playing around with that 'baby' mast and sail plan didn't you?

PLUS: Terry Hutchinson diary, Mini Maxi analysis, GP42 and TP52 world championships, Southern Spars profile, Volvo Ocean Race communications, Bermuda Gold Cup and Voiles de St Tropez reports, interviews... and imagery!

If you haven't subscribed to Seahorse already we're keen to help you attend to that! - Please use the following promotional link and enjoy the hefty Scuttlebutt Europe discount... and it gets even better for 2 and 3 year subscriptions...

www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/

Matador Are 2009 TP52 World Champions
Photo by Nico Martinez / TP52 World Championship. Click on image to enlarge.

Palma de Mallorca, Spain: It could not have been much closer when the Argentine crew on Matador lifted the TP52 World Championship on the waters they call home in Europe, the Bay of Palma, this afternoon.

They lift the title on countback ahead of the 2008 world champions Quantum Racing (USA) who also finished on 23 points after seven races.

Matador won the final race to match Quantum Racing's pair of race victories this week, but their three third places trump the American crew's final hand which inluded two thirds and a fifth.

The Roemmers' team maintain their perfect record in major regattas on these waters. Their triumph at Palma Vela in April with their new boat was the springboard for their season. With owner Alberto Roemmers Jr steering - as he did this week - they won the TP52 class at Copa del Rey in August, as the perfect build up to clinching the class world title today.

The Matador crew had to dig deep into their gaucho spirit and sustain a fight back from a protest from a windward mark incident on the first round of Race 2 which saw them disqualified. But on Saturday they were re-instated and today they let their sailing speak for itself as they posted a third and a first to win overall.

"We are happy." Skipper Guillermo Parada (ARG) confirmed, " It is a good lesson learned, not in sailing but in life. No matter what happens you need to keep pushing as hard as you can, right to the very last time. That is what we have done with the protest, pushing. The team have stuck together, and we have the reward."

"At the very beginning we were sure we should not have been disqualified and that at the time we had no options." -- Sabina Mollart-Rogerson

The next event for the TP52 fleet will be the first Audi MedCup 2010 regatta on the 10th of May.

Top five final results:

1. Matador (ARG, Alberto Roemmers), 23 points
2. Quantum Racing (USA, Terry Hutchinson), 23
3. Artemis (SWE, Torbjorn Tornqvist), 30
4. Synergy (RUS, Sergey Pichugin), 30
5. Bribón (ESP, Gonzalo Araujo), 35

www.tp52worldchampionship.org

* There will doubtless be a fair amount of grumbling about the outcome of this championship, this from Paul Cayard prior to the final day of racing:

After browbeating the jury for three days, Matador got reinstated in the second race of the championship which was held last Wednesday.

The jury reversed two previous decisions to disqualify Matador for a port-starboard incident at the windward mark.

Needless to say, everyone is more than a bit upset not only because the reversal is not understandable, but also because we have raced for three days since assuming the points were a certain way.

Now Matador jumps from 6th to second, going into the last day. -- www.cayardsailing.com

Partners In Traditon - Classic and Modern Yachts In Saint-Tropez
Click on image for a photo gallery.

Yachting photographers, Juerg Kaufmann and Daniel Forster, and sailing writer, Lynn Fitzpatrick, have teamed up to produce a coffee table book of Les de Saint-Tropez entitled "Partners In Traditon - Classic And Modern Yachts In Saint-Tropez". The book will be packed will stunning images and highlights of the yachts, people and atmosphere the event.

The regattabook's development can be followed online at www.Regattabook.com Each day we will reveal the images that the team will publish.

The regattabook will capture the essence of the event - the excitement, the venue, the yachts, the organizers, the partners, the characters and personalities that sail these yachts. From the quiet of first light to the cacophony of 300 boats leaving port and the Mistral whistling through the rigging, the regattabook will enable you to live vicariously and remember a decade of regattas marking the close of the summer sailing season in the Mediterranean.

Kaufmann, Forster and Fitzpatrick have eyes unlike others in the business. When joined, their talents and professionalism produce an outcome that is the perfect souvenir or gift for sailors and all who have ever dreamed about sailing along the French Riviera.

For an early November delivery, reserve your copy now at a promotional discount price of 59 Euro, at www.RegattaBook.com

Bye Trade Winds, Hello Instability...
The Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50, after a week of beautiful trade winds, is entering its tortured, complicated period with lower north-east flows and the appearance of large areas of instability, announcing the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. The race's leaders speeds, around 12-13 degrees north latitude, attest of the weakening of trade winds, while the trajectories begin to prove that the fleet is in search of pressure. Bertrand Delesne (Entreprendre Durablement), the week's leader, does not appear to be immediately threatened by the positioning in the west of Le Diraison (Cultisol-Marins sans frontieres), Avram (Cap Monde 2) or Boidevezi (Defi GDE). But he will have to monitor carefuly Ruyant (Faber France) and Schipman (Maisons de l'avenir Urbatys) during the next hours.

There was about 100 miles betewwen Dalin and the prototypes leader 48 hours ago. The series boss, Charlie Dalin (cherchesponsor-charliedalin.com) is tonight approximately within 80 miles.

The archipelago of Cape Verde is the last station before the motorway. A number of competitors are seriously considering a pit stop, as the last chance to give some vigour to their tired Mini before the great voyage to Latin America. Sebastien Stephant (Dephemerides) must inspect exhaustively his proto Finot, Bertand Castelnerac (bcombio.com) must solve energy problems. Amaury Francois (Groupe Qualitel) has a missing rudder, a problem he shares with Brice Aque (CNTL-Scube Sails). The American Jesse Rowse (Reality) has a forestay problem. Emmanuel Laurent (Domaine des Thomeaux), Mathieu Verrier (Zygomar) and Maxence Desfeux (Matmut)... all have reported to the escort boats their will to stop as well.

Ranking at 3pm, Sunday the 11th of October 2009:

Prototypes
1. Bertrand Delesne (Entreprendre durablement): 1786 miles from the finish
2. Thomas Ruyant (Faber France) : 5.08 miles from the leader
3. Henri-Paul Schipman (Maisons de l'avenir Urbatys): 6.7
4. Fabien Despres (Soitec): 19.04
5. Stephane le Diraison (Cultisol-Marins sans frontieres) 31.43

Series
1. Charlie Dalin (Cherche Sponsor-charliedalin.com): 1867 miles from the finish
2. Ricardo Apolloni (Ma Vie pour Mapei): 9.44
3. Henri Meyniel (Beveac Consulting): 43.13
4. Luca Del Zozzo (Corradi): 44.24
5. Francisco Lobato (ROFF TMN): 46.96

www.transat650.org

GP42 Global Cup in Puerto Calero
Photo by Ian Roman / Audi MedCup. Click on image to enlarge.

The 2009 GP42 Global Cup will be held over 13-17 October in Puerto Calero. Eight teams from five countries are entered to date, with possibly two more to join in the action. Among the teams are numerous veterans of past America's Cups, Olympic Games, Volvo Ocean Races and World Championships of all types who will bring an extremely high level of sailing talent to this resort destination on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

"We had a tremendous event here last year with this class, but are really happy to have attracted new and broader interest among a wider variety of teams," said Daniel Calero, principal host and organiser of the event. Calero is also owner of one of the nine competing entries, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero, his Botin & Carkeek-designed GP42 which has just come from Cartagena, Spain where he won the overall GP42 Series with just one point to spare in this year's Audi MedCup Circuit.

Other teams entered to date include Calero's runner-up rival in the MedCup, Filippo Faruffini's Farr-designed Roma 2 (ITA), along with four other alumnists from the MedCup GP42 Series: Javier Goizueta's B&C-designed Caser-Endesa (ESP), Jose Maria van der Ploeg's B&C-designed Turismo Madrid (ESP), Roberto Monti's Felci-designed Airis (ITA), and Goncalo Esteves' B&C-designed Quebramar-Xacobeo 2010 (POR), sailed in the MedCup as Iberdrola. Airis was last year's winner here at the Trofeo Puerto Calero, and Quebramar-Xacobeo 2010, sailed as Desafio, was the overall season champion in 2008. These MedCup teams would have to be regarded as among the favorites for this year's Global Cup, having competed not only in the 39-race GP42 Series, but for some the 4-day GP42 Owner-Driver Championship in August in Cascais as well.

But the competitiveness of the class, the hospitality of Puerto Calero and the ideal sailing conditions here has also attracted two confirmed new teams to GP42 racing at this year's Global Cup. John Bassadone is leading a Gibralter-based team on his Farr-designed Peninsula Petroleum (GBR), ex-Roma 1. This is a first-generation GP42 design, but still has plenty of potential. And the first-ever team from Scandinavia will be making a GP42 class debut: Team Nordic (SWE) will be competing on the Cognit-designed ex-Totalboats with a crew led by Magnus Olsson and the Ericsson team who trained for months here in Puerto Calero while getting ready for last year's start of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race.

Two more new teams are scrambling to try to also make the entry list, with their status to be confirmed in a few days' time.

The format for the event will be practice racing to be held on Tuesday, 13 October, followed by windward/leeward course racing to start on Wednesday, 14 October and resume daily through Saturday, 17 October. The race management team will be led by America's Cup PRO Peter "Luigi" Reggio, whose team will be challenged in their course-setting duties by the deep water off the island, but experienced from prior years of experience with other high-calibre events held here in Puerto Calero.

www.gp42globalcup.com

Get Control Of Your Website
At right: the Clearpointweather.com site. Yes, your site can look this good and be simple to maintain.

Does this sound familiar? "I sent the price and product updates to the web guy 2 weeks ago and they're still not done." Or this: "I just want to post results quickly, same day, and a few pictures, why do I have to send it to our webmaster, I'm right here with my laptop!" Or this: "We need to cut our website budget, we need to be able to maintain our site in-house with current staff."

In his other life, your Scuttlebutt Europe editor has been building user-friendly websites for many years, with a client list that includes the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Farr 40, M30, Etchells, Shipe, 49er, 29er classes, ClearPoint Weather, Anna Tunnicliffe, Marine Retailers Association of America, Powerboat magazine, World Sailing Speed Record Council, Eric Twiname Trust and many others who now maintain their own websites through an easy to use, open source, admin interface that requires ZERO knowledge of code. The core code is open source and free... which means your new website will cost far less than you'd think. And no more bills for third party updating. Do it yourself.

Take control of your website. Contact \n

Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship
Rochester, New York, USA: Anna Tunnicliffe and her team of Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer, Liz Bower and Debbie Capozzi have won US SAILING's 2009 Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship. Racing took place at the Rochester Yacht Club October 7-10, 2009.

After Friday's disappointing day off from racing, due to lack of suitable wind conditions, the fleet was anxious to get out onto the Lake Ontario race course. With only one day of racing and three races completed, Tunnicliffe lead the 35-boat fleet with a narrow two-point margin over Jennifer Provan (Toronto, Ontario, CAN). The final standings would come down to today, the final day schedule for racing. The RYC Race Committee, lead by Principal Race Officer Hank Stuart, took advantage of today's spectacular conditions - 15-18 knots of wind - and held three races.

Her team's five-race score line was 3-6-1-1-1 and with an unbeatable margin they decided not to participate in the final race.

Until this regatta, Tunnicliffe had held the record as the youngest competitor, having set the mark as a 14-year-old skipper in 1997. At that time, she confided that one day she would win the regatta. "I always thought it would be cool to do really well one day," she said. "This is my fifth time sailing the regatta, my fourth time skippering it. We were getting to the point that we need to get up there sometime soon. I'm happy we sailed really well together and did so well. I have a fabulous crew. Debbie, Molly and Liz sailed together a few times before, and the chemistry has worked perfectly. It makes my life so easy on the race course and they make me look really good."

The 2011 Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship will be held at the Rochester Yacht Club.

Final top ten:
1. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA, 12 points
2. Lucy, Cory Sertl, USA, 22
3. Carol Cronin, USA, 25
4. Dominique Provoyeur, RSA, 25
5. Jennifer Provan, CAN, 25
6. Marieke Poulie, NED, 29
7. Amanda Taselaar, USA, 32
8. Nicole Beault, USA, 34
9. JoAnn Fisher, USA, 35
10. Kaitlin Storck, USA, 44

Full results are online at championships.ussailing.org/Adult/RIWKC.htm
www.riwkc.com

China Club Challenge Match
Xiamen, China: Over 6 days the China Club Challenge Match organised by Iron Rock Sailing Club has been run off Xiamen, China.

The regatta is easily the biggest 'Chinese Regatta', with all the teams coming from China or sailing clubs in China.

The final day saw the final between Seawolf and Qingdao Santi and started off with softer breeze but this gradually built through the day and went to the decider.

The event, certainly the match racing part of the event was champagne sailing with the 'L' flag flying most of the week signifying teams must sail with a reef, even then boats were often overpowered. The race management team got in 40 umpired races in the 6 days of the regatta, 16 fleet races and 24 match races - impressive by any standard. Penalties were relatively few, only 2 black flags and 4 contacts in the whole event, non causing injury or damage.

See the full report at
www.sail-world.com/Asia/

Featured Brokerage
2005 Dehler 39 SQ, 129,500 GBP. Located in Rive Orwell, United Kingdom.

This example has been in her present ownership from new. She has both been cruised and locally raced. The Dehler 39 SQ is recognised as a very competent sea boat with an excellent turn of speed and this example is set up for fully crewed racing or short handed cruising, especially with the added benefit of the German mainsheet system. Dehler installed a custom vanity unit in the forecabin that provides for a much more spaceous cabin than the forward heads version. She has been well maintained and is well worth inspection. Measured IRC weight is 7792 Kgs. Note: Name being retained by her present owners. A 50% share is available to purchase if boat retained in her home port.

Brokerage through Clarke & Carter Interyacht Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/clarkeandcarter/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at
uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity. -- Shunryu Suzuki

Use this box to send a copy of this issue of the Scuttlebutt Europe Newsletter to a friend:
[FORWARDFORM]

Or [FORWARD] for a page where you can send copies to up to a dozen friends.

About YachtWorld.com
Formed in 1995, YachtWorld.com is the premier online sales channel for yacht brokers around the world. The site lists more than 110,000 boats for sale in 115 countries by some 2,500 brokers in 60 countries. The total value of boats listed is over $40 billion. Headquartered in Seattle, YachtWorld.com has its European headquarters in the United Kingdom, with sales offices in Germany, Italy and Russia and sales representation in Dubai, Australia and China.

About Boats.com
Boats.com provides marketing and Web services to boat builders, dealers, brokers and service companies throughout the global recreational marine industry. The Boats.com Website provides consumer access to information, boat listings and financial and insurance products. With more than 143,000 new and used boat listings from more than 5,500 brokers, dealers and manufacturers, Boats.com is the largest concentration of recreational marine industry marketing in the world.

Yachtworld.com on line magazine is available free of charge and delivered digitally every month. Click here to receive your copy: www.yachtworldmagazine.com/ywm/latest/

NEW! See the Boats Blog at Boats.com -- www.boats.com/blog/

To subscribe, unsubscribe, and select HTML or Text format visit scuttlebutteurope.com

Editorial and letter submissions to \n

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

Scuttlebutt Europe #1942 - 12 October