Scuttlebutt Europe #1943

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

Oman Sail Masirah Crowned Overall iShares Cup Champions
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Oman Sail Masirah has won the iShares Cup 2009, but it came down to the last leg of the last race on the last day of the last regatta at the iShares Cup Almeria in Spain, with Gitana Extreme - LCF Rothschild pushing Oman Sail Masirah right to the very last minute with a superb final performance.

Pete Cumming and his crew held their nerve despite the strong comeback of Yann Guichard and the Gitana Extreme crew. Almeria's usually strong winds never materialised, with light winds adding to the nerves of the 10 teams challenging for the Andulician final event of this benchmark season for the Extreme 40 Sailing Series.

Franck Cammas' Groupama 40 crew finished third on the event leaderboard ahead of Oman Sail Renaissance, although Loick Peyron had the comfort of claiming third spot on the overall iShares Cup 2009 leaderboard ahead of Cammas. Shirley Robertson's Team iShares sailed an excellent regatta to win the mid-leaderboard battle ahead BT and LUNA, to finish 5th overall. Tens of thousands of spectators, the biggest stadium audience of the year, packed the port of Almeria to witness the double points final race of the season.

Final results
1. Oman Sail Masirah, 132 points
2. Gitana Extreme - Groupe LCF Rothschild, 129
3. Groupama Extreme, 112
4. Oman Sail Renaissance, 96
5. LUNA, 96
6. Team iShares, 83
7. Holmatro, 82
8. BT, 79
9. Rumbo Almeria, 73
10. Ecover, 89

iShares Cup 2009 overall:
1. Oman Sail Masirah, 53 points
2. Gitana Extreme - Groupe LCF Rothschild, 52
3. Oman Sail Renaissance, 42
4. Groupama Extreme, 41
5. Team iShares, 27
6. BT, 26
7. LUNA, 26
8. Holmatro, 24
9. Ecover, 10

www.isharescup.com

Barcolana 41 in Trieste: Mistral Wind Favours Maxi Jena
Trieste, Italy: Slovenian yacht Maxi Jena of Mitja Kosmina won Trieste's Barcolana 41, the most crowded regatta in the Mediterranean. This year 1789 sail boats of all types and sizes, from 5 to 30 metres long signed up for the race. Everybody expected a Bora wind, but in the end, Barcolana 41 was swept by a Mistral.

At 10am the exciting and breathtaking start of 1789 entrants all at the same time on the start line between Barcola and the castle of Miramare, took place under a blue sky and a warm shiny sun.

It was a difficult start due to a very light and shifty wind, sailing tactics and strategies were decisive among the favourites. Tuttatrieste Vitrani of Gabriele Benussi took the lead but was overtaken by Maxi Jena of Slovenia's Mitja Kosmina before the first mark. The second leg was windward and the wind rose and became constant, a nice 10-11 knots Mistral started to blow. Maxi Jena flew ahead and left a big gap behind. Only Amori kept its pace, helmed by Furio Benussi with Federico Moccia and his actors on board. Also Idea Estel with helmsman Alberto Leghissa caught up.

The finale was really exciting with Maxi Jena and Mitja Kosmina who victoriously crossed the finish line at 12,06, winning Barcolana 2009, after 7 second places in the past years, ahead of Idea Estel and Tuttatrieste Vitrani. But the great spectacle was the huge fleet taking part in the Barcolana: owing to a constant wind, it is a record edition also for the number of competitors who finished the race regularly. And along the waterfront, in the city, the party continues, with over 350,000 people who came to watch the race.

www.barcolana.it

Heading Into The Doldrums
With over 2 500 miles done on the theoretical direct route in the wake of the protagonists leading The Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50, there is no serious verdict for the rankings of the day. When at the same moment, the solo sailors prepare themselves to face the feared Doldrums.

Charlie Dalin (Cherche sponsor-charliedalin.com) took the western option since the start from Funchal, and which has long enjoyed a high credit of miles on his immediate pursuers (Series class) is now not in such a good position. Bertand Delesne (Entreprendre durablement), impressive leader for prototypes in the trade winds, just witnessed the thunderous return of Thomas Ruyant (Faber France). While - in a distant roar of the storm - the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone is approaching.

Eight sailors are at the moment in Mindelo trying to repair their minis enough to face the long way to Bahia. The Race Director is hoping that Brice Aque (CNTL Scuba sails) and Francois Amaury (Groupe Qualitel) will soon leave the island, in the wake of Bertrand Castelnerac (bcombio.com) who has already gone. Norwegian Staale Jordan (Stormy) is the biggest concern, with a bow in very poor condition to repair with the limited resources available on the island. Still distant Maxence Desfeux (Matmut) and Caroline Vieille (Fondation Jerome Lejeune) have also indicated their intention to stop.

Ranking at 3pm, Monday the 12th of October 2009:

Prototypes
1. Thomas Ruyant (Faber France): 1646.72 miles from the finish
2. Bertrand Delesne (Entreprendre Durablement): 3.24
3. Henri-Paul Schipman (Maisons de l'avenir Urbatys): 6.34
4. Stephane le Diraison (Cultisol-Marins sans frontières): 30.89
5. Fabien Despres (Soitec): 30.93

Series
1. Charlie Dalin (Cherche Sponsor-charliedalin.com): 1737.53 miles from the finish
2. Ricardo Apolloni (Ma Vie pour Mapei): 7.43
4. Francisco Lobato (ROFF TMN): 24.31
5. Luca Del Zozzo (Corradi): 41.89

www.transat650.org

Dark Blue Book Update
We're starting to think about the 2010 Dark Blue Book. Given the entries and interest that we have already received, we know that next year's edition is going to be bigger and better than the first edition this year. The 2010 edition will not be out until late March, so there are still 6 months to get a ton of value out of the 2009 version. If you haven't got your copy yet, you can order in October for 20% off.

Save 20% in October.

Planning your 2010 Campaigns? Looking for experts, owners, series officials or media? Build your yacht racing network instantly with the 2009 Dark Blue Book.

All you have to do to get the reduced price of 39.99 GBP is enter the coupon code sbeurope at www.darkbluebook.com/buy-the-book

Fifth Endeavour Victory for Geoff Carveth
Photo by Graeme Sweeney, www.marineimages.co.uk. Click on image for photo gallery.

Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, UK: Forty-nine year-old Geoff Carveth, who last sailed the event seven years ago, has won the coveted Endeavour Trophy for the fifth time. He and his crew Emma Clarke representing the RS200 class stole the show today and finished the eight-race series, nine points clear ahead of Lark sailors Alan Krailing and Ed McArdle.

Krailing and McArdle may have led the event at close of play yesterday but the invincible Carveth/Clarke duo - just one point behind overnight - were ready to pounce this morning, notching up their second win of the series in race 7. This was the defining moment for Carveth and Clarke who, with just one race to go, led the overall series by eight points from Fireball representatives Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff. Krailing and McArdle (Lark) were lying third at this stage but a fifth place in the last race elevated them once again to second place overall.

Carveth's fifth Endeavour Trophy win now puts him in a record-breaking tie position with Mike Holmes, the only other person to have matched this scoreline. It will be interesting to see if Carveth can break the record at next year's grand 50th anniversary event.

At this afternoon's prizegiving Carveth and Clarke were presented with the solid silver model of the 'J' Class yacht Endeavour, the Endeavour half-model, and a 1,000 GBP token kindly donated by Musto.

Plans are already underway for next year's 50th anniversary Endeavour Trophy event. The date, which will be in early October, is yet to be confirmed but plans are afoot to run it over four days to include special invitational events for past Endeavour Champions.

This historic annual event, which was first held in 1961, is invitation only to determine the overall dinghy champion of champions from the UK's most popular dinghy racing classes. Hosted annually by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, it is a highly acclaimed regatta and recognised as the pinnacle of the year's dinghy sailing achievements. -- Sue Pelling

For results of all the classes visit: www.royalcorinthian.co.uk/endeavour-championship

Argentina's Nacho Rogala Unbeatable In Junior Gold Cup
Hamilton, Bermuda: Just as a new king was crowned at the Argo Group Gold Cup, 15-year-old Ignacio (Nacho) Rogala of Argentina became the new champion of the Renaissance Re Junior Gold Cup, an event that brought 34 young sailors to Bermuda from 16 countries, ranging in age from nine to 15, to compete in Optimist dinghies.

All of the Bermuda sailors in the Junior Gold Cup have gone through the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy programme and although sailors like Siese have been able to travel the world in competition, some of the younger sailors who raced in the event were only nine years old and were racing in their first major event.

Event organiser Somers Cooper agreed that "the kids really get along and the friendships continue to flourish on and off the water."

"What is happening with the level of sailing today is that these kids are far more advanced and far better sailors than any of us from the older generation ever could be at that age.

"They have opportunities to travel and sail all over the world. The opportunity that good young sailors have today is amazing." -- Laurie Fullerton in Bermuda's Royal Gazette

Final top ten after 13 races, 2 discards:

1. Ignacio Rogala, ARG, 13 points
2. Owen Siese, BER, 72
3. Axel Munkby, SWE, 77
4. Kalin Hillier, BER, 81
5. Severin Rothlauf, GER, 81
6. Dimitri Stevens, BER, 97
7. Paloma Esteban, DOM, 101
8. Mathias Robertson, CHI, 101
9. MacKenzie Cooper, BER, 104
10. Maximilian Hibler, GER, 106

www.royalgazette.com

Spanish Castle To White Night
Aboard Green Dragon and Ericsson 4 they prepared for a manoeuvre they would never normally consider - gybing the masthead spinnaker in close to 40 knots of wind.

Aboard the overall leader they already had problems. Water was finding its way into the boat. The leak was tracked down to a crack between the cockpit floor and the hull, levered open by the loads of the flat-out sailing. Worse followed when the full force of the squall hit them as they readied for the gybe.

They took a wave badly and spun out of control. The boat lay on its side, sails flogging. The crew were unable to do anything as the ropes attached to the spinnaker trashed the leeward wheel, and the aluminium guard that was supposed to protect it. After a grim 30 seconds, Ericsson 4 found her feet again, the crew regained control and they lurched into the gybe, completed it, only to wipe out on the other side.

PUMA's Ken Read reported in a subsequent email, "Last time I saw Ericsson 4, they were laying on their side blowing out to sea."

Only Green Dragon pulled the manoeuvre off without mishap. Watch captain, Neal McDonald was at the wheel, and he later reckoned it to be one to the best moments of their race.

Extract taken from the Official Volvo Ocean Race Book - packaged together with the official DVD and available for pre-order now at: www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/volvobookEUROBUTT/

The first chapter is posted online and available to read here: emag.digitalpc.co.uk/vem/vorsampler09.asp

How It All Began
Stumbled across this great article on the history of the Middle Sea Race by Wilfred Sultana in the Malta Times. A bit of it here;

My parents were both in frail health and when I arrived at Gibraltar bound for St Lucia I developed a guilt complex at leaving my sisters with this responsibility.

I had a few drinks with an American who was sailing from the Mediterranean to the West Indies. We dined together and I told him my problem.

He said: "OK buddy. You give me your charts and I'll give you mine of the Mediterranean. Take my advice and base yourself in Malta, where they are developing a large marina and from where you can fly back to England in three hours if the need arises."

And that is just what I did. I turned left instead of right and finally arrived in Malta on December 4, 1966.

I made landfall off Gozo during the morning of that day and during 1967 sailed Sandettie in many local events but no long distance offshore races were available.

My most regular sailing companion was E. Alan Green who was at the time working on the island for the Royal Navy. We often discussed the possibility of a long, hard race from Malta and finally came up with the plan for the Middle Sea Race.

A small sketch of the course was made by Alan and pinned up over Sandettie's chart table.

We had in mind a winter race of over 600 miles to compare with the British Fastnet. A great deal of thought was given to the direction in which the course should be sailed and it was finally decided that the race should be run clockwise...

Full story at www.timesofmalta.com

Clipper 09-10 Race: Team Finland Crosses Equator
Team Finland is the first team to cross the Equator into the southern hemisphere and continues to stretch the lead over the chasing pack. King Neptune had a courtier for this morning's hearing of the sins of the crew - watch leader Mark Cole has crossed the Equator several times in his regular job in the Merchant Navy, although this is the first time he has raced from north to south on a yacht.

The Doldrums have been very cruel to half the fleet, the leading group managed to get through virtually unscathed but the ITCZ pounced on the middle order and refuses to let them through.

Team Finland's skipper, Eero Lehtinen, says, "We just slipped through while it was still heading north and have since been enjoying improving pressure and recently even more open wind angles. Luck certainly plays a big role in these waters, but we surely are loving the great progress and constantly growing lead. We will soon be back to the same gap what we had before Doldrums. It's nice to see a game plan work so well for once!"

It's not quite going to plan for Qingdao, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital and Hull & Humber, who are all caught fast in the ITCZ.

Race Director, Joff Bailey, says, "The leading pack has and will continue to extend their lead over the next few days. California is still making painfully slow progress in lighter than normal trade winds, and they still have the ITCZ to deal with. They have however significantly reduced their deficit on the middle order and may still be in with a chance. Once all of the teams are through the ITCZ they can hook into the reliable SE trade winds and start to really power their way towards Rio."

Positions At 1500utc, Sunday 11 October

1 Team Finland, 1519 nm to finish in Rio
2 Spirit of Australia, +133 nm to leader
3 Jamaica Lightning Bolt, +137
4 Cape Breton Island, +139
5 Cork, +198
6 Qingdao, +442
7 Hull & Humber, +474
8 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, +498
9 Uniquely Singapore, +532
10 California, +899

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

W.I.B. Crealock
W.I.B. Crealock, a yacht designer, sailor and sailing author, died Sept. 26 at his home in Carlsbad, California after breaking his hip in a fall. He was 89.

Crealock was part of the "golden age" of fiberglass design in the 1960s, when the use of fiberglass made boats quicker and less expensive to build and easier to handle.

Crealock was known for his meticulous concern for details and his rigorous work ethic. He rode his bicycle to work and could be seen late into the night working at his office in Newport Beach.

In 2002, one of Crealock's designs, the Pacific Seacraft 36, was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. The citation called the craft "a classic American sailboat with an honesty of design that, combined with the highest standards of boatbuilding . . . has shown the sailing industry that there is a place in the hearts and budgets of sailors for a boat created expressly to go to sea and bring the crew back safely."

William Ion Belton Crealock was born Aug. 23, 1920, in Westcliff-on-Sea, about 35 miles east of London. His father was a railway bridge designer for the British government, and young Crealock spent much of his childhood in India.

He studied nautical architecture at Glasgow University and worked in the Glasgow shipyard during World War II. He attempted to enlist in the military, but shipyard work was considered too valuable to the war effort.

In the 1970s, he moved to northern San Diego County and ran a boatyard in Oceanside. After that, he worked at his home in Carlsbad.

He is survived by his wife, Lynne; a daughter, Anne; a stepson, Bevan Iredell; and a grandson.

Crealock's ashes will be scattered at sea on Nov. 8. The public can watch from Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. Instead of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Los Angeles Maritime Institute's Brigantine Project Completion Loan, www.lamitopsail.org -- Tony Perry

www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/

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Featured Brokerage
2004 75ft Trimaran Located in Muscat, Oman

Musandam, formerly Dame Ellen MacArthur's world record breaking B&Q/ Castorama, has been the flagship of the Oman Sail project since its start last year. In March 2009 onboard Musandam, as part of a small crew Mohsin Al Busaidi succeeded in becoming the first Arab to sail around the world non-stop in a very respectable time of 76 days. Since then, Musandam has been fully refitted and is in excellent shape ready for more ocean racing and solo record breaking.

Musandam would be a fabulous boat to race in the Route du Rhum 2010, an excellent option for solo and crewed ocean record attempts, and a unique part of modern sailing history. She was launched in 2004, having been built by Boatspeed of Australia, and designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret.

For details see:
www.omansail.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: No Wednesday issue this week due to travel. See you on Thursday!

The Last Word
Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel. -- Che Guevara

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Scuttlebutt Europe #1943 - 13 October