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

Audi Tron Sailing Series - Melges 32 World Championship
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

In stark contrast to the full-on, breezy, physical conditions of the first day of Melges 32 World Championship racing, Day Two greeted competitors with light and dicey racing testing the mental toughness of the twenty-two boat fleet. With many teams licking their chops to improve on their Day One performance, the lighter conditions provided the perfect arena almost guaranteed to shake-up the standings.

Also similar to Day One, the course was heavily right-side favored despite PRO Anderson Reggio moving the course to the west to allow for a more square race track. "Our intention is to move the course as West as possible while still maintaining reasonable water depth to set a proper race course," commented Reggio prior to the start to the start of racing.

Despite Reggio's efforts, the right side still played a major factor and those able to get there first found themselves sliding through the mainsail windows of the boats to windward.

Top Ten Results (Preliminary - After Four Races)
1. Jason Carroll/Cameron Appleton, Argo, 10 points
2. Alessandro Rombelli/Francesco Bruni, STIG, 11
3. Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio/Branko Brcin, G-SPOT, 28
4. Ryan DeVos/Mark Mendelblatt, Volpe, 29
5. Keisuke Suzuki/Nicolai Sehested, Swing, 33
6. Roberto Mazzucato/Gabriele Benussi, Margherita, 35
7. Yukihiro Ishida/Hamish Pepper, Yasha Samurai, 36
8. Roberto Tomasini Grinover/Vasco Vascotto, Robertissima, 37
9. Dalton DeVos/Jonathan McKee, Delta, 41
10. Andrea Ferrari/Roberto Spata, Spirit of Nerina, 41

www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1498
melges32.com

RIO 2016 - 49er Medalist Hospitalised After Olympic Test Event
Bronze medal winning helmsman Erik Heil (GER) has been admitted to a German hospital following his return from the Pre-Olympic Test Regatta sailed out of the Marina da Gloria and Guanabara Bay.

Heil is suffering from severe inflammations on his legs and one hip. The inflammations started on the plane trip from Rio de Janerio, where the Pre-Olympic regatta finished last weekend and was hospitalized soon after getting off the plane. Currently Heil is being treated in the well known Charite hospital in Berlin. He is at home in between treatment sessions.

German sailing correspondent Tatjana Pokorny, who has covered sailing at six Olympic Regattas, told Sail-World.com that one inflammation (8 cm long) had to be cut out in the hospital two days ago. Doctors have diagnosed a bacterial infection, says Pokorny. 'They are now waiting for results of lab analysis. They cut out one inflammation. In total he had five. Four on the legs. One at the hip. The first of them developed at the Regatta and they got more inflamed on the flight home,' Pokorny said by email.

Heil blames the polluted water of the Marina and Guanabara bay for his infected legs.

'Never in my life have I had any inflammations on my legs,' Heil told Pokorny. 'Never! I would think that this is a result of our constant contact with the water in Guanabara Bay. The sewerage of the City Hospital goes directly into the Marina da Gloria. I can only hope that I did not catch one of these multi-resistant things that can really dismantle you."

Heil cannot train at all in what remains of the European sailing season. He is still waiting for the results of a laboratory analysis. He and his doctors believe that these inflammations are the result of contact with infested waters, says Pokorny.

The IOC has declined to endorse testing for viruses, which can cause stomach and respiratory ailments that could knock an athlete out of competition.

The reaction of several top sailing teams has been to hunker down and sail through the pollution issue. Work-arounds include improving sailors' immune systems to be more resistant to the polluted water to guzzling copious amounts of Coke if polluted water is ingested. -- Richard Gladwell

www.sail-world.com/Rio-2016

We Love It Here! You Will To! - St. Thomas International Regatta, March 25-27, 2016
Riding the rails in March might sound like a bone-chilling experience. Not so when you're hanging tough off a TP52 in nearly 20 knots of tropical tradewinds while racing round-the-rocks in the St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), with the rest of the fleet in red hot pursuit.

"We welcome European boats with open arms," says regatta director, Bill Canfield. "For the first time ever STIR will offer an ORC Club racing class. It's a great bang for your buck with Key West Race Week and STIR offering this rule at both events if you come across the pond. There's easy transport from Miami to St. Thomas right after Key West. So, put the Caribbean on your winter schedule this year."

New too, the STIR will run a one-day round-the-island race on March 24. This gives big boats especially a chance to tune-up and stretch their legs prior to the main event.

World-class racing, the chance to trade tacks with America's Cup, Volvo Ocean and Olympic crews and detune at nightly rum and reggae parties is what earns STIR its motto, 'We Love It Here' You will too.

Discount for Early Entry.

Register now! www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1502

Visit: www.stthomasinternationalregatta.com, Email: , Call (340) 626-0239

Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour's Trofeo Di Roma
Waking up to the gloom of an unexceptional forecast for Civitavecchia today, it was with great delight that the Trofeo di Roma, the fourth event on the Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour, got off to flying start - quite literally.

The first two races were held in 10 knots, which, to the delight of both the crews and the spectators on the water and along Civitavecchia's beach, was enough to get the GC32s airborne on the downwind legs and hitting speeds of up to 20 knots.

In the first three races there were three different winners with the Yann Guichard-helmed Spindrift racing getting the first win of the day, followed by Sultanate of Oman, skippered by Leigh McMillan and ARMIN STROM Sailing Team of Swiss four time Star Olympian, Flavio Marazzi.

Racing continues Friday with six races scheduled and a first warning signal at 11:30.

1. Spindrift racing, 11 points
2. Sultanate of Oman, 14
3. Alinghi, 19
4. ARMIN STROM Sailing Team, 19
5. Team ENGIE, 27

www.gc32racing.com

Gilmour Leads After Day One Of Detroit Cup
Detroit, Michigan, USA: n a day of light but sailable conditions on the Detroit River, Australian Sam Gilmour and his Neptune Racing team has taken the early lead in the 2015 edition of the Detroit Cup, hosted by Bayview YC. Gilmour was undefeated in the five matches he raced today, with seven flights completed in the double-round robin format of the first stage of the event, which runs through Sunday, August 30th.

Also on five points but with one loss on his scorecard is the current runner-up, reigning US match racing champion Nathan Hollerbach.

The weak offshore northerly at 4-8 knots swung widely in direction and pressure, keeping PRO Brian Keith and his team busy with course changes to stay in phase with the shifts.

Current standings:

1. Sam Gilmour (AUS), 5 points
2. Nathan Hollerbach (USA), 5
3. Chris Poole (USA), 4
4. Chris Steele (NZL), 4
5. Ryan Seago (USA), 3
6. Matt Jerwood (AUS), 2
7. Patrik Sturesson (SWE), 2
8. David Storrs (USA), 1
=10. Chris Van Tol (USA), 1
=10. David Niemann (USA), 1

The Detroit Cup is the fourth and final event on the Grade 2 USA GRAND SLAM series, with the winner of the series receiving an invitation to the Grade WC Congressional Cup at Long Beach YC in 2016.

www.detroitcup.com

Extreme Sailing Series Invites Entries For 2016
Following the announcement earlier this week that the 2016 Extreme Sailing Series will be contested in super-light, highly competitive foiling GC32 catamarans, organisers OC Sport and Series Main Partner Land Rover are officially inviting entries for the 2016 season with the release of the Notice of Race.

The Series will continue its journey as a global circuit with an eight Act tour planned, focused on providing outstanding elite level sporting competition, but also delivering a commercially sound product for the Teams, Host Venues and Sponsors, including Series Main Partner Land Rover and Official Technology Partner SAP.

The Series will continue to build on its already successful format, developed and fine-tuned over the last nine years; Stadium Racing, in iconic city-centre locations around the globe, in a format that is challenging for the best sailors in the world. Each Act will be contested over four days, including a dedicated media day, with on average eight races a day and over 30 races an Act. The change in class has also brought about the opportunity to reinvigorate the format with the introduction of Pro-Am racing and open water racing at some venues to allow the foiling GC32 catamarans to demonstrate their full potential.

Venue announcements will be made publicly over the coming months. Teams interested in competing in the 2016 season should email for the provisional Notice of Race.

The entry period is open now and closes 1 November 2015.

www.extremesailingseries.com

Seahorse October 2015
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

A definite thumbs up
Super-close, super-tough racing; this year's TP52 world championship saw some welcome new faces on the podium. Rob Weiland

Update
Terry Hutchinson dodges the calms of the Irish Sea, Jack Griffin puts the first AC World Series into perspective and Rob Weiland assesses the first season for the new Maxi 72 class

Design - Straight out of the box
Matteo Polli's instant champion!

Too good to miss
Bill Canfield makes a formidable case for looking at a winter programme in the Caribbean

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Industry News
The Yacht Racing Forum launches its new website and discloses the initial draft conference content and list of speakers.

The YRF 2015 will deliver ideas and concepts in three key areas that affect everyone in the yacht racing industry: Business and Marketing, Design and Technology and Risk Management and Safety.

The main conference, Business and Marketing, will be split into four modules: Event Management / Sponsorship on day one, Marketing & Media / Elite versus Grass roots on day two.

The Yacht Racing Forum 2015 will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 7-8, at the prestigious Hotel Intercontinental. The event will attract over 300 people in one place at one time to do business and meet future clients: yacht clubs, athletes, sponsors, event organisers, designers, technical suppliers and anyone involved or just interested in yacht racing.

www.yachtracingforum.com

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Paolo Casani, former CEO of Azimut Yachts, has been appointed president of Camper & Nicholsons International with immediate effect.

Casani joins the company not long after Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri took a minority stake in the Swiss-owned brokerage firm earlier this year.

During his time at Azimut, Casani successfully launched and directed the Yachtique Division prior to becoming CEO of Azimut Yachts and then CEO of Nautor Holding. He has 20 years' experience in the fashion and luxury goods sectors.

One of Casani's responsibilities at Camper & Nicholsons will be the launch of Yachtster, a recently acquired short-stay charter business for small to mid-size yachts.

Michael Payne will continue to run the group's brokerage firm, Camper & Nicholsons International, as its CEO.

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Boat International Media is delighted to announce that the 8th annual Superyacht Design Symposium will be chaired by Stephen Bayley, one of the world's best-known commentators on design. With Terence Conran he created London's influential Design Museum and over the past thirty or so years his articles and books have helped frame the modern notion of "design".

Next year's event, running from February 21-23, will return to the stunning village of Kitzbuhel in the Tyrolean Alps, where participants are able to take advantage of a famous social programme alongside the stimulating and challenging debates.

superyachtdesignsymposium.com

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An industry leader in creating and delivering brand and live experiences, ICON, has been confirmed as Official Branding Partner of the world's longest ocean race. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will celebrate its tenth edition when it sets sail on 30 August 2015 from St Katharine Docks, London.

The company, which has worked on events such as London 2012, UEFA EURO 2012 and the FIFA World Cup 2014, has branded the world's largest matched fleet of ocean racing yachts. It will also provide on shore branding, and dress all 14 stopover ports during the 11 month-long race, including the spectacular Race Start Village in London.

Visit the spectacular fleet at the Race Village in St Katharine Docks open to the public this week from 10:00am to 6:00pm right through until the long awaited fleet departure under Tower Bridge on Sunday 30 August.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

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Sail America announced today the Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show, the largest and oldest in-water sailboat show on the West Coast, will move from its previous location at Jack London Square Marina in Oakland to the Craneway Pavilion and Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond, California, beginning in April 2016.

This new location will host the 21st Annual Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show set to take place Thursday April 7 through Sunday, April 10, 2016. Richmond's historic waterfront offers an awe-inspiring panorama of the San Francisco Bay and the San Francisco skyline. The new location will allow the show to increase its capacity to more than 100 in-water sailboats and 200-plus exhibits for boats and marine accessories on land.

www.sailingscuttlebutt.com

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The water sports sector will be meeting at the Grand Pavois La Rochelle in September to present its new features and products to professionals, enthusiasts, and amateurs. According to the figures of the French Nautical Industries Federation, this sector represents 5,090 companies and employs 40,326 people for a turnover of €4.42 billion. The 47,131 boats produced represent a turnover of €739.4 million. For several years, shipyards have been focusing on the export market, which represents more than 72% of production. With the fact of being "made in France" serving as a guarantee of quality and know-how which is recognised overseas, France has become a reference in the water sports sector'; the world leader for sailing, inflatables, board sports and the 4th producer of motorboats.

Again, according to the figures of the French Nautical Industries Federation, there are estimated to be about 9 million occasional sailors and 4 million regular sailors, namely a total of 13 million out of a total French population estimated to be 66 million in 2013! France is very much a country of sailors and water sports still continue to interest the public. You just have to look at the number of people who attend the departure of major sailing races, such as the Vendee Globe and the Route du Rhum, to realise how popular it is!

www.grand-pavois.com

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The Last Word
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