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
Who Will Take The Tattersall's Cup?
Paul Clitheroe is one of just a dozen yachts to have finished the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, and since doing so, has been in the box seat to claim overall honours in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's 628 nautical mile race.
Now Clitheroe, known to the public as the 'Money Man', has to sit and wait for the smallest and second oldest boat in the fleet to finish to discover whether his TP52 Balance has won the race - or not. Will the 'Balance' be tipped in his favour remains to be seen.
Shane Kearns has sailed his 34 year-old Quikpoint Azzurro into the lead, but at 12.30pm today, was 12 nautical miles east of Cape Sonnerat, 99 miles from the finish line in Hobart. The S&S34 was powering in a building nor' easter, getting up to 8.8 knots out of the old yacht he found sinking and purchased on a credit card for $23,000 last year.
Kearns needs to finish the race by 4.43am tomorrow morning to take the Tattersall's Cup from Balance, and at the moment, based on conditions and his boat speed, should finish by dusk this evening. However, this is the time when the River Derwent likes to shut down - the wind gods depriving the river, and therefore sailing boats, of breeze.
Quikpoint Azzurro is likely to round Tasman Island late this afternoon, but what awaits her around the corner will decide who wins.
Ragamuffin's Trials On Way To Line Honours Second
A match race up the River Derwent from the Tasman Light and a heart-stopping decision not to follow Rambler when she gybed in the final stages of the race, resulted in second over line for 88 year-old Syd Fischer and his Ragamuffin 100.
a long stretch where sailing briskly at 25 knots became a distant dream when they were almost becalmed most of yesterday afternoon.
Then came the match race up the Derwent. At the last, Witt had to decide whether to follow Rambler, when tactician Brad Butterworth took the American boat towards shore looking for pressure.
Then came the match race up the Derwent. At the last, [sailing master/skipper David Witt] Witt had to decide whether to follow Rambler, when tactician Brad Butterworth took the American boat towards shore looking for pressure.
"Did I feel the pressure of having to make that call - of course I did. I had Syd and the rest of the crew depending on a right decision. Lucky it was," Witt said, adding they had overtaken George David's Rambler once up the Derwent and then just before the finish.
"That's the toughest one we've had for a few years - but it was worth it in the end. It was good to beat Rambler over the line. The crew did a great job - every one of them did the job they had to do."
Last Day To Vote For Your Favourite Yachting Bar
Voting for the 2015 Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar ends at midnight GMT today, Wednesday December 30th, with the winner announced on New Year's Eve.
This year's contest has become a two horse race between The Pier View in Cowes and Plas Heli, the Welsh sailing center.
Here's what some fans of The Pier View (pictured at right) had to say:
"The true yachtie atmosphere, great service and the place to find the worlds greatest sailors in a friendly environment, mixing with novices and amateurs alike. Sue the Landlady really makes the place a great venue!!"
"Simply the best bar in the home of yachting. They serve good burgers too and do a mean D&S."
Vote!
scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars
National Pies Launceston To Hobart
Former Olympic sailor Gary Smith yesterday skilfully steered The Fork in the Road to a fourth consecutive and fifth total line honours in the ninth Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, describing it as 'a real boat race.'
The Fork in the Road ended the frustratingly light weather offshore passage race at 1:30:49pm, an elapsed time of 2 days and 49 seconds for the 285 nautical mile course down Tasmania's East Coast.
Fourteen of the 26 yachts still competing had crossed the finish line by 6pm yesterday, including Launceston yachtsman David Allan's Sydney 38 Obsession which sailed well to finish fifth in fleet.
Fellow Port Dalrymple Yacht Club boat, Lawless, skippered by Stephen McElwee, was sailing up the Derwent at that stage and was in a position to gain a podium place in the PHS handicap division.
Results under the PHS, AMS and IRC categories will be announced today.
The finish yesterday afternoon was the furthest apart The Fork in the Road and second boat to finish, Peter Cretan's Tilt, had been throughout the race which started from Beauty Point last Sunday. -- Peter Campbell
dssinc.org.au/racing/launceston-to-hobart/
Nearly Two Dozen Clubs Request Resolute Cup Invitation
Nearly two dozen yacht clubs from across the country have requested an invitation to the 2016 Resolute Cup, a Corinthian Championship for U.S. Yacht Clubs. The regatta, which is an evolution of the U.S. Qualifying Series for the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup (USQS), will be held September 12 to 17, 2016, out of the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I.
Among the clubs requesting invitations are some of the most well known yacht clubs in the country, including Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass., which won the inaugural USQS in 2010, and New York's Larchmont Yacht Club, which won in 2012.
Plenty of lesser known clubs are also eager to test their mettle. Sea Cliff Yacht Club describes itself as a "small family yacht club on Long Island's North Shore; home to 150 family members." While the club is no stranger to large events, having organized the Around Long Island Race since 1977, its membership is less than one-tenth that of clubs such as Chicago Yacht Club or St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, both of which have also requested invitations. But it takes just a handful of talented sailors to win the Resolute Cup—teams are comprised of three or four club members—and Sea Cliff is off to a strong start with team captain Doug Wefer, a four-time collegiate All-American for the University of Michigan and an accomplished match-racing crew.
Invitations for the event will be issued in early 2016. The form to request an invitation can be accessed here
Strong Wind Opens Youth Worlds
Day one of the 45th Youth Sailing World Championships was full on with big breeze and plenty of waves greeting the sailors for the first races.
Langkawi, Malaysia offered the record numbers of 425 sailors from 76 nations up to 20 knots of wind which eased off throughout the long day.
Racing continues tomorrow with an earlier start for the sailors to ensure they are on the water before the low tide can take effect and delay the launching.
*|YOUTUBE:[$vid=FvXM4k9Hao8, $max_width=500, $title=N, $border=N, $trim_border=N, $ratings=N, $views=N]|*
Notice Of Race For Kieler Woche 2016 Online
The preliminary Notice of Race for the Kieler Woche 2016 (18 - 26 June) is online. The Notice of Race is available for download at http://www.kieler-woche.com. Online registration is also available at manage2sail.com so that you can plan your Regatta sailing summer 2016 starting now.
The organizing clubs Kieler Yacht-Club, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Hamburger Segel-Club and Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee are pleased to welcome over 40 different sailing classes which will start on ten race courses. From the olympic and paralympic to the international classes and the ORC Yachts, the Kieler Woche has something to offer for every sailor. As part of the regatta week the 470 Junior Worlds, the J/70 European Championship, and the International German Championships of the 49er M, 49erFX W, 2.4mR, Sonar and the ORC Yachts will be held.
Kieler Woche.TV will once again provides fans and families the opportunity to follow the Regattas online. The live pictures will be shown on the big screen in the Public Viewing Arena directly on site.
Seahorse February 2015
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Busy guy
One man continues to fight to bring the different offshore cultures together... Rob Weiland talks with a hyperactive Andrew Mcirvine
Closing the gap
How well does CFD simulation really stack up against high quality empirical testing? Jim Teeters and Dobbs Davis try to find out
Rod Davis
It's not just about trying to win, it's about trying to show everyone else why they are going to lose
Shine a light
Will solar power taken from your sails get you around the world? Alain Janet believes so
ISAF column
Adrienne Greenwood
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Eco-Warriors Sea-Bin Crowd Sharing
The automated marina cleaning SeaBin project has raised $198,020 of $230,000.00 with nine e days left on their Indiegogo crowdfunding platform, but they need more help now.
SeaBin directors Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski said today 'Our SeaBin project has gone viral throughout the world with over 70 Million video views and the SeaBin Facebook page has over 70K followers and growing by the minute.
'The SeaBin video has been translated into various languages in countries all over the world!
'Interest and support is incredible with Americas Cup Management, Rio Olympics, Vendee Globe Volvo Ocean Race and Team LandroverBAR all expressing interest of having SeaBins in the race villages.
'But the bad news is that if the Seabin project cannot raise the remaining $32,000 in the next nine days then they receive zero dollars and everything gets returned to the amazing and supportive donators.
From Sail-World.com: www.sail-world.com
Melges 24 European Sailing Series 2016 Announced
At the end of another great season the World Council of the International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA) met up for its Annual General Meeting to discuss about the feedback of the 2015 season and to draw the main line of the future events.
IM24CA is very glad to highlight that ten bids all around the Europe were received with a wish to host an event of the 2016 Melges 24 European Sailing Series. Based on the list of bids, and on some suggestions of the sailors, an initial draft of the events composing the series was made.
After a full discussion going through the proposals submitted with the focus to improve the number of entries and avoiding any overlap or bad timing of the events, it was voted in favour of the events that will make the 2016 European Sailing Series' calendar:
1. April 1-3 - Portoroz, Slovenia
2. June 10-12 - Segelclub Kammersee, Attersee, Austria
3. June 23-26 - Kiel Week, Germany
4. July 15-17 - Riva del Garda, Italy
5. September 2-9 - Melges 24 European Championship, Hyeres, France
6. October 7-9 - Luino, Italy
Already at the first glance, it seems to be clear that Melges 24 Class members, no matter if they are Pro or Corinthian crew, will enjoy a really full season with six events to be completed in six months time, spacing from Kiel where the fleet will enjoy the world famous Kiel Race Week on the 1972 Olympic race course up to Hyeres, where the competitors will sail for the title of the European Champion, now in the hands of Franco Rossini's Blu Moon.
The fleet is returning to Hyeres after 2006 Worlds won by Nicola Celon's Bete Bossini, and 2009 Europeans, won by the three times Melges 24 World Champion, Lorenzo Santini's Uka Uka, with Lorenzo Bressani in helm.
Also important to underline that the Melges 24 fleet will enjoy three events on internal water, where it's quite sure that the wind will never stop: Attersee (Austria), Riva del Garda (Italy) and Luino (Italy).
melges24.com/europeansailingseries
Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From Richard Gladwell, re: Len Davies' letter:
I was not aware of the sending home of the South African Optimist Team in 1976. There is no agenda on my part against South Africa, if that is what is being implied.
And certainly two wrongs do not make a right. The reference in the story on the 2015 Youth Worlds was to the tactics employed to exclude teams from participating in sporting contests, and then claiming they had withdrawn voluntarily.
There is a lot more to come on this story.
* From David Evans: So ISAF have accepted that Israeli competitors are not allowed to participate in the ISAF Youth Sailing Worlds in Malaysia, yet they are happy to permit the Olympic competitors to sail in garbage and bacteriological filth in Rio.
Well I think ISAF have now shown themselves to be up there with FIFA in terms of honesty, being in-touch with its grass-roots and competitors.
ISAF should have cancelled the event in Malaysia and sent everyone home. This is just dreadful.
Its about time we got rid of everything to do with ISAF and we all must make sure that preventing legal participants from competing never ever happens again.
The best solution and the only honourable one, would be if the winners refuse to accept their titles, as after all how will they be able to claim they are world champions if some Countries are prevented from taking part!
* From Mike Greenland: It seems to me ISAF have screwed up. No nation should be arbitrarily excluded from a World Championships. The host should have been committed to invite all by ISAF or they are not a host....simple.
* From Eddie Mays: It is sad to think that within our global village there are still nations that would deny the youth of the world the right to compete against their peers in free and fair competition.
With the rebirth of 'World Sailing' from the ashes of ISAF perhaps the new order of command will take a different approach to awarding future championships to venues that will allow this freedom, rather then perhaps having a narrow financial or political approach
I wish all your readers fair winds & clear waters for 2016. (There I must be an optimist after all!)
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The Last Word
Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionist, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.
And then they came for me -
and there was no one left to speak for me.
We need to question our national WS (Wuss) representatives about their acquiescence [in the Malaysia / Israel athletes Youth Worlds fiasco]. For example, VP Gary Jobson (USA), what have you got to say for yourself? How about you, VP Adrienne Greenwood (NZL)? Or you VP Chris Atkins (GBR)? -- Cory E. Friedman
Editorial and letter submissions to
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