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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 Armel Le Cleac'h and Fabien Delahaye Win The Transat AG2R La Mondiale
At press time six boats have finished: 1. Brit Air, Armel Le Cleac'h / Fabien Delahaye, Finished at 11/05/2010 at 06:59:11 Portugal Trophy Cascais
Cristabella is one of the oldest boats in the 11 strong TP52 Series fleet but they were able to slip past 2009's defending champions Emirates Team New Zealand on the final run, to take first gun. Changes to the crew line up, a new rig and a change of sail brand may have contributed to Cristabella's success today - one which will not only be an early season morale-boost to owner John Cook and his team - but it proves that race wins in this fleet need not only be restricted to top budget teams with very recent boats, particularly on this race very open race course which was peppered with wind shifts, gusts and changes in wind pressure. Newcomers TeamOrigin (GBR) made an excellent start to their first official practice race in the fleet with their boat which was only named officially this morning. With four times Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie (GBR) steering, and reigning Star Olympic champions Iain Percy (GBR) and Andrew Simpson (GBR) conspiring to make the tactical calls, TeamOrigin 1851 was in contention until the leeward gate at the end of the first round of the 2.1 miles windward-leeward track. A fouled retrieval line on their spinnaker dropped them back into the body of the pack and they crossed in eighth. The race course area falls under the combined influences of the Cascais shoreline and the stronger gradient NW'ly breeze further out to sea, making for interesting differences in wind pressure between the leeward and windward marks. Portugal Trophy, Cascais TP52 Series GP42 Series Schaefer Solves Big Problem For "Athos" When underway, Schaefer's entire track articulates so the batten ends and luff bolt rope move as one when the sail is trimmed. So the bolt rope, which otherwise would have been subjected to 750kg of forward thrust from the battens, is effectively protected by the batten 'seats' designed into the solid aluminum extrusion. This articulating sail track also allows the "Athos" crew to furl her sails with full-length carbon battens, entirely into her boom. Fully battening a sail is normally only possible with the use batten cars. However batten cars cannot be used if the sail needs to furled into the boom, which is why Schaefer originally developed the technology for their own in-boom furling system originally designed for boats up to 53' feet. www.schaefermarine.com/press/021110.html Ian Atkins Wins J/80 Uk National Championship
Race Seven was won by Just Do It, helmed by Terry Palmer. Having mastered their downwind big breeze sailing at the Spi Ouest Regatta at Easter (alongside 92 other J/80s) the Just Do It squad had been hoping for something a little more fruity than on the previous two days, and were duly rewarded. Tom Phipps and Kelvin Matthews sailing for the British Keelboat Academy finished second and Ian Atkins took third place in Boats.com. Kelvin Matthews, sailing with Tom Phipps for the British Keelboat Academy having had a couple of frustrating days at the Championship went on the record on Friday when he said 'We've not yet put in our best performance at this event'. Delighting in the heavier breeze, British Keelboat Academy duly went out on Saturday morning and nailed the second race, Race Eight of the series. In second place was Step Toe (one of the four boats entered by the charity Toe in The Water) and Ian Atkins settled for a safe third, enough to win him and his team from Boats.com the Tacktick Suunto J/80 UK National Championship with a race to spare. Nice one all; Ian Atkins on Helm, Rob Lark on Tactics, Dan Brown on Trim and Karen Schwerdt on 'Pit and making everything happen'. The final race of the championship, Race Nine, was also won by Boats.com; a fitting finish to a consistent and impressive campaign. -- Becci Eplett Final top ten: Solo Offshore Racing Club Coastal Series: Poole and Back The Coastal series is a brand new event for the Solo Offshore Racing Club and the first two races to Poole and back were specifically designed to attract new skippers and give the more experienced shorter races to hone their techniques early in the season. Nineteen spinnakers set off from Royal Thames towards Poole at 0830 on Saturday 8 May in an eight knot northeasterly breeze. By Hurst Marco Nannini was ahead with his Class 40 and as he reached off down the Needles Channel, the rest of the fleet took the North Channel and rhumb line straight to the finish off Poole, a shy reach only easing for the last mile. The tighter angle from Hurst to the finishing line suited the asymmetric boats and Carl Wilcox on his modified Projection 962 Wee Bear was perfectly suited with 85m2 of asymmetric spinnaker, finishing fifth on the water well ahead of many faster boats. Glyn Deakin on his Mini Crean powered across Christchurch Bay until a bowsprit block let go, costing him a much higher place overall. Tides meant a welcome late start at 1130 on Sunday into ten knots northeasterly for the return beat to windward. The first six boats finished within seven minutes, Jbellino taking line honours again, but once the numbers were crunched Solan Goose was nine minutes clear of SX Girl with Chris Flewitt's Contessa 28 Tringa third. Full results at www.offshoresolo.com Your Chance to Advertise to a Global Sailing Audience in Cowes
Special rates for sailing and branding hospitality packages available for many events. Reach your target audience with this very cost effective and high profile medium. Contact Simon Hedley +44(0)1983 284300 Windy Start Offshore Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta The races is about 110 miles in total. The wind is expected to decrease during the night. The competition for the IRC victory will be strong. In the IRC 1, the Checkmate, the Eclectic and the Foxy Trust Alliance, who became third last year, are favourites. The Grand Soleil 43 Antilope from Willem Wester also stands a good chance. This team recently took former Olympic sailor Sebbe Godefroid on board. Erik van Vuuren, who obtained a second place in the IRC 2 last year, no competes in the IRC 1 with a recently renovated Farr 40.7. In the IRC 2, John van der Starre's team is expected to win. They won the Vuurschepenrace in 2008 and 2009. The 110-mile long Vuurschepenrace from Scheveningen to Harwich is the opening race of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. After a rest day in Harwich, the ORC and IRC classes return to the Netherlands on Friday 14 May, sailing the R.O.R.C. North Sea Race. During the Whitsun weekend, from 21 until 24 May, more than 26 classes race off the Scheveningen coast. Several disciplines compete: big yachts, Olympic classes, catamarans and open boats. Since last year, Delta Lloyd is the main sponsor of this event. -- Diana Bogaards Cornish Yachtsman Rescues Starving Islanders Alex Bond, from Penryn, near Falmouth, was delivering the 33 foot Mary Powell from Hawaii to Australia, when he stopped at Kanton Island, an atoll halfway between Hawaii and Fiji. Mr Bond discovered that the 14 adults and ten children on the island, the only inhabited island in the Phoenix Islands, were hungry and desperate, as their supply ship was stuck on a nearby island. The islanders were living off coconuts and any fish that they could catch, until Mr Bond gave them everything he could off his boat. He contacted Falmouth Coastguard for help, who in turn called their American counterparts and the Honolulu authorities to arrange a drop-off. Icelandic Volcano View From The Sea
The Iceland Midnight Sun Race is a unique yacht race - the only one of its kind in the North Atlantic and is when the sun stays aloft around the clock! Travel arrangements for race teams and guests by or by phone +44 020 7717 1670 The 75-nautical-mile race starts in the town of Siglufjorour in North Iceland, and winds around Grimsey Island, which is traversed by the Arctic Circle.Registration for the race will close at midnight the 10th of June at icesun.is Mathieu Richard Set to Win His 6th Attempt at Match Race Germany Richard is sitting comfortably on top of the leadership ladder with 25 overall points and a 5 point lead over close rival Ainslie. Skipper of the French Match Racing Team and previous tactician for the French America's Cup Team, Aleph in Auckland, he has not won Match Race Germany to date. 2010 could be Mathieu's year to take both wins at Stage 1 and 2, giving Richard a significant lead over all the other World Match Racing Tour Card Holders. Richard, a fan of Lake Constance, has taken part in the 5 consecutive Match Race Germany events since 2004, this will be his sixth World Match Racing Tour event at 'Langenargen am Bodensee'. Richard demonstrated his natural gift for racing in the light wind while in the Bay of Marseille and the German venue is also famous for testing the patience of skippers and crew during longer tactical races. Mathieu Richard commented, "I like Match Race Germany as the venue is beautiful when the weather is in our favour, the racing is always challenging because of the shifty winds on the race course". The French Match Racing Team will be backed up by their coach, Benjamin Bonnaud, who will be attending Match Race Germany and can provide support and advice first hand throughout the event as racing progresses. Mathieu however, finds the Bavaria 35 Match a testing model to race. It is heavier and older in style to the J80 yachts raced in Marseille, with a traditional spinnaker system which is significantly more physical for the crews. Falmouth To Falmouth Rum Race 2012 Following dockside chat during the St Barth's Bucket, a number of yachts and crew have expressed interest in a race to the UK which follows a similar format to the "Route de Rose" - a yacht race to encourage yachts to St Barthelemy. Traditionally, the race started in St Tropez at the end of the Mediterranean season in mid October, and finished in St Barth's at the start of the Caribbean season on the first Saturday of December. All yachts were required to load several cases of Rose aboard, with the condition that one case had to be landed on the dock in St Barth's for the grand celebrations at the end of the race. The winner was decided by the shortest accumulative time taken only when on course to St Barth's - allowing yachts to start at different times, or stop off on the way. The Falmouth - Falmouth Rum Race will run in the opposite direction to the traditional Route de Rose - the event will begin at the Antigua Yacht Club in Falmouth Harbour as a fleet start, following Antigua classics with the option for yachts to start earlier if they prefer, with a possible stop in the Azores on route. The entry fee will be $500 and a case of rum to be consumed at the finish in Falmouth UK at the dockside party. Shortly after the finish there will be two big events in Falmouth UK, namely the J-Class regatta and Pendennis Cup. Yachts will then either continue east to participate in the many events on the Olympic calendar or head down to the Mediterranean for the summer season. The finish will be organised by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club and interested yachts should contact Pendennis. -- Super Yacht Times, www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/30/article/id/4409 From The "Not Sailing But Very Cool" Files
The rare pterosaur - literally a winged lizard - is also one of the youngest members in the world of the family Ornithocheiridae, and only the second ornithocheirid ever documented in North America. Aetodactylus halli would have soared over what is now the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the Cretaceous Period when much of the Lone Star state was under water, covered by a vast ancient sea. Much of Texas was once submerged under the Western Interior Seaway. The massive sea split North America from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. While rare in North America, toothed pterosaurs belonging to the Ornithocheiridae are a major component of Cretaceous pterosaur faunas elsewhere in the world. The Texas specimen - a nearly complete mandible with most of its 54 teeth missing - is definitively younger than most other ornithocheirid specimens from Brazil, England and China. It is five million years younger than the only other known North American ornithocheirid. Scientists estimate the wingspan to be around 3 meters, or about 9 feet, indicating Aetodactylus would have been a "medium-sized" pterosaur. North American pterosaurs that date from the Cretaceous are all toothless, except for Aetodactylus and Coloborhynchus. The thinness of the jaws, the upward angle of the back half of the mandible and the lack of a pronounced expansion of the jaw tips indicate that Aetodactylus is different from other ornithocheirids and represents a new genus and species of pterosaur. Featured Brokerage This 60'(18.3m) Mylne designed International 12 Metre was launched in 2006 - she has the lines and sail plan of her 1909 sister-ship JAVOTTE, but a modern construction plan engineered by Ian Nicolson with the approval of the 12 Metre Class. KATE was designed in 1908 by Alfred Mylne, but built by Philip Walwyn and his small team of wood workers in St Kitts; taking 4 years over 18,000 man hours. KATE is modelled on JAVOTTE, the successful Mylne 12 Metre, built in 1908 and destroyed in a yard fire in Sweden in 1964 - KATE is the only new 12 Metre launched in the last 20 years. Copies of Mylne's drawings and calculations were used - displacement is as designed, as is ballast ratio and rig. Walwyn's goal was a beautiful and long lasting structure, construction was engineered by Ian Nicholson with plan approval from the Twelve Metre Class and is wood, epoxy, bronze fastened throughout and glass sheathed using 2 layers of 300gsm biaxial. Epoxy, additives and glass cloth are from SP Systems and coatings are by Awlgrip Brokerage through Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/sandemanyachtcompany/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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