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 Slow Motion Ballet Those who have mastered Bodensee's light wind condition are overall leaders Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and the current 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour leader, Richard, both winning all 3 of their matches from today. There is then a block of four skippers who are all at 2-1, namely Adam Minoprio, (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, Ian Williams (GBR) under his new team name Team GAC Pindar, Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing and Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Proximo . This is a very tight set group and the balance could shift instantly with the likes of Gilmour involved. Gilmour has the best record of any skipper at Match Race Germany, having previously won this Stage three times in a row from 2004 through to 2006. Day 1: Round Robin Results A New German And American Duo Will Take On The Barcelona World Race As the first German to compete in the IMOCA Open 60 class, Herrmann is used to cutting a pioneering wake. He was the youngest Mini skipper in the 2001 and then last year he became the first German skipper to win a major shorthanded ocean race after he paired up with compatriot Felix Oehme and triumphed in the Portimao Global Ocean Race, which is raced around the world over five stages in Class 40's. Hermann, an MBA graduate, has moved up the sailing spectrum from being a successful 470, 505 and 49er dinghy racer through the Mini where he finished 11th in the 2001 Mini Transat. Herrmann, 28, also took second place in the 2008 Artemis Transat Race class with the same Class 40, Beluga Racer. But the step up to race non-stop around the world on an IMOCA Open 60 is a significant one: "It is an extraordinary challenge as much physically as it is mentally. It is simply one of the toughest races in existence", affirms Herrmann, "and the IMOCA Open 60's are the most advanced monohulls you can race two up." Ryan Breymaier, 34, is an emerging ocean racer who has many high profile big boat programmes under his belt, from TP52's, Swans and IRC race boats to a record attempt on the 125 foot maxi cat PlayStation. An economics graduate, he re-located from his native Annapolis to pursue his dream of racing in the IMOCA Open 60 class. For the last few years he has been based in France, responsible for the rigging and deckgear on Jourdain's team, so he knows their boat well. Last year he sailed on the Open 60 when it was Veolia in the SNSM Record regatta and then in the 3450 miles Istanbul Europa Race from Istanbul to Brest via Nice and Barcelona. 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 - limited availability remaining. Contact Simon Hedley +44(0)1983 284300 Francis Joyon Returns For His Eighth Round The Island Race At 30 metres in length Idec II weighs only 11 tons with a mast height of 32 metres. Francis entered her again last year, coming in 26th overall with a time of 7.46.10. He is hoping for better winds and a much faster time this year and says that he keeps returning to this Race because he has many sailing friends who also do it and he finds racing in the Solent 'exotic'. When asked what other racing plans he has for 2010, he says that he will also be entering the Route du Rhum starting in October. Francis will be raising funds for ICM, l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epiniere (the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord research). The Island Sailing Club, organisers of the Round the Island Race, are keen to stress that if you want to compete against the thousands of sailors taking part in this year's event, normal entries (£72 or £106 with advertising) close at midnight on 29th May. If you haven't done so already, please enter online at www.roundtheisland.org.uk Normandy Bound This course reduction was dictated by the light airs that have been reigning across the race zone since Sunday's start off Normandy's landing beaches, which unfortunately look likely to extend along the 389 miles that separate the leaders of the fleet from the finish. "Destination Dunkerque" seems to be a solid leader and has maintained its big lead from last night's tacking session through the Irish mists, ahead of "40 Degrees" skippered by the Franco-British duo Mabire-Harding and the tenacious Dutch-Belgian pairing Franssens-Kleinjans. The zone of high pressure which is promising fine weather across France and England this weekend, will severely complicate things for the sailors, who will have to contend with yet more light airs and yet more upwind sailing; conditions which have characterised this first ever Normandy Channel Race Leading the fleet in the Solent, at the Lizard, at Land's End and at Tuskar Rock, the Thomas Ruyant-Tanguy Leglatin pairing added the legendary Fastnet Rock to their list early this morning, after what has been a flawless performance. However, the two men are still only too aware of the proximity and aggressiveness of their pursuers and are thus avoiding any hint of rejoicing in their messages, in a bid to retain their concentration all the way to the finish line in Hermanville sur Mer. -- Translated by Kate Jennings Team GAC Pindar Enter Extreme Sailing Series The dual entry will race under a British flag and will be skippered by Australian all-round yachtsman and experienced Extreme 40 sailor, Nick Moloney. Nick has competed in the series since it began in 2007 and boasts a rich and successful sailing career, including 2 America's Cup campaigns and 12 individual World Sailing Speed Records. He will be joined by three other accomplished international sailors - Britons Andy Walsh (helmsman) and Olly Smith (bowman), plus New Zealand yachtsman, Fraser Brown (trimmer). Team Pindar has operated as an independent sailing company since 2008. It has been actively supporting sailing campaigns for the past 30 years, including entries on the IMOCA 60 circuit, the World Match Racing Tour and individuals at grassroots levels through to the very pinnacle of the sport. This is the first time the team has entered the Extreme Sailing Series. Its partner for the jointly-managed 'Team GAC Pindar' entry is the global logistics provider GAC, which delivers a complete range of international supply chain and logistics solutions, including air and sea freight, warehousing and distribution, road transportation, project logistics, ship spares logistics, international moving and courier services. Jessica Watson - Job Well Done! Ullman Sails is very proud to have built the sails that safely powered Jessica around the world and back home to Australia. Cruising, racing or circumnavigating - invest in your performance. Finn World Masters The preliminary entry list includes 190 sailors from 23 nations. Though down on last year's record entry of 264, this is still up 60 boats on the last time the event was held in Split, in 2002. Some of the Masters also took part in the Europeans last week as well to familiarise themselves with the wind and the local conditions, though we hope the Masters are more lucky with the weather than the Junior and Senior sailors were last week. The favourite has to be the three times winner and defending champion Andre Budzien (GER) though 2006 winner Michael Maier (CZE) is also on the preliminary entry list and should provide a strong challenge. While it is always hard to predict winners at the Masters, previous form would indicate that the likes of Jurgen Eiermann (GER) - runner up last year; Mihail Kopanov (BUL), runner up in 2008; and Allen Burrell (GBR) - third in 2005 and 2007 are also likely to be serious challengers. Split also has a strong local Finn fleet, which has been putting in a lot of time on the water, so they will be keen to capitalise on their training and local knowledge. Measurement and registration opens Friday is followed by the first races on Monday 24 May with eight races scheduled until Friday 28 May. -- Robert Deaves Event website: www.jklabud.hr/finn-world-masters-2010 Short Tacks En route to Horta in the Azores, yachts will be reporting their daily positions, which together with logs and photos from the yachts are displayed on the ARC Europe website. The first arrivals are expect in 12-14 days. -- www.worldcruising.com/arceurope * A new onboard video of Melges 32 european Championship in 35 knots. Short Edited Courtesy of Marco Perazzo by Adesso Vela * Military Authorities have issued further warnings of piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Northern Indian Ocean region. As a result the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has re-issued advice on guidelines. "Piracy attacks continue in Gulf of Aden and Northern Indian Ocean: ISAF, supported by the naval forces, strongly recommends yachtsmen to avoid these areas - see ISAF guidelines at www.mschoa.org - but if under attack or suspected attack immediately telephone (do not email) UKMTO +971 50 552 3215." The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office in Dubai acts as the primary point of contact for merchant vessels and liaison with military forces in the region. Details of the anti-piracy guidelines Further ISAF information regarding piracy guidelines can be found at: www.sailing.org/piracy Information on the anti-piracy operations may be found at: www.mschoa.eu/About.aspx And Another From The "Not Sailing But Cool" Files... The controversial feat, which has occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40m, was described by one researcher as "a defining moment in biology". Craig Venter, the pioneering US geneticist behind the experiment, said the achievement heralds the dawn of a new era in which new life is made to benefit humanity, starting with bacteria that churn out biofuels, soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and even manufacture vaccines. The new organism is based on an existing bacterium that causes mastitis in goats, but at its core is an entirely synthetic genome that was constructed from chemicals in the laboratory. The single-celled organism has four "watermarks" written into its DNA to identify it as synthetic and help trace its descendants back to their creator, should they go astray. Dr Venter's team developed a new code based on the four letters of the genetic code, G, T, C and A, that allowed them to draw on the whole alphabet, numbers and punctuation marks to write the watermarks. Anyone who cracks the code is invited to email an address written into the DNA. -- Full article by Ian Sample in the Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk Letters To The Editor - * From Derek Hatfield: The new Spirit of Canada ECO 60 is currently in Port la Foret, France preparing for it's first transatlantic delivery. The ECO 60 will leave France around May 26th with a crew of 4 and head directly to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where it will start the transformation to the traditional Spirit of Canada colours and a summer of offshore training and support sailing. It feels great to be back in sailing mode, I'm looking forward to many miles of training aboard Spirit of Canada in preparation for the Velux 5 Oceans starting this October. The boat is in great shape but we will be conducting a mini refit once we are in Canada to refine the systems. Later in August we will take the boat out of the water to apply a new Nautix white racing bottom. Once we are back in France in September, a new set of race sails will complete the preparations. At this point we are in great shape and I feel very confident with our preparations for my third single handed race around the world. Stay tuned as we sail from France to Canada as regular updates will be posted from the crew. -- www.spiritofcanada.net Featured Brokerage Volvo 60 built in 2001 by Composite Works to German Frers designs. Brokerage through Ancasta International Boat Sales: www.yachtworld.com/ancasta/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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