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

Barcolana 2016
Another huge fleet for the famous Barcolana in Trieste. 1.758 boats entered the "Coppa d'Autunno" number 48 held yesterday in the Italy's main sailing city. Almost 15.000 sailors, with much more involved during the entire week, sailed in a sunny day with an easing 20 knots Bora (the famous and strong NE wind). The overall victory went to Alfa Romeo, the R/P 72, with local hero Gabriele and Furio Benussi as team manager and skipper, that managed to beat Mitja Kosmina's Maxi Jena Tempus Fugit after a 59 minute 59 second effort.

Well done Mitja Gialuz and Societa Velica Barcola Grignano.

1,074 boats concluded the race. Among them Sir Ben Ainslie, invited from his AC sponsor Land Rover, that co-helmed with italian sailor Mauro Pelaschier the maxi Ancilla Domini. Ainslie got impressed by the event and quoted: "I never took part in an event like this, amazing".

Class winners:
Classe S Alfa Romeo, R/P 72, Benussi G e F
Classe N Maxi Jena Tempus Fugit, K80 Open, Kosmina
Classe M Adriatic Europa, Vallicelli 60, Puh (Slo)
Classe 0 Unipol SAI, Tp52, Micalli
Classe 1 Generali, Fastwave 40R, Podunovac (Slo)
Classe 2 Rotgipfler, ElanS5, Bayer
Classe 3 Eclisse LB10, Pne Off, Bovolato
Classe 4 Mataran MK3, Ice 33, Nordera
Classe 5 Mummy One, Farr 30 mod., Querin
Classe 6 Vipera, Delta 84, Spangaro
Classe 7 Fab, Vertue, Allegretto
Classe 8 Comincio da Zero, Zero, Faggiani
Meteor Amarcord, Carloia
Passere, Santa Rita, Cecconi

From Luca Devoti:
devotiluca.com

*|YOUTUBE:[$vid=a2x90N_8Y3w, $max_width=500, $title=N, $border=N, $trim_border=N, $ratings=N, $views=N]|*

Invictus Wins Round 5 Fast40+ Race Circuit
The inaugural FAST40+ season came to a conclusion on Sunday 9th October with, the fifth and final round of the 2016 FAST40+ Race Circuit. Alex Mills at the helm of KER40+ Invictus was the winner of Round 5, scoring four wins out of six races and securing the team second place overall for the season.

Peter Morton's Carkeek 40+ Girls on Film was second, enough to win the 2016 FAST40+ Race Circuit. Mike Bartholomew's Carkeek 42 Tokoloshe failed to make the podium for the regatta, but consistency throughout the season was rewarded with third place overall for the South African skipper.

Round 5 of the FAST40+ Race Circuit was held as part of the Hamble River Sailing Club's Winter Series and consisted of six races, over 8-9 October, with windward leeward and round the cans races. The points factor for the series was 1.5 and with the discard rule only kicking in for the last race, Round 5 went to the wire. A gentle but shifting north easterly breeze tested the tactical awareness of crews. On the second day, brilliant sunshine and an accelerated wind speed, produced superb sailing conditions in the Solent.

The 2017 FAST40+ Race Circuit and any rule changes will be finalised by the end of October.

www.fast40class.com

50 Years and Celebrating Caribbean Style
The 50th Antigua Sailing Week (ASW) will take place from April 29 to May 5, 2017 with an incredible celebration of 50 years of yacht racing in Antigua. New for the 50th will be a 'fun class' for less serious racers who still want to participate and have some fun, as well as new race marks and course options. A Lord Nelson's Trophy Winners' Ball is being planned to add spice to an already a fantastic week.

ASW consists of five days of challenging racing (plus two optional races) on the best race track in the world. The deep blue Caribbean Sea and beautiful trade winds off Antigua's south coast provide one of the best racing areas anywhere. Post-ASW shipping to the UK, Europe, Bermuda and the US east coast US will get you to your next event on time, or stay around and participate in the new Antigua to Bermuda Race starting on May 12, 2017.

Daily post-race prize-giving's, cold beers and English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum provide the perfect wind down before Caribbean hospitality takes on its own life when islanders, visitors and sailors mix together each evening in an incredible atmosphere. Lay Day is an idyllic Caribbean beach day with laid back reggae, cold beers, hot sun and hotter girls (and guys of course), making for a perfect day. The now legendary Final Awards Party takes place in historic Nelson's Dockyard with the best awards presentation in the Caribbean bringing the week to a crescendo.

To enter and for more information visit www.sailingweek.com

Egnos 52 Super Series Cascais Cup
The race for third place on the 2015 52 SUPER SERIES podium provided some of the most exciting moments at the end of last season and it looks as if the finale to this year will be no different. On the last racing day of last year in Cascais, Ergin Imre's Provezza suffered a five place swing and ended up seventh overall after being one of the five challengers for third. This year, the Turkish-flagged team that has Tony Rey (USA) as tactician is covering all the bases, seeking to learn from their disappointing outcome a year ago.

Last year the final standings showed just ten points between Sled in third and Provezza in seventh. As the Egnos 52 Super Series Cascais Cup starts Tuesday Provezza hold fourth place five points behind Ran Racing, Niklas and Catherine Zennstrom's crew, with Platoon a further eleven points back. Sled are in eighth overall but proved they are a force to be reckoned with when they won today's practice race.

Four boats were judged to be over the start line for today's practice race, Azzurra, Quantum Racing (who had Terry Hutchinson steering), Platoon and Provezza. Sled found extra pressure offshore on the first run, holding starboard gybe offshore and led Ran Racing at the finish. Azzurra recovered to third.

The Egnos 52 Super Series Cascais Cup will take place from 11-15 October, with races starting on Tuesday at 12:30 UTC+1hrs (13:30 CEST). Track the boats via state-of-the-art Virtual Eye at www.52superseries.com/LIVE

Entry List
Alegre (Andy Soriano GBR/USA)
Azzurra (Roemmers family, ITA/ARG)
Bronenosec (Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS)
Gladiator (Tony Langley, GBR)
Phoenix (Richard Cohen, USA)
Platoon (Harm Müller-Spreer, GER)
Provezza (Ergin Imre, TUR)
Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA)
Ran Racing (Niklas and Catherine Zennstrom, SWE)
Sled (Takashi Okura, USA)

www.52superseries.com

Volvo Ocean Race Changes Rules To Maintain Growth In Top Level Female Participation
In the first of a series of ten announcements that the Volvo Ocean Race will make over the next two weeks, the rules of the race will limit all-male teams to seven sailors, one fewer than in 2014-15, and give mixed teams a significant numerical advantage.

The possible crew combinations for 2017-18 will be:
7 men;
7 men and 1 or 2 women;
7 women and 1 or 2 men;
5 men and 5 women;
11 women

Teams will be able to change their crew combinations from leg to leg in the race, which starts from Alicante in October 2017 and visits 11 cities around the globe, but as in previous editions, teams will be required have the same crewmembers on board for the In-Port Race as either the previous or the subsequent offshore leg - with the exception of a team that is racing offshore with 7 males who can add an additional female for the in-port racing.

The move follows the success of Team SCA's 2014-15 campaign, which saw an all-female crew finish third in the In-Port Race series and become the first to win an offshore leg in 25 years - but still saw a ceiling in their offshore performance overall without being able to learn from the more experienced sailors once out on the ocean.

The race has also reaffirmed the commitment to youth sailing, with a rule that two crew must be under the age of 30 at the end of the race in July 2018.

www.volvooceanrace.com

Rolex Middle Sea Race, With Five Star Sailing
Click on image to enlarge.

Onboard our Corel Farr 45 'Werewolf' (pictured at right)

You will join our skipper, John, and first mate Sam onboard our Corel Farr 45 for on the water training and preparation .You will be fully involved in the racing throughout, making you an important and valued member of the race team.

2016 Dates:

Arrive in Malta: Monday 17 October
Training starts: Tuesday 18 October
Coastal Race: Wednesday 19 October
Race starts: Saturday 22 October
Prize Giving: Saturday 29 October
Depart Malta: Sunday 30 October

Cost: £1,595 per person.

What's included?

All race entry and mooring fees, 3 days training and preparation, training in the Coastal Race and the Middle Sea Race, racing skipper, and first mate, food aboard the yacht whilst racing and training and team shirts to keep.

These crew places are for experienced racers and are not available to beginners. All crew members are expected to have medical insurance for the duration of the trip.

We are very keen for more helmsmen, trimmers, foredeck and mast.

For more information please contact John on 0034 618 406 747 or email

fivestarsailing.eu
www.facebook.com/fivestarsailing/

Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week Set For June 18-23, 2017
Larchmont, NY: The Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week, the granddaddy of the club's broad regatta portfolio, is scheduled June 18-23, 2017. Coinciding with the announcement is the launch of a new event website at http://blockislandraceweek.com, where links to register and the Notice of Race are available. Founded in 1965 and heading for its 27th running, the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week is a great biennial tradition of New England summers and one of the oldest race weeks in the U.S.

Racing on Block Island Sound in late June, as the season changes from spring to summer, often brings ideal conditions, with a gentle breeze in the morning building to a challenging seabreeze in the afternoon. Many who sailed the regatta in 2015 completed 11 races over five days, including a gearbustin' Around Block Island Race, amid some of the finest weather ever to grace the regatta.

Block Island Race Week's legacy is built on Corinthian racing ideals and camaraderie shore side, but next year's edition will be notable for the number of championships that are scheduled for competition. Already four one-design classes and the IRC Congress have designated Block Island Race Week as their East Coast or North American championship. The list will most likely grow as regatta organizers are in discussions with another five classes.

www.blockislandraceweek.com

Where Champions Are Made
Kieler Yacht Club took (yet) another big week in its stride when 681 Laser sailors descended on the former Olympic sailing venue for the 2016 junior world championships...

So often we've seen the battle for Olympic titles come down to a two-horse race, a match race for gold and silver. This summer's Laser 4.7 World Championships and Laser U21 Youth World Championships in Kiel, Germany, brought one of the most dramatic showdowns between two world-class talents, two names to watch out for on the Olympic circuit.

In the boys' division of the Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds, Guido Gallinaro won the penultimate race of the competition with ease, and looked set to defend the world title he'd won in 2015. His closest competitor, Dimitrios Papadimitriou, had only managed 11th. It would take a minor miracle for the Greek to overturn the Italian's advantage.

'My coach told me I can win it, and I said OK, I will go out and win the race and do my best,' said Papadimitriou. He went out and executed the plan perfectly, winning the final race by 1 minute 48 seconds, a country mile in Laser terms. Now he would have to wait to see how Gallinaro fared.

Papadimitriou could scarcely believe his eyes as the Italian struggled across the line in an uncharacteristic 40th place, never having managed to find a way back to the front after a poor start. Papadimitriou had won his first world championship by a single point.

Full story in the November issue of Seahorse:
www.seahorsemagazine.com

Viper World Championship At Geelong
Up to 40 Viper catamarans are expected to contest the International Viper Class World Championship 2017 over January 7-15 including the current French world champion and two top national youth teams, with a Rietman twin on each boat.\

Reigning Viper world title holder Emmanuel Le Chapelier will sail with Theo Constance given his crew from their 2014 win, Eric Le Bouedec, isn't available.

Eighteen-year-old Aussie non-identical twins Tayla and Harrison Rietman from Sandringham, Melbourne were once a crew, until dynamics determined they were better off on separate boats. They split and more positive results started to flow, and importantly family harmony was restored.

For the Viper Worlds '17, Tayla will skipper her Viper called Thanks Again Dad, under the Port Melbourne Yacht Club burgee and her brother will crew for the latest whiz kid, 14-year-old Jack Challands, son of the Australian Viper class president Simon Dubbin.

The Geelong world title presented by Rex Gorell Land Rover will be Tayla's third world championship having competed in France in 2014 and this year in Belgium at the F16 World Championship with her dad Gavin Rietman. Tayla was one of 10 women skippers among a fleet of 48 and finished third female helm.

The Viper class comes under the F16 umbrella and attracts a lot of youth, especially internationally, as a pathway to the only multihull class at the Olympic Games, the Nacra 17, which made its Olympic debut in Rio in August.

Viper crews from France and Belgium intend to make the most of an attractive deal on a cargo ship leaving Europe at the end of October and transport their own boats.

The Royal Geelong Yacht Club and Viper Association expect up to 25 Australian crews and the rest international with a total fleet of 40 possible for the class' first southern hemisphere world championship.

Entries are open online and eligible crews may enter via www.viperworlds2017.com by 5pm on Monday December 19, 2016. Racing begins on January 9, 2017

Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image Deadline
We kindly remind you that the deadline for submitting your image for the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award is October 13, 2016.

The top eighty pictures, selected by a panel of well know international yacht racing photographers (Christian Février, Rick Tomlinson ands Erik Brin) will be published on the event's website on October 18, allowing the international Jury and the public to vote. Each picture will be linked with a presentation of its authors and a description of each photograph. The winners will be announced and celebrated during the Yacht Racing Forum, in Malta (November 28-29)

The winner of the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award will receive € 1'000 prize money. The winners of the Public Award and Yacht Racing Forum Award will receive € 500 prize money.

Professional yacht racing photographers from all over the world are invited to register and submit their best yacht racing image from the current sailing season at the following address: www.yachtracingimage.com

The detailed rules of the contest are available here

Manslaughter Charge Over Cheeki Rafiki Deaths
Douglas Innes, director of yachting management company Stormforce Coaching Ltd, has been charged with four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Stormforce Coaching was responsible for managing, maintaining and servicing 40ft yacht Cheeki Rafiki, which lost its keel more than 700 miles from Nova Scotia in May 2014.

Skipper Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham in Surrey, and crew members Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56, both from Somerset, and James Male, 23, from Southampton, were returning the yacht from Antigua to the UK.

At the time of the yacht's disappearance, the US Coastguard was criticised for calling off its search after only two days.

It restarted the search after protests from family and friends and an intervention by the British government.

The boat was found but there was no trace of the men.

news.sky.com

Featured Brokerage
2012 Elliott 35ss CRUSADER. 295,000.00 USD. Located in Auckland, New Zealand.

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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Greg Elliott
Elliott Marine Ltd
+64 21780597
www.elliott-marine.com

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2007 Judel/Vrolijk IRC 66 - NUMBERS. 1,250,000 USD. Located in Newport, RI - USA.

One of our latest Central Listing, a top drawer IRC rocket, with lifting keel, retractable prop, and all the mods for regatta competition

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679222

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Tan 66 - NEW BOAT

The latest entrant into the large performance cat market comes from an all-French design and build team working under the management of Dubai-based Tan Yachts – which was founded by entrepreneur Xavier Bouin.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Xavier Bouin +971(0)55 602 53 86

See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
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