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 An All - Australian Final Portimao, Portugal: Finals day for Stage 4 of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour produced an all Australian final with Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team yet again taking on the icon of match racing, Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing. The 'Perth Prodigy', 24 year old Mirsky, did not defend his Portugal Match Cup title from last year as the Master, Gilmour, taught his Apprentice a few new lessons and stepped into the spotlight as the 2010 Portimao Portugal Match Cup Champion. The Semi Finals greeted eager teams with an oscillating 8 - 10 knot wind, conditions suited Mirsky who slam dunked Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 3-0 and Gilmour grasped the glory from current ISAF Match Racing World Champion, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, also gliding through on 3-0. Minoprio then went on to take 3rd overall much to the disappointment of Williams. As the Fremantle Doctor style breeze blew in for finals frenzy, the racers, both skippers originally from Perth, felt a nostalgia for home and with a 'first to 2 point final' the pressure was instantaneous. The wind then moderated and returned to the testing Mediterranean style shifts commonly experienced on this year's Tour. This kept both Gilmour and Mirsky on their toes to the bitter end with Gilmour winning the deciding 3rd match from a port entry. There is now a mixture of movements in the overall World Match Racing Tour 2010 standings. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team before Portimao sat on high with 65 points, a supreme 26 points in front of his nearest rival Minoprio. Richard was then ironically knocked out at the Quarter Final stage yesterday in an unexpected last minute lunge to the line by Minoprio. Minoprio closes the gap slightly on Richard as he moves into 3rd with 48 points overall. Gilmour shoots up from 8th to 4th with 43 points, closely followed by Williams who finishes on 42 points. Day 5 - Overall Standings 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings Digby Fox has uploaded some summary videos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1sJ_Enm7qg Kieler Woche - Perfect Conditions For The Final Day The ISAF Sailing World Cup in the olympic classes ended last Wednesday with medal races. The home nation, Germany shared the biggest medal haul with the USA, both with four medals but no golds. Great Britain and Australia came out on top, GBR with two golds and one silver and Australia with two golds and a bronze. Next Kieler Woche: 18 - 26th june 2011 Top three by class: 505: FD: Formula 18: Hobie 16: Europe: OK-Jolle: Condender: Folkeboot: Platu 25: J24: 420er: 29er: Dragon: H-Boot: Kielzugvogel: Thunder In The Air A short opening circuit across the bay proved nail-bitingly challenging, not for high octane entertainment but for the way that the flighty breeze proved so hard to read, and even harder to use to best effect. Rather than a traditional windward-leeward circuit, from a downwind start it was PRB which managed to use the best angles, slightly offshore, to carry the strongest breeze down the track and make a tidy leeward mark rounding. That was enough for the French crew to hold on up the one-tack beat up to the final turning buoy before Palma. During the first section of the leg there is expected to be a trade off to be struck between gaining more wind pressure the further south the teams are prepared to sail, against a better initial angle available to the north, but with less wind strength. Thunder clouds were threatening Calpe through the morning, with distant rumbles a reminder of the forecast of small pockets of stormy weather arriving from the east. How these are managed will be crucial, as will be when to tack on to starboard for the approach to Palma. Safran's lead is increasingly secure and while there is much talk among the teams of learning for future races, without doubt there are many crews who really want to post a leg win on the board before they reach Barcelona on Thursday. Iker Martinez confirmed that they had perhaps sat back a little on the last, long leg and waited for input from Le Professeur - double Vendee Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux - but both are categoric that the way forwards is for the Spanish Olympic medallists to sail their own race and Desjoyeaux to provide feedback afterwards. Remaining schedule 27th June. Calpe - Palma, 140 nautical miles Overall Standings Vuelta a Espana a Vela 1. Safran, Marc Guillemot, FRA, 7 Seahorse July 2010 Similar but (very) different Update World news If you haven't subscribed to Seahorse already we're keen to help you attend to that! - Please use the following promotional link and enjoy the hefty Scuttlebutt Europe discount... and it gets even better for 2 and 3 year subscriptions... Closest Finish For Years In Shetland Round Britain And Ireland Race The first five boats in this year's Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race, sponsored by Shetland Islands Council, have crossed the line at the end of 2,000 miles of grueling racing. Just four minutes separated Westcountry yachtsman Alex Bennett and co-skipper Malcolm Dickinson in Fujifilm from a hard fought-for 2nd place. In the closest finish in memory, Rune Aasberg and Arild Schei in Solo were greeted by a cannon as they crossed the line at the Royal Western Yacht Club at 13:07:02 on 25th June 2010, taking line honours and a class win in a time of 19 days 0 hours 52 minutes and 2 seconds. Having always been in the hunt at all the stopovers, she has come from behind in the last few hours to clinch the lead. She was quickly followed by SunGard Front Arena skippered by Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs at 13:20:33, then 3rd place Fujifilm at 13:24:37, Phesheya Racing (Nick Leggatt and Pip Hutton-Squire) came in 4th at 13:33:59 and Roaring Again with Hans Plas and Robin Verhoef came in 5th at 13:44:43. All results are subject to official confirmation. Less than 38 minutes separated the first five yachts after 2000 miles of testing conditions. It was also a truly international finish, with Solo from Norway, SunGard from Italy, Great Britain represented by Fujifilm, Pheshaya Racing being a South African entry and Roaring Again from the Netherlands. Tour Voile First Racing Day One common factor today: the current. It offered a first victory to Ile-de-France 2010, and a beautiful second place to Nouvelle-Caledonie. It locked Supelec far from the start line, and Defi SEP / Arts et Metiers / Centrale Paris from the finish line. At the end of the day, the current rules the ranking on Dunkerque's watercourse. What a tricky weather for the first ranked race of the Tour de France a la Voile 2010! Sailors had to wait for hours before to start in five knots of Northeast wind and a strong current - two knots! The 28 teams did their best to play with such a strong stream under Dunkerque's bright sun. Ile-de-France 2010's skipper, Jimmy Pahun, speaks about a "treadmill". His crew mastered it, moving on the watercourse when sailing downwind and navigating with the current. They win a very tactical leg. Right behind them, Nouvelle-Caledonie finishes second. Third, CSC-HEC-Ecole Navale is the first student team! They caught up with Courrier Dunkerque (8th) and Oman Sail's Renaissance (9th), even if these professional crews started well. Other students suffered from this current. Supelec is DNS for not crossing the start line within the first four minutes; Defi SEP / Arts et Metiers / Centrale Paris is DNF for crossing the finish line more than 30 minutes after the leader. The treadmill was a tricky one! Stage 1: Dunkerque Stage 2: Calais Stage 3: Dieppe Stage 4: Pleneuf-Val-Andre Stage 5: Lorient Stage 6: Talmont-Saint-Hilaire Stage 7: Royan Stage 8: Port Camargue Stage 9: Marseille Stage 10: La Seyne Sur Mer RORC IRC National Championship The tension was mounting at the start of the final day of the RORC IRC National Championship. The international fleet from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Netherlands and South Africa were waiting to act out the final chapter of the championship. The seabreeze kicked in from south west at about 1100 and the fleet got into race mode for the last two races of the championship. During the day, the southwesterly built from a wispy six knots to a stiff sixteen knots with wind over tide, giving the Western Solent some degree of swell; truly sublime racing conditions. There were dramatic scenes right from the off with a bevy of boats infringing the start line of Race 7. Johnny Vincent's TP52, Pace, was called over the line and got back smartly to not only recover but to win Race 7. In IRC One there were no less than five boats hauled back to restart. The RORC IRC Super Zero title was won by Charles Dunstone's highly impressive TP52, TEAMORIGIN Rio. Volvo Ocean winner, Jules Salter, who is currently navigating with Emirates Team New Zealand, was in the afterguard. In IRC Zero Glynn Williams' Swan 45, WISC, was four points off the lead overnight. WISC took up the challenge, nailing the start of Race 7 and battled all the way to the finish taking the bullet by less than 30 seconds on corrected time. IRC Zero went to the wire. Going into the last race, WISC was level on points with Nick Burns and Fred Kinmouth's King 40, EFG Bank Mandrake. John Shepherd's Ker 46, Fair Do's VII, won the last race of the day but WISC clinched the IRC National title for Class Zero after coming home in second place. In IRC One Dave Dwyer's Mills 39, Marinerscove.ie, continued their relentless onslaught, notching up win number four in Race 7. Peter Rutter's Grand Soleil 43, Quokka 8, was a solid second but a battle went to the wire for third place between four boats who will be racing in the Rolex Commodores' Cup: Christopher Opielok's Corby 36, Rockall III, Robert Davies' Corby 36, Roxy 6, and Philippe Delaporte's J 122, Pen Azen. In the last race Rockall III overhauled their rivals to clinch third place. Marinerscove.ie was also declared overall RORC IRC National Champion. Successfully retaining their title, a feat only ever achieved once before by Justin Slawson's Big Cheese in 2001. Chris and Hannah Neve's, No Chance, has had a cracking championship and blew the opposition away with a bullet and a second to take the IRC Two title by a healthy margin. It was evident why they have been chosen to represent England for the forthcoming Rolex Commodores' Cup. No Chance was also awarded the Jackdaw Trophy for second best yacht overall in IRC. In IRC Three Louise Morton steering Anchor Challenge was first in class beating two other Quarter Tonners; James Morland's Menace and Mark Lees' Espada, into second and third respectively. Louise was not sailing her usual boat Espada but her sistership Anchor Challenge, which is usually sailed by Peter Morton who was on duty with TEAMORIGIN Rio. -- Louay Habib Camet Introduces The Women’s Wahine Sailing Shorts In Slate Grey For more information on these shorts, please go to www.camet.com All's Well That Ends Well Day Three of the Superyacht Cup Palma 2010, and the docks felt a little subdued in the morning, but the best news was the steady breeze blowing. There was the usual amount of grumbling about the ratings, apparently inevitable with such a wildly diverse fleet, and the competitive nature of these elite owners and sailors - making poor Jim Teeters surely at once the most beloved and most hated man in the large yacht world. By the end of the day, however, after a good long race, the happy feel of the entire regatta resounded throughout the village with echoing Hurrahs, champagne cork gasps, back slaps and smacking kisses. The results ended as they started, with Scorpione dei Mari gleefully sweeping in to a cumulative First in Cruising Class and a convincing win overall. Gorgeous Royal Huisman Gliss, always a strong performer, brought in 2nd Place overall, and also a 2nd in the Performance Class. Jongert Ithaka proved her Dutch creds by coming in 3rd overall and 2nd in Cruising Class. Exemplifying the international nature of such events, the wins were rounded out with Alloy Irelanda sneaking into 3rd Place in Cruising, while P2, Perini Navi's lovely baby, of course ended up on the podium with a 3rd in the Performance division. Bella Mente Nips NYYC Trophy In Anniversary Regatta Win Hamilton, Bermuda: Hap Fauth's Reichel/Pugh 69 Bella Mente took the top individual prize today [Friday] in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta. Fauth (Minneapolis, MN) had a battle on his hands from start to finish in both races with class 1 British rival Ran, a hot JV 72 sailed by Niklas Zennstrom, and from the Newport Bermuda Race St. Davis's Lighthouse winner Carina sailed by Rives Potts (Westbrook, CT). Fauth took first place with a 2-1 for a 3 point score, Potts had a 1-3 for 4 points and Zennstrom was third with 3-2 for 5 points. Fauth and crew have won the New York Yacht Club Trophy for the top boat in this 2-race regatta. The RBYC Anniversary Regatta is the third event of the Onion Patch Series. The series began with racing in the 156th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex on June 13-14 in Newport Rhode Island, included the Newport Bermuda Race that started June 18th from Newport, and concluded today in a brilliant finish off the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Marina in Hamilton Harbour. Ran takes Onion Patch Series with better Newport Bermuda score Ran was the individual winner of the Onion Patch Series in results posted today [Friday]. Niklas Zennstrom scored 2-1 in the New York YC Regatta, 10 in the Newport Bermuda Race. and 3-2 in the RBYC Anniversary Regatta for a total of 18 points and wins the Henry B. du Pont Trophy for the best scoring individual yacht participating in the series. Bella Mente came second with 1-2-13.75-2-1 and was only 1.75 out of 1st place with 19.75 total points. Third place went to Newport's Clayton Deutsch and his Ker 55 Sforzando with 26.5 total points in the subset of boats entered in the Onion Patch Series. Five 3-boat teams were formed to compete for the Onion Patch Trophy. Coming first was the New York Yacht club team of Sforzando, Rambler sailed by George David (Hartford. CT) and Bella Mente. The Naval Academy Sailing Squadron... Flirt, Swift and Invictus... came second. The Storm Trysail Club Red Team... Carina, High Noon and Gold Digger... was third. The Catherine Hollis Memorial Trophy goes to Carina the yacht entered in the Onion Patch Series that had the lowest corrected time in the Newport Bermuda Race. -- Talbot Wilson Featured Brokerage This beautiful and probably most refined of the Open 40 racing designs from Group Finot was designed and built for the 2001 Transat Jacqus Vabres. In 2002 she was purchased, refitted and renamed Spirit of Yukoh for the 2003 Around Alone Race. Finishing first in class she won the Harry Mitchell award proving to be the fastest among the Open 40's. In 2005 she undertook a major refit which was carried out by Open 60 preparateur/project manager Brian Harris at the Maine Yacht centre. She was fitted with a state of the art interior pod and all the ships systems and equipment were renewed. Sails and handling equipment were upgraded again in 2007 again to a high standard and specification.Anasazi Girl departed from the North Eastern United States in late 2006 and sailed non-stop to Cape Town. She then circumnavigated Cape Town to Cape Town with one stop in New Zealand. The last leg from Cape Town was carried out with a short stop in Bermuda. The yacht was inspected in the summer of 2009 for Boatshed by Merfyn Owen of Owen Clarke Design Brokerage through Boatshed Performance.com: www.yachtworld.com/boatshedperformance/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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