In This Issue
Red Bull Youth America's Cup | Lionheart wins the America's Cup Superyacht Regatta in Bermuda | Bosun | Little 'Selkie' wins Marion Bermuda Overall | Figaro Leg 3 - The Sprint Stage | Bermuda 1-2 Race Leg 2 Start | 2017 FAST40+ UK National Championship | 2017 Melges 40 Grand Prix Gets Underway | Accomplished Yachtsman's Private Collection To Be Sold By Online Auction | "Courageous" Documentary on NBC | Letters to the Editor | Featured Brokerage

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

Red Bull Youth America's Cup
America's Cup Artemis Youth Racing stole the early advantage in the Pool A Qualifiers of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, with the Swedish team finishing the pool's first day of racing on top of the standings after scoring two first and a third in the day's three races.

With Pool B teams NZL Sailing Team, Land Rover BAR Academy, Spanish Impulse by IBEROSTAR and local favourites Team BDA having already booked their places in The Red Bull Youth America's Cup Finals, it was the turn of the six teams who make up Pool A to try and join them, with four spots up for grabs after the two days of Qualifying action in Bermuda.

Pool A is made up of Kaijin Team Japan, SVB Team Germany, Team France Jeune, Artemis Racing (SWE), Youth Vikings Denmark and Team Tilt (SUI), all focused on making it through to the Finals of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, the pathway to a career at the top level of international sailing.

Pool A Qualifiers Leaderboard (Day One)
Artemis Youth Racing, 28 points
Team France Jeune, 26
SVB Team Germany, 24
Team Tilt, Switzerland, 21
Youth Vikings Denmark, 19
Kaijin Team Japan, 17

Watch the 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup Finals, live on Red Bull TV on June 20 and 21 at 2:00pm local Bermuda time/5:00pm UTC. 

www.redbullsailingnewsroom.com

Lionheart wins the America's Cup Superyacht Regatta in Bermuda
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

JClass Overall victory in the highly competitive fleet of six J Class yachts earned the crew of Lionheart the top prize at the second America's Cup Superyacht Regatta, hosted by Boat International Media. The record sized J Class fleet, racing in association with the Bermuda Business Development Agency, was the centre of attention amidst the 20 superyacht crews mustered in Bermuda. You can catch up on all the action from the event with our highlights video. 

Lionheart, which has seven times round the world racer Bouwe Bekking as its long time tactician, reaped the rewards of their solid, consistent sailing - finishing third today - to win the class which contains dozens of past America's Cup winners among the crews competing in Bermuda.

Also in the running for the overall trophy was Action, the 37.3m Dykstra design built by Royal Huisman, which won Class B. Tension prevailed into the final minutes of the last race as Action saved her time on her rivals by virtue of the last two or three windshifts picked out by double Olympic silver medallist and Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Ian Walker who works in concert with Shirley Robertson, a double gold medal winner who concentrates on keeping the boat speed up. Walker was coach to Robertson's 2004 gold medal winning Yngling trio in Athens and their chemistry is important on board, along with the precise navigation and weather info from Marcel van Trieste.

Bequia, the beautiful Stephens Waring and White 27.6m design, won for the second day in a row to win Class C overall. Tom Whidden, who first won the America's Cup with Stars & Stripes in 1980, guided Bequia to the class win, highlighting the range of courses as an outstanding feature of the event.

Lord Irvine Laidlaw's Class A winner Highland Fling 15, a Nautor's Swan 115 which was launched last year, also made sure of the top prize for the division by wining two of their three races. Tactician Stuart Childerley, a past GBR Olympian who is in demand around the world as a top Principal Race Officer, loved his return to the cut and thrust of calling tactics rather than setting courses and laying start lines.

www.americascupsuperyachtregatta.com

Bosun
An immediate opportunity has arisen for an energetic race orientated sailor to become an integral part of the owner's sailing programme.

Activities will include:

- Hands on maintenance of several yachts supported by yard
- Commissioning and race preparation
- Sailing trials and delivery passages
- Joining race crew

This full-time position will appeal to an experienced capable person with good organisational ability. The more sea miles the better with a Yachtmaster Offshore qualification as a minimum.

Please apply to Oyster Properties, Fox's Marina, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 8NJ
Email

Little 'Selkie' wins Marion Bermuda Overall
RHADC Bermuda: 'Selkie', Chip Bradish's 1988 Morris Ocean 32.5 footer from Jamaica Plain near Boston, was the overall corrected time winner of Class D and the entire 40th Anniversary Marion Bermuda Race. She was the smallest boat in the race and was sailed using only celestial navigation.

'Jambi', the Bermuda 50 that was line honors winner, was last on corrected time. She corrected at 127 hours 32 minutes and 38 second and finished almost 23 hours before 'Selkie'. The top eight boats in Class D were the top eight boats in the fleet.

The race started June 9th in Marion MA. 'Selkie' finished June 15th at 51 minutes after midnight. Her provisional elapsed time was 131 hours 40 minutes and 30 seconds. Her corrected time under ORR handicap scoring was 90 hours 44 minutes and 08 seconds.

Sailing with Bradish were Max Mulhern (Navigator), George Dyroff (Watch Captain) and Peter Sidewater (Crew).

'Selkie' and crew will hoist the Gosling Rum Founders Division Trophy, The Beverly Yacht Club Polaris Trophy and Class A first Place Trophy and more. It's a big win for the little boat.

Selkie-folk are mythological creatures found in Irish, Scottish, Faroese, and Icelandic folklore. Selkies are said to live as seals in the sea, but shed their skin to become human on land.

Race Blogs are posted on Boat Blogs.
www.marionbermuda.com/race-media/boat-blogs

www.marionbermuda.com

Figaro Leg 3 - The Sprint Stage
Thursday afternoon saw the start of stage 3 of La Solitaire URGO le Figaro race, the fleet departed the French port of Concarneau a little under 30 hours after arriving in the small hours of Wednesday morning on completion of leg 2.

The 150 mile 'sprint stage' will take the 43 skippers on a Concarneau to Concarneau route via "Sud banc de Guerande" and will take 24 hours of navigation to complete. Departing in 16kts of wind and reaching along at 7 knots in overcast skies the Figaro fleet worked their way south initially under genoas before setting large spinnakers, this first section a follow my leader leg. It was Adrien Hardy (Agir Recouvrement) who was first out of the pack, taking advantage of Charlie Dalin who wrongly returned to the start line thinking he was recalled.

Once the fleet rounded the Radio France Buoy more tactical opportunities were created seeing them spread out and opting when to gybe to head east. Early this evening the leaders will approach the island of Belle Il where options of sailing to the north or to the south of it allow for bold tactical decisions, decisions that could make or break this leg for some brave enough to commit.

At the 16:00 check in Adrien Hardy (Agir Recouvrement) led the fleet with Alexis Loison (Custopol) in second. Race favorite Nicolas Lunven under half a mile from the leader in 6th position but gaining. Leading the international standings rookie Milan Kolacek (Czeching The Edge) sits in 7th position whilst Justine Mettraux (Teamwork) is half a mile further back in 16th. Mary Rook (Inspire +) leads the British contingent with Alan Roberts (Seacat Services) back in 24th and Hugh Brayshaw (The Offshore Academy) in 33rd.

www.lasolitaire-urgo.com

Bermuda 1-2 Race Leg 2 Start
And they are off. The classes started at 0900 however in about reverse order this time. Class 4, Class 6, Class 3, Class 2, Class 1. Wonderful time minus the short rain shower we had; not supposed to rain on the Race Committee. A J boat and several high speed ferries vied for the Cut space with the fleet. All went well however Halcyon is headed back. A repair to the back stay needs a little mod. Halcyon is anchored waiting for Vernon Hultzer to help out. Alan Oatley and his daughter Julian provided the boat and manpower as well as Eric Johnson and Fred Green.

Race Tracker: yb.tl/onetwo2017

www.bermuda1-2.org

2017 FAST40+ UK National Championship
Friday 23 - Sunday 25 June
Hosted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club

The 2017 FAST40+ National Championship will take place during the RORC IRC National Championship, with racing in the Solent over three days. A maximum of eight races are scheduled, including a variety of windward / leeward and round the buoys courses.

Peter Morton's brand new Carkeek MkIV Girls on Film will be racing for first time. In his previous boat, also called Girls on Film, 'Morty' won the 2016 FAST40+ Race Circuit and is the defending FAST40+ IRC National Champion. However, this year, the Isle of Wight based team has it all to do.

Mark Rijkse's Reichel Pugh 42 South was in outstanding form for Round 1 of the Fast40+ Race Circuit, scoring four podium finishes to place second for the regatta. 42 South proudly displays the Silver Fern on its hull, signifying Mark's New Zealand nationality. Mark has never raced a keelboat before, let alone a FAST40+, his previous racing experience was in dinghies.

Bendix Huegelmann is part of the young German team racing the Felci designed Silva Neo, the team come from all over Germany, and none of the crew is over 30. In the first round of the 2017 FAST40+ Circuit, Silva Neo was the most consistent team of the regatta, finishing in third place.

www.fast40class.com

2017 Melges 40 Grand Prix Gets Underway
Porto Cervo, Italy: The Melges 40 - the largest and most powerful keelboat ever produced by Melges Performance Sailboats will debut in Porto Cervo, Italy at the 2017 Melges 40 Grand Prix starting tomorrow.   As event organizer, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) will baptize the field of competitors racing the new 40-foot carbon, canting keel sailboat designed by Botin Partners.

For the first 2017 event and the only one to be held in Italy, there are four teams in Porto Cervo. Additional Melges 40s will be launched in the coming months.

Alessandro Rombelli's STIG (Melges 32 and Melges 20 World Champion), Richard Goransson on INGA (2016 Melges 32 Series Champion), Valentin Zavadnikov's SYNERGY GT (2014 Audi Sailing Series), and Hannes Waimer at the helm of NIGHTSHIFT from Dubai are the protagonists of the Melges 40 Grand Prix.

The current onboard configuration is a crew of nine, including the helm/owner. Tactics will be entrusted to Olympic Gold Medallist Jordi Calafat on STIG, multi-champion Vasco Vascotto for INGA, America's Cup winner Ed Baird on SYNERGY GT, and former Volvo Ocean Race sailor Gordon Maguire for NIGHTSHIFT.

The first warning signal commences at 12.00 noon tomorrow with a forecast of medium to light winds. The event concludes on Saturday, with a prize-giving ceremony at Piazza Azzurra at 18.00.

Event site on YachtScoring.com
yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=4233

www.melges40.com

Accomplished Yachtsman's Private Collection To Be Sold By Online Auction
Click on image for photo gallery.

Auction Due to his relocation abroad, Marriott & Co. are instructed by their client to offer for sale by online auction his collection of yachts, masts, sails, dinghies, RIBS, a DAF flat bed truck and various marine ancillaries.

Items for sale in this rare opportunity include a Modern 6m racing yacht 'Thisbe', a Vintage Modern 6m racing yacht 'St Francis V1', a YW Seahorse 28ft 'Rocinante', a Freedom 21ft designed by Gary Hoyt 'Codling', a 2.4 m R Norlin, a never used Mcnulty 9ft sailing tender, a Flying 15 sailing yacht, a Tornado catamaran, a Guy Thompson T31 hull, a Valiant 450 RIB, various mast sections, mainsails, headsails, spinnakers, rigging and other marine equipment and eclectic items of interest.

The online auction closes from 3pm Wednesday 21 June 2017.

Viewing of the items is available near Lymington, Hampshire on Tuesday 20 June strictly by appointment.

Please telephone 01252 712083 or email for an appointment to view.

To view the full catalogue and for further details please visit www.marriottco-auctions.co.uk

"Courageous" Documentary on NBC
Following the first race of the current America's Cup, on Saturday, June 17, NBC will air a one hour program on Ted Turner, looking back on his defense of AC, forty years ago. The scheduled air time is 2:30 PM EDT, but check your local NBC listing.

A preview may be seen at: http://www.nbcsports.com. Ted, his crew, and others involved look back on what Australian skipper Noel Robbins characterized as "The Best Defense."

Not surprisingly, quite a bit of footage in this fine documentary comes from a film of the same name, produced by Offshore Productions in 1977. -- Dick Enersen

The original may be seen at: www.offshoreprod.com

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 Alistair Skinner:

Oh dear!

If the knives aren't out then they are already being sharpened. Sir Ben Ainslie is hardly off the water and complaints are being made about better spending the money or that the team knew they were slow before they got there etc etc. I don't see McLaren Motors not going to the next Grand Prix because they have been beaten a few times.

For the record, and I am sure many know better than me, the only team that won 'out of the blocks' in the America's Cup was Alinghi. Bondy took - what was it? Four attempts? The Kiwi the same, Syd Fischer never won it, Dennis won it 3 times then lost it in 1983 with, in effect, a THREE boat fleet at his disposal.

If all sports had this "oh dear" attitude then Jackie Stewart's only world championship would be for clay pigeon shooting and James Hunt would have never got past Formula 3.

So we were beaten by the Kiwis who were in their umpteenth challenge - says it all doesn't it, and they didn't give up after the last time - they would have had every excuse to do so. We Brits tend to be very good at crying in, never mind over, our own spilt milk. Get your hankies out, dry your eyes and get ready to support our team again next time round for goodness sake.

* From Ben Nicholls:

If OTUSA retain the AC, the current format will be expanded upon and hopefully we will have to wait less than every 4 years for the finals. 5 out if 6 teams are in agreement on this. Spain and Germany might also get involved?

If ETNZ win, all bets are off. It will be interesting to see if the other 5 teams elect to stay in a World Series format, instead of the AC World Series, the Louis Vuitton World Series perhaps? No matter what the outcome, the TV coverage needs to dramatically improve in the UK if interest in these events is to be sustained. With the BT Channel 115 only accessible in certain parts of the country, reverting to watching the racing on an iPhone is hardly doing modern technology justice!

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The Last Word
"We must always remember, however,' said Psmith gravely, 'that poets are also God's creatures." -- P.G. Wodehouse

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