In This Issue
Heavy traffic off Cornwall as Concise rounds the Rock | Roberts and CHINAone Ningbo Team win Match Cup Russia | BR31: A new breed of carbon racer | Rallies, Rescues And Rewards: Zhik 29er Worlds | San Diego Yacht Club Repeats at Morgan Cup Champions | Seahorse Sailor Of The Month | A Fitting Finale | Annalise Murphy in crew trials for Volvo Ocean Race | For The Record | 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
Heavy traffic off Cornwall as Concise rounds the Rock
Photo by Carlo Borlenghi, carloborlenghi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
At 15:49:37 BST Tony Lawson's MOD70 trimaran Concise 10 became the first boat to round the Fastnet rock off southwest Ireland. At the time the next boat in the race, George David's Rambler 88 was 111 miles astern. However thanks to their upwind passage their time of 28 hours 49 minutes was well outside of record to the Rock of 22 hours and 21 minutes, set in 2011 by the Loick Peyron-skippered 40m Banque Populaire Maxi trimaran.
The monohull leaders have been making their way up the east side of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) exclusion zone to the west of Land's End and north into the Celtic Sea. In this battle, George David's Rambler 88 has pulled out a 33 miles lead on the water over Ludde Ingvall's 100ft CQS. Behind them, a three-way battle is going on for the lead between the VO65s competing on the Volvo Ocean Race's Leg Zero. At 1600, Team Akzonobel was a mile ahead of Dongfeng Race Team, and Sung Hung Kai Scallyway. However they were still astern of the doublehanded IMOCA 60 - Paul Meilhat and Gwenole Gahinet on SMA. SMA was followed by two of the older IMOCA 60s, Vivo A Beira, sailed by former Solitaire du Figaro winner Yoann Richomme and Pierre Lacaze and Generali, sailed by Isabelle Joschke and Pierre Brasseur, both ahead of the latest generation foil-assisted IMOCA 60s which have not been enjoying the upwind conditions.
To date only two boats, both IMOCA 60s, have opted to go to the west of the Land's End TSS - Jean-Pierre Dick and Yann Eliès on StMichel-Virbac and Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi on Malizia.
Throughout the day the lead in IRC Zero has been changing to smaller boats as those ahead were trapped by the front. At 1600 it was the turn of the Ker 46 Lady Mariposa to take the lead from Bretagne Telecom and before that the Cookson 50 Privateer.
While Rambler 88 was a country mile ahead on the water in IRC Z, Vittorio Miscarini's Mylius 15e25 Ars Una had also pulled out a significant eight mile lead on the water in IRC One ahead of James Neville's Ino XXX, the Italian boat just off Land's End. However it was the lowest rated boat in IRC One, Jean Claude Nicoleau and Nicolas Loday's Grand Soleil 43 Codiam, lying to the west of the Lizard, that had pulled out a significant lead of almost four hours on corrected time.
The biggest competition though is in the Class40 where this afternoon Anglo-French couple Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron aboard Campagne de France have taken over first place from Phil Sharp on Imerys, with Maxime Sorel's V&B also strongly in contention as the boats head up the east side of the Land's End TSS.
Track the fleet in the Rolex Fastnet Race
Roberts and CHINAone Ningbo Team win Match Cup Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia: After a week of ups and downs, a couple of bad hooks and a few close shaves, it was business as usual for the super smooth Phil Robertson and his CHINAone Ningbo team as they beat Sam Gilmour's Neptune Racing team 3-0 in the final of WMRT Match Cup Russia in St. Petersburg on Sunday.
It was his third consecutive 3-0 Match Cup final win, but victory this week was harder won than the others. Robertson was relegated to third in his group in the Qualifying Stage fleet races on Tuesday and Wednesday and had to come back from 2-0 to Steve Thomas in the SUPER 16, looking more vulnerable in the bigger conditions. He was pushed to the wire by Pieter-Jan Postma, uncharacteristically giving up a 2-0 lead to be pulled back to 2-2 before closing out.
In the Semi Finals on Sunday morning against Ian Williams (GAC Pindar), Britain's six-time Match Racing World Champion, Robertson looked distinctly human. He lost the second race to make it 1-1 after being penalised at the start then, already well behind, lost a man overboard and hooked a buoy at the bottom mark for a couple of minutes.
And there was controversy over a penalty decision on the first downwind as they went bow-to-bow in the third race. But Robertson won a gusty fourth to make it 3-1.
All four seasons graced Finals Day, including a 30-knot squall whipping in from the Baltic Sea across the Gulf of Finland and up the Neva River into the spectacular race area in front of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Final results:
1. Phil Robertson / China One Ningbo
2. Sam Gilmour / Neptune Racing
3. Ian Williams / GAC Pindar
4. Matt Jerwood / Redline Racing
5. Pieter-Jan Postma / Sailing Team NL
6. Måns Holmberg / Gothenburg Racing
7. Yann Guichard / Spindrift Racing
8. Jonas Warrer / Aarhus Innovator
9. Steve Thomas / RPM Racing
10. Victor Serezhkin / Gazprom Team Russia
11. Kim Kling / Caprice Match Racing Team
12. Nicklas Dackhammar / ESSIQ Racing Team
13. Markus Edegran / E11even Racing
14. Sally Barkow / Team Magenta 32
15. Nico Delle Karth / Chilli Racing
16. Lukasz Wosinski / Delphia Sailing Team
17. Evgeny Neugodnikov / Team Tavatuy
18. Evgeny Elfimov / M1 Cloud
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Rallies, Rescues And Rewards: Zhik 29er Worlds
Long Beach, California, USA: It was last ditch efforts and comebacks on the race course this final day of racing at the 2017 Zhik 29er World Championship regatta at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club.
For a pair of Aussie ladies, a bullet in the second race of the day said 'Don't count us out yet.' For the team of Benji Daniel and Alex Burger, RSA, it was a comeback race that sealed the deal. And for a young man from Ireland, it was the prognosis of a full comeback after a near tragedy on the racecourse.
Daniel and Burger were crowned the 29er World Champions today - after an uncharacteristic bottom-half-of-the-fleet finish in the day's second race, threatened their success.
Australia's Annabelle Davies, 18, and Madison Woodward, 17, were tied for 18th place going into the last day, clinging to hopes of winning the top female team award; with Tania Bonilla and Nuria Miro, ESP, just three points behind.
But their first race today was "a shocker" Davies said. "Everyone's finding its hard to be consistent," in the big fleets and variable breeze. After finishing 26th, their coach approached with a pep talk. "He said, 'Just don't worry about it - tough it out. Every race is a new race.'"
It was apparently just what the doctor ordered. At the next start, the Aussie gals sprinted off the line, trading leads with Bonilla and Miro, with Catherine Lindsay and Jana Laurendeau, USA, just astern - all the way around the course.
It was 'ladies day' as the gals' teams finished in places 1-2-3, proving "sometimes it pushes you to want to do your best," having tough competition, according to Woodward. "You learn a lot."
Second place in the all-female division, sisters Freja and Astrid Frykman had a stellar day of 5-8-5, and tied for 23rd, in Gold fleet. Spaniards Bonilla and Miro were awarded third place girls team.
Final top five:
1. Benji Daniel / Alex Burger, RSA, 23 points
2. Benjamin Jaffrezic / Leo Chauvel, FRA, 56
3. Theo Revil / Gautier Guevel, FRA, 58
4. Santiago Duncan Loiaz / Elias Dalli Rosario, ARG, 60
5. Seb Lardies / Scott McKenzie, NZL, 106
San Diego Yacht Club Repeats at Morgan Cup Champions
Newport, Rhode Island, USA: For the third time in four years, the Morgan Cup, the toughest trophy in keelboat team racing, has been won by a team from the West Coast. San Diego Yacht Club repeated as the champion today, defeating New York Yacht Club 3-1 in the final series sailed under blue skies and in a shifty and puffy northwesterly breeze.
From 2003, when the Morgan Cup Team Race was first run, through 2013, only the host New York Yacht Club and Long Island's Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club were able to lay claim to the trophy. Southern California's Newport Harbor Yacht Club broke that stranglehold in 2014 and San Diego Yacht Club now appears poised to start its own run. -- Stuart Streuli
Final Results (with Round Robin Win Totals)
1. San Diego Yacht Club, 13 points
2. New York Yacht Club, 12
3. St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, 11
4. Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, New Haven, Conn., 9
5. Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead, Mass., 10
6. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Newport Beach, Calif., 9
7. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Centre Island, N.Y., 8
8. Royal Thames Yacht Club, London, U.K., 9
9. Corinthian Yacht Club, Marblehead, Mass., 7
10. College of Charleston, Charleson, S.C., 2
Team Racing at the New York Yacht Club
Morgan Cup, Aug. 4 to 6, 2017
Hinman Masters, Aug 18 to 20, 2017
NYYC Grandmasters, Aug 25 to 27, 2017
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:
Sean Regan (NZL)
An unprecedented vote for the man who led the rebuild of the America's Cup challenger after her capsize (plenty of votes too for Transat winner Andrea Mura). 'Sean Regan (Dad) worked for days on end without breaks in order to run ETNZ's shore operations. He has put all his blood sweat and tears into Emirates Team New Zealand and it paid off. The team simply wouldn't be able to get by if it wasn't for all of the work, leadership, pride, time, support and many more things Dad gives to the team' - Hailey Regan.
This month's nominees:
Richard Meacham (NZL)
'He was instrumental in getting the ETNZ team together early in the AC35 campaign and all the way through to the final race of the AC. He made sure the boat was on the water every day without fail. He never let anyone have an easy day's sailing and was always pushing for the extra 1%. We all hated him, like really hated him, but ultimately he was the backbone of the team and all the rest of us were just mere ribs' - a friend writes
Paul Goodison (GBR)
The final order at the 2017 Moth Worlds on Lake Garda: Goody 1st then Pete Burling, Iain Jensen, Tom Slingsby, Scott Babbage, Nathan Outteridge, Rob Greenhalgh and Jono McKnight. An extraordinary front row - but Goodison ended the series with half the points of his America's Cup-winning rival. Then come November the former Artemis crewmember will be celebrating his 40th birthday. There's hope for us yet.
Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Henri Lloyd, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!
Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month
To subscribe to Seahorse Digital £30 for one year with discount promo code SB2 click www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital
A Fitting Finale
The record breaking, maximum capacity 36 Copa del Rey finished with a final flourish as the Bay of Palma uncorked a concluding race in the typical Embat sea breeze.
Dieter Schon's Momo crew celebrated winning the Maxi 72 on the RCNP's race dock with beer and a bumper pile of pizzas. It is the German owner's first Copa del Rey triumph as Momo becomes the third different Maxi72 to win a fleet regatta this season after Cannonball won SailRacing Palma Vela in May and Proteus triumphed at the Corfu Challenge, but all eyes will be on this white hot fleet at the Maxi Worlds in Porto Cervo next month.
Naofumi Kamei's Mamma Aiuto! won the GC32 class, the first time the Japanese team has won an event on the GC32 Racing Tour since joining the flying catamaran circuit last year. In flat water and winds of up to 15 knots Mamma Aiuto! came out on top with a race to spare. Their success today followed victory at Copa del Rey MAPFRE 2015 aboard a TP52.
Jason Carroll's Argo was let down by an OCS today but managed to retain second place overall, while the Jêrome Clerc-skippered Realteam, winner of today's second race, ended up tied up on points, but winning third place on tie break against Pierre Casiraghi's Malizia - Yacht Club de Monaco. In 14 races sailed over the last four days eight of the ten GC32 flying catamaran won races, showing the closeness of the competition in this circuit which now moves on to Calvi (Corsica) and Marseille (France.)
Brandis' German flagged Earlybird won here last year in the MRW Swan 45 but had already clinched the inaugural ClubSwan 50 title with a day to spare at the end of the new one design class's Copa del Rey debut with six boats.
Rafael Carbonell's Swan 45 Rats on Fire finally prevailed in BMW ORC 1, the 35 strong biggest class in the regatta. It is the fifth class win for Rats on Fire which has recently crowned J80 world champion Rayco Tabares as tactician.
In the Swan 42 class Jose Maria Meseguer's Pez de Abril won while the Herbalife J80 class victory goes to Bribon Movistar. The only team to count a perfect scoreline is BMW ORC 3 winners Grupo Ceres, Javier Banderas Dufour 34 which won eight of their nine races.
Grupo Ceres and Bribon Movistar won the Trofeo Especial MAPFRE prizes for the best performances in the handicap and One Design classes respectively.
Top three final results:
BMW ORC 1
1. Rats on Fire (ESP), Rayco Tabares, 40
2. Porron IX (ESP), Axel Rodger, 42
3. Maserati (ESP), Fernando Leon, 42
BMW ORC 2
1. Sum Innovation (ESP), Pedro Campos, 18
2. Maverta (ESP), Jose Ballester, 21.5
3. Kundaka - Elite Sails (ESP), Jose Coello, 33
BMW ORC 3
1. Grupo Ceres (ESP), Daniel Cuevas, 8
2. Just the Job (GBR), Scott Beattie, 19
3. Lanzarote Sailing Paradise (ESP), 29
GC32
1. Mamma Aiuto! (JPN), Naofumi Kamei, 46
2. Team Argo (USA), Jason Carroll, 57
3. Realteam (SUI), Jerome Clerc, 61
Maxi 72
1. Momo (IVB), Dieter Schon, 16
2. Cannonball (ITA), Dario Ferrari, 20
3. Proteus (USA), George Sakellaris, 21
Club Swan 50
1. Earlybird (GER), Hendrik Brandis, 16
2. Cuordileone (ITA), Leonardo Ferragamo, 29
3. Ulika (ITA), Andrea Masi, 31
MRW Swan 45
1. Elena Nova (GER), Christian Plump, 27
2. Negra (ECU), Francisco Rizzo, 28
3. K-Force (USA), 36
Swan 42
1. Pez de Abril (ESP), Jose Maria Meseguer, 20
2. Nadir (ESP), Pedro Vaquer Comas, 26
3. Red Electrica de Espana (ESP), Alberto Viejo Puga, 27
Mallorca Sotheby´s IRC
1. Alegre (GBR), Andres Soriano, 22
2. Team Vision Future (SUI), Mergui Mikael, 27
3. Paprec Recyclage (FRA), Stephane Neve, 36
Herbalife J80
1. Bribon Movistar (ESP), Marc de Antonio, 20
2. Les Roches Jeunesse Marbella Team (ESP), Eric Brezellec, 35
3. Ono M&G Tressis (ESP), Javier Padron, 39
Annalise Murphy in crew trials for Volvo Ocean Race
With the next Olympic Games in Japan still three years away, Ireland's Annalise Murphy is being trialled as a crew-member in the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race around the world that starts from Alicante in October.
The 27-year-old Rio 2016 Silver medallist has been sailing with British veteran yachtswoman Dee Caffari's 'Turn the Tide On Plastic' team that is expected to be announced later this month following completion of crew trials.
After a medical review of a knee injury this week, Murphy will not race in the 605-mile Rolex Fastnet Race.
The knee injury occurred in the final race of last week's International Moth World Championships on Lake Garda where Murphy finished top woman and 51st overall in the 240-boat fleet that comprises dozens of top international sailors.
Assuming Murphy successfully emerges from the trials, the round the world race ends at the end of June next year when she would then be released to concentrate on preparations for Tokyo 2020.
For The Record
The WSSR Council announces the establishment of a new World Record:
Record Transatlantic. Singlehanded
Yacht: IDEC. 120 ft Trimaran
Name: Francis Joyon. FRA
Dates:.6th July to the 12th July 2017
Start time: 23; 30; 07 UTC on 06/07/17
Finish time: 01; 37; 02 UTC on 12/07/17
Elapsed time: 5 days 2 hours 6 minutes and 55 seconds
Distance: 2880 NM
Average speed: 23.58 kts
Comments:. Previous record: IDEC. Francis Joyon. FRA. June 13. 5d 2h 56m 10s.
John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council
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