In This Issue
The Fleet Pushes North | Passage Race kicks off the 11th edition of China Cup | Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Competition | Junior Gold Cup | No Optical illusion | Changes In Leadership And New Publications At SYRF | Marblehead MA attorney Charles Cook among 10 indicted in sex trafficking ring | Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde arrive in Le Havre for the final Championship race | Launchings | 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

The Fleet Pushes North
Speeds are up as the Volvo Ocean Race fleet left the island of Porto Santo to starboard early this morning and turned north, aiming towards the final mark of the course before the finishing line off Lisbon, Portugal.

Vestas 11th Hour Racing, having survived a scare when a ballast tank hose failed, dumping 800 litres of water in the bilge, was first around and is now charging towards the new 'virtual mark' set yesterday, dubbed Porto Santo North.

It's nearly directly downwind, meaning the teams will be gybing towards the mark, but this part of Leg 1 is largely setting up as a speed contest.

MAPFRE isn't making it easy on the leader. With a different sail configuration, the Spanish team has been able to match speed with the Vestas boat, while sailing a slightly more favourable direction towards the mark, making a gain of nearly 4-miles between the 07:00 and 13:00 UTC position reports.

Positions in the chasing pack remain in flux. Less than 10 miles separate fourth from seventh place. Every mile gained is hard-earned. Any lapse is punished.

Leg 1 - Position Report - Thursday 26 October (Day 5) - 13:00 UTC
1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing -- distance to finish - 572.0 nautical miles
2. MAPFRE + 12.2nm
3. team AkzoNobel +13.3
4. Dongfeng Race Team +22.9
5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +29.7
6. Team Brunel +32.7
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic +33.0

volvooceanrace.com

Passage Race kicks off the 11th edition of China Cup
The 11th edition of the China Cup International Regatta opened with the passage race from Hong Kong to Shenzhen today. With around 1,500 sailors from 40 different nations and regions, this event is more international than ever and the competition tougher by the year.

In the hotly contested one-design fleet of Beneteau 40.7s, Ellian Perch's crew on My Side Team from South Africa threw down the gauntlet by winning their fleet. Yiihua Pocket Emirates Team New Zealand finished second, the Kiwis desperate to win this event at their third attempt. Among the crew are two of the winning America's Cup crew from earlier this year, Josh Junior and Andy Maloney.

In terms of line honours, Frank Pong's 75-footer Jelik led the way in a race that saw very light winds from start to finish. Principal race officer Simon James had taken the precaution of putting in two gates on the race course that could also serve as early finish lines if the fleet failed to make it in time to Daya Bay. It was just as well James instigated this fall-back, as most of the fleet only made it to the first gate, so light was the breeze, rarely getting over 5 knots.

In the IRC divisions, it was Standard Insurance Centennial Sailing Team who won Class A, TongJi Blue Sharks-Ocean Link Team who took Class B, and perennial winner Shenzhen Seawolf who won Class C.

Among those to suffer in today's fickle conditions was the defending champion in the Beneteau 40.7s, Wanhang Longcheer. "There were seams of breeze that you either got or you didn't," said Longcheer's Australian professional Steve McConaghy.

On Friday the inshore racing begins, with 11 racing classes competing across four race courses. -- Andy Rice

www.chncup.com
www.facebook.com/chncup

Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Competition
In support of Sail Aid UK

Two of the many submissions that have come in this week:

Name of the bar
Willy T's (The Bight Bay, Norman Is BVI) (pictured at right)

Here's what makes it so great...
Pure and complete debauchery; one can only arrive by boat

Is there a special drink they make?
Belly button (aka Body) shots

Name of the bar:
Sorry, No telephone (in St.Barths)

Here's what makes it so great...
I had the pleasure of visiting this bar during La Transat en double stopover in St.Barths in April 1989. It was right at the end of the pier. And yes, they didn´t have a phone. I wonder if it´s still there after Irma and Marie?

To jumpstart YOUR memories... try this one, courtesy The Telegraph

The Bullshot

Marilyn Monroe said of the Bullshot: "What a terrible thing to do to vodka!" I disagree - they're surprisingly delicious.

50ml Wight vodka
90ml beef consommé

Pour into a tall glass.

Season to taste with with a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper, a good few slugs of Worcestershire sauce, a dash or two of Tabasco, a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of celery salt. Stir everything together, then top up the glass with ice.

Alternatively, for a winter warmer, replace the ice with boiling water 0 it's very reviving after a walk in the snow.

Then when you're feeling warm and fuzzy... have a thought for those struggling so hard to just survive after the hurricanes. Go to SailAidUK.com and contribute.

Submit your booze-soaked memories of great bars here: scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars

Junior Gold Cup
Hamilton, Bermuda: Another tough breezy day on the Great Sound along with a few scattered rain showers did nothing to dampen the spirits of the 38 RenaissanceRe Junior Gold Cup sailors. Upon completion of 6 races, and at the halfway mark, Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA) National Squad sailors, Magnus Ringsted, Sebastian Kempe, Ahzai Smith and Christian Ebbin are currently in the top 10 positions in the regatta.

While the Bermudians were putting on a good show and rising upward, Jose Rother of Argentina was flawless winning all three races today and two by a large margin. Close on his heels is Santiago Pacheco of Uruguay in 2nd and in 3rd overall is Calle Lagerberg of Sweden. Top female sailor is Antonia Schultheis of Malta while younger brother Richard is in 4th overall.

Weather conditions are supposed to change tomorrow which may see a shake-up of the leaderboard. Potentially the breeze may drop down to 5-10kts which will favour the smaller sailors in the fleet. Three more races are scheduled for tomorrow before Saturday's team Race Championships in Hamilton Harbour and a final three fleet races scheduled for Sunday.

Top 10
Jose Rother, Argentina
Santiago Pacheco, Uruguay
Calle Lagerberg, Sweden
Richard Schultheis, Malta
Fltecher Walters, Australia
Magnus Ringsted, Bermuda
Sebastian Kempe, Bermuda
William Pank, Great Britain
Ahzai Smith, Bermuda
Christian Ebbin, Bermuda

juniorgoldcup.com

No Optical illusion
It took a lot of time and effort but 25 years after first - briefly - seeing the light of day on Chris Dickson's Whitbread 60 Tokio the Code Zero sacrificial leech has finally been consigned to the sailing history books

In describing the luff shape of Doyle Sails' new cable-less Code Zero, the designers use a lens analogy - which neatly illustrates the smooth curve that projects forward but gives no hint what it actually achieves. That subtle bulge represents a significant performance gain and an elegant solution to an issue that has troubled these asymmetrical sails ever since increasing boat speeds started dragging apparent wind further and further forward to the point where offwind progress was achieved with upwind trim.

As is often the case, class and rating rules often lagged behind the pace of technical development, leaving sailmakers and competitors to adopt clumsy work-arounds to extract the available performance within outdated regulations.

Almost from the time that asymmetrical spinnakers became mainstream, the name of the game has been to design flatter and flatter sails - until they came up hard against limits imposed by the rating rules.

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

Changes In Leadership And New Publications At SYRF
Newport, RI - The Sailing Yacht Research Foundation (SYRF) is pleased to announce that World-class navigator and America's Cup Technology Director Stan Honey has been elected by the Board of Directors to be the new Chairman, taking over from the role filled by Steve Benjamin, who will remain on the Board. Both Honey and Benjamin are well-recognized world-class sailors and past winners of the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award.

Another Board member, Jay Hansen, will now fill the role of President of SYRF, taking on an active role to work closely with Executive Director McKenzie Wilson in guiding existing SYRF-funded projects as well as finding new opportunities to help SYRF fulfill its mission to support the science behind handicap racing. Hansen is recently retired from being the Chief Operating Officer of the North Technology Group and has had over two decades of experience in guiding research and development project.

This change in leadership comes at a time of numerous ongoing activities for SYRF

"This is an exciting time at SYRF," said Jay Hansen, "because we have many interesting projects underway that are starting to yield results that can have both direct and indirect benefits to big boat sailing."

www.sailyachtresearch.org

Marblehead MA attorney Charles Cook among 10 indicted in sex trafficking ring
Marblehead MA, USA: A prominent attorney from Marblehead is among 10 people indicted in connection with an alleged human trafficking operation, prosecutors announced Friday.

Charles Cook, 65, was indicted Thursday by a statewide grand jury on charges of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, conspiracy to launder money and sexual conduct for a fee.

* Editor: Charles Cook was the Principal Race Officer for the London 2012 Olympics held in Weymouth.

The charges stem from an investigation by the attorney general's office into a website called "Chloe's Companions."

Two women, Sonya "Chloe" Palic, 46, of Manchester, N.H., and Charlotte "Red" Napolitano, 46, of Bedford, N.H., were first arrested last February.

They allegedly oversaw an operation in which 12 to 15 women at any given time were made available through the website to men who were willing to pay for sex.

The women were taken to locations all over eastern Massachusetts.

Pulic and Napolitano were indicted on 19 counts each of trafficking persons for sexual servitude and deriving support from prostitution, as well as conspiracy counts. Pulic was also charged with money laundering. They each face charges in multiple counties.

Also indicted were John Vivilecchia, 53, of Groveland, David Johnson, 60, of Carver, Eric Simpson, 44, of Mendon, Anthony DiDominzio, 52, of Manchester, N.H.; Caleb Gerry, 23, of Gardner, Richard Napolitano, 43, and Eric Peltak, 44, of Manchester, N.H.

The attorney general's office said that the role of Cook, Vivilecchia, Simpson and Johnson involved paying for sex and helping to launder funds.

The men are expected to be arraigned within the next two weeks.

www.barcomplaint.com

Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde arrive in Le Havre for the final Championship race
After a fast crossing from Phil Sharp's home town of Jersey, the British skipper and his Spanish co-skipper Pablo Santurde have arrived in Le Havre to focus on final preparations for the Transat Jacques Vabre race to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Currently leading the Championship aboard zero emissions Class 40 Imerys, the team were one of the first of 38 boats from different race classes to arrive in the Paul Vatine race village.

The day crossing from Jersey to Le Havre was the final training for the duo before they are confronted with the real test in the race to Brazil against 15 other Class 40's.

Moored at Quai des Antilles the team have an intense ten days to complete the final checks. Phil continued: "We have a long list of race security requirements to pass and as of next week we'll be focusing on a range of possible weather scenarios from here to Brazil".

Estimated to arrive in Salvador de Bahia some three weeks later, the team have been working on a daily fitness routine with jogging and weight sessions to ensure that they are on top form for what is expected to be a long endurance race.

Just over one week remains before the big departure of the Transat Jacques Vabre on Sunday the 5th of November at 13:35 local time

www.philsharpracing.com
www.transatjacquesvabre.org/en

Launchings
Prior to the Monaco Yacht Show, Malcolm Mckeon Yacht Design announced confirmation of a contract for the design of a 78m sloop, the studio's largest design commission to date.

Speaking exclusively to SuperyachtNews, Mckeon reveals that the project, having progressed through several evolutionary stages, has now been costed by a number of shipyards and the client is considering the next step.

Project MM78 is an extreme design and has some unique features for a yacht of its size. Mckeon explains that the client wanted a large sailing yacht that didn't actually feel like a large sailing yacht when on board. This has been achieved by the studio through an ambitious use of glass, with floor-to-ceiling hull windows in the main saloon and master suite and a glass aft bulkhead. Large hull-side platforms further enhance the connection with the water. The 360-degree view from the cockpit has negated the need for a flybridge, which would be a first for a new build of this size.

www.superyachtnews.com

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After 10 months of intensive work, numerous meetings between Thierry Bouchard's Ciela Village Team, naval architects VPLP, the number crunchers HDS/Gsea Design and the CDK Technologies design office, the Ciela Village trimaran was launched on 4 October, in Port-la-Foret, Brittany. This 15-metre MULTI 50 trimaran will now begin her first sea trials in the Baie de la Forêt with a view to competing in the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre. A 10-month build

It took 10 months, 20,000 man-hours and 15 people to successfully complete this build. With her sleek form inspired by the large offshore racing multihulls and a helming station that is well protected by a cuddy with clean lines, every detail has been studied at length by the designers, Ciela Village Team and the CDK Technologies design office, with a specific focus: weight saving and performance.

The addition of foils, which is an innovation now permitted by the Multi 50 Class rule, means that hitherto unimaginable speeds can now be achieved on this type of boat: 40 knots

Following her launch on 4 October, the Ciela Village trimaran will immediately begin a period of fine-tuning. This will continue to be an intense period for the teams at CDK Technologies, who will be keenly monitoring the boat's performance during the Transat Jacques Vabre, which is due to set sail from Le Havre in early November.

www.cdk-technologies.com

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Vitters Shipyard in the Netherlands has signed a new order for a 50-metre classic performance ketch. Commissioned by an experienced owner primarily for cruising, the yacht will be built to Lloyd's special service craft rules.

Construction will start by the end of October and delivery is scheduled for late 2019. The naval architecture for this exciting custom superyacht is done by Hoek Design and Rhoades Young Design is responsible for the interior styling. MCM, represented by Nigel Ingram, is serving as the owner's representative. The yacht will have an aluminium hull, built in Alustar, with a centreboard keel and a carbon rig with in-boom furling. The naval architecture has been further developed and fine tuned with the experience of previous projects.

The twin deckhouse configuration includes an owner's deckhouse aft and a central deckhouse complete with saloon. Also on deck will be three cockpits - one for the owner aft, the main cockpit amidships and a crew cockpit forward of the mast. A large tender will be stored on a recessed tender-well on the foredeck.

Below decks this 50-metre ketch will have a contemporary traditional interior. The owner's suite will be situated aft to dovetail with the private deckhouse and cockpit. There will be two dedicated guest cabins - one double and one twin - plus the option to convert a seating area into a third guest accommodation. Other interior facilities include a second saloon and a dedicated gym.The yacht has four crew cabins along with a mess and a separate lounge area.

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Contact
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2010 JND 35. 120000 GBP. Located in Cowes, England.

A bandit IRC or ORC racer. Turn key project and ready to bring in the bread right from the very off.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Port Hamble

+442380 016582

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

The Last Word
Nothing is more obnoxious than a low person raised to a high position. -- John Clarke

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