In This Issue
Hong Kong-London / Tacking Off Dakar | Averda move up EFG Sailing Arabia - the Tour rankings with Sur stadium win | Southern Spars awaits the anticipated VOR arrival in Auckland | History in the making: Record entry for the 10th RORC Caribbean 600 | Match Race Super League | Industry News | 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
Hong Kong-London / Tacking Off Dakar
Finally trade winds for Maserati Multi 70, skipper Giovanni Soldini and his crew (Guido Broggi, Sébastien Audigane, Oliver Herrera Perez and Alex Pella). After struggling for two days to pass through a tropical depression, this night just before dawn, the trimaran entered the range of north eastern trade winds, meaning constant winds. It's the beginning of a long starboard tack that will allow the Maserati Multi 70 to head north maintaining good speeds.
In the coming days, the strategy and the route will largely depend on the evolution of the Azores high. Often centered on the Portuguese archipelago, from which the name comes, this high pressure separates the trade winds zone that blow further south at the tropical latitudes from the area of the powerful westerlies winds determined by the depressions that cross the North Atlantic from West to East in our latitudes above 40° N.
Last night, Maserati Multi 70 tacked and headed towards the coastline, before tacking again just 30 miles off Dakar. Always upwind, the route followed this morning (335° i.e NNW) is more favorable than the NW route followed yesterday afternoon because it's more directly towards North. It remains the unknown factor of the passage of the high pressure very unstable these days. Will it be necessary to make a detour up to the Azores archipelago or will it open a shorter passage passing further East, near Madeira islands?
After 26 days of navigation, at the 10.46 UTC rankings, the advantage of the Maserati Multi 70 on the record holder's roadmap is 1.515 miles. There are 2.684 miles left (of the initial 13.000 nm) to the finish line in London.
Averda move up EFG Sailing Arabia - the Tour rankings with Sur stadium win
British two-time Olympian Stevie Morrison made amends for missing out on the top spot in yesterday's EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour coastal raid by leading his Averda team to victory in the penultimate round of stadium racing in Sur.
Averda won two individual races as the eight international teams vying for the 2018 title exchanged blows as they fought one another over six short, intense races held just off the beach of the historic city in perfect conditions.
The fact that the top four teams finished just five points apart indicates just how tight the racing was, with EFG Bank Monaco taking second and overall leaders Beijaflore third.
French team Vivacar picked up two race wins, while Lorina Golfe du Morbihan and Cheminees Poujalat scored one apiece
After 11 days of thrilling racing at four stunning locations in Oman, and with just two days of the regatta remaining, the teams' eagerness to win points was evident.
The finale of EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour will consist of a coastal raid from Bandar Al Rowdha to Muscat's beatiful old town of Muttrah on February 16, followed by a day of stadium racing there the following day.
Results of six Stadium Races - Sur:
1- Averda (Stevie Morrison) - 20 pts
2- EFG Bank (Thierry Douillard) - 22 pts
3- Beijaflore (Valentin Bellet) - 23 pts
4- Lorina Golfe du Morbihan (Solune Robert)- 25 pts
5- Vivacar.fr (Matthieu Souben) - 29 pts
6- Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm) - 30 pts
7- Renaissance (Cedric Pouligny) - 39 pts
8- DB Schenker (Elodie Mettraux) - 40 pts
Overall Results:
1- Beijaflore (Valentin Bellet) - 13 pts
2- EFG Bank (Thierry Douillard) - 23 pts
3- Averda (Stevie Morrison) - 25 pts
4- Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm) - 34.4 pts
5- Vivacar.fr (Matthieu Souben) - 35 pts
6- Lorina Golfe du Morbihan (Solune Robert) - 36 pts
7- Renaissance (Cedric Pouligny) - 57 pts
8- DB Schenker (Elodie Mettraux) - 62 pts
Southern Spars awaits the anticipated VOR arrival in Auckland
Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race is already underway, with the fleet heading for Auckland, home of Southern Spars, on their 6100 nm trip.
Auckland has a long sailing history and maintains a heavy prominence in the yachting calendar to this day. The City of Sails has a proud heritage in the sport of sailing, and has been a key stopover in every edition of the VOR, and what was previously the Whitbread Race, since 1977-78, with the exception of two editions.
With the city also holding the highly anticipated 2021 America's Cup, its importance on the sailing scene is paramount.
In this edition, the Auckland Viaduct has been transformed into a vibrant Race Village for the Stopover, which will open on February 24th.
Southern Spars, as the official rig supplier to the VOR, will have an on-site rep for assistance at the dock in Auckland. We have already provided support at previous stopovers including Lisbon, Alicante and Cape Town and our rep will be on hand to assist in any necessary maintenance or repairs.
It is the second time that the company has provided the full rig package for the Volvo Ocean 65 One-Design, although we have been supplying spars to the podium finishers since Sir Peter Blake's commanding victory in 1989-90. Now, 38 Volvo teams throughout the years have sported our spars, from the previous alloy rigs to our innovative carbon Southern Spars rigs used today.
With less than one week to go, the countdown is on once again to welcome the fleet in our hometown.
History in the making: Record entry for the 10th RORC Caribbean 600
A spectacular start in Antigua is expected on Monday 19th February as the record-breaking fleet of 88 boats sets off on the 10th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 © ELWJ Photography
A record entry of 88 yachts has entered the tenth edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 which has grown both in stature and entries since the race was first contested in 2009. For the 10th anniversary, in excess of 800 sailors from six continents and over 22 nations, will compete in the thrilling race around 11 Caribbean islands. Winners from the Olympic Games, America's Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and multiple world champions have gathered in Antigua and will be competing alongside passionate corinthian sailors, both young and old.
In its ten year history, American yachts have dominated the race, winning the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy on six occasions, setting both the current monohull and multihull records. For the 2018 race, 13 American teams will be competing including, George David's Rambler 88, George Sakellaris' Proteus, and Peter Aschenbrenner's Paradox. The trio are amongst the favourites for the top prizes. However there is strong competition from Australia, France, Great Britain, Germany and Ireland.
American Maxi Rambler 88 is back and skipper George David will be taking part in his sixth race. David has taken line honours on three occasions and with Rambler 100, won overall under IRC in 2011, setting the monohull race record (40 hours 20 minutes 2 seconds). Rambler 88 is the hot favourite to be the first monohull home this year and has world class crew in every department, including three time America's Cup winner, Brad Butterworth. Ludde Ingvall's Australian Maxi CQS will make its debut in the race after successfully taking line honours in the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race. Philip Rann's British Maxi La Bête poses a threat to Rambler 88 and CQS. Race founder and long-standing RORC member John Burnie will be taking part in his ninth race on board La Bête.
George Sakellaris American Maxi 72 Proteus is one of the favourites for the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy, won by the yacht with the best time after IRC time correction. Should Proteus win, Sakellaris will lift the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy for an unprecedented third time. Proteus has an all-star cast, including Stu Bannatyne who is on leave from Dongfeng Race Team in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race. Bannatyne has competed in eight round the world races, winning on three occasions.
In IRC One, Olympian Per Arne Nilsen's Norwegian Swan 66 Enigma VIII is the largest yacht. Philippe Frantz's Nivelt-Muratet 43 Albator has a mixture of highly experienced veteran and young talented Figaro and Tour Voile sailors, all from France. German Swan 56 Latona will have three generations of the von Eicken family on board and representing the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary.
In IRC Two, the largest yacht will be Oceanis 55 Julia, skippered by Louie Neocleous who is just 20 years old and sailing with his father Richard.
Three boats will be racing Two Handed and include Richard Palmer's British JPK 10.10 Jangada competing in IRC Three /
The 10th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 starts on Monday 19th February from Fort Charlotte, outside Nelson's Dockyard. The first start is at 1100. There are plenty of ways to follow the race:
Match Race Super League
After a break of several years, a revived Match Race Grand Prix will take place again in Switzerland.
Match Race Switzerland ranks as a new event of the Match Race Super League between renowned events such as Match Race Germany, the Internationaux de France, the Oakcliff International Match Race (USA), and the Kingdom Match Race in Bahrain.
With the return of the America's Cup to monohulls, the exciting sailing duel-discipline, boat against boat, is enjoying strong tailwind again. This boost has also helped the relaunch of match race sailing by the Swiss Sailing League Association. A high-caliber field of participants from seven nations brings enough world ranking points to raise Match Race Switzerland to Grand Prix level. With the partnership between the Swiss Sailing League Association and the Match Race Super League, Switzerland once again belongs to the venues of the Global Series of 17 events spanning over 4 continents.
Eric Monnin and his Albert Riele Swiss Match Race Team will be coming to Locarno as the defending champion of the inaugural season of the Match Race Super League. He is also looking forward to starting again in Switzerland: "In the second year of its existence, the Match Race Super League is experiencing a pleasing development with a strong increase in regattas. The fact that Switzerland is also running a Match Race Super League Level 1 Grand Prix is a very gratifying development. We are glad that after a few years of absence, Switzerland has another world-class matchrace. "
In the wake of the Swiss Grand Prix, further match race regattas and a Swiss Sailing Match Race series are to be created in Switzerland, which will enable young teams to gain experience in the competition and qualify for a starting slot at Match Race Switzerland and eaqually will recommend the team for Match Race Super League events.
Match Race Super League 2018 Schedule (Details to be found on the MRSL Website):
Porto Alegre Match Cup (BRA-23.-25.March)
Match Race Switzerland (SUI-22.-25.March)
Szczecin-Polish Match Tour(POL-28.April-1.May)
Match Race Germany (GER-16.-21.May)
NJK Open Spring Cup (FIN-24.-27.May)
Porto Montenegro Match Race (MNE-1.-3.June)
Poland tba. (POL-6.-10.June)
Portugese Open (POR-15.-17.June)
Internationaux de France (FRA-26.-29.July)
Argentina (ARG-July)
Match Racing Open European Chapionships (EST-8.-12.August)
New Caledonia tba. (NCL-August)
Oakcliff International (USA-5.-9.September)
Thompson Cup (USA-13.-16.September)
Marina Bay Cup (SIN-13.-16.September)
New Zealand tba, (NZL-December)
The Kingdom Match Race (BHR-13.-17.December)
Chile tba. (CHL-December)
Industry News
KPMG, the administrator for Oyster Marine Holdings in the UK, has received 45 expressions of interest in purchasing the Oyster Yachts brand. This was confirmed to IBI yesterday by CEO David Tydeman. He has also confirmed that the main cause of the group's collapse was the insurance claims that followed the sinking of Polina Star III in 2015.
"There has been a good response to the administration, with KPMG receiving some 45 expressions showing interest in possibly buying Oyster," Tydeman said. "KPMG will start the process of working through these next week with NDAs and bids and it will likely take several weeks to complete."
Polina Star III sank off Spain in July 2015, generating a claim and counter claims of £7.2m. To date only £400,000 has been paid, leaving a £6.8m amount to settled.
"Payment of the claim against Oyster and our counter claims against Bridgland Moulders (a Norwich-based subcontractor) have been delayed and delayed and our shareholder, HTP Investment, became inpatient over the delays so withdrew their support. They feared that our claim would be unpaid by the time they had to pay the claim against us."
The claim against Bridgland alleges improper moulding of the Polina Star 111 and three other yachts - Albatross, Meagan and Reina, which have since been repaired.
The delays to the claim have lasted over two years and had been due to be heard late last year, but a further delay has now moved this to May or June this year.
----------------------------------------------
Warsash Sailing Club (WSC) is delighted to welcome Doyle Sails as a race partner for the 2018 Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series.
The Spring Series kicks off on Sunday 18 March with race starts from 10am in the central Solent. Race dates from then on are Sunday 25 March and Sunday 8, 15, 22, 29 April 2018 with a week's break over Easter.
The classes offered in the Spring Series include four IRC divisions, J/109, J/70, SB20 and J/80. For Black Group there will be one race a day around the cans for the first four Sundays, then two races a day on the last two dates. White Group sports boats will enjoy three races on laid courses each week.
Doyle Sails design and development origins lie in the competitive world of the Americas Cup and today the likes of Hugo Boss and the current J/70 World Champion 'Relative Obscurity' are being powered to success with Doyle sails. The same high level of performance is brought to its cruising sails, combined with a personal service that aims to enable each Doyle customer to get the best from their sails.
Series Chairman, Peter Bateson said: "It's fantastic to have Doyle Sails onboard and we thank them for supporting the 2018 Spring Series. We're really looking forward to working with them when the racing gets underway on 18 March".
www.warsashspringseries.org.uk
www.doylesails.co.uk
----------------------------------------------
Freedom Boat Club and Jeanneau are partnering to develop Freedom franchises among Jeanneau's European dealer network.
The franchise model is being offered to European Jeanneau retailers that can develop FBC locations in their local markets using Jeanneau outboard boats.
"International expansion has been a focus of our long-term strategy the past year, and we are very pleased to be working in cooperation with Jeanneau and their dealers in our European launch," FBC president and CEO John Giglio told Trade Only Today in an email.
Giglio said he expects to announce multiple Freedom Boat Clubs in France this spring, with additional expansion throughout Europe.
A group of Jeanneau dealers attending the Miami International Boat Show will meet with FBC executives to tour a large Florida-based franchise.
www.tradeonlytoday.com/dealers/
----------------------------------------------
The forthcoming Moscow Boat Show, to be held from March 7-11, will occupy approximately 20,000sq m of the extensive Crocus Exhibition Centre on the northwest outskirts of the city.
According to show manager Andrey Kovalev, the domestic market within Russia - which had seen a sharp slowdown after 2010 - has been strengthening in the past two years, helped to some extent by a government decree in 2014 that allocated over 96 billion roubles to the improvement of coastal leisure boating facilities as part of a broader initiative to encourage tourism.
With over 200 exhibitors expected this year, and upwards of 15,000 visitors, the show is the largest in Russia, followed by smaller exhibitions in St Petersburg in September and on the Volga near Samara in June.
----------------------------------------------
Gurit (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) today announced that it will further strengthen its innovative capacity by enlarging its technology and innovation management resources.
Dr. Emiliano Frulloni will join Gurit as CTO and member of the Executive Committee by November 1, 2018, the latest. He has many years of technology and leadership experience in the advanced composites industry and holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and a PhD in Materials Science and Technology from University of Perugia. Dr. Emiliano Frulloni joins Gurit from Solvay where he holds the position of Global R&D Director Composite Product Development. He will report to Rudolf Hadorn, Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Damian Bannister, CTO of Gurit, will take on the position of Director Innovation Composite Materials. In his new position, he will focus on the further development and enhancement of the Company`s base formulations as well as new material technologies for the Company`s prepreg and formulated products ranges. Dr. Damian Bannister will withdraw from the Gurit Executive Committee and his position as CTO of Gurit once Dr. Emiliano Frulloni has assumed his role.
----------------------------------------------
Gill has extended its partnership with Antigua Sailing Week (ASW) for the 2018 and 2019 events to provide the official Merchandise range exclusively for ASW crew members.
According to ASW Merchandise Manager, Jenny Hadeed, this partnership represents exciting developments as the event moves into the next decade. "We are very proud to be working with Gill again as their UV merchandise provides excellent cover for the participating crews. We continue to build a strong brand association between ASW and Gill that enhances not only the look of the crews but the event as a whole."
The existing line has some new and exciting additions for 2018, including micro fleeces in new colours and two new technical tops, the quarter zip and long sleeve both in black.
Since its initial partnership with ASW, Gill recently announced that the British parent company has acquired Gill North America Ltd. Gill's CEO Jamie Tunnicliffe, explains that this acquisition will be beneficial to all. "We are delighted to have finalized a deal which benefits our customers, stakeholders and staff. With this brand consolidation, turnover growth will now exceed GBP£20 million in 2018 and we can ensure that we have a consistent brand message and product offering across the world."
Featured Brokerage
2009 Wally 80 NAHITA. 3,500,000 EUR. Located in Barcelona.
Built by Wally Yachts and designed by Farr Yacht Design, NAHITA was launched in 2009. The skilful combination of pure exterior deck lines and lofty interiors makes NAHITA not only the perfect yacht for family cruising, but also the perfect 80’ foot yacht for competitive sailing. NAHITA’s impressive racing records to date are a true testament, not only to her current owner and crew but, also to the Wally shipyard. These records can be supplied upon request.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Jukka Kaukonen
Mobile: + 33 6 78 63 43 15
KK Superyachts
Les Caravelles, 25 Bd Albert 1er
MC 98000 Monte Carlo - Monaco
-----------------------------------------
Wally 80 Tonemai. 2.5M Euros. Located in Tuscany Italy
Stylish and ship-shape, Tonemai is an iconic Wally ready for the starting line of the Wally Class season 2018 as well as for the family cruising!
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Wally
6 av. Albert II
MC98000 Monaco
+377 93100093
-----------------------------------------
2008 Oyster 72 Solitaire of Bosham. 1,485,000 GBP. Located in Palma.
Built with a breathtaking attention to detail by experienced owner, Solitaire boasts sleek modern lines and a clutter-free feel. Class-leading, beautifully proportioned and practical interior. Performance wise the 72 is hard to beat. Currently used for family cruising and some charter.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks. -- Winston Churchill
Editorial and letter submissions to
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html