In This Issue
Small changes make the difference in the trade winds
Leaders emerge on Johnnie Walker Race Day 4
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
The Bay of Palma Delivers
Argo Group Gold Cup
IC37 Launch Kicks Off a Busy Summer for Mills Design
Eric Twiname Junior Championships
Star Eastern Hemisphere ChampionshipDay 2 no races again due to shifty winds
Noble Allen 2018 International Moth UK Championship
Letters to the Editor
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Paddy Murphy

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

Small changes make the difference in the trade winds
The teams are in a drag race north and with all seven boats seeing similar conditions, moding the boat is essential for speed...

The Volvo Ocean Race crews were putting the pedal to the metal on Thursday as they enjoyed fast sailing conditions in the northern hemisphere trade winds.

At 1300 UTC every team apart from Sun Hung Kai/Scallyway had broken the magical mark of sailing 500 miles in 24 hours, lapping up the fast sailing that the stable north easterly breeze has granted them.

Dutch-flagged Team Brunel continued to lead the charge, opening up their advantage on second-placed Dongfeng Race Team to 20 miles, with Turn the Tide on Plastic another 13 miles behind.

The 11th day of Leg 8, from Itajaí in Brazil to Newport, USA, saw the fleet crest above the northern tip of South America as the battle continues around 500 miles south-east of the Caribbean.

With all seven teams now enjoying similar windspeeds of between 18 and 20 knots, the time for strategy is over for the moment, replaced by a quest for all-out straight-line speed.

Standings at May 4 00h UTC
1. Team Brunelj, 1615 nm to leg finish
2. Dongfeng Race Team, 9.5 nm to leader
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing, 22.2
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic, 22.7
5. MAPFRE, 55.4
6. Team AkzoNobel, 68.7
Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, 208.5

www.volvooceanrace.com

Leaders emerge on Johnnie Walker Race Day 4
Johnnie Walker Race Day marked the penultimate day of racing at Antigua Sailing Week. After thunder and lightning, ominous skies and squally conditions were forecast for the morning, racing was postponed for two hours before the international fleet of well over 100 teams set out for racing. Across the 13 classes competing, leaders are emerging, and with the likelihood of just one race tomorrow, several classes are all but decided. Peter Harrison's British superyacht Sojana and Jonty and Vicky Layfield's Antiguan Swan 48 Sleeper X, remain unbeaten.

In the Multihull Class, Robert Szustkowski's Polish HH66 R-SIX has been on impressive form, scoring three bullets and taking line honours in every race. Besides racing one of the world's fastest ocean-going multihulls, Robert also enjoys motor racing and has taken part in multiple Trans-Siberian and Paris-Dakar Rallies. Robert Szustkowski, founder of the Orimari R-Six Foundation has kindly donated laptop computers and IT department equipment to Cobbs Cross Primary school in Antigua as a show of his appreciation to Antigua Sailing Week.

In the three bareboat classes, 26 teams are racing at Antigua Sailing Week. Alexander Pfeiffer's KH+P La Bella Vita has an unpassable lead in Bareboat 1, as does Francois Kunz's KH+P Anguilla in Bareboat 2. Congratulations should also go to Rainer Kamrath's Vanuatu, which won today. Bareboat 3 is going to the wire. Nicole Lameter's all-female team racing KH+P Nardis and Cannon & Harvey's KHS&S Contractors will contest a final decider tomorrow for the class title.

CSA 4 will go to the wire tomorrow. Bernie Evan-Wong's Antiguan RP37 TAZ holds a single point advantage from Mark Chapman's Trinidadian team racing one-off Dingo, which won today's race, less than a minute ahead of Richard Matthew's British HH42 Power of Love.

www.sailingweek.com

Provisional Results

Seahorse May 2018
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Design - Clever stuff going on
Everyone's foiling... well, not at all actually. But virtually everyone who is foiling today is relying on the same basic mechanics - which Phil Smith and John Ilett argue are now well past their use-by date

Update
The lady doth protest too much, a different kind of Cup 'challenge', painful lessons to learn and how to keep your chin up in Miami. Plus 'those' scows. Blue Robinson, Jack Griffin, Charlie Enright, Malcolm Page, Carol Cronin, Terry Hutchinson

RORC news
For some it was simply too much of a good thing Eddie Warden-Owen

Seahorse build table - At it again
Jo Richards and Guy Whitehouse can be relied upon to think up 'interesting' solutions

Sailor of the Month
Love sailing, love racing, it's all the same really

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The Bay of Palma Delivers
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Azzurra solved an early morning problem which might have jeopardised the first racing day of the 2018 season and went on to win the first race for the TP52 class at the 15th Sail Racing PalmaVela regatta on the Bay of Palma. Adding a third from the second of the two races contested today sees the Roemmers family team lead the ten boat fleet by two points from Tony Langley's Gladiator.

As the Melges 40 class makes its regatta debut, Inga from Sweden, steered by owner Richard Goransson tops the five boat fleet by a single point.

In the Swan fleets 2017 Sail Racing PalmaVela champion EarlyBird, which has Jesper Radich as tactician this week, has the early lead among the seven ClubSwan 50s, as does Elena Nova in the Swan 45 class and Selene in the ClubSwan 42s.

The Wally fleet raced a 32 nautical miles coastal race to Santa Ponsa and back which was won by J-One, the smallest Wally in the class. The IRC class, racing on the same course as the Wallys, saw Andres Varela Entrecanales' X65 Performance triumphant.

After a delay on the Bay of Palma before a decent sea breeze finally eliminated the offshore gradient wind, the 15th Sail Racing PalmaVela regatta delivered three good windward leeward races for the Melges 40s and for the ClubSwan 50, Swan 45s and the ClubSwan 42s. The TP52 fleet raced two windward leewards which were won by Azzurra, which has Argentina's Olympic champion Santi Lange debuting as tactician, while Harm Muller Spreer's World Champions on Platoon won the second race. They were over the start line early in the first race but the German owner confirmed he is very pleased with his new Platoon, the only Vrolijk design among the seven new near identical Botin designs which together all contested their first ever races today.

Six more classes will increase the regatta fleet by 80 boats on Friday, the second day of racing at Sail Racing PalmaVela.

Top three by class:
Wally (one race completed)
1. J One, Piers Richardson, GBR
2. Magic Blue, Toni Cacace, GBR
3. Tango 2, Ole Hansen, MON

IRC (one race completed)
1. Pelotari Project, Jonsi Segui Platko, ESP
2. Al Capone, Christian Von Trepka, NOR
3. Selene, Tim Anderson, CAY

TP52 (two races completed)
1. Azzurra, Alb erto Roemmers, ITA, 4 points
2. Gladiator, Tony Langley, GBR, 6
3. Alegre, Sebastian Tenghage, GBR, 9

Melges 40 (three races completed)
1. Inga From Sweden, Richard Goransson, SWE, 7
2. STIG, Alessandro Rombelli, ITA, 8
3. Sikon, Yukihiro Ishida, JPN, 9

Club Swan 50 (three races completed)
1. Earlybird, Hendrik Brandis, GER, 4
2. Onegroup, Stefan Heidenreich, GER, 10
3. Niramo, Sonke Meier Sawatzki, GER, 10

Swan 45 (three races completed)
1. Elena Nova, Christian Plump, GER, 5
2. K-Force, Jan De Kraker, NED, 7
3. Porron IX, Luis Senis, ESP, 10

Club Swan 42 (three races completed)
1. Selene Alifax, Massimo De Campo, NED, 3
2. Pez De Abril, Jose Maria Meseguer, ESP, 7
3. Dralion, Pit FInis, GER, 9

Full results: www.palmavela.com

Argo Group Gold Cup: MacGregor, Mirsky lead a field that includes three past Gold Cup champions
Hamilton, Bermuda: Lucy MacGregor and Torvar Mirsky, respectively the reigning Women's and Open Match Race World Champions, headline a championship field slated for the Argo Group Gold Cup, the most prestigious match race regatta in the world.

Hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the 68th running of the Argo Group Gold Cup is scheduled May 8-12. Twelve teams will be vying for the $100,000 prize purse, of which $30,000 is earmarked for the champion. First awarded in 1907, the King Edward VII Gold Cup is one of the most coveted trophies in match racing and carries a panache that regularly attracts the world's best sailors.

This year's field is no exception. Johnie Berntsson of Sweden is a two-time past champion (2008, '14) and two-time runner-up (2011, '12). Taylor Canfield of the U.S. won the Gold Cup in 2012, finished 3rd in 2013 and '14, and placed 4th in 2015. He comes into the regatta with a hot hand having won the Congressional Cup two weeks ago in Long Beach, Calif.

Mirsky, who'll be competing at the Gold Cup for the fourth time, won the coveted trophy in 2011 and the match racing worlds last year in China. MacGregor is a two-time winner of the Women's Worlds (2010, '17), represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, and will be racing the Gold Cup for the second time after her debut in 2010.

The King Edward VII Gold Cup is the oldest match racing trophy in the world for one-design keelboats. The Gold Cup was given in 1907 by King Edward VII at the Tri-Centenary Regatta at Jamestown, Virginia, in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the first permanent settlement in America. The trophy was won by America's Cup Hall of Fame member C. Sherman Hoyt, who donated it to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club three decades later.

Racing begins Tuesday May 7th.

argogroupgoldcup.com

IC37 Launch Kicks Off a Busy Summer for Mills Design
The first County Wicklow designed Melges IC37 designed by Mark Mills, Afloat.ie's Sailor of the Year in 2009, arrived at New England Boatworks last Monday afternoon, and was out sailing Tuesday afternoon after fitting keel, rudder and rig.

Three days of sailing 001 in wind speeds between 6 and 20 with the development group including Harry Melges, Kenny Read and designer Mark Mills, key contributors from Harken, Spinlock, and Southern Spars, and NYYC members onboard produced unanimous enthusiasm for the new design.

North Sails President Read who was an integral part of the development of the class summed up the first sail as "Really amazing, the boat feels good!". With no major issues arising it marked the smoothest assembly and initial sailing trials imaginable in perfect spring conditions in Newport.

Designed to offer a stable platform for a wide range of crew skills to enjoy high performance sailing the IC37 combines the design DNA of the latest generation of raceboat with features to appeal to the widest cross-section of sailors and owners. Strict One Design limitations on the boat and crew, a deliberately limited sail wardrobe, and attractive pricing are key components in building a class with widespread appeal, built on the foundation of 20 boats ordered by the New York Yacht Club.

afloat.ie/resources/

Eric Twiname Junior Championships
More than 280 of Britain's most promising young sailors will come together for a Bank Holiday battle at the 32nd Eric Twiname Junior Championships.

The iconic regatta, hosted by Rutland Sailing Club in conjunction with the Eric Twiname Trust, will take place in eight RYA-recognised classes - Optimist, RS Feva, Topper and Laser dinghies and four kinds of Bic Techno windsurfer.

The sailors, aged between 10 and 16, hail from the RYA's ten home countries and regions nationwide, and represent the very best in regional talent.

The regatta, named in memory of legendary sailor, author and journalist Eric Twiname, is regarded by many young racers as a rite of passage as they continue their journey to become top-level racers.

What's more, many of the country's most successful sailors count themselves as past competitor at the Eric Twiname Junior Championships.

Each of the sailors has been invited to compete at the regatta, held from May 5-7, after proving themselves among the top talent from their region.

Results will be posted here

www.facebook.com/Britishyouthsailingteam/

Star Eastern Hemisphere ChampionshipDay 2 no races again due to shifty winds
Trieste: Races cancelled again on day 2 of the Star Eastern Hemisphere Championship 2018, organized in Trieste by the Yacht Club Adriaco, with a fleet of 67 crews, from 17 nations.

As yesterday, the day started with a strong bora wind blowing between 25 and 30 knots. The Race Committee was forced to postpone the start of the races. Later on, two starts were given, but both races were abandoned during the first windward leg due to a very shifty and gusty wind which wouldn't have allowed for regular races. In the afternoon a very strong bora started to blow and races could not be held and the crews had to go back to the Yacht Club Adriaco's docks.

The first warning signal for tomorrow, day 3 of the Star Eastern Hemisphere Championship 2018, is set at 11:00.

2018ehc.starchampionships.org

Noble Allen 2018 International Moth UK Championship
July will see the foiling Moth fleet descend on Thorpe Bay, Essex for four days of racing in the beautiful estuary of the River Thames. The fleet will be chomping at the bit, especially those who travelled to Bermuda for the World Championship, only to have the majority of the days abandoned due to either too much or too little breeze.

There is free camping and car parking on site and, thanks to the fantastic title sponsors Noble Marine and Allen Sailing, a free bacon roll and coffee in the morning, pasta and beer when signing off and an evening meal on the first two days of the event. The final day barbeque, prize giving and closing party will also feature the WetsuitOutlet.co.uk Happy Hour! What more could you want?

If you're one of the many people who would love to be sailing a foiling Moth or are simply fascinated by the continuing developments in the class, then Mark Jardine and Beau Outteridge will be posting daily reports, photos, videos, interviews and features throughout the event.

Racing takes place from 11th-14th July with three races scheduled each day. The prize giving will feature over £1500 of equipment from the generous sponsors. To further encourage participation prizes will mostly be awarded to sailors competing in their first Moth Nationals and those racing with a single sail and set of foils checked in for the event.

2018 is the 90th Anniversary Year of the International Moth class.

NOR

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 Adrian Morgan:

What relevance has World Sailing, the ISAF and IYRU before that ever had to the Loch Broom Sailing Club, Garve Road Ullapool, Wester Ross? Nothing, ever. And that probably applies to 99% of small sailing clubs the world over. Meanwhile in blazers and ties, "our" representatives, in fancy venues, at immense cost debate over lobster thermidor and fine wines the future of our sport.

* From Keith Musto:

Responsibility is a dangerous tool. So often objectives are lost as well meaning leaders loss sight of historical logic and of whom they serve.

This would appear to be the situation we are in danger of facing in World Sailings conundrum in selecting classes for the 2024 Olympics. Paul Henderson's letter, thank you Paul, coupled with the letter of Kim Andersen, gives a clear explanation of why the National Federations must remind World Sailing who they serve.

Personally I have no quarrel with change but it must respect both gender, physique, technical ability, skill and fitness. The Finn and Star are classic reminders of such demands. Historically our world body, irrespective of its various titles, has made class changes that have proven to be hasty and expensive. Lets not repeat these mistakes.

I am in total agreement with those who gave their names to the editors as concerned sailors. Thank you guys.

* From J. Joseph Bainton:

Response to Alastair Skinner: Among those not participating in the next A C is Louis Vuitton.

* From Tom Ehman:

Contrary to Mr Skinner's assertion in #4804, the historical high point for AC entries was Perth 1986-87, with 13 challengers and 4 defender-candidates, not Valencia 2007 with 11 and 1, respectively. Regardless, as with Perth, Valencia was also a terrific event.

* From Simon Fishwick:

What world does Kim Andersen live in? It seems to be far removed from the one in which I sail.

He writes that "I have a hard time understanding the reasoning for these statements" (that sailing has never been a spectator sport). Does he not realise that any event that requires an arena measured in miles can never be a spectator sport?

Most, if not all people I know with an interest in sailing are interested in participating, not spectating. Mr Andersen needs to realise that his priority must be in specifying events for the participants, not for spectators. Without support from participants he has no events. None of them care whether the spectators are there or not.

Featured Brokerage
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Charis is a stunning example of the semi custom Maxi Dolphin 65 by Luca Brenta. Launched in 2004 and fully refitted in 2012.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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RP 78 maxi "Capricorno". Located in La Spezia, Italy.

Reichel-Pugh design, McConaghy carbon construction, Sydney Hobart and Cape Town-Rio winner as Morning Glory.

Reinvented as the ultimate cruiser racer by the team at Nauta Yachts with new deck, interiors and rig.

After winning the ARC, she sailed and explored remote areas around the world such as Patagonia, Cape Horn, Polynesia and Eastern Australia.

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The Last Word
It is a drumbeat which only a few can hear clearly enough to follow, but those that do sometimes follow it for very many years. -- Paddy Murphy on restoring old boats

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