In This Issue
Sophie, Bribon Early Winners as 6 Metres Debut at 37 Copa del Rey MAPFRE
Contender European Championship
New Superior Off Shore Tech Assistance Available at Cowes Week 2018
DSP leads the J/70 UK Class Grand Slam Series
Classic Transpac
AC50 Circuit Rumors
A Hero for our Times
Hospital ship sinking that shocked the nation remembered 100 years on
Vale Tony Bullimore
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Paul McCartney
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
Sophie, Bribon Early Winners as 6 Metres Debut at 37 Copa del Rey MAPFRE
Reflecting a growing interest and passion for the class in Spain, 14 6-Metres raced today for the first time as a fleet on the Bay of Palma at the 37 Copa del Rey MAPFRE. The fleet is split into two divisions - Classic and Modern with seven yachts racing in each division. Hugo Steinbeck and his crew on "Sophie II" won both races in the Modern fleet and Jose Cusí and Pedro Campos, with Ross Macdonald as tactician, also won the Classic fleet twice on "Bribon".
The Embat sea breeze picked up slightly more than on Monday's relatively gentle opening day, reaching a welcome 14kts at times to help assuage the stifling summer heat. The arrival of the 6 Metres brought the total number of boats on the bejewelled Balearic bay to more than 140, racing on five different course areas. The GC32 flying catamarans and the Melges 40s start their race programmes on Wednesday.
Two more windward-leeward races were contested and with four races now contested for most classes all four teams which opened Monday with a pair of victories could not maintain that perfect winning momentum. In the Sotheby's Mallorca IRC Class Zero, Dario Ferrari's Botin designed Maxi72 "Cannonball" won the first race before jumping the gun on the second race and having to restart. And in IRC Class 1 Vicente Garcia Torres' Swan 80 won the first race and Tina Plattner's TP52 "The Phoenix" triumphed in the second contest, both breaking up the winning record of class leaders, Karl Kwok's "Beau Geste". And in the ClubSwan 50 fleet which saw "NiRaMo" victors twice on Monday, today's race wins went to Hendrik Brandis' "Earlybird" and to "Cuordileone" which has Claudia Rossi steering and Paul Goodison calling tactics.
Past 6M world champion Steinbeck and crew - Martin Westerdahl and Portuguese 49er Olympian Bernardo Freitas, with whom he usually campaigns the Dragon Sophie Racing - are teamed up here with German 2012 Star Olympian Robert Stanjek and Pete Cumming on the 1989 Norlin designed "Sophie". They made their intentions clear today when they took both wins in the Modern class.
"Cannonball's" tactician Vasco Vascotto, with 1,2 the joint best scoring boat today in Mallorca Sotheby's IRC 0, and French skipper Stephane Neve on the best IRC 1 boat of the day, the TP52 "Paprec Recyclage" both shared the identical sentiments. They were happy to have improved on their Monday showings, but both could have done much better. In the case of "Cannonball" they did not follow up on their Race 3 win because they were over the start line early, while Neve rues the fact that the "Paprec" crew were not fully back into race mode before the start of their Race 4 and so started poorly. After finishing second in the first race, he was upset they could not follow up in the breezier second windward-leeward. But with 2,5 theirs was the best aggregate of the day.
"Cannonball" won the start in the IRC 0 class Race 3 and, after a spirited tacking duel with "Momo", went on to win. "Momo" profited in the second race to win and so leads IRC 0 class by two points ahead of "Cannonball".
In Mallorca Sotheby's IRC 1 class, Karl Kwok's Botin 52 "Team Beau Geste" still leads overall but now by just two points ahead of "Paprec Recyclage". "Beau Geste" had a sixth and a second today.
Tomorrow, W/L for all classes except for the Mallorca Sotheby's IRC fleets and, BMW ORC 2 and 3 which race their Coastal.
Contender European Championship
Racing in two flight groups, the 129 competitors at the Contender Europeans on Lake Garda completed two races in a good Ora breeze.
Marco Ferrari (1,2) of Italy leads ahead of Antonio Lambertini (2,3) also of Italy, with Britain's Graham Scott (5,2) in third place and eight points off the leader.
Reports on Facebook are that in the first race the Ora built up a great start for the second race, then thunderstorms started in the mountains, and the wind varied in strength and a bit in the direction. A wonderful sailing day!
In the first flight races, the other winner was Paul Verhallen (NED) with a 1 and 9.
In the second race the flight race winners were Sören Dulong Andreasen (DEN) with 13 and 1, and Luca Bonezzi (ITA) with 32 and 1.
Top five after four races:
1. Marco Ferrari, ITA, 10 points
2. Antonio Lambertini, ITA, 26
3. Simon Mussell, GBR, 34
4. Paul Verhallen, NED, 38
5. Jorg Schlienkamp, GER, 42
New Superior Off Shore Tech Assistance Available at Cowes Week 2018
A unique offshore ropes and rigging technical service comes to Cowes Week thanks to leading British rope manufacturer, Marlow Ropes.
Marlow Ropes launches its Marlow-rigged rib that will provide offshore support to sailors on the water. The Marlow rib can be called on 07808 577115 to assist with rope replacements and rigging requirements at sea, with Marlow's rope experts on board to help sailors with any issues they may have.
David Mossman of Marlow Ropes said: "Our superior offshore and shoreside rope service allows our rope experts to be better placed than ever for all rope and rigging requirements. For Cowes Week we are also the ordering and drop off point for emergency overnight repair. Marlow will also provide an advice service for any rigging issues that sailors may have."
To deliver technical shoreside support Marlow is working with its Cowes' stockist, Spencer's Rigging, located on St Mary's Road, PO31 7SX, only 100 metres behind Cowes High Street.
David Mossman, Marlow Ropes said: "Cowes Week is a great British regatta steeped in heritage similar to our own British heritage that dates back to the 1800s - Cowes Week remains one of the annual highlights in our sailing diary."
Spencer's Rigging celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and is stocked with Marlow's high performance ropes of all sizes for small keel boats up to 40' plus boats. Products range from SK78, SK99 standard and Max cores, to high performance covers for emergency repairs and finished MGP ropes. It will also have the new Excel R8 dinghy line that has received great reviews amongst the top race teams heading for Tokyo 2020.
Marlow Ropes is manufactured in Hailsham, East Sussex. It is the official partner to the US and UK sailing teams, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, TFW Foiling Week and The Offshore Academy amongst others.
As the competitive sailor's brand of choice, Marlow has been providing technical support to Cowes Week for almost a decade.
DSP leads the J/70 UK Class Grand Slam Series
Five of the nine events for the 2018 J/70 UK Class Grand Slam Series have now been completed. The fifth event was the GJW Direct J/70 UK National Championship. Held 20-22 July, the national championship was a non-discardable event for the Grand Slam Series.
The Grand Slam Series was set out to galvanise the J/70 UK Class to promote more teams racing at organised events. Just over half way through the series, a total of 41 J/70 teams have been racing. The average number of teams on a start line has been 25, and those teams have competed in 37 races.
Doug Struth's DSP, with Geoff Carveth on the helm, leads the Grand Slam Series with five scoring regattas completed, and was the winner of the Corinthian Class at the GJW Direct J/70 UK National Championship.
"The UK Class still has work to do if we are going to compete with the best teams in the world. However, we are making progress towards our aim of getting UK teams onto the podium for the 2019 J/70 Worlds in Torbay." - Geoff Carveth DSP
In the 2018 J/70 UK Class Grand Slam Series, Ian Wilson & Marshall King's Soak Racing is in second place and is yet to score in five events. Clive Bush's Darcey & Martin Dent's Jelvis are tied for third, and have yet to score in five events. David McLeman's Offbeat has declared five Corinthian events and is in fifth place, just ahead of Tim Collins' Corinthian team racing Velvet Elvis.
Congratulations to Mark Lees and his young team from the Royal Southern YC, who won the GJW Direct Open J/70 UK National Championship in a fleet of 38 teams. Mark Lees' team literally went sailing in their J/70 Serious Fun for the first time, in the first race of the Nationals. -- Louay Habib
Latest Results from the 2018 J/70 UK Class Grand Slam Series: j-70.co.uk/grand-slam-2018/
Classic Transpac
Next year will see the 50th edition of one of the greatest ocean races of them all… save the date
In 1886 Hawaii's King Kalākaua invited the yachtsmen of the US mainland to race across the Pacific to his island paradise. Forty-nine times now the race has been run, and approaching Transpac 50, in 2019, it's international. Among the world's great ocean races there are not many that start and end among palm trees. There are also not many long enough to inspire the spirit of adventure of an ocean crossing in newcomers and veterans alike.
Even fewer races have the cultural heritage of an event started by royalty over a century ago, enriched by the participation of thousands of sailors since. Across the generations of California's sailors Transpac is a tradition and a bond. For the internationals who drop in it's a test as meaningful as any, but with sweeter rewards as the race goes on, and the sea grows bluer and the skies grow warmer.
The Transpacific Yacht Club was created in 1928 to manage the Transpac, and there is only one way to join the club. Race, and you will be invited.
Since the first race in 1906, when the start had to be relocated from an earthquake-damaged San Francisco to Los Angeles, the Transpacific Yacht Club's 2,225-mile race to Honolulu has been an inspiration for generations of offshore sailors from all sides of the Pacific and beyond. Now run every two years, the list of entries and sailors from around the globe increases as they learn how this race is more than just a bucket-list event: it is a unique inspiration to connect with the ocean and our shipmates on what is always a memorable voyage at sea.
Full article in the August issue of Seahorse
AC50 Circuit Rumors
Rumors continue to get more specific about a new professional circuit using the boats from the 2017 America's Cup. It's hard to tell fact from fiction, but here are some of the ideas that are circulating.
- The boats are being converted to one design - foils, rudders, foil control systems, wing control systems will be identical.
- The wing control system from Team France's boat will be used.
- Electric pumps will power the hydraulic system.
- The boats will have a crew of five.
- The conversion work is being doing at Core Builders in Warkworth, New Zealand. (Core is owned by Larry Ellison.)
- There will be at least five teams.
- The first regatta will be in February in Sydney. San Francisco and Bermuda have been mentioned as possible additional venues.
- The class will be called F50.
There were six AC50's built for the 2017 America's Cup. Presumably the five boats being converted are from Oracle, Team Japan, Artemis, Team France and Land Rover BAR. -- Jack Griffin
A Hero for our Times
A man put out a fire on the world's longest pleasure pier by urinating on it.
Thomas Watson noticed a small fire on the deserted Southend Pier and took matters into his own hands by relieving himself over the flames.
Essex Fire Service confirmed it was called but no action was required.
Mr Watson, 22, from Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire, was visiting the 1.3 mile (2.1km) pier with his partner and daughter on Friday at about 19:30 BST, when he noticed smoke and small flames on the wooden planks.
The weather had turned and "we were literally the last people there", he told the BBC. Mr Watson said the fire was "only small on top", but a lot of smoke was coming from underneath and he "thought it was all burning under there".
"I looked at it and the wood was proper charring away, like white with an orange glow.
"Using my initiative I decided to empty my bladder."
Although his partner had called the fire service, Mr Watson had tackled it by the time crews arrived.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-45018213
Hospital ship sinking that shocked the nation remembered 100 years on
A Southampton-based maritime charity will lower its flag to half-mast today (3 August) to commemorate the sinking of a hospital ship 100 years ago, which caused outrage across the nation when it was torpedoed in the English Channel, killing 123 people.
His Majesty's Australian Transport (HMAT) Warilda was transporting hundreds of wounded soldiers from the French port of Le Havre to Southampton when, despite being clearly marked with the Red Cross, it was struck by a single torpedo from a German U-boat.
Upon impact the ship's starboard propeller was disabled, the engine room flooded and the steering gear obliterated. Unable to steer, the Warilda continued moving in a circle at 15 knots - making it difficult for those on board to escape in lifeboats.
The ship remained afloat for almost two hours before sinking into the channel.
Probably the most prominent of the lost was Violet Long OBE, the Deputy Chief Controller of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corp (QMAAC).
Violet was the last woman to leave the stricken ship, having made sure the QMAAC staff in her care were safely off.
One of those, Charlotte Allen Trowell, told reporters at the time: "I shall never forget the end of Mrs. Long who had been so kind to me. She clung to the boat into which I had been dragged and I caught hold of her by the hair.
"She exclaimed 'Oh save me. My feet are fastened. I have lost a foot.' Her feet had become entangled in some rope. Strenuous efforts succeeded in freeing her limbs and a Southampton sailor tried hard to get her into the boat, but she collapsed suddenly, fell back and was drowned."
Violet's body was never recovered; she is commemorated at Southampton's Hollybrook Memorial, along with those lost at sea in the tragedy.
Before it sank, Warilda had carried more than 70,000 troops and wounded and in 1919 the ship's Captain, James Sim, from Sydney, was awarded the OBE by King George V.
www.sailors-society.org/200-years/
Vale Tony Bullimore
Sailor and entrepreneur Tony Bullimore has died at the age of 79.
He became a global star in 1997 after surviving four days in the upturned hull of his boat which capsized during a solo round-the-world race.
Mr Bullimore moved to Bristol in the early 1960s and married Lalel, a West Indian immigrant with whom he opened the Bamboo Club, which hosted Bob Marley.
He had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Mr Bullimore earned the nickname the British Bulldog after his dramatic rescue during the Vendee Globe. He was feared to have drowned after his boat, the Exide Challenger, capsized in the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean in 1997. After four days it was spotted by an Australian navy ship and Mr Bullimore was rescued.
The Queen praised Mr Bullimore's "extraordinary feat of survival" and he was later introduced to Her Majesty. The sailor famously crouched in the upturned hull of his yacht, surviving on chocolate and water. Bristol's Lord Mayor Cleo Lake paid tribute to Mr Bullimore, who she called "a Bristol legend both on the waters and on the music scene".
The Bamboo Club, which opened in 1966, attracted many of the big names in reggae and offered a place for people of all backgrounds to socialise safely. It hosted stars including Bob Marley and the Wailers, as well as Ben E King, before it closed 11 years after opening because of a fire.
Roy Hackett, who was instrumental in the 1963 Bristol bus boycott, said that before the club opened: "You couldn't go into pubs in Bristol on your own if you were black. You'd get a hiding." Mr and Mrs Bullimore also experienced racism as a mixed race couple. Mr Bullimore was a renowned philanthropist and in a 2016 documentary made by BBC Radio Bristol, one friend described him as "generous and humble, who helped thousands of black people".
www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-45016915
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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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Pre-preg carbon speedster for crewed and shorthanded offshore racing and employing the patented Dynamic Stability System. Engineering by Gurit and available with either fixed or canting keel
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The Last Word
I've got to admit it's getting better. It's a little better all the time. -- Paul McCartney
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