In This Issue
Star World Championship
SailGP Unveils U.S. Team, Details of Two U.S. Races
North Sails Seasonal Savings
Class40s - An Atlantic Armada
Extreme Sailing Series fleet heads Stateside for San Diego spectacle
International Masters Regatta Champion Title
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
RCVs post-Christmas dash across Bass Strait for the historic Rudder Cup
The Cruising Association hosts a North-West Roadshow with guest speaker Tom Cunliffe
Christine Belanger
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Abraham Lincoln

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

Star World Championship
A nice breeze finally made its appearance on the Choptank River on day three of the 2018 Star World Championship held in Oxford, Maryland, hosted by the Tred Avon Yacht Club. Two races were completed by the 62 boat fleet but only one can claim the traditional daily prizes: reigning World Champions Eivind Melleby (NOR) and Joshua Revkin (USA) took both bullets, and let everyone know they’re not ready to hand back one of the most prestigious trophies in sailing. Brazilian Olympic Finn sailor Jorge Zarif with crew Guilherme de Almeida are following the lead pair in the provisional ranking, and in third place, 1988 Star World Champion Paul Cayard (USA) with crew Arthur ‘Tutu’ Lopes (BRA).

Two races are scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday October 11th, with the first warning signal at 11,00.

Top ten teams in the provisional ranking after two races:

1. Eivind Melleby NOR - Joshua Revkin USA
2. Jorge Zarif - Guilherme de Almeida BRA
3. Paul Cayard USA - Arthur Lopes BRA
4. Diego Negri - Sergio Lambertenghi ITA
5. Jorgen Schönerr - Jan Eli Gravad DEN
6. George Szabo USA - Roger Cheer CAN
7. Peter Vessela - Phil Trinter USA
8. Andy McDonald - Brad Nichol USA
9. Augie Diaz USA - Bruno Prada BRA
10. Eric Doyle - Payson Infelise USA

Full Results

2018worlds.starchampionships.org

SailGP Unveils U.S. Team, Details of Two U.S. Races
One week after the league’s historic global launch, SailGP today announced the members of the United States SailGP Team, and revealed details of its two premier U.S. events, set to take place in San Francisco (May) and New York (June) of next year.

The five members of the U.S. SailGP Team are: Rome Kirby, 29, of Newport, Rhode Island (helmsman); Riley Gibbs, 22, of Long Beach, California (wing trimmer); Hans Henken, 26, of Coronado, California (flight controller); Mac Agnese, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida (grinder); and Dan Morris, 30, of Newport, Rhode Island (grinder).

The crew boasts an impressive track record in international racing, with a host of professional ocean racing and world championship honors between them. Kirby will be looking to add SailGP success to his 2013 America’s Cup win, while Morris has a World Match Racing Tour title under his belt. Agnese, Gibbs and former youth world champion Henken are all bidding to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Spearheaded by Larry Ellison and Coutts, SailGP will kick off its inaugural season in February 2019. It will feature five grand prix events and six national teams competing on identical wingsailed F50s - the world’s fastest, most technologically advanced catamarans. In addition to the United States, the six teams will represent Australia, China, France, Great Britain and Japan. Each team will have a five-person crew aboard 50-foot foiling catamarans, which are expected to break the 50-knot (or 60 mph) speed barrier.

The intensely competitive, inshore racing events will be held in Sydney (February 15-16); San Francisco (May 4-5); New York (June 21-22); Cowes, UK (August 10-11); and Marseille, France (September 20-22).

Sanctioned by World Sailing, each grand prix event will consist of two competition days with five fleet races, culminating in a final match race between the two leaders. The final race in Marseille will feature a winner-takes-all, $1 million championship match race between the season’s top two teams to conclude three days of racing.

sailgp.com

North Sails Seasonal Savings
One Design sailors, this message is for you! North Sails is offering substantial savings on all One Design sails ordered before October 31st.

North Sails have full inventories for over 200 One Design classes. In 2018 North Sails have once again proven to be the fastest sails on the market. In September alone, North clients won five One Design World Championship titles.

There are only three weeks left of the promotion! Contact your local expert today to make the most of this year's seasonal discount.

The promotion is valid for all One Design and Offshore One Design sails delivered in North America and Europe. Click here to find out more!

ORDER BY OCT 31!

Class40s - An Atlantic Armada
The largest fleet in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe 2018 - the solo transatlantic race that starts from St Malo on November 4th - is the Class40 monohull division with 53 sailors taking part.

This record entry, that makes up almost half the total 123-strong fleet in this four-yearly classic, includes men and women from 10 nations sailing a variety of boats designed within the parameters of what has become an extremely successful class rule.

The Class40 record for the 3,542-nautical mile course to Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean was set by the Spanish yachtsman Alex Pella with a time of 16 days, 17 hours and 47 minutes in 2014. The best in the class this time will be looking to challenge that, though only the very latest designs sailed by experienced solo ocean racers are likely to do so.

With the exception of the Mini-Transat - a solo transatlantic race sailed in smaller boats - no single ocean race has seen so many entries in one class as this Class 40 fleet for this, the eleventh staging and 40th anniversary edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.

The 53 contenders who will take the same startline on November 4th, include no less than three former winners of La Solitaire du Figaro (Kito de Pavant, Nicolas Troussel, Yoann Richomme), not to mention sailors who have already participated in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe (Sam Goodchild, Nicolas Jossier, Claire Pruvot, Halvard Mabire) or those who have raced in the Transat Jacques Vabre or The Transat (Maxime Sorel, Antoine Carpentier, Louis Duc, Arthur Le Vaillant, Aymeric Chapellier, Bertrand Delesne, Loic Fequet, Arthur Hubert, Hiroshi Kitada, Robin Swamp, Miranda Merron, Olivier Roussey, Phil Sharp).

www.routedurhum.com

Extreme Sailing Series fleet heads Stateside for San Diego spectacle
In just over a week, the Extreme Sailing Series fleet of flying GC32 catamarans will soar into San Diego from 18-21 October, for the penultimate Act of the 2018 global tour.

With the Californian sunshine beating down on their backs, the elite level sailors will be grafting hard for the Golden Coast Act trophy.

Following four Act wins so far this year, Swiss-flagged Alinghi will be striving for their fifth victory over the international fleet that they've battled since the first Act in Muscat, Oman, in March.

The San Diego Act is presented by the team's sponsor and Series technical partner, global software giant SAP.

The regulars on the circuit will be joined in San Diego by a local wildcard team. The crew will be announced in the coming days.

www.extremesailingseries.com

International Masters Regatta Champion Title
San Diego,CA, USA: The International Masters Regatta will return to the San Diego Yacht Club on October 19-21, 2018 for a regatta with some of the greatest names in sailing. Legendary skippers from across the country are invited to a round-robin battle in supplied J/105s and will be vying for the title in the stadium of San Diego Bay.

The International Masters Regatta is one of SDYC’s signature events, adopted seven years ago from St. Francis Yacht Club member Don Trask in honor of his father. For many years prior, the world’s greatest Master sailors raced in this international sailing competition in San Francisco Bay and after a several year gap, relocated to San Diego. Sailors with iconic names including Elvstrom, Buchan, Burnham, Tillman, Trask, Irish, Harken, North and Holland (just to name a few) have competed in this prestigious event.

The 2018 International Masters Regatta confirmed skippers are:
Jon Andron
Julian Bingham
Chuck Driscoll
Richard du Moulin
Tad Lacey
Bill Menninger
Ted Moore
Dave Perry
Bill Peterson
Andy Roy
David Gould

The winner of the 2017 International Masters Regatta was SDYC’s very own Bill Campbell.

sdyc.org/masters/

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month

Last month's winner:

Karl Kwok (HKG)
'A fantastic owner and great sailing ambassador' - Rob Salthouse; 'An owner fully committed to the sport' - Russ Bowler; 'Does all the right things for all the right reasons' - Josh Belsky; 'For services to sailing!' - Josh Leopard; 'Thank you, Karl!!!' - Adolfo Carrau; 'Giving so many young sailors the chance to shine' - Tony Mutter; 'Quiet and successful at everything he does' - Steve Goh; 'It's a pleasure to know you, Karl!' - Andy Wild; 'A great skipper!' - Andy Ng; 'We could not be more proud of him' - Annie Kwok; 'He's done an outstanding job with a very loyal crew' - Kevin Dibley; 'I verify that he is a true champion!' - Matt Cheung.

This month's nominees:

Tony Lawson (GBR)
As well as being a prolific offshore racer himself, Lawson has done more than his share of introducing new talent to ocean racing on his boats - including his Class40s and of course his MOD70 trimaran Concise. The most recent example was the loan of his Class40 Concise 8 to a young team in the Round Britain Race, led by skipper Jack Trigger, who went on to finish 2nd in class just six hours behind the immensely experienced Phil Sharp

Steph Bridge (GBR)
There are genes and there are genes... Five kite racing world titles, two European, former world ranked no1. Then the family: youngest son Red Bull rider Tom (17) has three world youth titles plus a bag of national and European pots. Next Guy (18), two world records, 2nd in the foil worlds, British champion, yadeyah... Old boy Olly (20), European freestyle champion, youth world champion, European titles, ranked no2 in the world. Obviously dad's no slouch

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

View past winners of Sailor of the Month

RCVs post-Christmas dash across Bass Strait for the historic Rudder Cup
Christmas is a busy time for Melbourne’s Ocean Racing Club of Victoria and among its high profile events is the 195 nautical mile Melbourne to Devonport Race for the Rudder Cup, starting 27 December each year.

Colloquially known as the ‘post-Christmas dash across the paddock’ (Bass Strait), entry is now open online at the official site, where prospective competitors can also find the Notice of Race.

Quick off the blocks to enter is trio of Victorian owners: Bruce Early (Afrayed Knot), Neil Sargeant (Mersea) and John Hall (Wingara). Hall says of his 32 year-old Zeston 40, “She was built for comfort, not for speed, but she goes when it blows!”

Competitors in the Melbourne to Devonport Race, the oldest yacht race in Australia and fifth longest running in the world, are racing for the historical Rudder Cup.

“It’s valued at $180,000 - it’s pure silver,” says ORCV’s Lynne Wilton of the Rudder Cup, which was struck and donated in 1907 by Thomas Fleming Day, editor of the American magazine ‘Rudder’.

Day had written to his friend, T. A. Dickson, then Commodore of the Geelong Yacht Club, suggesting a race across Bass Strait to Tasmania in order to promote the sport of yachting. The trophy, a prize for the winner, was worth 60 guineas, a fortune at the time.

The inaugural race was run from Port Phillip Heads to Low Head at the mouth of the Tamar River, a distance of 198 nautical miles. It was won by the 14.6m yawl, Thistle, skippered by Edgar Newland with a crew that included his wife and daughter.

Conditions were reported to be very rough, so much so that Mrs. Newland refused to relinquish the Rudder Cup, in her efforts to dissuade others from attempting such a dangerous race. But 110 years on, competitors continue racing across Bass Strait for the honour of winning that Cup.

This original trophy came to light again in the 1960's when it was presented by Edgar Newland's son to the then Cruising Yacht Club of Victoria (now the ORCV) and continues to be presented to the overall winner of the race.

The Melbourne to Devonport Race starts off Portsea, a pretty sea-side town approximately 60 kilometres south of Melbourne, and finishes at the entrance of the Mersey River in Devonport, on the on the north-west coast of Tasmania.

In a departure from the usual end to a yacht race, yachts proceed up the Mersey River to the marina at the Mersey Yacht Club for the final race in the Bass Strait Series - and to the much touted Mersey Yacht Club hospitality.

The record for the Category 2 race has been held by Prowler (Joe Westerlo) since 1998, in the time of 19 hours 32 minutes 56 seconds. Despite many attempts since, the record remains intact, thanks mostly to the weather. -- Di Pearson/ORCV media

For Notice of Race and to enter, go to: www.orcv.org.au/sailing/races/devonport

The Cruising Association hosts a North-West Roadshow with guest speaker Tom Cunliffe
The Cruising Association (CA) is organising a one-day North-West Roadshow for members and non-members on Saturday 10th November at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire UK. Topping the bill and rounding off a packed and informative line-up of talks is sailing journalist, author and broadcaster, Tom Cunliffe.

The schedule of speakers includes Vyv Cox on 'Things which can ruin your day at sea'; Julian Dussek takes us 'Cruising the French Inland Waterways'; 'Cruising the Biscay Coast of France' is the title of Judith Grimwade's presentation, and all three build in time for Q&A sessions.

Derek Lumb is presenting cruising information on behalf of the CA's Cruising Information Development Group (CIDG), followed by an Open Forum discussion. After an early buffet supper, Tom Cunliffe, in his own inimitable style will deliver a talk entitled 'Ice with Everything'. We can only guess at its content!

Anyone interested in attending needs to book separate tickets for the Afternoon session, the Evening session or both, plus the buffet, depending on preference. The booking also provides free entry to the Museum (open 1000-1700) which also has its own cafe.

Full details, and all the information you need to book tickets: www.theca.org.uk

Christine Belanger
Oh what a tough way to start the day, with the news that our lovely friend Christine Belanger is no longer with us. What a truly special lady, the grace, the elegance, the style, but most of all the smile, the fun and the laughter.

Those of us who have been in that bubble called the America's Cup world will remember the parties large and small, the generosity, the creativity, the attention to detail.

So many fond memories. I will raise a glass of champagne and try not to dilute it with tears. -- John Roberson

In the era of Louis Vuitton's support as naming sponsor, Christine along with Bruno Trouble and the late Yves Carcelle were the people who managed the events of the Louis Vuitton Cup and latterly the Louis Vuitton Pacific Trophy and 2009/10 Louis Vuitton Trophy.

Their reign lasted more than 20 years and lifted the Louis Vuitton Trophy to the point where, as an event, it outshone the America's Cup, eventually forcing a marriage of the two events.

While Bruno was the frontman, it was the ubiquitous Christine who brought that vital and subtle sprinkling of stardust, elegance and attention to detail that lifted every Louis Vuitton Cup, exemplifying the Louis Vuitton values and brand, while making everyone feel very special and honoured to have been involved. Her eyes were everywhere and missed nothing.

No-one had more friends in the America's Cup than Christine Belanger. She connected at all levels and did so with enormous grace in an event that is noted for its deep and enduring schisms.

If ever the modern America's Cup had a Camelot era, it finished with Christine Belanger's sad passing. -- Richard Gladwell, www.sail-world.com/news/210917/

Featured Brokerage
2007 X-Yachts X-41 - Bandit. 160000 GBP. Located in Lymington, UK.

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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
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Telephone: +44(0) 1590 679222

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2001 Finot Open 40. 86000 EUR. Located in Grenada.

Formerly known as SPIRIT OF YUKOH and BARONESSA V, the Finot Open 40 ANASAZI GIRL is beautifully built, finished and equipped to the highest standard. Launched in 2001, she remains professionally maintained.

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2011 Reichel Pugh 42. 300000 EUR. Located in New Zealand.

A custom built machine with a real focus on Offshore sailing.. Very high-tech specification throughout, in particular her lifting propeller system and deflector controlled running backstay systems. She is a serious contender whether it be IRC/ORC/PHRF..... she covers them all well.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
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+64 277733717
+44 2380 016582

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

The Last Word
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer. -- Abraham Lincoln

Editorial and letter submissions to

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html