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Tenth Annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar competition is OPEN. Supported by Latitude Kinsale and Seahorse Magazine.
Tell us about your favourite bar!
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In This Issue
World Sailing Annual Conference
IOC Exec Com member slams latest WS Board Proposal
Former Finn Class President Philippe Rogge's Comments
Break records in the Peters & May Round Antigua Race - April 27th, 2019
18 Sklff Club Championship, Race 1 Spring Championship, Race 3
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Storm Trysail Club Annual Meeting And Dinner
Gaining (serious) international traction - Nautor Swan
Melges 14 Class Joins The Melges World League
L1 wins eSailing World Championship title
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Richard Avedon
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
World Sailing Annual Conference
Sarasota, Florida, USA: Keelboat and offshore are some of the most popular avenues of the sport, with historical events continuing traditions and new ones being introduced or evolved, there is an ever-changing landscape. A leading cast of influencers within the community presented at the three hour open forum.
Speakers include:
- Mike Golding - Solo and shorthanded offshore sailing
- Richard Brisius - Future of "Volvo" Ocean Race
- Dee Caffari - Sustainability in offshore racing
- Bruno Finzi - ORC / IRC combined World Championships
- Future of UMS - Jason Smithwick
- Growth of Sailing Leagues - Oliver Schwall
IOC Exec Com member slams latest WS Board Proposal
Former World Sailing Vice President Ng Ser Miang (SIN) has hit back at the last minute Submission introduced yesterday by the Board of World Sailing.
Ser Miang is now an Executive Committee member of the International Olympic Committee.
This lifts the mis-management and misinformation of the 2024 Sailing Olympic Events and Equipment to a new and very serious level, as it clearly has a level of visibility within the IOC which had not previously been confirmed.
As previously reported the World Sailing Submission proposed a Mixed Gender Doublehanded Keelboat, non-foiling and 6-10metres long to be sailed in an event format yet to be defined and in a class which it was hoped to get sponsored.
" During the midyear meeting in May this year, the World Sailing Council received more than 60 submissions on the 2024 Olympic events, 13 of them were debated on and after prolong process and 7 rounds of voting it took a decision. Now, barely 5 months later the World Sailing Board decided that one of the event cannot work and is proposing to change that. What sort of process is this? lack of leadership? cherry picking? commercial interests manipulation?
A mixed two person keelboat offshore event that will go on for 48 hours? a liberal interpretation of Regulation 23? the reasons given in this submission paper are pretty strange. "
Full editorial by Richard Gladwell in Sail-world.com
Former Finn Class President Philippe Rogge's Comments
The World Sailing Board apparently no longer has confidence in its 'mixed singlehander' event for 2024 and instead presents a 'mixed keel boat' offshore event. Interestingly this group of experienced sailors seems to have no concerns about mixed kiting events.
Unlike previous Olympic keel boats, which were 'somewhat less' physical and extended our stars' Olympic careers, this 'one female and one male' keelboat would require it to be much less physical and weight sensitive, at least if we wanted our athletes to look like Olympic athletes or introduce weight limits.
The real problem however is the 'offshore' part of this event, which seems completely devoid of any realistic chance for Olympic inclusion. Olympic Games require unprecedented levels of security for the threats they attract and securing an Olympic offshore event seems inconceivable, short of being piloted by military vessels.
Also, there is event length in the era of YouTube and snack byte media demands. The dinghy sailing races have been shortened at the Olympic level from 3 hour races to 45-75 minutes for this exact reason over the last 6-7 Olympiads.
There is equally plenty of evidence of the 'supplied Olympic equipment keeps it cost attractive to many nations' fallacy as every aspiring nation would have to buy several... to be competitive.
The prospect (or more) of financial incentives for a manufacturer to 'supply' for the French Olympics may have played here as a life jacket to World Sailing's financials.
Not to mention the bold and seemingly "all-in" (some would say vindictive) move to blatantly challenge the anti-trust compliance of this slate by adding another monopoly.
We'll see what happens... but that this was coming, should have been clear to anyone reading the President's June newsletter, in which he was reporting on the outcome of the Mid Year meeting, which had just voted down an offshore event.
To remain in line with the Regulations, this proposal would require 75% of votes to approve. Let's count on our representatives at the Annual General Meeting.
Break records in the Peters & May Round Antigua Race - April 27th, 2019
We encourage yachtsmen to take on the challenge of breaking the existing Peters & May Round Antigua Race mono-hull elapsed time record, currently set in 2018 by the Americans on Warrior, the modified Volvo 70, in elapsed time of 3 hrs 55 mins 38 seconds.
The following CSA classes invited - Mono-hull, Double-handed, Multi-hull, Bareboat & Classics.
The Peters & May Round Antigua Race will be followed by an awards presentation which kicks off the official opening of the 52nd edition of Antigua Sailing Week.
Register today - www.sailingweek.com/roundantiguarace/
18 Sklff Club Championship, Race 1 Spring Championship, Race 3
Click on image for photo gallery.
After leading by 1m20s with only two legs of the course to sail, Finport had to desperately hold off the challenge by the Bing Lee team of Micah Lane, Dan Phillips and Nathan Edwards to take the victory by just 6s.
The pair totally dominated the latter half of the race, leaving the third placed Smeg (Dave O'Connor, Ricky Bridge and Mike McKensey) a further 3m48s back.
One of the early race leaders, Rag & Famish Hotel (Bryce Edwards) finished fourth, ahead of Yandoo (John Winning) and Appliancesonline.com.au (Brett Van Munster).
With one lap of the course still to sail, the race was already a 2-boat affair between Finport and Bing Lee.
Finport's margin was more than one minute over Bing Lee, and the Finport team extended it to 1m20 at the Shark Island YA mark in Rose Bay.
Bing Lee had superior speed down the final spinnaker run from Rose Bay to Athol Bay and the lead had diminished to only 30s as the pair headed back across the harbour to the finish line off Clark Island.
The now very light winds put pressure on both teams, but most of the problems came when the skiffs had to pick their way through the Manly feries, which greatly affected the breeze of both teams.
It was only when both skiffs were less than 100 metres from the finish line that the winner was confirmed as Finport Trade Finance held on for the narrow victory.
Race 3 of the Spring Championship was held in conjunction with the Club Championship, and this resulted in a win for the Bing Lee team. Finport and Rag & Famish share the lead in that series with a total of nine points
Race 4 of the Spring Championship will be sailed next Sunday. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Our tenth annual competition now open for stories about your favourite bar and drink recipe submissions.
Tonight's featured bar, submitted by a long time reader...
Maddies Sail Loft, Marblehead, MA USA
Here's what makes it so great...
Anyone connected--owner to bottom painter-- with boats eats and drinks here, side by side.
ALL of their drinks are weapons grade!
Our contest holds a special prize for the winner. Not only will the establishment receive an award plaque and a bottle of Wight Vodka, they'll also win a custom made 3D chart of their locale from Latitude Kinsale. Framed in one of their exclusive frames incorporating Surround Lighting™ and mounted on carbon fibre. Value €2000.
Tell us all about YOUR favourite sailor's bar: scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bar
Storm Trysail Club Annual Meeting And Dinner
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Beach Point Club
(900 Rushmore Ave., Mamaroneck, New York)
1700 - Annual Meeting (Members Only)
1830 - Cocktails (Cash Bar) (Members, Spouses and Prospective Members)
1900 - Dinner (Members, Spouses and Prospective Members)
Dinner to Include:
Appetizer: Market Mushrooms, Endive, Frisee & Parmesan Salad with Truffle Vinaigrette
Entree: Surf & Turf - Herbed Jumbo Shrimp & Roasted Filet Mignon, Pommes Puree, Roasted Seasonal Vegetables & Port Wine Sauce
Dessert: Apple Tarte Tatin with Cinnamon Ice Cream
Coffee Service: Regular, Decaf and Assorted Teas
$85.00 Per Person
Reservations MUST be made by Monday, December 31, 2018
You can register online through the Members Section of the STC Website
Gaining (serious) international traction - Nautor Swan
It was a bold move and it seems to be working. Leonardo Ferragamo and Enrico Chieffi's big idea – to rekindle the Corinthian spirit and the intense, but gentlemanly competition between nations, of classic regattas such as the Admiral's Cup and Sardinia Cup, in a carefully managed one-design format, propelled by the powerful brand values of Nautor's Swan – is steadily gathering momentum. The inaugural edition of ClubSwan's biennial tournament, The Nations Trophy, in Palma last autumn was, by all accounts, a very promising start, with close competition in all three one-design classes, ClubSwan 50, Swan 45 and ClubSwan 42, and a total of 28 yachts representing 11 nations.
This season's follow-up series, The Nations Trophy Mediterranean League, has built on that success, enabling owners and crew, as Chieffi says, 'to maintain the intensity of competition and friendly rivalry witnessed last October in Palma'.
The four-part Mediterranean League series kicked off in March with Monaco Swan One Design, where competitive fleets representing eight nations battled it out over four days of inshore windward-leeward racing in a challenging range of conditions that varied from light and fluky to a spanking strong breeze.
Full article in the November issue of Seahorse
Melges 14 Class Joins The Melges World League
The Melges 14 Class Association takes another leap forward today with the announcement that the Class will join the Melges World League (MWL), the global racing platform and ranking system for Melges owners around the world.
Designed to increase rivalry and enhance the overall racing experience, the League will now include the Melges 14, Melges 20 and Melges 32. The Melges 14 World League will feature seven championship-level regattas across North America and Europe.
2019 Melges 14 World League
North American Division
- Melges 14 Midwinter Championship. Sarasota, Florida, USA. March 1-3, 2019.
- Melges 14 Spring Championship. Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. May 18-19, 2019.
- Melges 14 National Championship. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA. June 7-9, 2019.
- Melges 14 Southern Championship. Lake Lanier, Georgia, USA. October 2019.
European Division
- Melges 14 Liguria Regatta. Liguria, Italy. May 10-12, 2019.
- Melges 14 Garda Challenge. North Garda Lake, Italy. June 28-30, 2019.
- Melges 14 Malcesine Regatta. Malcesine, Garda Lake, Italy. September 7-8, 2019.
The first ever Melges 14 World League Overall Champion, Female Champion, and North American Division Champion will be crowned at the League's final event at Lake Lanier next autumn. The European Division will feature three regattas, and its Champion will be crowned in September at Malcesine. Rankings can be found at Melges14.com/world-league
Charters are available for all of the Melges 14 World League events. Connect with the Melges Team or a Melges Dealer to learn more.
L1 wins eSailing World Championship title
L1 wins eSailing World Championship title France's L1 won the inaugural eSailing World Championship Final after a tense winner-take-all final race at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida, USA.
Six months of competition culminated in the Final, and the top eight eSailors from five countries took to the podium, aiming to be crowned World Champion.
After three qualification races, the eight eSailors were whittled down to six. These six went on to battle it out in the Final in a virtual Sydney Harbour on the J/70, a popular worldwide keelboat.
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The Last Word
All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth. -- Richard Avedon
Editorial and letter submissions to
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html