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In This Issue
Mixed Offshore Event added to Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition
Statement from the International Finn Association
Break records in the Peters & May Round Antigua Race - April 27th, 2019
Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe gets underway
Route du Rhum 1st major solo challenge for Malizia II-Yacht Club de Monaco
Claire Leroy wins the Swiss International Women's Match 2018
Rookie Dolan bags third overall in debut Figaro season
It's here - for a short time only.
Foilers and kiters at Kiel Week 2019
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

Mixed Offshore Event added to Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition
A Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event will feature at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition, providing a new dynamic to the Olympic movement, following ratification at World Sailing's Annual General Meeting.

After a week of meetings, the AGM brought the 2018 Annual Conference to a close as they ratified the decisions made throughout the week.

At the 2018 Mid-Year Meeting in London, Great Britain, World Sailing's Council approved the following slate of Events:

Men's Windsurfer
Women's Windsurfer
New Event, Mixed One-Person Dinghy
New Event, Mixed Two Person Dinghy
New Event, Mixed Kite

They joined the following Events and their Equipment on the Paris 2024 slate:

Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser*
Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial*
Women's Skiff - 49erFX
Men's Skiff - 49er
Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17
*subject to separate equipment re-evaluation

Although the decision was made, World Sailing's Regulations allowed both the Events and Equipment to be amended if 75% of Council members voted in favour of making the change.

A lengthy debate on replacing the Mixed One-Person Dinghy Event with the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event was held before 31 Council members voted in favour of voting on change with eight against and two abstaining. As the 75% minimum was exceeded, Council then voted with 29 members in favour of the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore with nine against and two abstentions.

World Sailing's Member National Authorities have the power to overturn the regulations approved by the Council.

After ratifying numerous regulation amendments over the last 12-months, a debate on reinstating the Mixed One-Person Dinghy event in place of the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore event was held.

Members at the AGM voted with 43 voting in favour of retaining the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore event, 17 were against and four abstained.

This confirmed the slate of Events for Paris 2024 as:

Men's Windsurfer - RS:X*
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X*
Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser*
Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial*
Mixed Kite - TBC
Mixed Two Person Dinghy - TBC
Women's Skiff - 49erFX
Men's Skiff - 49er
Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17
Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore - TBC

*subject to separate equipment re-evaluation

Further decisions related to the Equipment criteria for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Events were also made on the Men's and Women's Windsurfer, the Mixed Two Person Dinghy and the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore.

The RS: X will be the equipment for the Men's and Women's Windsurfer events.The Mixed Kiteboarding event will be on a foiling board with a RAM-Air (foil-kite) and the Mixed Two Person Dinghy event will be a non-foiling displacement boat with a headsail, mainsail and spinnaker.

A displacement monohull (non-foiling) with a shorthanded deck layout will be used for the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore boat. The boat will be between 6-10 metres in hull length, able to perform in 4 to 40 knots with a proper sail inventory for all conditions and be a sloop rig with a spinnaker.

Equipment trials for the Mixed Kiteboarding and Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Events will follow with the decision on the Equipment to be made at the 2019 Annual Conference.

With regards to the Mixed Two Person Dinghy event, selection of the equipment should be based on evaluation against the specified criteria without equipment trials being required. If the evaluation is concluded by the Equipment Committee well ahead of the 2019 Mid-Year Meeting, then Council will be asked to make a decision by electronic vote.

sailing.org

Statement from the International Finn Association
The International Finn Association (IFA) is extremely disappointed to see the decision taken today at the World Sailing AGM in Sarasota, USA, to exclude any event options for the Finn in favour of adopting the Mixed Two-Person Keelboat.

Most of all we are very disappointed for the many committed Finn sailors affected by this decision, especially the young sailors who have had their campaign ambitions for 2024 cruelly shattered.

We feel the Finn class has become collateral damage in the quest for gender equality and Olympic TV rights income for World Sailing.

It is a great injustice that many of the best athletes in the sport of sailing no longer have an avenue to the Olympics, and we honestly feel the Olympics will be poorer as a result of the exclusion of the Finn.

We know the Finn class will continue to thrive and for the time being we will focus on supporting our athletes as they prepare for Tokyo 2020. In the coming months, the IFA will work towards finding a way back for the Finn on the Olympic programme.

Balazs Hajdu
IFA President
finnclass.org

Break records in the Peters & May Round Antigua Race - April 27th, 2019
Antigua Sailing Week Participate in this exhilarating one day race and circumnavigate the entire island before the official Antigua Sailing Week series commences. This event is a challenging warm up to the variety of race courses competitors will encounter later in the week.

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/

Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe gets underway
The 11th edition and 40th anniversary staging of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe solo transatlantic race got underway in spectacular style today off the Brittany port of Saint Malo, as a record entry of 123 skippers set sail for Guadeloupe.

Conditions could not have been better for spectators and sailors alike as the fleet revelled in 20 knots of breeze coming off the land on a beautiful Autumn afternoon.

After a very conservative start with no one wanting to be over the line early at the beginning of a 3,542-nautical mile course, the fastest boats quickly opened up the throttle.

At the front of the fleet the awesome ULTIME trimarans, led by Seb Josse on Maxi Solo Edmond de Rothschild, were hitting 30 knots of boatspeed.

The fastest racing yachts on the planet were soon flying their windward hulls as they rampaged towards the mandatory gate off Cap Frehel - 17 miles from the start - where thousands of spectators were gathered on the headland.

Among those in their wake were the leading IMOCA monohulls showing their paces with foils lifting the boats from the water as they sped westwards led by France's Vincent Riou on PRB.

In their wake came the huge 53-strong Class40 monohull fleet at the start of what will be the most competitive race in that class's history.

Near the back, holding ninth place in the Rhum Multi fleet, was the hugely popular French sailor Loïck Peyron at the helm of the bright yellow Happy. This is a sistership of the small trimaran sailed by Canadian yachtsman Mike Birch when he won the inaugural Route du Rhum in 1978.

Four years ago in this race Peyron set a new outright record of seven days and 15 hours on the maxi trimaran Banque Populaire and the routing predictions for this race suggest that that benchmark could be lowered by as much as two days by the leading ULTIMES.

Times at Cap Frehel
ULTIME
1. Sebastien Josse (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) at 14h34
2. Francois Gabart (MACIF)
3. Armel Le Cleac'h (Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX)



Multi50
1. Armel Tripon (Reaute Chocolat) at 14h41
2. Thibaut Vauchel Camus (Solidaires en Peloton - Arsep)

3. Erwan Le Roux (FenetreA - Mix Buffet)

IMOCA
1. Vincent Riou (PRB) at 15h02
2. Jeremie Beyou (Charal)

3. Boris Herrmann (Malizia II - Yacht Club de Monaco)



Rhum Multi
1. Fabrice Payen (Team Vent Debout) at 15h04
2. David Ducosson (Air Antilles - Caseneuve Maxi Catamaran)
3. Jean-Francois Lilti (Ecole diagonale pour citoyens du monde)



Rhum Mono
1.Sidney Gavignet (Cafe Joyeux) at 15h25
2. Sebastien Destremeau (AlcatrazIT - FaceOcean)

 3. Andrea Mura (Vento di Sardegna)



Class40

1. Antoine Carpentier (Custo Pol) at 15h32
2. Nicola Troussel (Corum)
3. Kito de Pavant (Made In Midi)




* Armel Le Cleac'h racing the ULTIME Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX is preparing to make a quick stop at a Brittany port to undertake a minor repair to the onboard energy system. Le Cleac'h, the team's router and the technical team are currently selecting the port that will allow him to get back into the race quickly.

* Race Direction were called at 2043hrs (CET) tonight by skipper Willy Bissainte (C 'La Guadeloupe) who reported that he has gone aground on the island Rouzic. His 50-foot monohull, entered in Mono Rhum class, was taking in water. The skipper is not reported to be injured

* Erwan Le Roux, 2014 #RDR2018 Multi50 winner is having to make a stop in Roscoff to undertake repairs due to a problem with the rudder on the main hull of FenetreA-Mix Buffet. His technical team will now make an assessment for Le Roux to return to racing.

www.routedurhum.com/en

Route du Rhum 1st major solo challenge for Malizia II-Yacht Club de Monaco
Malizia II-Yacht Club de Monaco Among the 120 boats competing in the 40th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, are 20 IMOCA 60-footers including Boris Herrmann on the foiling mono-hull Malizia II-Yacht Club de Monaco, a team put together by YCM Vice-President Pierre Casiraghi. It is the first time the Monegasque Yacht Club has entered a boat for this race and chance for Boris to measure up against the competition in his progress towards the Vendee Globe 2020.

At 37, he has raced on all the world's oceans, including on Maserati with Giovanni Soldini where he first met Pierre Casiraghi who was part of the Multi 70's crew. The two sailors developed a strong friendship that led to the launch of the Malizia project.

Together they took line honours at the Palermo-Montecarlo in the TP52 class, led two campaigns on the GC32 Racing Tour circuit, finished 3rd in the Rolex Fastnet Race 2017 and established a reference time for the Monaco to Calvi (Corsica) crossing. Racing under the "Malizia: My Ocean Challenge" banner to promote protection of the oceans, inspire and teach youngsters, and scientific research, the project is part of the YCM's sports policy and supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. Wherever the boat sails, the team arranges to meet kids at every port of call to present an educational pack of learning materials to inspire them about the sea and need to protect it. For the science, a sensor on board measures CO2, pressure, temperature and salinity levels that are transmitted to the SOCAT database which the science community world-wide has access to, in a partnership with the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg and Geomar in Kiel.

www.yacht-club-monaco.mc/en/home-en/

Claire Leroy wins the Swiss International Women's Match 2018
Between the 31st of October and the 3rd of November, the world's best female match racers gathered in Ascona to compete in the Swiss International Women's Match. Despite heavy rain and tricky wind conditions an impressive 66 matches were completed on Lago Maggiore.

The start of the regatta belonged to top ranked skipper Pauline Courtois and her team Match in Pink by Normandie Elite Team from France. But the end of the competition belonged to another Frenchwoman, the former world champion, and Olympian, Claire Leroy. Leroy and her Mermaid Sailing Team beat Danish skipper Trine Palludan 2-0 in the semifinals to claim the top of the podium.

Together with the top two French teams, world number five Trine Palludan from Denmark and the Swiss team ChicaCER with Laurane Metteraux stood out in the competition and qualified for the semi-finals. Just missing out on the semis was another local team, the Swiss Women Match Racing Team helmed by Alexa Bexel who ended the competition in 5th place.

Unfortunately, the winds died in the middle of the semifinals so that the final stage of the competition could not be completed. Therefore, the ranking out of the Round Robin was used to break the ties from the semis and get the final result.

Final Results - Swiss International Women's Match 2018:
1. Claire Leroy, Mathilde Geron, Cassandre Blandin, Sigrid Longeau, Morgane Gautier
Mermaid Sailing Team (FRA)
2. Laurane Mettraux, Coraline Jonet, Elodie-Jane Mettraux, Libby Greenhalgh, Nathalie Brugger
ChicaCER (SUI)
3. Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn Lemaître, Louise Acker, Sophie Faguet
Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team (FRA)
4. Trine Palludan, Lea Richter Vogelius, Ida Hartvig, Line Morkebjerg Fischer, Joan Wester Hansen
Team Kattnakken (DEN)
5. Alexa Bezel, Fiona Testuz, Manon Kivell, Louise Thilo
Swiss Women Match Racing Team (SUI)
6. Henriette Koch, Trine Bentzen, Lærke Ilsoe Norgaard, Tine Kjærgaard, Laerke Marie Sorensen
Women On Water (WOW) (DEN)
7. Margot Vennin, Marie Zugolaro, Juliette Dubreuil, Adèle Marevery, Sophonie Affagard
Matchmoiselles by Normandy Elite Team (FRA)
8. Marinella Laaksonen, Daniela Ronnberg, Camilla Cedercreutz, Henna Holopainen, Lisa Gerkman
L2 Match Racing Team (FIN)
9. Linnea Floser, Sandra Sandqvist, Hanna Ericksson, Charlotte Eklund, Ann Johnson
Peregrine Racing (SWE)
10. Margot Riou, Clementine Hilaire, Caroline Vandame, Marion Ledoux, Tiphaine Ragueneau
APCC Women Sailing Team (FRA)
11. Sanna Mattsson, Niki Blassar, Therese Berg, Nellie Lindner
Swedish Women's Match Racing Team (SWE)
12. Sanna Hager, Karin Backstrom, Cecilia Olsson, Klara Hager, Sara Edholm
Stockholm Match Racing Team (SWE)

Full results: www.wimseries.com/results

Rookie Dolan bags third overall in debut Figaro season
There were highs, lows, thrills and spills – but Ireland's Tom Dolan has emerged from his first season in the ultra-competitive Beneteau Figaro class with his head held high as third overall rookie.

Despite only taking charge of his racing boat Smurfit Kappa a few weeks before racing it across the Atlantic in February, Dolan went on to string together an impressive set of results throughout 2018.

That put him firmly on the podium of the French Offshore Racing Championship in the rookie division for newcomers, an achievement few sailors can claim.

Such a finish in a class respected and feared for the calibre of its sailors is no mean feat – and after a short break to rest and recuperate the 31-year-old skipper is already looking ahead to 2019.

Prior to the 2019 season kicking off, Dolan has been imparting his knowledge to the Concarneau-based sailors following in his Mini 6.50 footsteps.

He will also be recounting his adventures to audiences in Ireland, at Royal Cork Yacht Club on November 20, the National Yacht Club in Dublin on November 27 and Poolbeg Yacht Club in spring next year, as well as giving motivational talks to businesses.

tomdolanracing.com/en/

It's here - for a short time only.
Zhik Zhik's ex-catalogue clearance sale means up to 55% off a wide range of technical sailing gear.

For yacht sailors there are DeckBeater shorts and long pants, which do exactly what they say on the tin. And the very quick-drying ZhikDry tops and polos. Plus, grab yourself some Merino underwear, technical tailored Z-fleeces, hardwearing, stretchy deck shorts (very comfortable for long days afloat), and the fabulous soft, grippy ZKG shoes. Waterproofs on offer include Isotak Ocean and the lighter weight Aroshell coastal and inshore models.

Foilers and kiters at Kiel Week 2019
The Kiel Week is getting wings. In its 137. year, the traditional sailing event is once more demonstrating, that it is up to date and taking off. From 22. until 30. June 2019, there will be also kiters as well as foilers at the start - next to the Olympic classes, 17 international classes, the 2.4mR and offshore classes.

For the foiling category, there will be competitions for the one design classes Waszp and Moth and an "open" class at the Kiel Week. The kiters can sail in the foiling kites and the traditional non-foiling kites (Lowrider).

The foilers will have one race course. Next to the one design classes Waszp and Moth, the third group on the race course is an "open" one. The organizers are thinking about new foilers such as the Foiling Dinghy, F101 or Skeeta.

Kiting will also have a revival at the Kiel Week after a long break (2008 until 2012). In the Olympic year 2012, the Kiel Week did offer the kiters the possibility to present themselves during the Sailing World Cup. Now the Kiel Week is setting the kiters again onto the program looking at the Olympics 2024. Whether it will be the Foiling Kite or non-foiling TwinTip will also depend on the decision from World Sailing this year. In May, the discipline Kite-Mix was nominated by World Sailing as an Olympic discipline for 2024. Thus the kiters, who already had an Olympic status for six months for the Games in Rio and then had to step aside again, will now be fighting for medals at the Olympics in France (Marseille will be the venue for the sailing competitions).

The kite regattas will be in the first part of the Kiel Week: Saturday, 22. June, until Monday, 24. June. The foilers will be starting in the second half from Wednesday, 26. June, until Sunday, 30. June.

www.kieler-woche.de

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The Last Word
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