Scuttlebutt Europe #2171 - 6 September
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Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, Yachtworld.com Europe, 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 Mathieu Richard Wins the 'King of the Mountain'
Having toyed with the teams all week at the St. Moritz Match Race, it was on the final day that the Maloja wind truly kicked in, bringing with it a supreme display of match racing for which the ISAF World Match Racing Tour is renowned. Richard, despite not always being on top of his game throughout the week, knuckled down when it mattered most, grinding out a series of hard-fought victories against his nearest rivals today. When the two British skippers, triple Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN and double ISAF Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar won their first semi-final matches, the prospects looked good for an all-British final. However, Richard had no intention of playing second fiddle and led Ainslie all the way round the course in their next race to level the score. With a penalty to his name in his deciding semi-final battle against Ainslie, it appeared Richard's only option as they approached the final mark was a brutal one - to pin a penalty on Ainslie. Fortunately for Richard, his Blu26 found a gust, giving him enough time to complete his penalty turn and dispense with the Brit. Meanwhile, in the Williams vs Minoprio bout Williams took the first match, but Minoprio responded in the second with a move at the windward mark, where Williams collected two penalties in rapid succession, allowing Minoprio to take a decisive victory. Williams though regained his composure for the final race of his dual with the New Zealander, with just enough control over Minoprio to maintain a slim lead to the finish and a place in the final. As the Tour heads to the island of Bornholm, Denmark, next week, it is possible that the next few weeks will determine not just the outcome of this year's World Match Racing Tour but also shape the future of match racing with the America's Cup announcements that have been a hot topic all week in St. Moritz. Overall Standings 1. Mathieu Richard, FRA, French Match Racing Team, 25 points 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings To view the 'Play of the Day' - Williams collecting two penalties against Minoprio, click on Third Laser World Title for Slingsby
The title finale saw the strongest winds so far of the seven day regatta, gusting up to 23 knots kicking up the big waves that Hayling Bay is renowned for. By winning the final dramatic blustery race New Zealand's Andrew Murdoch secured his second World Championships bronze medal of his career. There were heart-stopping times for both Slingsby and Thompson during the final race when both capsized on consecutive legs, early in the final race. Slingsby is delighted to have returned to the top of the class after a disappointing 2008 Olympics where he finished 22nd and sailing to a modest 17th at the worlds last year. On his 26th Birthday, today his journey back from despair seems to be on course. It is also his second world title in as many weeks, after winning the Etchells worlds title last week on Dublin Bay crewing in the Etchells with America's Cup legend John Bertrand. Laser world champion in 2007 and 2008, he won the Olympic pointer, Skandia Sail for Gold off Weymouth last month. The Australian had to tread carefully through the final pair of races after being disqualified from the first Finals race. He proved his superior speed in the 13 knots plus breeze on Saturday with back to back wins by a considerable distance, but today was about sailing a couple of steady, safe scores rather than blowing the doors off the opposition. With an assured sixth in the first race Slingsby looked to have done enough, rising through the pack to take sixth in the first race today. But in the last race, when it looked like his name was already on the overall trophy, he gave himself a few nervous minutes when, lying 15th, he capsized, turning his boat completely upside down. After recovering Slingsby prudently elected to cruise steadily and safely to the finish. Laser World Championships, Hayling Island, England. Juniors Full results: www.laserworlds2010.co.uk RS:X World Championships Despite the short medal race courses for the top 10 competitors, there were dramatic place changes in both fleets with the final podium positions fluctuating by the minute as each race progressed. Ultimately the winner in each class ended up claiming their title, just a point ahead of second. Poland went into today's medal race holding the top two positions in the Men's class, their three time Olympic representative Przemyslaw Miarczynski trailing Piotr Myszka. But at one point on the first beat eventual winner, Myszka, was last and set to return home without a medal of any colour. "We started planing, but there was so much weed we couldn't go up because all the time we'd get caught, so I had to put the daggerboard up and then it was 'go, go go'!" Myszka said of his terrible opening leg. While the right side of the course died on the first upwind leg it came alive on the second and Myszka was fortunate to pull back on this and the final downwind before the slalom home to the finish. "I had to go maximum and I did it, I won the race and I won everything," said Myszka. "I am so excited. I couldn't believe this, but it happened. In the middle of the race I was off the podium but then I came back from nowhere and won the race. I am really happy with my first RS:X Worlds win - hopefully it will not be the last." This is Poland's first World Championship win in the RS:X, although Przemyslaw Miarczynski won in the Mistral class in 2003. The most extreme reaction to her victory came from Blanca Manchon, who crossed the line satisfied with being second. "I win????" she exclaimed, leaping up and down on the coach boat upon hearing that leader going into the medal race, Italian Alessandra Sensini, had finished sixth. Final top ten, women: 1. Blanca Manchon, ESP, 45 points Final top ten, men: 1. Piotr Myszka, POL, 37 points worldwindsurfingchampionships2010.rsxclass.com Super Sexy In Black More info can be found at www.camet.com Ed Wright Wins Finn Gold Cup
The big question for the medal race was whether second placed Rafa Trujillo (ESP) would go for gold or protect silver. It was obvious within minutes what his strategy would be as he stuck to third placed Giles Scott (GBR) like glue and covered his wind all the way round the course. Scott was faster downwind and broke through twice but he couldn't gain enough boats to take the silver medal from the Spaniard. Meanwhile, the regatta leader by 13 points, Ed Wright (GBR), won the pin end start and powered away, never headed during the entire race. He initially headed to the left and then crossed back to the middle without ducking a single transom. He rounded the top mark just ahead of Gasper Vincec (SLO), Zach Railey (USA), Thomas Le Breton (FRA), Brendan Casey (AUS), Mark Andrews (GBR), Andrew Mills (GBR), Trujillo, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and Scott. With Scott in last place Trujillo had done his work well. At the prizegiving tonight at the St Francis Yacht Club, under the shadow of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Ed Wright received the Finn Gold Cup, first presented in 1956 at Burnham-on-Crouch in the UK. This famous trophy is full of the names of legends of the class and now one more legend has been added to this list. It is what all Finn sailors aspire to and what all sailors everyone recognise as an outstanding accomplishment. Final results (top 10 from 87) 1. Edward Wright, GBR, 22 5.5 Scandinavian Gold Cup Kristian Nergaard from Royal Norwegian Yacht Club won the first race on Wednesday. The Swiss boat helmed by Bernard Haissly from Societe Nautique de Geneve made the best of a very close race on Thursday. Five boats crossed the finishing line within 30 seconds. On the third day, Nergaard once again took the advantage and won a second race. With a score of 2 for Norway and 1 for Switzerland on Friday night and therefore only those two boats remaining in the competition, Saturday's race number 4 was likely to be very interesting. Both the Swiss and the Norwegian boats had an excellent start. Then defending champion Nergaard deployed and mastered his match racing tactics. He successfully took the lead over the Swiss boat and sailed to the victory with his crew composed of Peer Moberg and Petter Morland Pedersen winning the Scandinavian Gold Cup in 5.5 Metre for the third time consecutively. In the Royal Kaag Classic Cup, a fleet racing series reserved to the 5.5 Classic division, three boats were competing. Italian boat "Carabella" helmed by Alfredo Delli won the the regatta and the Cup for the sixth time in a row! The 5.5 Metre World Championship 2010 is scheduled to start on Monday September 6th at Circolo Vela Torbola. Seven races and more than thirty 5.5m will be competing. Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup Event host, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS), is organizing the event in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA), which has been instrumental in restructuring formal classifications for maxi-yachts, the largest monohull boats on the racing scene. The fastest maxi-yacht racing in Europe is undoubtedly the blue streak, the 30-metre Esimit Europa 2 (EUR). Formerly Alfa Romeo II, she is now in the hands of Igor Simcic and his racing skipper, Flavio Favini. Whereas in the past this canting keeled state-of-the-art yacht has been oft referred to as a supermaxi, that, she is no longer according to the size bands and terminology defined by the IMA. Yachts between 24-metres and 30.5-metres are now just maxis. Strange to realize that when the term maxi was first used back in the 1980s, the yachts concerned were rarely bigger than 24-metres. A reflection of how far yacht-design creativity and boat-building skill have progressed in the past thirty-years. If you want to be a supermaxi now you need to be over 30.5-metres whatever speed you are capable of. There are ten such behemoths here this week. The smallest of which is the 32-metre Gliss (SUI), owned by Marco Vogele and sporting its trademark strikingly aquamarine hull colour. Vying for the honours on looks as well as on the racecourse are the two J-Class, Velsheda (GBR) and Ranger (CAY), back again to continue a long-running on-the-water rivalry. Only the ketch Hetairos (CAY) comes close if classic lines appeal. For more information about the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2010 including entry lists and results please visit www.yccs.it 
Get A Deal On The Racing Rules! To order the Rules DVD or learn more about it, go to: www.LearnTheRacingRules.com Royal Southern Academy Match Cup The new event follows the formation of the Royal Southern Academy in March 2010 and the success of one of its first events, the jointly run Southampton Solent University match racing championship. Building on that success and the growing popularity of match racing, the Royal Southern Academy Match Cup is planned as an annual Open ISAF graded event. The event is open to all international and national sailors. The maximum crew weight is 270kg, which is the Laser SB3 class weight. This allows teams to enter with a maximum of 4 people and a minimum of 3. Although the event is Open, some invitations will be reserved for University teams and there will be supplementary prizes for the best University and Under-25 teams. There will be two qualifier rounds on 20/21 November 2010 and 5/6 March 2011, with 12 places available for each qualifier. The top 6 teams from each round will qualify for a place in the finals to be held on 26/27 March 2011. The event will be sailed in Laser SB3's supplied by Pelican Racing. An application has been made to ISAF for the event to be graded at level 4 and all matches will be umpired. The Notice of Race will be published on the Royal Southern Yacht Club's website, www.royal-southern.co.uk in September. Entrants will be able to charter SB3s for practice from Pelican Racing at special rates prior to each round. Potential entrants can register an interest at and will be sent further details when available. Spartan Out Of Shed and in Water Ahead of Velux 5 Oceans Spartan's skipper Chris Stanmore-Major, known as CSM, only got back from circumnavigating the globe with the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race just over a month ago but wasted no time in giving the yacht a complete overhaul ready for the Velux 5 Oceans start on October 17. Spartan now sports a striking new red and grey livery with a patriotic Union flag covering the yacht's transom thanks to International Paints. She was lowered into the water at Endeavour Quay in Gosport, UK, yesterday afternoon. Spartan has a rich ocean racing pedigree, having won the 1998/9 Velux 5 Oceans (then the Around Alone) under race legend Giovanni Soldini's control. Most recently she was skippered by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to fourth place in the last edition of the Velux 5 Oceans. However for the 2010/11 race CSM wanted to change her image completely with an eye-catching new paint job. Spartan also now boasts the latest instrumentation and autopilot systems thanks to Raymarine. Her textile rigging and fittings have been renewed by Kiwi Marine and Marlow Ropes are supplying high performance running rigging. Finally, Spartan will compete with a brand new suit of North sails, bringing her up to top specification. The yacht takes its name from the ancient Greek city-state Sparta, known for its fearsome warriors. In 480 BC, 300 Spartans fought a legandary last-stand battle against the might of the Persian Army, giving CSM the inspiration for the yacht's hull number: 300. Normandy Channel Race 2011
The 2011 race will set out from and return to Caen via the Saint-Marcouf Islands, the Isle of Wight, the offshore Irish lighthouses of Tuskar Rock and Fastnet Rock, the island of Guernsey and back to the Baie de Seine. With the course spanning 1,000 miles or so, it is entirely in keeping with the great Channel epic initiated in 2010 and, with the island of Guernsey as a course mark, the nautical territory of Normandy will be shown to advantage. The Class40s are expected into the Bassin Saint-Pierre in Caen by the evening of Wednesday 11th May at the latest. Registration is open from today onwards, either directly via the website, or by sending us the completed entry form, which can be downloaded from the website. The registration process greatly favours crews who register prior to 15th December 2010, by offering them a considerably reduced entry fee. (Under all circumstances entry cheques are not cashed until registration closes on 15th April 2011). This race also serves as a qualifier for the GLOBAL OCEAN RACE, a round the world race for the Class40s, which will set off from Majorca in September 2011, in the context of the partnership between the two events. -- Translated by Kate Jennings Featured Brokerage Flirt is a custom built IRC racer. The design brief was to develop a boat with the characteristics of a TP52, yet to be well appointed below decks and be sound enough to race offshore without any doubt about the boat's structual integrity. A modern, fast ocean racing yacht, Flirt can be sailed with a minimum number of crew thanks to an hydraulic winch package and asymmetrical spinnaker setup. She has been upgraded and maintained to the highest level, in 2009 she was fitted with twin backstays and a square top main and her keel was modified to improve her all round peformance. Flirt has proven to be a highly competitive boat with regular race wins against TP52s and recently launched designs such as the Reichel Pugh 52. She is in excellent condition and ready for immediate racing at the highest level. Brokerage through 22 North Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/22northhk/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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