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 Lucy Macgregor Wins ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship Newport, Rhode Island, USA: If Lucy Macgregor and her British team felt pressure this morning in her semifinals match against France's Claire Leroy, it was nothing compared to the emotions she felt coming from behind to win her first match racing world championship today at New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court. The finals of the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship played out better than anyone could have scripted. Macgregor defeated two-time world champion Leroy then faced the American team led by Sally Barkow, also a two-time world champion. It was the final start that predicted gold for the British. "The time on distance was hard, and we were on our back foot the whole prestart," said Kate Macgregor, Lucy's sister. "With the current going upwind we just made it." Macgregor's team, coached by World Match Race Tour winner Ian Williams, won the right side that paid so well for the Americans and kept the slimmest of leads all the way around the course. For Barkow, though her team of Elizabeth Kratzig, Alana O'Reilly and Suzy Leech, did not win, their second place qualifies them for the top level of funding for the US Sailing Team Alpha Graphics in 2011. They join only one other team in the U.S. with this distinction, Paige Railey in the Laser Radial. This world championship will certainly go down as one of the most competitive in history and Barkow's coach, match race champion Dave Perry, put the state of women's match racing in perspective. "This regatta indicates that anyone of eight or more teams can win a gold medal in Weymouth in 2012," said Perry. "In the gold fleet round robin, four of the six teams were tied with three wins. All this shows is nobody has put it all together yet. There are no breakaways." Results Emirates Team New Zealand Retain the Audi Med Circuit Title After Thursday's coastal race the supreme Kiwis under skipper-helm Dean Barker had built themselves an unbeatable lead and in the end, after one final blustery race in a Mistral of more than 28 knots off Cagliari, Sardinia the champions rounded out their second victorious season to finish 48.5 points ahead of Quantum Racing (USA) who finish runners-up, as they also did last season. Alberto Roemmers' Matador (ARG), the current world champions skippered by Guillermo Parada (ARG), comprehensively won the Region of Sardinia Trophy, the fifth and final regatta of the Audi MedCup Circuit season, finishing 12.5 points ahead of Jochen Schuemann's Franco-German crew on Audi A1 powered by All4ONE. The Kiwi 2010 champions, become the first team ever in the six year history of the circuit to win back-to-back MedCup Circuit champion titles. They won the top regatta trophy in Cascais, were fourth in Marseille, second in Barcelona, triumphed in Murcia and finished third on countback here in Cagliari. The 2011 Audi MedCup Circuit starts in May next year. Region of Sardinia Trophy Final results: 52 Series 1. Matador, ARG, 25.5 points 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit Final results - 52 Series 1. Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL, 171 points Madrid-Caser Seguros Wins GP42 Series in Audi Medcup Cagliari, Italy: On the strength of having won three stages and 17 of 41 races in the series, Javier Goizueta's (ESP) Madrid-Caser Seguros (ESP) has won the overall 2010 season trophy in the GP42 Series of the Audi MedCup. The 2009 Botin & Carkeek design had a mediocre start to the season, but finished strong, with victories earned in the last three stages of the series - Barcelona, Cartagena, and Cagliari. Congratulations go to Goizueta and his team: skipper Jose Maria van der Ploeg (ESP), helmsman Paolo Cian (ITA), and the rest of the crew: Juan Castaneda (ESP), Valentin Fernandez (ESP), Miguel "pecas" Jauregui (ESP), David Madrazo (ESP), Angel Medina (ESP), Pietro Montanvani (ITA), Juan Luis Paez (ESP), and Diego Terrado (ESP). Today the series racing ended with a bang, with strong Mistral winds topping 30 knots, the strongest seen in Audi MedCup sailing in the past two years. Numerous sail and gear breaks, however, did not stop the boats from exhilarating downwind rides of over 20 knots in pure speed, made all the more remarkable considering the flat-water conditions. Following a meeting of owners held here in Cagliari, it was agreed the following events would be in the 2011 Season schedule of racing: 25-28 May - Rolex Capri Sailing Week - Capri (ITA) "This new schedule for the class represents the best fit between the interests of our owners, the event organizers, and the overall interest in the class growing to include those teams who have not participated in the Audi MedCup," said Paolo Massarini, GP42 Class Manager. "As we said last month in Cartagena, we have enjoyed being a part of the MedCup for the past two years, but we feel we need to go to other venues and participate in a wider variety of racing to enjoy the full potential of these fantastic boats." Massarini also said interest from new teams remains strong: "We expect seven to nine teams for the 2011 season, and have had inquiries from owners in Italy, Spain and Germany. They are attracted to the high-performance nature of these boats and their competitiveness in both class and handicap racing. " Final results, GP42 Series, Region of Sardinia Trophy: Overall GP42 season results: UK-HALSEY RULES QUIZ The answers to all the quizzes were re-written for the rules changes by Rob Overton, who has been a member of the US Sailing Racing Rules Committee since 1993. Rob was one of five international rule writers who drafted the new Section C rules that took effect on January 1, 2009. See the Rules Quiz page at www.ukhalsey.com/RulesQuiz/quiz_list.asp You can buy the Quiz program for $55 or $100 for the program plus two of the best books written on the 2009-2012 Racing Rules - Understanding the Rules by Dave Perry and The Rules in Practice by Bryan Willis. Both are reviewed in our Rules Blog. www.ukhalsey.com/store/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4 SOTO 40 Joins for the 2011 Circuit The 12.3 metres (40feet) one design has a 3.75 metres beam and draws 2.6 metres, displacing 4200kgs. It is built in Argentina by M Boats and by the start of the 2011 season at 20 boats will already have been built. The boat has a 1.43 metres bowsprit to set large asymmetric spinnakers. Input into the deck layout was given by leading Audi MedCup 52 Series sailors and has resulted in a very clean deck area. The choice was made to forego the use of pedestal winches in order to save weight, keep the cockpit clear and to increase crew activity. An open stern and pronounced wing style deck overhangs to increase crew righting moment are immediately identifiable characteristic, along with a tall all-carbon rig setting a powerful square top mainsail. Being to a strict one design rule ensures costs are tightly controlled. Only the choice of sailmaker and the electronics packages are open to choice. The sail inventory is limited. The S40 allows for the choice of either a tiller or wheel steering option. The sail package crew weight limit of 700 kgs, plus one guest, is likely to be imposed for the 2011 Circuit. The decision not to use carbon in the hull and deck lay up loses between one and two tenths of a knot upwind, according to the designer and builder, but the costs savings are of the order of €200,000. The first S40 was launched in 2008. Presently ten boats are competing regularly in South American championships. A Special Edition The weather conditions were particularly good for the 120 plus yachts taking part to the final act of 32nd edition of the Regates Royales-Trophee Panerai in the stunning Bay of Cannes, on the French Riviera. Russian Anatoly Loginov was confirmed once more as undisputed winner in the very competitive Dragon class, whilst the victory among the traditional and classic yachts was much more fought for. The final coastal race for the Classic yachts was set in the area off La Napoule. They profited from a light south-westerly breeze, never stronger than eight knots, and very flat sea. As it happened last year Rowdy, flying the Union Flag, did not leave much chance to her competitors. The 1916 Nathanaël Herresoff designed Fighting Forty got a clear score, four wins out of four races. Her owner Graham Walker is pretty new to classic yachting but he certainly does not lack experience, having won several RORC races back in the Nineties with his successful Indulgence. Silver went to Michael Sparks' White Wings, another British yacht, and bronze to French crew on Blaise Bernos' Oiseau de Feu. A similar domination was showed by Jamet Hudleston's Speedbird in the Spirit of Tradition division, that won all of the four races, while her sistership Pitch owned by Patrice Riboud had a harder time to fend off Nicolas Ryan's Shamrock attacks. In the Classic Marconi class the last day promised to be hot with Brad Swain's Leonore, Hanns Georg Klein's Anne Sophie and Marilinda Nottis' Cholita fighting for victory with a mere point difference. In an extremely flimsy breeze, they crossed the finish line in this exact order, confirming the rankings and the podium. No less fierce was the battle among the Gaffers as the final ranking was not sure until the very last metres to the finish line. Despite a fourth, Olive Pelham's Kelpie, a Mylne designed Solent One Design dating back to 1903, beat Italian Giuseppe Giordano's Bona Fide and Jean-Pierre Lostis' Oriole, the beautiful Herresoff built in 1905. In the bigger Classic Marconi class Florence Urrutti's Sagittarius scored an impressive 3, 1,1,1 to defeat Spanish owned Guia, while in the smaller division it was the crew representing the Italian Navy onboard Chaplin skippered by Bruno Puzone has finished with only one point lead on Fabrice Payen's White Dolphin and Vittorio Cavazzana's Emeraude. And, finally, among the stunning Big Boats series, undoubtedly the most admired yachts in Cannes today with their huge sails speeding downwind in a breeze not stronger than eight knots, it was the 15M Laurence Mariska to win over Moonbeam of Fife and the other 15M Jim Thom's Mariquita. Lalli Captures 2010 Melges 32 World Championship Title San Francisco, California, USA: Congratulations to 26-year old Luca Lalli on B-Lin Sailing as he has clinched the 2010 Melges 32 World Championship title, two points ahead of his strongest adversary John Porter on Full Throttle. Aboard Lalli's Melges 32 was tactician Lorenzo Bressani, Flavio Favini, Federico Michetti, Carlo Zermini, Luca Faravelli, Lorenzo Del Rio and Stefano Nicolussi. Jeff Ecklund on STAR had a phenomenal week pulling up to secure third overall. With two additional races on PRO John Craig's agenda, ultra light conditions greeted the fleet as they made their way out to Berkeley Circle for the final showdown between top seated Lalli, Porter and Andy Lovell on Rougarou. T2Ptv has been on site all week long filming the 2010 Melges 32 Worlds. Please check out their website this upcoming week as a highlight reel will be posted. The 2011 Melges 32 World Championship takes place on September 20-25 in Palma de Mallorca, hosted by Real Club Nautico de Palma. Top Ten Results (After 10 races, 1 discard) Full results: Yachtworld Magazine Available in two formats: - Digital. Providing an electronic/digital version of the magazine that gives you additional powerful interactive features such as video clips, archiving, highlight notes etc - Print. For those of us who love and cherish the experience of a quality printed magazine, Yachtworld Magazine, delivered free of charge to your door, will be a magazine you will find essential for your buying or selling needs. Extreme Sailing Series Trapani Paul Campbell-James, skipper of The Wave, Muscat has won the Extreme Sailing Series Trapani snatching the overall lead for the Series from Groupe Edmond de Rothschild with the Championship title all to play for in Almeria in less than two weeks time. The Medieval city of Trapani has provided some of the best conditions and thrilling action of the year over the past four days with the seven-strong fleet thrilling the spectators with dramatic mark roundings, near pitchpoles and capsizes and match-racing duels as the fleet covered all corners of the Sicilian harbour. Going into the final day, Paul Campbell-James, skipper of The Wave, Muscat had a 16-point lead over second placed contender Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Campbell-James thrived in the 15-17 knot wind, posting two wins, two thirds and a sixth, during which they chased their French rivals down the fleet in an aggressive match-race in the five-race afternoon, crossing the finish line set within inches of the spectators. But the real battle going on wasn't for the top spot... Four teams were in contention for the second and third podium positions: Groupama 40, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Ecover Sailing Team and Oman Sail Masirah, and none of them were giving up without a fight. The four teams traded blows, before Groupama dropped out of the running, with two seventh places. And then there were three, but only two podium positions in their sights... But it was Mike Golding's all British team onboard Ecover Sailing Team who, with dogged determination, improved as their day went on with aggressive starts and lucid tactical calls, posting two bullets in the final two races and take the final podium spot, squeezing out the French team Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, skippered by Yann Guichard, into a disappointing fourth. Overall Series Standings: The Wave, Muscat 28 America's Cup Teams turn to Extreme 40 Campaigns Following the conclusion of the Audi MedCup in Cagliari, Sardinia, yesterday, in which British America's Cup team, TEAMORIGIN, finished the season in fourth position overall, skipper Ben Ainslie wrote a piece for Britain's Telegraph newspaper, ending with the words "with the move to multihulls in the America's Cup, it looks like we will be racing Extreme 40s next year." Today, the winners of the Audi MedCup 2010, and only team to successfully defend the trophy, Emirates Team New Zealand's skipper, Dean Barker, has written on his Kiwi Yachting Consultants blog that he will be attending the last event in the Extreme Sailing Series™ 2010, in Almeria, Spain, next month, signalling an even faster move in the direction of this professional international 40 foot catamaran circuit. Anne Hinton, full article at sailracewin.blogspot.com/2010/09/americas-cup-teams-turn-to-extreme-40.html North Sails Golf Day The event costs £60.00 a head and includes coffee and a bacon roll on arrival. 18 holes of golf and a hot buffet lunch. As with previous years we will be having a "Shot-Gun" start, whereby all competitors begin their game on different tees (at 9.30am). This will proceed with a raffle, auction and prize giving. To register yourself and your team (Four-Ball) please contact Sam Knott at North Sails on 02392 604250 or Registered players will be contacted in Mid October with tee times and specific instructions for the day. To date over £135,000 has been raised for the JMST from this fantastic fund raising event held every year by North Sails. For further details please check out the North Sails website - www.northsails.co.uk We are also seeking raffle prizes and items to be auctioned - all donations are most gratefully received. Please contact Sam Knott, North Sails on 02392 604250 with your offerings. We will also be looking for hole sponsorship from companies and individuals, if you would like to participate by sponsoring a hole at this well publicised event then please contact Suzy Hamel, John Merricks Sailing Trust on 02380 458191 or Letters To The Editor - * From Brian Hancock: It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since the rig on Ceramco came tumbling town. I actually know were I was when it happened. On a boat (Alaska Eagle) in the same race about a 1000 miles astern. It was great seamanship that got them into Cape Town. Had the race been scored on points Ceramco would probably have won, but on elapsed time it's hard to recover from a dismasting. Featured Brokerage Pinta is a beautifully built Reichel & Pugh designed 72 foot Racer / Cruiser. Launched in 2006 and, as you would expect from a yacht carrying the famous Pinta name, is in fabulous order. Her full carbon construction combined with a beautifully engineered cruising interior does provide the best of both worlds. Not only can Pinta race with the best, she can easily by used for family cruising. Brokerage through Ancasta Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/ancastayachts/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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