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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 New Outright Sailing Speed Record 5 New National records were broken on the same day: Kite Surfing: Windsurfing: The battle for the title of "the fastest speed sailor in the world" is far from over - with more big winds forecast here in Luderitz for not only this week, but for most of October. Lanzarote Sailor Leading RC 44 Fleet Race Worlds Yesterday, Jose Juan Calero guided BMW ORACLE Racing to first place in the practice race for the RC 44 Fleet Race World Championship for the Islas Canarias Puerto Calero Cup. Today, after the first three races, the team leads the standings with the low score of 9 points on finishes of 2-5-2. The crew that includes four-time America's 'Cup winner Russell Coutts as tactician showed great speed in the light winds, even coming back from a penalty turn in Race 2. Calero, 34, hails from Lanzarote, and has raced previous RC 44 events aboard the family's boat, Islas Canarias Puerto Calero. But the conditions are so abnormal this week that any local knowledge he may have brought to the crew is nullified. "These winds are not very common," Calero said. "Normally we have northeasterly winds, so these light winds from south and west are very weird. We're all learning together." Racing resumes tomorrow with the first warning signal scheduled for 1130 local. Fleet Racing (after 3 races) The event can be followed online at the class association's web site, www.rc44.com/en/live , and the event site, www.rc44worldchampionship.com Mapping Future Strategy The strategy will focus on ensuring the tour continues to provide close combative head-to-head racing. Today's press conference revealed that WMRT will be doubling the tour's bonus prize pool to USD 500,000 meaning sailors will compete for a total prize fund in excess of USD 1,750,000 in 2011. It was also announced that WMRT will be launching a new host city bidding process in the next 14 days which will add six new venues by 2013. To complement the addition of new cities and to ensure the Tour embraces developing technology, submissions will be invited from international designers and boat builders to create boats for the new events joining the tour. With the America's Cup holders having clearly stated that they are starting with a clean sheet of paper by moving to catamaran racing for the foreseeable future, a void has been left in the historic framework of match racing. In order to address the void and create an effective strategy WMRT has undergone a thorough review process with its promoters, teams and sponsors as well as taking into account recent media reaction and public feedback. The findings are echoed by data from a recent survey conducted by Sail-World, which shows clearly that the majority of sailing fans surveyed want to see match racing conducted in monohull boats. WMRT CEO Jim O'Toole said that, "As rights' holders we have a duty to act in the interests of match racing. The majority of people feel that the true essence of match racing is about intense, highly manoeuvrable, closely fought, head-to-head battles and we have developed our strategy to take into account these views. "While we are committed to preserving the integrity of what the public sees as match racing we also have a responsibility to drive the sport forward and ensure that it constantly seeks to innovate and expand. The doubling of the prize fund and addition of six new venues by 2013 with new boat designs shows our commitment to attracting great sailors and providing the best platform for match racing." * View a replay: wmrt.com/multimedia/video-gallery.html Into One Design?! We've Got You Covered... Ullman Sails has been designing for fast sails in one design for over 40 years. Invest in your performance. Culmination of the World Match Racing Tour at the 2010 Finale There's little time for Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin to reflect on his heroics in the Argo Group Gold Cup as the attention of the world's top sailors turns to the jewel in the crown of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) where the race to be crowned the ISAF Match Racing World Champion will be decided. If Ainslie and his star-studded crew have been preoccupied by events off the water over the past few weeks, the chance to continue their heroics after Bermuda by snatching the Match Racing World Champion crown and a large slice of the Monsoon Cup's USD475,000 prize money as well as a portion of the USD250,000 Tour Prize Pool would certainly give them some renewed vigour. It's the Brits who have all the momentum going into the decider, with their nearest rivals, current Tour leader Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team and Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing within striking distance. Richard holds a 15 point advantage over Minoprio who takes a mere 2 point lead over Ainslie to Malaysia. With the Monsoon Cup offering 1.5 times more points than a standard WMRT event, the championship is still wide open and the script could not have been written better for what is set to be an exhilarating climax to the year in Terengganu. The Monsoon Cup will see the winner scoop 38 points, with the remaining points breakdown as follows: 30 (2nd), 22 (3rd), 18 (4th), 15 (5th), 12 (6th), 9 (7th), 6 (8th). Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar are fourth and fifth in the series and still in with a mathematical chance of winning but will need results of their opponents at the Monsoon Cup to go their way. 2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings 1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, 105 points www.wmrt.com Volvo Ocean Race Inigo had an early start in the commercial field. He was 22 and had just received his Bachelors degree in Business Administration and Management when he was awarded a scholarship to study German abroad. Six months later he applied for an internship in Germany with Sport-Markt, one of the biggest national research and consultancy companies in the sports world. A seven-month internship providing research on the Spanish market led to the opportunity to manage Sport-Markt's new office in Barcelona, where Inigo developed business, signed up major clients for the company and came to the attention of Real Madrid, with whom he never reached an agreement but later on would receive a job offer. From 2004 Inigo has developed commercial activities for Real Madrid, executing and commercialising sponsorship rights products, image rights of players and advertising platforms. Earlier this year he decided to join the Volvo Ocean Race team to work in the Commercial Department at Race Headquarters in Alicante and decided that it was time to take advantage of his potential at an international level. -- www.volvooceanrace.org * Keen observers of the UAE will have noticed that the region is ultra-competitive when it comes to developing world class sports and tourism infrastructure. Take Etihad, Abu Dhabi's Award winning airline, which only began flying in 2003. The emirate has the will and the resources to be a force in any endeavour they choose. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) which is behind the emirate's entry for the next Volvo Ocean Race has appointed Persico S.p.A. to build its Volvo 70 racing yacht for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Persico of Bergamo, Italy were the winners of a competitive tender exercise involving local and international suppliers from the UAE, Europe and the Far East. Building of the boat has already started at Persico's manufacturing facility in Northern Italy. The company is working with Farr Yacht Design who are responsible for the final design of the 70 foot racing yacht. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing expects to take delivery in June 2011. -- www.yachtsponsorship.com * Lady Pippa Blake, wife of the late, great, Sir Peter Blake, the charismatic New Zealander who completed the first five Whitbread Round the World Races (which later became the Volvo Ocean Race in 1998), and who won the 1989-90 event with Steinlager 2, is to be the first Ambassador to the Volvo Ocean Race Legends reunion and regatta, which takes place on 1-5 November in Alicante next year. Pippa, a well-known artist, who lives in the house she shared with Sir Peter by the estuary in Emsworth, UK, is delighted to be involved with this first ever official reunion of boats and people who have taken part in the first 10 races. "The Whitbread will always hold a special place in my heart," Pippa said. "So many friendships were made then, that still hold good today, and I remember the fun we had travelling the world together. Winning the event in 1989-90 was the culmination of years of planning, something that Peter was very good at. "The Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta will be an event not to be missed, one where friends from all over the world will gather to reminisce, tell stories, remember the good times, the hard times, the glory and the defeat. It will be an amazing sight to see some of the boats that are etched in the history of this event, out on the water in racing trim, and parading out of Alicante at the head of the Volvo fleet. I am very proud to be involved and am looking forward very much to what is sure to be a fabulous week." -- www.volvooceanrace.org Garmin Hamble Winter Series Weekend 1 During the summer Garmin had run a competition for local youngsters to design this year's official backstay flag, so before the main series racing began there was a flag raising ceremony at the host club, Hamble River Sailing Club. The winner, 11-year-old Kimberley Arne proudly hauled her winning design to the yardarm before heading out on a Fairey Spearfish to watch the first day's racing. Garmin Hamble Winter Series - Day 1 Results: Black Fleet Race Winners: IRC 1 IRC 2 IRC 3 IRC 4 Sigma 38 J/109 White Fleet Race Winners: J/80 Bugle Hamble Big Boat Race Winners: Open IRC Class Next weekend (16/17th Oct.) also sees the Premier Marinas Autumn Championships for Laser SB3, J/80, and J/109, with the conclusion of the Bugle Hamble Big Boat Series the following weekend. -- Jonty Sherwill Full details of the 2010 Garmin Hamble Winter Series are available at: Get A Deal On The Racing Rules! To order the Rules DVD or learn more about it, go to: www.LearnTheRacingRules.com 40th Anniversary of Sir Chay Blyth's Epic Voyage Thousands came to welcome him home, including the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princesss Anne and Prime Minister Edward Heath. PPL holds the the archive of Sir Chay Blyth and other sailiing pioneers including Joshua Slocum, Vito Dumas, Sir Francis Chichester, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Alec Rose, and the legendary French sailor, Eric Tabarly. To view the Sir Chay Blyth archive: Phoenicia Makes Landfall In Lebanon Nearing completion of a voyage to circumnavigate Africa the replica 600 BC ship has been warmly received in Lebanon by the coordinators of www.phoenicia.org - a website dedicated to furthering knowledge about Phoenician history and culture. In Lebanon the ship will stay for a few days in port Sidon before sailing north to the capital Beirut where a ceremony is planned to mark the 2,600 year anniversary of the Phoenicians original circumnavigation. The replica Phoenician ship, captained by British explorer Philip Beale, has completed the circumnavigation of Africa - a voyage made by Phoenicians in 600 BC. With up to 16 crew members on any one leg the replica vessel has welcomed sailors from all corners of the globe. The voyage has presented Captain Beale and his international crew with many challenges including losing one of the ships rudders in the Red Sea, the threat of piracy off the Somali coast and gale force weather conditions around the Cape of Good Hope. At the end of the expedition the ship will have visited 14 countries - each time sparking interest in the achievements of ancient Phoenician mariners. The successful completion of the voyage is of enormous significance to historians and archaeologists as it proves that the Phoenician vessels were capable of sailing around the African continent - something that has been the cause of much speculation over centuries. Following the ceremony in Beirut Phoenicia will sail north to Arwad, Syria where the ship was built using traditional Phoenician construction methods and materials in 2007 and launched in 2008. For more information on Phoenicia including a live satellite tracking device visit www.phoenicia.org.uk Wooden Dinghy Accepted on the BBC List Of the clinker dinghy, Adrian writes: "Boats are the single most important objects in the history of the world, bringing migrants, spreading civilisations, carrying goods, providing recreation, allowing fishermen to feed populations. The Vikings perfected the northern method of clinker boatbuilding, and the method has changed little if at all since. Clinker boats have been built, and are still being built, and are objects of great beauty in themselves. The method involves wrapping thin overlapping planks or strakes around temporary formers (moulds), which are removed when the shell is fully planked, which is then strengthened with oak ribs (called timbers), steamed to give suppleness. Copper rivets are used to fasten the planks together and the timbers to the planks. When gunwales and seats (thwarts) are added, this produces a light, flexible structure that withstands wave action. Moreover, as a clinker boat is simply a collection of individual pieces, all of which can be replaced (no glue is used), it is infinitely repairable. A clinker boat: practical, useful, beautiful and once ubiquitous. Now seen more often than not reverting to nature on a shoreline near you, and still beautiful in decay..." See this and other objects online at the BBC website: From Classic Boat: Featured Brokerage 3 cabin version Elan 37 with lead keel! Well maintained, lots of extras! The ELAN 37 is delivered with a CE certificate and meets the requirements of European directive 94/25/CE for recreational crafts. The CE class A category certificate (unlimited Ocean voyages) is issued by Germanischer Lloyd. Boat design catagory CE A Brokerage through Bach Yachting International: www.yachtworld.com/bachyachting/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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