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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 Barcelona World Race The pair have claimed the North to South Mediterranean Trophy by becoming the first team to the reach the longitude of 05 37W, having best overcome the capricious light winds and strong tides faced by the fleet on the 540-mile first leg stage of the non-stop race from Barcelona across the Western Mediterranean. The 2010 VPLP-Verdier designed IMOCA 60 crossed the gate this evening at 1955hrs (UTC), having set off from Barcelona 3 days, 7 hours and 55 minutes previously - knocking nearly 7 hours off Dick's own previous record time from the first edition of the Barcelona World RACE, set in November 2007 at 3 days, 14 hours and 25 minutes. Behind the race leader, Foncia and Estrella Damm were separated by just two miles at this evening's latest position update, and are expected to cross the Straits in a tight duel. * Dominque Wavre(SUI) and Michele Paret (FRA) have reported to the Barcelona World Race Direction this afternoon that their IMOCA Open 60 Mirabaud had been boarded by Moroccan customs officials. Mirabaud was approximately 48 miles east of the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar and 30 miles off the Moroccan coast when the boarding happened. The officials searched the boat over a period of around 35 minutes, opening many of the couple's vacuum sealed bags of food and equipment. After receiving a radio call the customs officials left the IMOCA Open 60 Mirabaud without any further explanation. The Barcelona World RACE organisers have reported the incident to the Consejo de Deportes (The Council for Sports) and the Maritime Rescue Authority in Madrid for them to take appropriate action and to remind Moroccan institutions of this round the world race to avoid a repetition with similar effects. * The protest of Virbac-Paprec 3 against Groupe Bel, Foncia and Hugo Boss has been dismissed as invalid by the International Jury. Virbac-Paprec 3 alleged that the trio had passed to port of the November mark, off the entrance to Barcelona Harbour which was set as a starboard hand mark. The International Jury dismissed the protest because Virbac-Paprec 3 failed to inform the three boats of her intention to protest as required by RRS 61.3, SI 15.2.1(a). The protest is therefore declared invalid. 29er World Championship
The Argentine team of Pepe Bettini and Fernando Gwozdz started off winning the first two races and finishing 2nd in the final race for today. When asked about the conditions, Bettini commented that "we had steady winds but a big swell with waves breaking on the top. At the beginning of the downwind legs it was like surfing the Pipeline against pro surfer Kelly Slater! Our PRO Tino Mora did a really good job and we're happy with the days results. We're tied with Tavella and Greggi in points." Belen Tavella and Franco Greggi, also from Argentina led the south course with the exact same finishes. The French team of Gael Jaffrezic and Julien Bloyet are 3rd with Argentine team Gonzalo Pollitzer and Jose Maria Diez 4th and fellow countrymen Juan Krevisky and Billy Lopez Segura rounding out the top 5. Racing continues on Tuesday, January 4 with two more days of the qualifying series followed by three days of the final series. Live reports and daily results: www.29erworlds.org 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. Mirror Worlds No such fate befell the UK boat of Millie Newman and Jessica Rust. Resplendent in the ROL Cruise livery of the Brightlingsea Squad, Millie and Jessica defied the wind to take 3rd place overall (13 points) at the close of the day, achieving a 3rd, 2nd and 8th place in each of the 3 races. The latter result achieved with a broken spinnaker. Also there with an amazing sail considering the conditions and lack of weight on the boat were the Lulham-Robinson boys, Matthew and Ben, holding 4th place (22 points) following a 10th, 6th and 6th. Miles and Rory Odell in 7th made it 3 GBR boats in the top 10. A really amazing day's sailing for these three boats, one that was publicly acknowledged by event director, Anthony Galante, at the close of day awards ceremony. Day 1 saw the dominant Aussie National winner, Paul Taylor, leading (6 points) ahead of the Pilipino crew of Balladares & Chavez (7 points). The next GBR boat was that of Ed & Matthew Grayson sitting a creditable 16th at the close of the day, 3 ahead of Nigel and Rob Thomas in 19th. Report from Yachts and Yachting: Event site: www.mirrorworlds2011.com Results downloads on: www.mirrorworlds2011.com/page.php?page=138 Southern Ocean Storm Set To Pummel Velux 5 Oceans Fleet Despite enjoying a 200 nautical mile lead on his nearest rivals Zbigniew Gutkowski and Derek Hatfield, it's been an apprehensive couple of days for sprint leader Brad Van Liew as he prepares his Eco 60 Le Pingouin for the storm. "I'm a little anxious, I want to make sure I take care of the boat," the American skipper said this morning. "The thing that is a little nerve-wracking is that there are two low pressure systems which are merging. Merging lows can be a lot deeper and intense than what is forecast by the weather models. If it doesn't bring too much unexpected weather we could get some good fast sailing from it. If it ends up bringing a lot more wind than forecast it could be a lot more dangerous." After 20 days at sea Brad and his fellow ocean racers have covered around 5,000 nautical miles but still have more than 2,500 left to sail to the finish line in Wellington, New Zealand. Ocean sprint two positions at 18h00 UTC: Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts) Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: 2944.4/ 0 / 214.9 / 9 Christophe Bullens Retires From Velux 5 Oceans Christophe's return to Cape Town means that he will not be able to complete the second ocean sprint of the solo round the world yacht race before it restarts again from Wellington, New Zealand, on February 6. With the second leg taking the fleet through the notorious Southern Ocean, fears about the safety of Five Oceans of Smiles too further added to Christophe's decision to pull out of the race. It is a bitter disappointment for the 49-year-old who has overcome so many problems and shown so much grit and determination since the Velux 5 Oceans started in La Rochelle, France, in October. "All the problems encountered have finally beaten me and have prevented me from continuing," Christophe said. "Unfortunately I have no other choice than to withdraw from the race. It is not reasonable, and even dangerous, to go on. At a certain moment one must be realistic instead of being proud and stubborn. We don't do this race to prove ourselves to others but it is a challenge with oneself and I can't commit the people who supported me until now on a path beyond reason." Despite his disappointment, Christophe remained characteristically positive about his experience in the VELUX 5 OCEANS. He said: "I have been racing a lot in my life and this is the first time I have seen so much mutual help, so much brotherhood between the competitors, their families, the technical teams, organisation and supporters. The Eco 60 is a fantastic class. It is the only one in the world where in a solo race I have had so many crew." John Bertrand Fighting Prostate Cancer Bertrand, who skippered the Australia 2 syndicate that won the America's Cup in 1983, breaking a 132-year American stranglehold, said a biopsy in early September had revealed ''very early-stage'' prostate cancer. Bertrand, 64, said that ''once I got over the initial shock, I saw it as an adventure, the new world to discover. It's part of my psyche, it really is.'' ''I'm now on what they call an active watch. Initially, the interesting thing is, you go on the web to see whether you're going to live or die.'' Bertrand spoke about his health in an interview for a series on the baby boomer generation, in which he also revealed that his marriage would not have lasted if he had not won the America's Cup in 1983, due to the strain placed on it by him spending so much time overseas. He said he was fortunate to live in an age when prostate cancer was detectable early. ''Twenty years ago, they'd only see people who were basically [at the stage of receiving] last rites.'' -- Jake Niall in The Age: Carnage Continues At 420 Worlds Tim Gratton and Ed Riley now in sixth, five points behind Mike Wood and Hermione Stanley who move up 2 places, and are best placed GBR in the 420 World Championship open event after eight races. Pablo Volker and Agustin Cunill Martinez of Argentina lead the open event. Broken mast tally is now at 29 and countless broken rudders, ripped sails. The charterers, Nautivela, are reputedly refusing to issue any more masts because of problems with insurance. 420 - Ladies World Championship, after 8 races (41 entries) 420 - World Championship, after 8 races (56 entries) The Desire For Lightweight, Breathable Clothing Continues To Grow The technical products not only serve a purpose, they are also very fashionable. With solid color schemes, Hawaiian prints, and multi-functional designs. Check them out at www.camet.com A-Class Catamaran Australia Nationals 73 boats registered for the Nationals - a good fleet. The line-up includes Glenn Ashby and Darren Bundock - Australian Tornado Olympians and America's Cup coaches (BMW ORACLE Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand), another America's Cup coach in the form of Philippe Presti (FRA), and America's Cup sailors, including Noel Drennan (IRL, from Melbourne, formerly BMW ORACLE Racing - then moved to Artemis Racing) and Kiwis Stu Bettany and Dean Barker, Emirates Team New Zealand's skipper. Other Extreme 40 and Tornado sailors in the Aussie A-cat Nationals line-up include Mitch Booth (AUS) and Will Howden (GBR). Another ex-Tornado and Extreme 40 sailor, Carolijn Brouwer, is also at the championships, but as a "trolley dolly" (her words!) and not competing. It helps to be as heavy as a bloke and tall for A-cat sailing! Races one and two of the championships were held on 3rd January in a 12-15 knot east-southeasterly breeze. Bundock felt that he didn't have good downwind speed, but was nonetheless tied in first place with Landenberger after the first two races, which also saw Steve Brewin BFD in race two. Emirates Team New Zealand's skipper, Dean Barker, seems to have got the hang of cats even more quickly than ORACLE Racing's Jimmy Spithill did. He lies in fifth overall after day one, just one point behind his coach, Glenn Ashby. Overall after 2 races (top 7 places) Report from SailRaceWin: sailracewin.blogspot.com Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club: results.lcsc.org.au/a_class_nat.htm Bill Langan, Yacht Designer
Just two months ago, Bill was honored with the prestigious Leadership Award by the International Superyacht Society (ISS), recognized by his peers for his outstanding contributions to the standards, prestige and character of the luxury yachting industry. Although he was unable to travel to accept the award in person, he was deeply moved by this tribute. In 1994, Bill participated in the expedition, headed by former US Secretary of the Treasury William Simon, that navigated the icy conditions of the Northwest Passage from Alaska to Greenland. Bill redesigned, refitted and strengthened Simon's yacht, the 175-foot Itasca, to make Simon's dream journey a reality. In 1998, Bill fulfilled his own dream to found Langan Design Associates, Inc. of Newport, Rhode Island, and settled his family in Jamestown. With Bill at the helm, his firm completed over 40 designs, each unique, but all of them timeless in style, with attention to craftsmanship, advanced technology, and seaworthiness. His design vision was well received starting with his first design, the 130-foot ketch Victoria of Strathearn, that won design awards from both ShowBoats International and the ISS. Later designs include Eos, a 305-foot 3-masted schooner, the largest private sailing yacht in the world to date. Bill encouraged his wife to start her own firm, Candace Langan Interior Decoration, specializing in yacht interiors. Their most recent collaboration, Calliope, a 42-meter motor yacht, is featured in the December issue of Yacht International. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Candace Register Langan, and two children, Tom and Annie of Jamestown, RI, his parents of Greenwich, CT, six siblings and their spouses. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 8 at 2 pm at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Jamestown, where Bill and his family are members. Following the church service, there will be a reception at the Conanicut Yacht Club. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be given in Bill's name to The Jimmy Fund, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, Brookline, MA USA 02445-7226. Letters To The Editor - * From Chris Bull: With reference to my reported comments to Peter Campbell in Issue No. 2253, may I please clarify for readers that the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series is organised by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club. The 7-race series starts with the Pineapple Cup - Montego Bay Race in February and ends with the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October, with 3 results to count which must include the Transatlantic Race. As reported by Peter Campbell, Jazz will be starting with the Caribbean 600 and finishing with either the Biscay Race in September or the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October. Featured Brokerage Why is "il mostro" now seriously for sale? With the new Volvo Ocean Race rules there is no more two boat testing allowed as a cost saving measure to help teams reduce their overall budgets. PUMA Ocean Racing is in the process of building a new boat for the 2011-2012 edition of the race, so "il mostro" is now available to an up-and-coming VOR team or ambitious owner ready to break records offshore under ORR or IRC. Click on the "il mostro" button for all the details. The Last Word |
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