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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 Down To Last Leg Of Last Race
No class was more exciting than the RC44, which Mascalzone Latino captured via tiebreaker over Team Aqua by winning the final race. Skipper Vincenzo Onorato and crew not only got the gun in Race 10, but also managed to put a boat between themselves and Team Aqua to forge the tie with 22 total points apiece. The Italian team was declared the victor by virtue of having more first place finishes than the American syndicate. Over the docks in front of the Westin Hotel, Vela Veloce skipper Richard Oland sported a Cheshire Cat grin after snatching victory away from Anema & Core in the last race. The Canadian-based Southern Cross 52 trailed the Annapolis-based Judel Vrolijk 52 by two points going into Race 10, but wound up winning by one point after posting a bullet and watching Anema & Core place fourth. Richard Clarke served as helmsman while fellow professional Stu Bannatyne called tactics aboard Vela Veloce, which closed the regatta with back-to-back bullets. Vela Veloce made its debut at Key West 2010 and placed last in IRC 1 so to come back a year later and win IRC 2 was quite satisfying. Boston resident Dan Meyers was equally exuberant after skippering Numbers to victory in IRC 1 class. The JV 66 won Friday's initial race then held on for a one-point victory over Shockwave (George Sakellaris, Newport, R.I.) after placing fourth in the last two races. Four-time America's Cup winner Brad Butterworth called tactics for Meyers, whose all-star crew also included recent America's Cup Hall of Fame inductees Simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury and Dean Phipps as trimmers. In a unique twist, renowned 54-year-old bowman Jerry Kirby was setting and dousing the spinnaker while his 21-year-old son Rome steered Numbers downwind. Jim Richardson and the Barking Mad team completed an impressive wire-to-wire win in Farr 30 class by posting a strong line of 2-2-3 on Friday. Amateur Marty Kullman called tactics while pros Skip Baxter and Morgan Trubovich trimmed the sails for Richardson, who placed first or second in eight of 10 races in the five-day series. Tonnerre de Breskens 3, a Ker 46 owned by Peter Vroon of The Netherlands, won nine of 10 races in running away with victory in IRC 2 class. British pro Kevin George called tactics aboard Tonnerre, which finished with a whopping 18-point advantage over runner-up Antilope (Grand Soleil 43, Willem Wester, Great Britain). -- Bill Wagner Full results: www.Premiere-Racing.com For The Jules Verne Trophy The boat and the crew have been set for weeks. They set off from the Port du Chateau in Brest and crossed the start line off Ushant at 11h11m45sec (UTC) for the Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire's first attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. Pascal Bidegorry and his 13 crew have to be back in less than 48 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes and 52 seconds in order to beat the record time established by Groupama 3 in March 2010. The weather situation is not that clear over the Atlantic, as Brian Thompson explained just before leaving the dock: "We are confronted by two different weather models: the European and the American ones. They are showing us different things so we decided to go for the pessimistic one, the European, in order to avoid falling in light winds. In fact, there is a low pressure off the Canaries which is going to kill the trade winds a little bit and then another massive low crossing the Atlantic. As this latter comes closer, it might completely kill the trade winds. We are just trying to sneak pass a little low over the Canaries, turn round that and get down to the South before the big depression comes over." It will be no mean feat for the Skipper, Pascal Bidegorry and his 13 crew onboard Banque Populaire V, and for them the 10th March will be highlighted in their diaries as the date to aim for as they attempt to sail into the record books. Maxi Banque Populaire V's crew list Off Watch : Watch 1 Watch 2 Watch 3 Marcel van Triest : Shore weather routeur www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr IMOCA 60 Veolia Environnment / BT For Sale
Recent post Rhum full structural survey is available. One of the most desirable 60s currently available. The boat is out of the water undercover in Concarneau, completing an end of charter refit, and will be ready to race the 2011 season resuming her place at the front of the fleet. Contact Charles Darbyshire for more detail. +44 7768 982233 Virbac Paprec 3 in the Lead
Having set a new 24-hour 60ft monohull speed record yesterday (subject to ratification by the WSSRC) from second place, the Virbac Paprec 3 duo of Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron (FRA) overtook Foncia this morning, first crossing to the south of Michel Desjoyeaux and Francois Gabart (FRA) around midnight last night, then overhauling them in the position rankings by 1000hrs this morning. At last count Virbac Paprec 3 had a 10-mile lead and were sailing approximately 1 knot faster, with the lead boats anticipated to pass the waypoint of Gough Island this afternoon. However, the Foncia duo have decided to make the game a little more cloak and dagger, with Francois Gabart revealing in this morning's live audio conference that they were about to opt for 'stealth' mode, which will see Foncia disappear from the rankings until 0500hrs (UTC) on Tuesday. For the middle of the fleet the game has become one of snakes and ladders, catching the breeze to move up places and avoiding the windless holes which see boats slithering back down the rankings. MAPFRE in the west have averaged over 8 knots since this morning's 1000hrs ranking to reclaim third overall. Meanwhile Groupe Bel's sub-5 knot pace has dropped them to fifth as Estrella Damm jumped back up to fourth, with less than 10 miles distinguishing the pair. The worst conditions are currently surrounding Neutrogena in seventh and Mirabaud in eighth, who have both averaged just 2.9 knots over the past hour. For Dominique Wavre (SUI) and Michele Paret (FRA) this actually represents an improvement, having spent the previous five hours averaging just 2 knots. Standings at Sunday 23 January at 1400hrs UTC 1. Virbac-Paprec 3, 19,401 nm to finish ORC International World Championship Numerous past World, Continental and National Champions are in the planning stages to come and vie for the World title, including the 2009 Class A World Champion, George Andreadis's Meliti team from Greece, and last year's ORCi European Class A Champion Riccardo Di Bartolomeo's MAN from Italy, a sistership GS42R0 sistership who was also the runner-up to Meliti at the '09 Worlds in Brindisi. In Class B, the 2010 European champion, Francesco Siculiana's GS40RC Alvarosky, has already entered to try and claim their first world title. Other high-performance boats types attending include TP52's, an R/P 60, a GP 42, and possibly the new Farr 400. These will all be in Class A, which typically includes boats over 42 feet with a rated speed of faster than 600 sec/mi, though there some modern designs faster than this figure under 42 feet in length. The venue for the event and site of all shoreside activities is at the ACI Marina adjacent to the town of Cres, which is situated in the middle of the island of the same name. This is a full-service facility in a protected setting just minutes from the race course areas in the Bay of Kvarner. As in past ORCi Worlds events, the fleet will be divided into two groups, with the winner of each winning the only ISAF-sanctioned World Championship title in offshore sailing. In addition, a Corinthian Division will award an overall trophy among entries who have all crew classified as Group 1 under the ISAF Classification Code. Camet Introduces The Women’s Wahine Sailing Shorts In Slate Grey For more information on these shorts, please go to www.camet.com Heineken Cape To Rio The 35ft Ciao Bella has made steady progress on its westerly course to Rio and now lies in third place on handicap behind Dale Kushner's Xtra-Link and current leader City of Cape Town , skippered by Gerry Hegie. Robinson, who has his entire family on board, normally does his sailing from the Boskop Dam in the North-West province and entered the race after numerous requests from his three teenage sons Ricky, Brennan and Ryan. The Simonis 35 completed 210 nautical miles after yesterday's 24 hour run. But it was Yachtport SA, skippered by Dave Herman, which had the best run (224,6nm), followed by City of Cape Town (219,7nm) and Xtra-Link (216,8nm). The 54ft Prodigy, skippered by Durban yachtsman Chris Frost, still leads the race for line honours but could only manage 215,9nm, while the other maxi in the race, the 63ft Grand Filou II, clocked 205nm. Prodigy is now 2,072nm away from the finish at the Rio Yacht club, City of Cape Town 2,144nm and Grand Filou 2,161nm. For tracker, news and other info visit: www.capetorio.heineken.com Floating Art at Audi Victoria Week
With its stained glass windows, bronze cast fittings and polished woodwork, the interior of James Woods' Bermudan cutter Windward II could be mistaken for the reading room at the Melbourne Club. Windward II is a former winner of the Parks Victoria Classic Yacht Series at Audi Victoria Week (2009), and once again the stunning 44 footer, which sails from the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, is gracing the start line along with a dozen of its classic contemporaries. Designed by Norman Dallimore and built in 1929 in Tasmania of King Billy pine on blue gum frames by renowned builder Percy Coverdale, Windward is a floating piece of art. The blocks are wooden, as is the mast, tiller, deck and almost everything below. Anything modern like an icebox is well hidden behind the timberwork and the original head (porcelain bowl and toilet seat) is still in place. It even carries a matching Ye Olde World boat hook. In 2006 Windward II was given a significant restoration following an accident during a classic yacht regatta in Melbourne. While Woods was attending the birth of his son on day two of the regatta there was a port/starboard incident and Windward II lost her back stay. This set off a chain of events that resulted in the loss of the mast and bowsprit and significant damage to the forward part of the boat, including the loss of the top half of the stem. The Parks Victoria Classic Yacht Series commenced their four-day series today on a near windless Corio Bay, perfect conditions for the crew of Windward II who always have a beer or glass of wine with lunch and won't have to worry about spills on the King Billy pine deck. While some divisions are racing others are awaiting the starter's gun as the SE breeze lies in wait. -- Lisa Ratcliff 18ft Skiffs Australian Championship Race 3
The five times Giltinan champion retired a couple of years ago but is still in heavy demand to sail when many of the current skippers are unable on any day. Barnabas won race one on Smeg when Nick Press was unavailable while successfully defending his Inter-dominion 12ft Skiff title, and today won race three on Thurlow Fisher Lawyers as replacement for the injured Michael Coxon. Today's win was even more remarkable as Barnabas and his crew of Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas (Trevor's son) missed the start by 45secs. Taming the 15-20 knot North-East wind and choppy waters, Thurlow Fisher Lawyers scored a 1m14s win over Yandoo, sailed by John Winning, Andrew Hay and Dave Gibson. Third place went to Red Claw, Matthew Searle, Archie Massey and Mike McKenzie, which finished a further 3m33s behind Yandoo. Defending champion Seve Jarvin (Gotta Love It 7) will now have a difficult time successfully defending his title as the skiff's spinnaker pole broke in half while holding a narrow lead. The '7' team of Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage struggled around the course without a spinnaker and limped home in 11th place. Race 4 of the championship will be sailed on Wednesday, 26 January, however there will be no spectator ferry available to follow this race. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League www.flying18s.com Loki Takes Line Honours in Drawn Out Passage Race
Maguire was not alone in his thoughts, as many of the grand prix yachts expected to do well struggled to make the finish line and the bulk of the fleet was still out on the course at 5.30pm. After taking an early and sizeable lead with Michael Hiatt's Living Doll (Vic), Loki, an RP63 from NSW, fell into a big hole on Port Phillip Bay. "We parked it for a couple of hours," confirmed Maguire. "It was fly-ridden and windless." The 400 plus fleet got away to a good start in 8 knots of breeze on their new start line near St Kilda Pier in Melbourne at 9.30 this morning, but the predicted 14-22 knot east-sou-easterly winds never arrived. Shortly after, the wind vanished from the course, and local sailor Rob Date made the best of a bad situation, sailing his RP52 Scarlet Runner further to the south and into the lead of the race. "We thought the sea breeze would come, so we kept going south. We've done a lot of sailing in these parts, so felt we had it right. We kept tacking to stay close to the shore and finally we got a light sea breeze. "We overtook Loki near the entrance to King George Bank," said Scarlet Runner's owner/skipper Rob Date, who was more than happy with their finish. Loki only reclaimed the lead from Scarlett Runner in the final stages of the race, first overtaking Calm, Colin Wood's Pretty Fly II (NSW), and Nick Bartel's Terra Firma (Vic), before finally beating Date to the line by little over two minutes. Loki finished at 15.47.06, and Scarlet Runner at 15.49.59. -- Di Pearson Featured Brokerage Brokerage through Clarke and Carter: A great opportunity for a club, corporate entertainment or day charter, a fleet of 8 Beneteau First Class 8's which were refurbished in 2005, all with their own launching cradles and with two road trailers. They are basically equipped and do now require some recommissioning, offers will be considered. Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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