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 Setback Aboard Sodebo Sodebo's shore crew has assessed the damage on shore after studying the photo which Thomas sent out immediately after the incident and the structural integrity of the float has been preserved. Though it's impossible today to gauge the impact on the trimaran's performance for the rest of the course, Thomas Coville is continuing on his way as before. Currently sailing on port tack at a speed of 18/20 knots, Sodebo will switch to a starboard tack in a couple of days' time in an easing wind. On this same tack, which he is set to stay on till at least the North of Brazil, the windward float, namely the one that is damaged, will thus remain clear of the water. In 30 knots of NW'ly breeze, the trimaran is making headway close on the NE'ly wind off the Falkland Islands with two reefs in the mainsail and ORC jib. At 1400 GMT, his deficit in relation to Francis Joyon's course had dropped to below 500 miles. Winning Appliances JJ Giltinan Championship: Race 5 Sydney Harbour" Defending champion Seve Jarvin and his Gotta Love It 7 team Sam Newton and Scott Babbage dominated Race 5 of the Winning Appliances JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship sailed in light winds on Sydney Harbour today. Gotta Love It 7 defeated Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas) by 2m18s and now trails Coxon and his team by just one point, after each discarding their worst performances to date. Third placing today went to Western Australia's SLAM (Grant Rollerson, Anthony Young and Peter Nicholson), which finished a further 1m6s behind Thurlow Fisher Lawyers. On the overall point score (after discards), US champion Howie Hamlin and his CST Composites team Fritz Lanzinger and Paul Allen are third on 16 points, followed by SLAM, also on 16 points. There is a group of four boats on 23 points, including Yandoo (John Winning), Red Claw Wines (Matthew Searle), Smeg (Nick Press) and Hyde Sails (Andy Budgen). It's been a hard grind for competitors with a series of light and fluctuating breezes so hopes are for more of the 20-knots north-east wind seen on Race 3. LIVE TRACKING will continue throughout the remaining races of the championship on: www.tractrac.com/index.php?page=eventpage&id=138 Race 6 will be sailed on Saturday with the last race on Sunday. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League www.flying18s.com Keel Repairs Begin on Operon Racing Ahead of Velux 5 Oceans Sprint 4 The Operon Racing team took her from her berth in Punta del Este marina bound for Piriapolis, around 18 kilometres west. The boat yard in Piriapolis is the only one with a hoist powerful enough to haul the 19-year-old Eco 60 out of the water. Gutek first noticed the problems with the keel as he approached Cape Horn after sailing more than 4,000 nautical miles from Wellington, New Zealand. He reported hearing a knocking sound. Later it was discovered the composite part covering the keel pins had broken, allowing the keel to move by a few millimetres. Deciding to press on towards the finish line in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Gutek was forced to race with his keel fully canted to reduce its movement. Although the Eco 60 class rules state yachts cannot be lifted out of the water during the duration of the race, there is an exception if the lift is necessary on the grounds of safety. Operon Racing is expected to spend around five days out of the water while the keel work is completed ahead of the next sprint to Charleston, USA, which starts on March 27. California 32 Altamar Seeking syndicate members and/or investor to secure future of ALTAMAR, hull # 2 in the series by Nicholas Potter (his favorite design) described as "formidable racers, comfortable cruisers." Launched 1937 by Fellows and Stewart she is currently awaiting restoration at Traditional Boat Works in San Diego, California. We will be relocating and encourage anyone interested in this project to contact Doug Jones for further details and photos. Although the scope of the project to rebuild and re-rig her is substantial, we have the resources to undertake such a project once the funds are available. ALTAMAR's sea worthiness, sea keeping abilities and speed as well as that of her sisters is well known, and her accommodation plan could be modified to include amenities unavailable in 1937. We also have a 33' Luders designed and built motor vessel launched in 1949 as a sports fisherman, subsequently used by Robert Gardiner to carry family and guests commuting between Gardiner's Island and Long Island, New York and to the mainland. A small investment would finish up the repowering, cosmetics and refitting of this classic; her accommodation plan makes her perfect for weekend cruising or she could act as a tender to a large sail boat. Call or e-mail Doug for further details and photos. Please call us for details of these projects, to discuss other projects and to have spars built. We have recently built a mast for a Rhodes sloop, and spars for several Kettenburg designed and built boats. Douglas Jones, Traditional Boat Works, 001-619-542-1229 or A Long Term Strategy That Has Paid Off Can you tell us more about this strategy? What do you think of the position Mapfre is in? * Kito and Seb arrived in the harbor of Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina on Wednesday evening at around 19:00 hours. Safe and sound, the two men succeeded in bringing Groupe Bel to safety after many long stressful hours in which they feared losing the keel out at sea. Two members of the Bel Team arrived in the evening and this morning they will be making a technical assessment of the situation. The monohull must be taken out of the water. Since Monday, Kito and Seb have been living with the idea that Groupe Bel's keel could come away from the hull at any moment off Cape Horn. "The keel was moving longitudinally at a height of over a meter. The noise was so loud that we got the impression that we were slamming into each wave. We also have a small leak, since the ram has made a small hole in the hull", says the skipper back ashore, while Groupe Bel is tied up in Ushuaia. From the race rules point of view, if the boat makes a technical stopover, it must stay 48 hours. This means that the Groupe Bel is still officially racing. * A low pressure system which is building off the Falklands not only opens the door to the South American coast, but provides something of a fast moving, downwind conveyor belt ride in flat water, saving many miles on the easterly route around the south Atlantic high pressure. For Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella, expected at Cape Horn tomorrow night on GAES Centros Auditivos, such a scenario would reprise Caffari's Vendèe Globe where she was able to short cut and catch up miles on the ascent of the Atlantic. The race's only female duo look set to reach Cape Horn as the first pair to have suffered no significant injury or ill-health to themselves or to their IMOCA Open 60 over the 20,000 miles and 70 days of racing. Rankings At 1400hrs Thursday 10th March PUMA Announces Full Volvo Ocean Race Team The team is currently training aboard George David's and Alex Jackson's 100' Maxi Rambler100, which most recently broke the Caribbean 600 course record. The new PUMA Volvo Open 70 racing boat comes out of the shed in early spring. Once the new boat is launched, the crew will bring the boat to Miami for on and offshore training. In July, Read and his crew will participate in the Transatlantic Race beginning in Newport, Rhode Island and finishing in Plymouth, England. The training program will finish when the boat is brought to Alicante, Spain in October for the race start. Cumulatively, the management and sailing team for PUMA Ocean Racing shares a level of success difficult to match with 22 Volvo Ocean Race entries and 20 America's Cup editions. Collectively, the core team holds seven 24-hour mono hull speed records and has won the Around the World Race seven times. PUMA Ocean Racing Sailing Team: Ken Read, 49 (Newport Rhode Island, United States) Tom Addis, 41 (Sydney, Australia) Ryan Godfrey, 30 (Adelaide, Australia) Kelvin Harrap, 41 (Napier, New Zealand) Brad Jackson: 42 (Auckland, New Zealand) Rome Kirby, 21 (Newport Rhode Island, United States) Michi Mueller, 28 (Kiel, Germany) Tony Mutter, 42 (Auckland, New Zealand) Casey Smith, 32 (Brisbane, Australia, living in Newport Rhode Island) Jonathan "Jono" Swain, 43 (South Africa, living in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) PUMA Ocean Racing Shore Team Management: Kimo Worthington, 49 (Portsmouth Rhode Island, United States) Tim Hacket, 38 (Sydney, Australia living in Middletown Rhode Island) The Volvo Ocean Race begins October 2011 in Alicante, Spain and ends in Galway, Ireland in June 2012. The eight stopovers in between include: Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya (China), Auckland, Itajaí (Brazil), Miami, Lisbon and Lorient (France). Dubarry Storm - Style Over Fashion 50 km Per Hour on a Sliding Seat Although the narrow dinghies have an exotic appearance on the water, thanks to their unique 'sliding seats', they can actually look back to a 150-year-old tradition. The class is internationally integrated in the International Canoe Federation (ICF) and nationally to the German equivalent DKV, whilst it has been part of the German Sailing Federation DSV since 1974. As far back as 1882 the first regattas were held with the former paddle boats having been equipped with a sail. Today, the 5.2 metre-long sailing canoes which carry a sliding seat are divided into various disciplines. Both Taifun and International Canoes (IC) carry a mainsail and jib (total sail area: 10 sqm) and only differ in their type of sail: IC using battened sails. Additionally, the AC class further increases the sail area with a gennaker of up to 24 sqm. With this the 1.3 metre-wide hulls can only be kept upright through the unique system of a sliding seat, which is moved to windward during each tack, which positions the athlete's body weight two metres away from the hull centreline to counteract the sail power. This system is far more efficient than a trapeze and speeds the small dinghies under given wind conditions at up to 26 knots (about 50 km/h). -- Andreas Kling Jersey To Host Red Ensign Group Conference The annual Red Ensign Group Conference, which brings together the 13 Crown Dependencies and UK Overseas Territories entitled to register vessels under the famous British flag, is taking place in Jersey this year. Government delegates from as far afield as the Falkland Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands will be descending on the Island in May for the three-day conference, based at Hotel L'Horizon. Representatives of the Department of Transport, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Justice are also scheduled to attend. The full programme will feature global issues such as the risk of piracy on the high seas and the carriage of firearms aboard registered vessels. The agenda will also include items closer to home, including a proposal from the Jersey delegation that the Category 2 Registers, which can currently register private craft up to 400 tons and commercial craft up to 150, be permitted to register certain commercial craft (such as larger charter vessels and support vessels for wind farms and oil rigs) up to 400 tons. It has been 11 years since the conference, organised by the UK's Maritime & Coastguard Agency in a different territory each year, was last held in the Island. Up to 70 delegates, partners and guest speakers will be attending, including lawyers and surveyors as well as registrars, and their discussions will focus on safety, legal, regulatory, technical, compliance and constitutional matters common to the various territories. All the delegates will be staying at Hotel L'Horizon and each is covering their own transport and accommodation costs. The Jersey Ships Registry, administered by the Economic Development Department, will be funding some of the ancillary items, including a dinner at La Mare Vineyards, with assistance from the MCA and the Chief Minister's Office. Dubai Traditional 43ft Dhow Race The final round of the Traditional 43ft Sailing Dhow Championships organised by Dubai International Marine Club will be held this Saturday 12th March. The three-heat championship will culminate with a fleet of over seventy magnificent racing dhows contesting for the overall top place and the honour to start next season as boat number 1. The positions on the overall scoreboard are close at the top, after the two previous races Al Zeer, skippered by Mohammed Rashid Bin Shaheen has 4 points. Lying second is Al Adeed, with 5 points, skippered by Rashid Moh. Musabbeh Al Rumaithi. But only two points away are Dahees and Al Shared with 6 points. Unsettled weather conditions are set to continue although the weekend is expected to be warmer with winds from the north making the course likely to finish at the Burj Al Arab with the boats mustering in the lee of the World Islands waiting before the start. The race on Saturday will start at 14:30 and is expected to last for around two hours. 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 Les Voiles D'Antibes - Trophee Panerai It is in their new location of the Esplanade St. - Jaume (formerly an antique Shipyard), in the shadow of the ramparts of the Old town of Antibes and a few meters away from the famous Billionaires' Quay, that from the 8th till the 12th of June 2011, Les Voiles d'Antibes will host for their 16th edition, a selection of the most beautiful classic yachts in the world for the opening of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge. Organized in the early season, Les Voiles d'Antibes - Trophee Panerai host each year a selection of the most beautiful vintage yachts (built before 1950), Classic Yachts (built before 1976) and Spirit of Tradition Yachts and Classes metric (6 MJI, and 12 8mJI MJI competing America's Cup from 1958 to 1987), which have shaped since the late nineteenth century, the great history of Yachting International and its values of fair play, solidarity and respect . Participants are renewed each year around a core of mythic boats such as Moonbeam, Ikra, Bona Fide, Rowdy, The Blue Peter, Outlaw, Adria, Lulu, Cambria Tuiga who have long been present to all races. In addition, each year new boats, appear on the circuit. They come out of recent restorations and renovations. Antibes, being the first big rally of the season, is the opportunity for fans to come and enjoy the clean lines and architectural plans, the harmony of the gaff rigs and Bermudians. Appreciated for the quality of its racing along the 23 kms of coastline between the bay of Antibes and Juan-les-Pins, and for the great conviviality back to earth, Les Voiles d'Antibes - Trophee Panerai are undoubtedly one of the prime events of the Mediterranean circuit. www.voilesdantibes.com Nocturnal Race and Live Virtual Monitoring for the 46th SNIM Sailing around the sumptuous natural surroundings of Marseille and its region is one of the major assets of the Snim. By offering the larger boats in the fleet a long, 90 mile race involving a return race between Marseille - around the island of Porquerolles - Marseille and setting out late afternoon. Open to IRC 0, 1 and 2 and boats from the Class 9.50 and the Class40, the nocturnal race is scheduled to begin on Friday evening, with the possibility of delaying the start to optimise the race according to the weather forecast over Easter weekend. For the very first time and previewing at the event, Marsaille's Societe Nautique has signed a partnership agreement with KaliBee, a developer of iSea3D tracking solutions. This genuine technological innovation will also enable the onshore monitoring of the various fleets on the Societe Nautique's website, for both the port races and the nocturnal race. The programme at Sea Featured Brokerage Painless cruising with 6 berths,full equiped galley,1 closed aft cabin,1 bathroom, a large technical area,a 1,82m headroom,A very large cockpit locker, the accommodations will be at a cruiser's top level. Winning: One more time, the designers Joubert/Nivelt/Mercier have created a pure IRC racer- cruiser, giving a 40% ballast with a perfect true of weights. This will give an up-graded efficiency in every situation. Hull made by vacuum infused resign glass sandwiched and clothed ,deck made by injection and structural composite frame fixed to the hull certify high reliability. Brokerage through Royal Nautisme - Port La Foret: www.yachtworld.com/royalnautismeportlaforet/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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