Scuttlebutt Europe #2347 - 13 May
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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 Mascalzone Latino Says Goodbye to the America's Cup Since the very beginning of our role as Challenger of Record, I have been working on this project focused to bring the Cup in our Country. Larry deeply loves Italy and he was excited about this idea. The Cup in Italy would have been the greatest worldwide promotion for our beautiful coasts. There have been some very high level and important meetings that made us believing in this dream, but the things went in a different way. As Challenger of Record, we have worked with humility next to Oracle and I am satisfied of the result we have reached: a new Cup, spectacular, with new boats, the catamarans, that will launch on the international scene a new generation of sailors. With Russell we have discussed for long time on the most difficult challenge that the next Cup must face: an international situation with big economic crisis and therefore huge difficulties to find sponsor. This is the only, true, real enemy of the next Cup. We have then thought of the idea to create the class AC45, a concrete way to make lot of teams get involved in the event reducing costs, at least in the delicate period of the start-up. On our side, I must thank the two Italian sponsors that believed and confirmed us their trust. We are not able, however, to reach a budget that allows us to be a competitive team. In our sport, men in blazer have overcome by now those in oilskins, I'm a man in oilskin and when I go in the sea, I want to win. I'm not interested in a hopeless challenge, I would lie to the sponsors, to our fans and last but not least also to myself. I would like to thank our friends from Club Nautico di Roma. I am sure that we will have new exciting adventures together. The sailing adventure of Mascalzone Latino doesn't end anyway with the Cup, but it continues with the sailing school in Naples, free of charge, for those children coming from the most difficult areas of this town. A daily challenge, and, who knows, maybe someday we will see a new America's Cup champion coming out from one of them. Fair wind to all of you. Mirsky Shines as Williams Struggles at Match Race France
By his own admission, Mirsky had 'an average result' after the first Qualifying Session and knew his team had 'to be consistent to make it to the Quarter-Finals'. Despite an early defeat at the hands of four-time World Champion Peter Gilmour, The Wave Muscat team went on an undefeated run of five matches including notable wins against Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team and Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners Racing Team, two of the five teams to have secured their places in the Quarter-Finals. Standings After Second Qualifying Session: Seahorse June 2011 From textiles to composites - Part 1 A question of balance The action starts now If you haven't subscribed to Seahorse already we're keen to help you attend to that! - Please use the following promotional link and enjoy the hefty Scuttlebutt Europe discount... and it gets even better for 2 and 3 year subscriptions... Keep Calm and Keep Fighting!
With owner Larry Ellison absent fellow American Steve Howe stepped onto the helm today for the start of four days of fleet racing at the RC44 Austria Cup. With Russell Coutts calling the shots, ORACLE Racing finished the day with a six point lead over second placed Katusha. Paul Cayard, tactician on the Russian Katusha was not expecting an easy ride today. "It requires a different strategy and tactics to an ocean course that will be the test for me, to keep calm and realise that when we're ahead and go in to a spot with no wind, that happens, and you need to keep fighting." They kept fighting today, with a consistent 3, 4, 6 score line. New boy Vladimir Prosikhin (RUS) surprised even himself with a race win in the third and final race of the day with his team aboard Team Nika. "I run a successful company in Russia, I am used to being the boss and giving the orders, today I kept very quiet and listened to the team onboard and we won the race! Really great day for us as a novice team, we are very happy." With the storm due to blow through, racing in the RC44 Austria Cup will resume tomorrow through to Sunday 15th May. Results - RC44 Austria Cup - Fleet Race (after 3 races) 1. ORACLE Racing (USA) Steve Howe / Russell Coutts - 2, 2, 3 - 7 points Watch the racing unfold through live streaming at www.rc44.com/tracking Text Message Service to Raise Funds at Glyn Charles Pursuit Race This is a brand new, free service for charities, that has no set up or fundraising costs for charities, no network charges for people making donations and every penny donated goes to charity. Gift Aid can also be added to donations. From today, supporters of JMST can make donations of up to £10 by texting JMST01 and either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070 to make their donation. The text message is free and all of the donation will be passed to the JMST. The Glyn Charles Memorial Pursuit Race will be held on Saturday 21 May, at Hayling Island Sailing Club. The Glyn Charles Memorial Race is about fun, fundraising and remembering Glyn, one of Great Britain's best young sailors, who was tragically lost in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race. The fundraising part of the day is run in aid of the John Merrick's Sailing Trust. Too many events in sailing are taken too seriously, but be assured that this is definitely not one of them! All levels and ages of sailors get involved and the atmosphere is one of a true "celebration of life"! The 2011 race will be no exception with pledges of support rapidly coming in, and many of Glyn's former crews and team mates planning to race too. A fun, competitive race around the cans, Glyn's race attracts entries from all dinghy classes and ages, pitting their wits to win a stunning array of prizes, which are spread across the fleet, from back to front.
Risk To Gain - The Ebook 'It's the best book yet on this race. Great writing...' www.amazon.com/Risk-to-Gain-ebook/ Industry News Tidetech has agreed to supply a licence to use its San Francisco 100m v5 model from June 2011 to September 2013. The tidal model created for the San Francisco Bay area has been developed with the America's Cup in mind but is available to anyone who needs accurate tidal stream data for that location. As a direct consequence of preparing for the America's Cup, Tidetech has mapped the San Francisco Bay area in exceptional detail over the last 12 months. The standard model data is already available to all bay users including yacht racers, cruising boats, shipping, port authority, safety agencies and fishermen. The data will continue to be developed up to and beyond the competition providing a lasting benefit to the San Francisco maritime sector. The America's Cup model differs from the standard offering as it is set in 10-minute time-steps. The benefit of this smaller time-step is that it gives extra insight into the timing and structure of the some quite pronounced eddies that will impact racing. -- www.tidetech.org --------------------------------------------------- Howth Yacht Club, near Dublin, Ireland, has announced that BMW Ireland is to be the title sponsor of the J/24 European Championship at Howth next September when up to forty boats from six countries are expected to compete. One of the major regattas in Ireland this year, the BMW J/24 Europeans has already attracted interest from J/24 sailors in the UK, Holland, Sweden, Monaco, Italy, Germany and Greece. Racing will take place over four days (Sept.12th-15th), and will be preceded by registration, measurement and practice from the 9th. The Principal Race Officer will be ISAF International Race Officer David Lovegrove while Bob Milner (UK) will chair the International Jury. --------------------------------------------------- Bill Dixon is named 'Yacht Designer of the Year' at the Asian Marine and Boating Awards 2011 After a very successful 'awards' year in 2010 Bill Dixon has got 2011 off to a flying start by being named 'Yacht Designer of the Year' at the Asian Marine and Boating Awards 2011. Dixon, who has worked with companies in Asia for nearly thirty years, has now won prestigious awards two years running from a continent which is rapidly developing its leisure boat industry. He was one of the very first European exhibitors at the Shanghai Boat Show, having already developed very close ties with builders in Taiwan, and is now working with several fast growing Chinese builders who have been quick to appreciate, not only his understanding of their local markets but also the experience that he can bring to them of markets worldwide - Dixon being probably the only yacht designer who could claim to have yachts in build on five continents at the same time, as he did in 2008. Set up to be truly independent of any possible influence from, 'friends or customers' the Asian Marine and Boating Awards judging co-ordinator Alistair Skinner, who is a member of the Yachting Journalists Association, made it very clear that he was determined, right from the start, that the panel would be strictly 'neutral' to ensure that the, 'winners are indeed winners, rather than just recipients of gifts'. --------------------------------------------------- PR Works, the Hampshire, UK-based consultancy run by Peta Stuart-Hunt, has been retained by the XOD Class to promote the Centenary of this most famous of racing fleets. The Centenary campaign launched officially today with the announcement that Aberdeen Asset Management is the new title sponsor. There is a special, one day, 'period costume' racing event at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club in early June, followed by the main feature at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, during which the XOD Class will stage its Centenary Regatta over three days of competitive racing. Of all the designs to have raced in the America's Cup, perhaps none is so revered as the 12 Metre, a real head turner with its classic, sleek lines. PR Works is proud to have been appointed by ITMA, the International 12 Metre Association, to help advise, plan and deliver the PR and Media campaign to support the British 12 Metre Tour incorporating the 12 Metre World Championships in June and July next year. Last but by no means least, Peta's former role as a Press Officer in the field of copyright law in the international music industry could stand her in good stead as she takes on the publicity for Rockin' the Dock, a one-night-only Status Quo concert being held in Cowes Yacht Haven on August 3rd on behalf of her third new client, Mousehound Events Lt --------------------------------------------------- Morris Yachts' sendoff of the first Leadership 44, the US Coast Guard's new training vessel is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18th at 11am at Morris Yachts Bass Harbor, Maine A light lunch will be served, followed by a Morris Service Open House. Guests will have the opportunity to tour the Bass Harbor facility and review some of this Winter's projects including an update on Bandera, the custom 56 that received a complete core removal and replacement. For more information on the Leadership 44 project see www.morrisyachts.com/Coast-Guard-Project --------------------------------------------------- Estonian Yachting Union in cooperation with Vopak E.O.S. introduced a fleet of 18 RS Feva sailboats to Estonia, creating a completely new opportunity for children and youth to take up double handed sailing on a two person dinghy. According to Ott Kallas, Secretary General of Estonian Yachting Union (EYU), introducing the RS Feva is amongst the most important achievements throughout the EYU history. „This double handed dinghy significantly broadens sailing opportunities for our youth. There are always sailors who are more suited for a two person dinghy compared to a one person dinghy by their personality or physical characteristics, and some sailors find sailing as part of a team more exciting," Kallas said. "The best part of it is that now children can start sailing on a two person dinghy at a young age, even in their very first training session, instead of having to wait to grow into the 470. I believe that besides the joy and enjoyment that RS Feva sailing will bring to our young sailors, it will also remarkably contribute to the future of Estonian professional two person dinghy sailing," Kallas added. Letters To The Editor - * From Jim Champ: Seeing all the vitriol and, frankly, very inacurate statements that are being made about the ISAF Olympic selections I did a little research and discovered that the choices made were entirely predictable if you had done a little research beforehand. ISAF has something like 120 member nations, and If I read all the docs correctly 39 of them made submissions to the mid year meeting on the subject of Olympic classes. 9 from Asia, 22 from Europe, 5 from North America, and 2 from South America. Of those countries The next biggest categories were 10 each for a male keelboat and a female keelboat. Countries that didn't suggest M & F 470s were 4 in Europe, all large, and 2 in North America, 1 in South America. Other than in the carribean, the smaller countries all supported two 470s. Whatever else may be said there seems little doubt that Council came up with a decision that reflected what its members were telling it. Sounds like democracy to me... Personally I'd have dropped the womens skiff in favour of a match racing with mixed crews in the Elliots, but that was an option not one country suggested. * From Anderson Skander: Surely an Olympic sport has one of two functions (or both). Either to represent its participants on the world stage or to show its most exciting side both to attract new potential participants or to ensure good media to keep the sponsors happy and ensure a continued presence in the 5 ring Circus. If we look at the first premise for Olympic Sailing with an event split of 2 x surfing 'craft - wind' or kite'(20%), 1 mixed crew multihull (10%), 3 single-handers (30%), 2 skiffs (20%) and 2 symmetrically rigged double handed trapeze boats (20%) and 0 keelboats (0%) how close does this approach a true representation of the population of competitive sailors around the globe? Frankly it is not a million miles away - more like a billion miles away! So on basis 1 ISAF has not represented it's members at all nor followed any logic whatsoever. If our governing body is trying to use the Olympics to publicize and glamorize our sport the skiffs might cut it and maybe a mixed catamaran but the lighter crew weight this brings about means the powerhouse cats (and therefore the fastest and most exciting) will not and can not be selected. Sponsors want coverage and a media return- they don't support the Olympics to look good. They and the IOC want value for money. Qingdao cost approaching USD1m per competitor although Weymouth is considerably more economical. If it isn't exciting TV the producers are less likely to include it in their scheduling, if it doesn't give the sponsors a return don't think for a moment that the IOC wont get pressure to drop our sport from the games. And ISAF need to be mindful how much of their funding comes from that once every 4 years extravaganza. If they (ISAF) are not careful the current exec may just be the ones that bring about the demise of Olympic Sailing. For goodness sake please put politics and personal interest aside for once and either re-convene and produce an event list that either reflects the existing participants in our sport or selflessly select the classes that best showcase the excitement that we sailors know exists in our sport otherwise either Mr Elvstrom or Mr Ainslie may hold an Olympic record that stands for all eternity after 2012 but not for the reason they would prefer, I am sure! Featured Brokerage Brand new Rob Shaw designed race boat built with Mike Sanderson (Volvo Ocean Race winning Skipper) as project manager. Very, very quick, easy to sail with a crew of five, would be a spectacular two handed boat. Brokerage through All Boat Brokerage Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/allboat/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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