Scuttlebutt Europe #2349 - 17 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 Zhik SB3 World Championships 2011 - Day 1
On the Yellow course, Robert Greenhalgh (GBR) showed his talent early on. Notching up a 1, 2, 1 on day one of a World Championships is a score card anyone would be proud of. Peter Saxton (GBR) won the first race on the Orange course and followed up with a 5, 2 placing him second overall overnight on day 1. The Orange course suffered 2 general recalls as the Race Committee tried to get the second race of the day away. Not deterred by the delay, Glenn Bourke (AUS) dominated the race, extending his lead on each leg. Chatting to Glenn last night he claimed to be "rusty", but today he posted 5, 1, 11 on the score sheet. "More time in the boat will help us iron out some of our creases, but to take a win on the first day of an event like this always makes you feel good!" 2010 Laser SB3 World Champion Jerry Hill (GBR) had a difficult day to start the event. Sailing on the Orange course the 3 Sad Old Blokes struggled in the first race, finishing in 25th position. After starting deep in the second race, they picked their way back to a respectable 9th and despite damage, finished 6th in the third race of the day. "It was hard today, really hard," explained Hill before disappearing to repair his boat. Over One Hundred Entries for ORC Worlds Entries are still being accepted until 18 May with an entry fee of €600, but after that date they will be accepted only at the discretion of the organizers, and with an entry fee of €1000. Most entries in the fleet are from a variety of production racer/cruiser designs, but there are also many high performance race boats entered in this year's Worlds. These include two TP52's, Aniene 1a Classe from Italy and Aquila from Austria, Roberto Monti's Felci-designed GP42 Airis, a veteran of the past two seasons in the Audi MedCup from Italy, and the Farr-designed canting-keeled Cookson 50 Calipso IV, also from Italy and owned by Piero Paniccia. Besides this spectrum of competitive boat designs, the fleet also contains a significant array of sailing talent, including numerous past World, national, and regional champions in ORCi, as well as several past Olympians and America's Cup team members. Examples include Italian AC veterans Tomasso Chieffi and Paolo Cian, who are tacticians on, respectively, the reigning European ORCi Champion Man, a GS42R05 owned by Riccardo Di Bartolomeo, and the NM 38 Scugnizza owned by Enzo del Blasio. Croatian Olympic Finn sailor Karlo Kuret will be the helmsman on the Salona 42 All 4 One, and fellow Croatian Olympic Laser sailor Mate Arapov will be on board the GS56R Marina Kastela. While most entries are from the Adriatic region, the event has also drawn interest from teams from as far away as the USA. All official activities for the 2011 World Championship will be held at the ACI Marina in Cres, including berthing, the regatta center, and media center. After measurement and registration on Saturday and Sunday, 18-19 June, inshore racing will start on Monday 20 June on courses set between Cres and the Istrian coastline. On Tuesday 21 June will be the start of the 24-hour offshore race, with finishes expected on Wednesday 22 June. Thursday 23 June inshore racing resumes through Saturday 25 June, the final day of competition. Nine races are scheduled: seven Windward/Leeward races and an offshore race scored as two races. One discard will be allowed if all nine races will be completed. The championship is valid if at least four windward/leeward races and one offshore race or at least three windward/leeward races and two offshore races are completed. Vincenzo Onorato: "We Couldn't Have Won" La Repubblica: Onorato, the comments on the international blogs and specialized media are pretty hard on you. Vincenzo Onorato: This is also a demonstration of affection. They obviously love us. La Repubblica: In essence, they say, how is it possible that you made the rules, the format of the competition is yours, the economic parameters are those chosen by you, and you first aren't able to find the money? Vincenzo Onorato: It's an incorrect statement: we have found the money to do the Cup. Indeed I thank the sponsors that trusted us. La Repubblica: Then why did you withdraw? Vincenzo Onorato: Because we did not have enough funds to effectively compete with the big guys. That is, to try to win the Cup. I am a sportsman. A sailor and a sportsman. I really have no interest in participating without competing. La Repubblica: That's fine, but so - indeed - it seems that those that think the rules you have written are a farce, are right. That is, written in order to let participate many teams and leave to one, the richest, Oracle, the chance to win. Vincenzo Onorato: Another silly dispute. The America's Cup has never been, in its long tradition, a low-budget event. In fact, it has always been an event with escalating budgets. Pierre Orphanidis' translation, in full, at Valencia Sailing: Dubarry Lahinch - Hanging Ten In Style Dubarry Lahinch - performance perfected. Groupama 4: A Great Sense Of Pride
Australian Ben Wright, head of the shore team with five Volvo Open 70 build projects already under his belt, seems particularly satisfied with the work achieved by the team. "It's a big day… in a long series of big days! We still have a few miles to cover with Groupama Sailing Team. However, at least now we're done with the sketches: the boat is here in front of us. Although the phase in the yard is over for the members of the shore crew, sail trials are set to begin on Tuesday 17 May for the sailing crew. The next major stages which will punctuate the life of Groupama Sailing Team between now and the start of the Volvo Ocean Race will be the christening of Groupama 4 on 11 June in Lorient, then the Fastnet Race in the UK on 14 August. In the latter, Franck Cammas and his crew will, for the very first time, be able to see how Groupama 4 fairs in relation to her future rivals. -- translated by Kate Jennings Technical specifications for Groupama 4: LOA: 21.50m Norway's Eivind Melleby Wins Melges 24 Pre-Worlds
With racing in the main World Championship series scheduled to start in the morning, most teams spent the afternoon after racing today on boat preparation, final sail selection and planning for the week of racing ahead. AUDI helmsman Ricardo Simoneschi (ITA) appeared confident and relaxed on the eve of the main championship. "As a team we are happy with the job we have done up to now. In terms of the venue, I think it is a very interesting place. We were told that the winds were generally very strong and quite steady here, but in the last few days we have already seen a variety of conditions and some quite big windshifts. So I think there will be plenty of tactical options and the racing will actually be quite open." There was also a general anticipation of some spectacular sailing ahead when the inevitable classic big breeze Corpus Christi conditions make an appearance. Racing in the 2011 Melges 24 World Championship main series runs through until Saturday May 21, with two races per day scheduled. GOR Entry Michel Kleinjans' New Kiwi 40FC Passes the Class40 Test In early April, Kleinjans' Farr Yacht Design Class40 left the Cookson Boats yard in Auckland as deck cargo bound for Europe with a tight schedule for Class40 Association registration and test sailing prior to Roaring Forty 2 competing in the double-handed Normandy Channel Race starting in Caen, Normandy, next Sunday. Lapo Ancillotti, Director of BT Boats Ltd - the company that identified the potential of New Zealand-based Class40 production - was in Belgium for the 90 degree test. "We're really happy that the tests were passed and now sail testing and racing is the next step," he commented shortly after Roaring Forty 2 was manoeuvred back to the dock. "The boat looks impressive, very aggressive, and definitely we took the Class40 concept to the next level with a more Open 60-style. However, we need to prove the boat in the water and against the competition first!" Kleinjans - who raced in the single-handed division of the inaugural GOR in 2008-09 on his Open 40, Roaring Forty, will be double-handing in the Normandy Channel Race with the 42 year-old, Normandy-based yachtsman, Marc Lepesqueux: a highly experienced Mini Transat, Figaro and Class40 sailor who placed 12th out of 44 Class40's in the 2010 Route du Rhum with Marie Toit - Caen La Mer. GOR entry, Kleinjans and co-skipper, Lepesqueux, will be racing against a highly-charged Class40 fleet in the Normandy Channel Race, including four fellow GOR entries: the Anglo-German, all-female GOR team of Hannah Jenner and Anna-Maria Renken on the Owen Clarke Design 40 Degrees; Tanguy de Lamotte sailing with Sébastien Audigane on Initiatives Saveurs; the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire with the Akilaria Class40, Phesheya Racing and a second Kiwi 40FC, Peráspera, skippered by Italy's Francesco Piva who is the boat's owner-driver and a director of BT Boats. De Guingand Bowl The start off the Squadron Line was a gentle one with ten knots from the northwest, however as the fleet entered the Western Solent big gusts and wind shifts had the fleet concentrating on sail trim. The breeze built as the fleet turned east and with an increased sea state, the competitors in the De Guingand Bowl Race enjoyed some fast running conditions before blasting offshore bound for the Greenwich Light Vessel. With blues skies punctuated by scattered clouds, the 71-strong fleet enjoyed a day of fantastic offshore action. Just before sunset, the breeze shifted north and colder air, often in excess 20 knots, gave a chilling night sail. By dawn the breeze had abated somewhat and returned to the northwest and by early afternoon, the majority of the RORC fleet had been accounted for. Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, made a victorious start to the RORC European circuit with a triumph in IRC One and IRC overall to lift the De Guingand Bowl Trophy. Gray and Laidlaw's Bob took line honours and second place overall by the narrow margin of just over four minutes on corrected time. Chaz Ivill's Grand Soleil 54, John B, had another excellent race, to place third overall and second in IRC One. John B is currently third overall for the championship. Quokka 8 corrected out to win IRC Two, this season Peter Rutter's Grand Soleil 43 is crewed by Phillippe Falle and the team from Sailing Logic. RORC Commodore, Andrew McIrvine's First 40, La Réponse, continued their impressive start to the season taking second place in IRC Two, to lead the class for the championship. IRC Four produced the closest finish in the 71-yacht fleet. Fabrice Tropres' Dufour 34, Major Tom, had a virtual photo-finish with Harry Heijst's S&S 41, Winsome. Major Tom won the class by just 19 seconds. Mathias Kracht's JPK 9.6, Ultreia!, was not far behind in third, racing two-handed. There were 14 yachts racing in the Two Handed Class. Paddy Cronin's, Psipsina had an intense battle for third place with Matthias Kracht'sUltreia! But Peter Olden's Solan Goose of Hamble, corrected out to win the class and retain the class lead for the season so far, with Jammy Dodger coming in second behind them. -- Louay Habib Video interview with Piet Vroon at youtu.be/QKMiDemJzhA UK-Halsey Rules Quiz The answers to all the quizzes were re-written for the rules changes by Rob Overton, who has been a member of the US Sailing Racing Rules Committee since 1993. Rob was one of five international rule writers who drafted the new Section C rules that took effect on January 1, 2009. See the Rules Quiz page at www.ukhalsey.com/RulesQuiz/ You can buy the Quiz program for $55 or $100 for the program plus two of the best books written on the 2009-2012 Racing Rules - Understanding the Rules by Dave Perry and The Rules in Practice by Bryan Willis. Both are reviewed in our Rules Blog. 3-Buoys Challenge Series
It will commence on October 16, one week after the season opener, and continue each Sunday until November 13. "3-Buoys" system was introduced by the League four years ago as a unique means of handicapping the fleet to provide more winning opportunities while maintaining a closely bunched fleet throughout each race. Teams are allocated individual handicaps (maximum is 10 minutes), based on previous performances, which is then dissected into a variety of '3-buoys colours' on each of the three roundings. The entire fleet start at the same time but the first windward mark is always designated as a "3-buoys" mark with white, blue and red marker buoys placed 100 metres apart (white being the furthest and red the nearest). Skiffs with the 'longest' handicap benefit from the nearest 'red' marker buoy and set their spinnakers for the next leg of the course while the others are still working to the further 'blue' and 'white' markers. It then becomes a race where the backmarker boats have to chase the leaders. The system is repeated twice more over the course and usually results in a finish where the faster boats are closing on the leaders. The "3-Buoys Challenge" will have a continuous pointscore applying throughout the series and there will be no discard. Handicaps of boats finishing first, second and third will be adjusted after each race and the pointscore system will be geared (doubled) to favour the last three races. The series will give more impact to the start of the Sydney season and will be a great lead in event for the major (NSW, Australian and Giltinan) titles which follow. -- Frank Quealey Australian 18 Footers League www.18footers.com.au Letters To The Editor - * From Liz Baylis, WIMRA Executive Director: Dear WIMRA Sailors, Organizers, Umpires, and Fans...As you probably know, the ISAF Council voted last week to remove the women's keelboat event from the Olympic slate for 2016. Obviously this is a great disappointment to us and perhaps a decision they will regret. But it is done and we must now look forward and not backwards. We have seen an incredible growth of women's match racing throughout the world over the last 10 years: - from 20 events in 2000 to over 80 in 2010; Though this has been in part due to the inclusion in the Olympic programme for 2012, it is mainly due to the tremendous effort that all of you have put into growing our sport. I do not see the recent decision diminishing the fact that women's match racing is a dynamic and exciting discipline and many of our most talented sailors will continue to participate. As WIMRA Vice President, Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN) said in a recent note to the ISAF Women's Forum: "I don't think that match racing has ever been adopted by the Sailing World Cups to use its full potential, so not really a surprise that women's keelboat/match racing is out again. I'm sure match racing will be fantastic events at the Pre-Olympics, ISAF Worlds in Perth and at the Olympic Games 2012. And match racing will for sure survive also outside the Olympic programme, no doubt about that." Where do we go from here? WIMRA is committed to helping ensure that the events Lotte mentioned are all fantastic events and that the Olympic Women's Match Racing event in 2012 showcases our sport for what it is: exciting, athletic, media friendly, and riveting. But, we will also be working outside of the Olympic programme to further develop women's match racing in new areas as well as bolster the existing excellent events and help develop new events. We will continue to need your help, but we are also available to help you. Let's continue to work together to develop and grow our sport. Featured Brokerage A ready to go Americas Cup Charter Yacht, MCA Coded for 12 guests plus crew, professionally maintained from build and fully refit in 2009. She would make an ideal vessel for a start up charter company or an existing company looking to expand its fleet. Brokerage through Ancasta International Boat Sales: www.yachtworld.com/ancasta/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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