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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 Green Revolution In Cascais
Green flashed hulls and sails are not the only common theme which the winning crews have in common. Both successful programmes roll forwards from a previous iteration. For Quantum Racing, USA), who won five races from nine starts, it is the first victory in the class for the America's Cup winner Ed Baird, USA) and for a brand new Botin Partners designed boat which is a successor to their 2008 circuit winner, while for Iberdrola Team, ESP) who win the first ever Soto 40 regatta in Europe - their success takes up the reins from previous campaigns at America's Cup, TP52 and GP42 circuits. Quantum Racing came into the regatta well behind their desired schedule but were soon able to reveal excellent upwind speed in the brisk winds which prevailed through the nine races. Though they made several crew changes since last season, continuity at the back of the Quantum Racing line up was ensured with world championship winners Kevin Hall, USA), navigator, Ado Stead, GBR), tactician and mainsail trimmer Skip Baxter, NZL) able to give valuable support to Baird, whose confidence grew noticeably through the regatta. They finished with two wins Sunday, again proving solid in the strong NW'ly winds. Consistency was the watchword in the Soto 40 fleet where the British boat Ngoni of Tony Buckingham scored their first win of the regatta when they comfortably lead Iberdrola across the finish line of the first race, while in the second - with the regatta win already secured it was Iberdrola which proved supreme in the strong winds and big downwind conditions. Cascais has proven consistently windy, with the reliable NW'ly Portuguese trade winds regularly building to more than 20 kts, peaking at 22-24 kts for the second race today - to offer fabulous sailing conditions for both classes, once again enhancing its reputation as a premier venue in Europe. 52 Series Final results 40 Series Final results Bressani Clinches Third Melges 24 World Championship
A solid second and a fourth today for Brian Porter on USA 749 Full Throttle was good enough for him to secure second overall. Porter, who started the series with an uncharacteristically poor first day, fought his way up to second during the week with a determined and consistent performance. As reigning World Champions, Bressani and the Uka Uka Racing crew went into this regatta as the firm favourites, a mantle they more than lived up to during the championship. Their performance this week has been nothing short of remarkable, winning six out of the twelve races and never finishing below sixth in any of the races they sailed. Tactically astute throughout the series, they started well in virtually every race and both upwind and downwind they always appeared to hold a speed advantage over their competitors. Bressani's victory this week is his third in the Melges 24 Class, an achievement also matched by both team owner Lorenzo Santini and tactician Jonathan McKee. Trimmer Federico Michetti goes one better, now with a record breaking four Melges 24 World Championship wins to his name. Not to be outdone by his crewmates bowman Fabio Gridellie is now a double Melges 24 World Champion. In the all amateur Corinthian Division, Eiichiro Hamazaki on JPN 783 closed out an comprehensive victory with two more race wins to secure the 2011 Corinthian Melges 24 World Championship title by a margin of 17 points over second placed Christof Wieland on GER 635 Unsponsored. -- Justin Chisholm Top Ten Overall Top Five Corinthian Spare and Used Yacht Equipment
The equipment is offered at attractive prices for dispersal and sensible offers will be entertained. Please contact us for more details, pictures, or to make offers. See more: www.yacht-management.co.uk/index.html Normandy Channel Race This morning, one by one, the 16 Class40s left the Bassin Saint Pierre for the traditional descent of the Caen channel. At 1100 GMT, the gates opened and after a few warm-up tacks, the competitors lined up for the race start. At 1300 GMT, the Mayor of the city of Caen, Philippe Duron, fired the starting gun to launch the 2011 edition of the Normandy Channel Race. Weather conditions were pretty lively today. The 16 Class40s headed off early this afternoon in a steady westerly wind which took the skippers by surprise as they crossed the line. Sylvie Viant, race director, looks back at the start: "A sudden southerly wind shift forced the skippers to switch direction on the start line, which they could no longer clear on starboard tack. Very quickly the boats crossed tacks. Everyone was a bit late, except for Damien Seguin and Yoann Richomme aboard "Des pieds et des mains", who got off to a very good start!" Already less than 15 miles from the first course mark, the Saint Marcouf islands, the leaders have opened up a good lead. Tanguy de Lamotte, Initiatives Saveurs, contacted by telephone at 1730 GMT, gives his account of the race start: "We're sailing under mainsail and solent along the coast. We're neck and neck with Fabien Delahaye and Bruno Jourdren, who are downwind of us. We've already got a sizeable lead over the rest of the fleet. At the start we were a bit behind because of the current but we followed that with a good upwind stretch and moved up through to the front of the fleet. We're satisfied with our performance. We couldn't have found a better way of casting the die!" -- Translated by Kate Jennings Find the cartography, updated rankings, photos and radio sessions on the race site: Nannini And Peggs In The Global Ocean Race 2011/2012 Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs have known each other for years. Paul is one of the Directors of the Solo Offshore Racing Club where Marco moved his first solo steps that took him from total novice at the Round the Island Solo organised by SORC in 2006 to win his class in OSTAR 2009 and in 2010 take part in the legendary solo Route du Rhum. Paul Peggs' experience on the other hand spans over four decades of serious racing. From racing dinghies as a teenager in the early 90s Paul owned and skippered a 3/4 tonner which he raced in many RORC races and two Fastnets. In the late 90s Paul was highly sought after as tactician and trimmer on various succesful boats (1st Cowes Week in Class, 1st Spi Ouest Mumm 30, Skippered Inn Spirit in the Commodore's Cup Trials). In 1999 Paul decided to go it alone and built "Blue One" for the 1999 Mini Transat which he entered. He had to retire from the 1999 race following a nasty storm in Biscay. Undeterred, Paul rebuilt the salvaged hull of "Blue One" in 2000 and finally completed the 2001 Mini Transat after a rather adventurous start that saw him break and replace his mast in the first leg to the Canaries. Following this experience Paul moved to a waterballasted Jod35 "Audacious" that he took (among others) to class victory in the 2002 Round Britain and Ireland Race with Simon Curwen. Racing extensively in RORC and SORC events Paul achieved many top results in the following years including a double handed class win of the Fastnet 2007 and two consecutive overall wins of the SORC Race week in 2008/2009. In June 2010 Marco and Paul competed together in the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland double handed race on Marco's Akilaria Class40 then named Sungard Front Arena and the pair discovered how effective a team they could be together, leading the Class40 fleet in Barra, Lerwick and Lowestoft they took 2nd overall in Plymouth. Paul and Marco last week in Lorient stepped the new carbon mast for the Global Ocean Race and delivered the boat back to Haslar Marina, Portsmouth Harbour, where they will be based until the delivery to Palma. The team have struck a curious sponsorship deal that may make all the difference in those gloomy cold miles in the two legs of the Southern Ocean that Marco and Paul will have to face. After looking for various alternatives to keep them warm, Ella remembered the old slogan of the instant breakfast cereal "Ready brek": "Central Heating for Kids". A few emails later the team is proud to announce that Weetabix will support the campaign with enough "Ready brek" to keep them warm for a long long time to come! Realstone Cup
4 races were held today in winds varying from south to north and 3 knots to 15 knots. Thats racing on these lakes. Onboard Artemis Racing our finishes for the weekend were 5, 5, 6, 3, 4. Very consistent but just not high enough up for the win. We finished 4th equal with Alinghi but lost the tie breaker to finish 5th overall. The placing's were very tight at the end. At one point, just prior to the 3rd race, the wind came up to a solid 15 16 knots. I got my first taste of being scared in this boat. Bearing away is a scary moment as the leeward bow wants to dig in and cartwheel the boat. We avoided that but it was "hot" as the French onboard say. We are continuing to get to know our boat, SWE 12, and the class. We have a little problem upwind against the fleet but we are very fast downwind. We will work to improve our upwind speed. -- Paul Cayard For complete results go to www.vulcaintrophy.com Dubarry Lahinch - Hanging Ten In Style Dubarry Lahinch - performance perfected. Shared Values
No one boat at the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series can have provided so much enjoyment and sport over the last 37 years for the same family, as the evergreen Swan 36 Valhalla of Ashton. The classic Sparkman & Stephens design appealed to Frank Dunnet who purchased the boat, which was shown at the 1969 London International Boat Show, before it was delivered to the Clyde where it has raced year in, year out ever since. Gourock-based Valhalla of Ashton took part in the first Tomatin Series, the precursor to the Scottish Series, in 1973 and when the Dunnet family take to the start line at the North of Britain's premier annual regatta on Loch Fyne on Friday 27th May the boat will maintain a remarkable record of competing at all but one subsequent edition of the popular sailing event. "Designs at that time were so graceful and elegant, we were awestruck when we first saw the boat and when we sailed her for the first time. At the time, of course, the S&S 34 of Edward Heath, Morning Cloud, had just won the Sydney Hobart race, and in Scotland Stargazer of Ashton had been winning everything," said Alan Dunnet. "Tarbert and Scottish Series holds so many great memories for us with the boat as a family. The boat has rod rigging and so I fondly remember Dad always being up the mast putting on a turn or two on the rigging looking for an extra quarter of a knot, but you never really knew if it worked or not." Alan concludes, "We have won our class under both CYCA and IRC handicaps over the years, but never yet gone into the prize-giving thinking we might have won the overall Scottish Series trophy, usually there is one race during which I ended up taking my eye of the ball for one reason or another, but you never know..." -- Sam Nickerson Volvo Cup D-One
The second leg of the Volvo Cup D-One, organized by Sailing Team Bracciano, ended with just one valid race that took place on Saturday with a westerly wind of 10 knots. On Sunday, the breeze did not come to the lake on the outskirts of Rome and at around 4:30pm the last slim hopes of having a race faded away under the storm. This event, with only a single valid race, will therefore not count towards the 2011 Volvo Cup. What remains valid however is the important victory by local skipper Alberto Ferrari, ahead of Argentina's Agustin Zabalua, reigning Gold Cup D-One champion, and Alessandro Novi from Genoa. The race within the race of the five yachts equipped with the smaller 9.5 rigs was particularly hard fought and fun thanks to the balance between light weights, wings. Among them there were three brave and beautiful girls, with Nathalie Testa finishing ahead of Francesca Venturi and Valentina Cinque. In the Masters division victory went to Giovanni Tricarico, followed by Andrea Magni and Guido Falciola. The Immersion watch for the fastest skipper to the first windward mark (Immersion Speed Contest) went to the Roman Stefano Caruso. The Volvo Cup D-One, after the onset of Alassio and Bracciano, will proceed to Cattolica (10-12 June), Riva del Garda (27-29 July), Marina di Scarlino in conjunction with the Italian National Championship (16-18 September) and the Barcolina of Trieste (1-2 October). -- Pierre Orphanidis German 18ft Skiff Tour 2011 - Round One
With defending champion Liberty Sailing Team, from Hungary, not present to defend her title, a fleet of ten German teams contested the 12-race regatta over three days. The weather forecast for Day One was between 4-16 knots so it was a chance for every team to show its potential. After racing on Day One's four races, two Berlin teams Berlin Syndikat and Magic Marine (Norbert Peter) jointly led the point score, while another fancied competitor EuroLink (skippered by interim helm Mike Keser) was forced to retire from Race 4 after destroying her pole in a capsize. The following day, in lighter and tricky conditions, saw the fleet waiting ashore until signalled onto the water. Four more races were shared between EuroLink and Berlin Syndikat with both teams also equal on the leader board. Magic Marine broke her forestay and missed the third race when her crew had to go back to the club and rebuild the rig. After the repair, the skiff didn't perform up to her previous standard. On the final day, the wind was between 5-12 knots for the showdown between EuroLink and Berlin Syndikat. Berlin Syndikat chose the lakeside outer loop to get fresh breeze. This move proved more successful and Berlin Syndikat took the race and the title. -- Frank Quealey Dubai Traditional 22ft Dhow Race
The race started in about eight knots of wind on a 4.5 nautical mile course, but the light wind mixed with a choppy sea swell made the already hot and humid conditions tricky for the crews. The race ended in very difficult conditions, which stretched the teams to their limits as the wind, dropped away just before the finish marks. 'The finish was so tricky,' said the winning skipper Ebrahim Ismail Al Marzouqi. 'We were all sitting as far forward as possible in the boat to try and move forward after the wind had died. The waves were pushing us but it was so frustrating, but luckily we managed cross the line to win.' The date for the postponed race will be decided next week but the focus at DIMC now turns to the biggest race of the season, the Al Gaffal long distance 60ft traditional dhow race that will be on Saturday May 28th from Sur Bu Na'air Island, 50 nautical miles west of Dubai. Featured Brokerage A superb example of tis popular racer from X-Yachts, maintained by a full time crew in immaculate condition she is ready to race or crsuie anytime anywhere. Full North Sails inventory with 3DL & 3Di racing sails and dacron cruising sails. No expense spared by the owner, full Championship spec and more. Brokerage through 22 North Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/22northhk/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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