|
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 Hamish Mackay's Hat Trick in the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series
After triumphing twice, back to back in 2001 and 2002, Mackay becomes only the second skipper or helm to win the overall top trophy three times in the 36 year history of the regatta. Steering Humberside father and son duo Jim and Steve Dick's J97 Jackaroo, Mackay and crew scored no worse than second and won four times over their six races which were sailed in predominantly strong winds over the four day series. They finished nine points clear of an identical J97, Jaywalker, owned and steered by Clyde helm Iain Laidlaw. After a weekend of very testing strong winds today, Monday, Loch Fyne delivered crews a final reminder of how good conditions can be for the north of Britain's premier annual regatta. Though there was still a chill in the air and the very early morning was punctuated by a heavy hail storm, the sun shone through both races which were completed and the moderate westerly breezes averaged 12 knots but varied from 7-18 knots up and down the three course areas set. The Jackaroo crew, Mackay, Peter Cameron, George Purves, Billy Russell Jr, Jon Fitzgerald and Roddy Anderson, all native Scots, along with owner Dick, were pushed hard in the overall decision for the 107 boat regatta's top trophy. South African Mike Bartholomew and his team on the King 40 Tokoloshe overcame the challenge from double Scottish Series winner Anthony O'Leary to win IRC Class 1. In CYCA Class 7 Valhalla of Ashton, a Gourock based Swan 36 of Alan Dunnet, won overall with three first places and two second place finishes. The Class 1 title was down to a duel between rivals Antix and Tokoloshe. The South African flagged boat, on owner Mike Bartholomew's first visit to Loch Fyne had a one point lead to protect ahead of Anthony O'Leary's Irish crew across today's two races. The first contest started with an immediate dilemma for the Series leaders. Antix crossed the start line early and had to restart. But Tokoloshe's tactician Mike Richards may be from the very south of England but has enough experience of Loch Fyne to know to stick close to your rival rather than try to go off and win the race. That proved crucial as they were able to stay close enough to Antix to ensure they had the better of them in the first race and then secured the class title by winning the final race by 16 seconds ahead of the Cork crew on Antix. Rambler Breaks Record In Storm Trysail Club's 66th Block Island Race
Though gaining an edge in the Block Island Race typically means correctly choosing between two current-ridden passages - Plum Gut and "The Race" - for the fastest transport to Block Island (and then again coming back from it), this year's key to success seemed to lie in getting to the Long Island shore as quickly as possible after the start. Breaking the record despite some light breezes may have had much to do with Rambler 100 being 20 feet longer and 10 tons lighter than Boomerang, with a mast 30 feet higher to harness more wind aloft, but the accomplishment also had sentimental meaning for David. "We had three runs at it with the 90 footer (Rambler), so we'd have to say we were looking for it," said David. Noting that Rambler 100's mission is to break existing records and establish a new record from Newport to The Lizard (Cornwall, U.K.) in the 2011 Transatlantic Race later this summer, Mick Harvey added, "If we had had breeze the whole way in the Block Island Race, we might have taken only 10 hours to get around." Rambler 100 won both the Governor's Race West Trophy for best elapsed time in the IRC fleet and the William Tripp Jr. Memorial Trophy for best corrected time. It also won the Commodore's Trophy, which goes to the boat that has won her class and has beaten the 2nd and 3rd place boat by the greatest margin of time. Full results on www.stormtrysail.org Transatlantic Race 2011: Trending Younger The young sailors making up the Oakcliff All American Offshore Team (AAOT) on the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy‟s (USMMA) IRC 65 Vanquish and the German team on the Andrews 56 Norddeutsche Vermögen Hamburg are two groups who are taking advantage of the Transatlantic Race 2011 to expand their skills and hopefully build reputations as the next wave of capable ocean racers. The German team is organized by Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt e.V., an organization founded in 1903 in Hamburg with the express goal of maintaining seagoing vessels and training young people, both physically and temperamentally, to become skilled mariners. The German crew looks to be the youngest in the race, with an average age of 22.5, but has experience that belies their years as all have offshore experience from racing long and short distances as well as making passages on the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas. oat." Learning of the German entry in the Transatlantic Race 2011 was all the motivation Ralf Steitz, President of the USMMA Sailing Foundation, needed to form the Oakcliff AAOT earlier this year. Steitz brought his long-held desire to establish a youth-driven ocean racing movement to fruition with the backing of other leaders on the U.S. sailing scene, and, once the program was announced, saw 250 applications pour in over four weeks from sailors anxious to seize the opportunity. The average age of the 14 Oakcliff AAOT members who will race aboard Vanquish is 23.75, and, like the young German team, with just a few short months to prepare they will get a crash-course in working as a cohesive unit during their participation in Storm Trysail Club‟s Around Block Island Race and the Annapolis to Newport Race prior to making the third start (July 3) of the Transatlantic Race 2011. North Sails UK Are Recruiting North are looking for two highly motivated professional sailmakers to help with their Grand prix orders including Volvo work. The positions will be located in Gosport, the UK's head office. North Sails offer excellent remuneration and benefit packages. All communication with North Sails will be in the strictest confidence. Apply to Martin Lee or call 02392604271 to arrange a confidential meeting. Tough Start For Vuurschepenrace
It was busy all afternoon in the harbor of Scheveningen, where participants worked on the final preparations. The Swan 45 Checkmate of De Ridder family was the last to leave the port heads and is currently leading. All teams can be followed live via www.dlnsr.nl, due to tracing and tracking. The Checkmate has the brand new Dehler 41 Miles 4 Justice of top lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops in her wake. On board is a mix of amateurs, pros and marines. Among them was Peter van Niekerk, who is currently active in the professional and Wally and TP52 circuit. Previously, former Olympian Van Niekerk sailed the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup. The purpose of this project is to raise as much money per mile traveled as possible. That money will be used for projects, dedicated to the protection of human rights. The first drop dropouts were already a fact immediately at the start. The winner in the IRC 2 of 2010, the Panther, was the victim of a collision and turned around. Owner Yvonne Beusker explains: 'We had a good start, but I think the Pinta-M was not really in control. Instead of bearing away, they hit us full on the stern. We have quite some damage, but we will do a full examination tomorrow. Hopefully we will be ready in time for the inshores next week." The E-mission of skipper Erik van Vuuren returned home with rudder problems. Meanwhile, the Meka II came back as well, for yet unknown reasons. This is the first race of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. After a lay day in Harwich, the IRC and ORC classes sail the R.O.R.C. North Sea Race back to Scheveningen on Friday June 3. During the Whitsun weekend, from June 10 until June 13, more than 500 boats compete in the inshore races before the Coast of Scheveningen. Several disciplines participate: big yachts, current and former Olympic classes, one-design classes, catamarans and open boats. Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta: www.dlnsr.nl World Match Racing Tour Unveils Seven New Yacht Designs
The concepts were conceived and developed by pioneering boat design houses from around the world and are the result of a hard-fought competition to become one of the limited number of Tour approved boat designs. The new host venues will each pick the boat design that best fits their needs while existing venues will also be encouraged to update their fleet with one of the new designs. Hailing from the US, Russia, Europe and Australasia, the talented roster of designers includes: Fred Barrett, Roberto Biscontini, Adrien Jousset, Andrej Justin, Phil Kaiko, Vladimir Murnikov and Christian Stimson. Swedish designer Pelle Petterson's MR40 design, which is based on his original SM40 boat that was created specifically for the Tour in 2005, is also amongst the designs being put forward to new and current host venues. Given the international status of the Tour, each designer has created concepts that can be tailored to the needs of more than one venue. Slovenian designer Andrej Justin has offered three different lengths of boat, while America's Cup veteran Phil Kaiko submitted a Lego-like construction which can be adapted to suit varying local weather conditions and a wide range of skill levels. With collisions an inevitable part of the close-quarter match racing circuit, the likes of Italian designer Roberto Biscontini proposed a boat that, if damaged, would not be laid up for long and would not require highly-paid specialists to repair it. Of equal importance is the aesthetic appeal of the boats, something UK emigre Christian Stimson believes is vital if the Tour is to continue to attract media coverage and sponsors. He also stresses the importance of on-board camera positions to deliver fantastic video content to the Tour's global fanbase, a view shared by Adrien Jousset: "Sailing needs to be more exciting to have better media. The World Match Racing Tour is now a great opportunity to inject that excitement." To control costs most designers have gone for shorter boats except for Vladimir Murnikov's 48-footer, the MX Match, which incorporates a revolutionary bow system that he is also employing on his SpeedDream project. To view details of all the individual designs including biographies on each of the winning designers, visit www.wmrt.com/boats.html Reg's Rock
The memorial stone stands at the landward end of the town's causeway, less than one hundred yards from the point at which White died while unrigging his Brightlingsea One-Design, White Spirit, after an evening race. It commemorates his achievements including the Tornado world championship victories and his gold medal in 1976, together with his Little America's Cup wins. At the request of his wife, Lyn, and the rest of the family, the memorial will be known as "Reg's Rock." Sail Faster And Smarter! Whether you race a one-design or big boat, at the top or bottom of your fleet, you'll find lots of valuable ideas in Speed & Smarts. In fact, when you consider the cost of other go-fast items you can buy, this newsletter gives you extremely good "bang for your buck." View a sample issue at www.speedandsmarts.com/BackIssues/SampleIssue Subscribe at www.speedandsmarts.com Belfast Titanic Launch Commemorated A single flare was fired above the city's docklands to signify the exact moment - 12.13pm - 100 years ago when the ill-fated liner rolled down the slipway and touched the water for the first time. All boats in the area around the Harland and Wolff shipyards, where the pride of the White Star fleet was built, then sounded their horns. In 1911, thousands of cheering well-wishers gathered at the same place to celebrate the historic moment. A century on, the mood was again one of celebration at the event on the Queen's Island slipway which focused more on the ship's construction than its fate. After the flare was fired, crowds clapped for exactly 62 seconds - the length of time it took for the liner to roll down the slipway in 1911. The Titanic sank on her maiden transatlantic voyage 11 months after her launch, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, when she struck an iceberg. Earlier, a major new exhibition on the Titanic opened at the nearby Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, boasting some artefacts recovered from the liner that have never been put on public display before. Descendants of many of the men who helped build the ship, some of whom sailed on the first voyage and died in the maritime disaster, attended the service. Read more in the Belfast Telegraph: Lack Of Sponsorship Halts Irish La Solitaire Du Figaro Entries Competitive race entry costs ranged from anywhere between €60-250,000. As late as February National Yacht Club organisers were touting the possibilities of two Dublin entries in to the race. It was a scenario that would have added extra spice for an Irish audience during the Figaro's only foreign stopover at the Irish east coast port. A 71 boat fleet is expected to stay in Dun Laoghaire for four days and the National Yacht Club is staging a special festival around it. Advance Notice Of The 2012 Commodores' Cup This tough mix of inshore and offshore races will be concentrated into a challenging seven day racing schedule on the testing waters in and around the Solent. The RORC have introduced a change to the IRC rating band to encourage more entries. The smallest boats will have a minimum rating of 1.020 and the fastest boats a max rating of 1.230. Three boats can be chosen from this rating band with the proviso that only one boat in the team may rate 1.150 or above. RORC Commodore Andrew McIrvine explained the rationale behind the change: "in previous events we have had three distinct bands however some countries have struggled to find a competitive boat in each band. We are keen to get more foreign teams to enter the competition and feel that by opening up the entry criteria, there will be more good boats available for charter, which makes sense in today's challenging economic climate," explained McIrvine. "However, we do not want teams to dominate the competition by bringing three big boats, thus the reason for only allowing one boat in each team to be faster than 1.150." The racing format will also be changed so that all the boats will start together rather than having three individual races for each rating band as was the norm in previous events. The last Cup in 2010 was the tenth biennial event and it attracted 10 highly competitive teams from five nations: France, Ireland, Great Britain, Hong Kong and South Africa. Strict nationality requirements will once again be in place for crew as at least 50% must be from the nation represented. To ensure that the regatta retains its Corinthian ethos a cap will be placed on the number of professionals allowed to take part. Boats rating 1.150-1.230 shall have a maximum of two Group 3 sailors on board (professional sailors), whilst boats rating 1.020-1.149 shall have a maximum of one. Professionals are not just limited in number; there are restrictions on what they may do. For example, an amateur has to helm throughout the inshore races and at the start of the offshore races; however bona fide owners who are Group 3 sailors will be exempt. Helmsmen shall also be nationals of the country they are representing. Complete details of the Commodores' Cup 2012 will be published in the Notice of Race in December 2011. EUROSAF Youth Sailing Games All European National Sailing Authorities are encouraged to enter their teams without delay for this first ever European combined classes youth championship, the first in what is to become an annual event. Entries are taken online at the website of the host club, which can be reached by logging on to www.eurosaf.org/1641 or by going directly to the host club website www.fragliavelariva.it/en/regatta/360/view where you first need to register before entering your team. The form to apply for charter boats will be found only on the EUROSAF website, as above. This prestigious event has attracted a lot of interest amongst European MNAs, so please ensure you are not disappointed by missing the entry deadline. Entries are only permissible through Member National Authorities of EUROSAF. For more information please contact Alberto or john at Summer Home Port For Ex-Royal Yacht The legendary racing yacht will be available for charter out of Oban Marina this summer from 11 July until 24 August and up to 8 guests will be able to enjoy sailing through the stunning scenery of Scotland's West Coast, as well as the hospitality of the skipper and crew, who are all former HMY Britannia 'Royal Yachtsmen'. Bob Downie, Chief Executive of The Royal Yacht Britannia is pleased to be bringing Bloodhound back to the West Coast and to Oban Marina: "We are delighted to be taking Bloodhound back to the waters on which she once sailed with the Royal Family. She is such an important part of British sailing history, and this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to step back in time." Letters To The Editor - * From Paddy Boyd: It's great to see recognition in Scuttlebutt Europe for my old "boss" in Dun Laoghaire lifeboat, Ken Robertson, as he contemplates his retirement from active service. A fine seaman who instinctively knows the right action for the circumstances. There are many who should raise their glasses... Featured Brokerage Salona 40 Race with deep keel, great racing yacht, with two sets of sails! Brokerage through Bach Yachting International: www.yachtworld.com/bachyachting/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
|
Use this box to send a copy of this issue of the Scuttlebutt Europe Newsletter to a friend: Or [FORWARD] for a page where you can send copies to up to a dozen friends. [USERTRACK]
About YachtWorld.com About Boats.com Yachtworld.com on line magazine is available free of charge and delivered digitally every month. Click here to receive your copy: www.yachtworldmagazine.com/ywm/latest/ See the Boats Blog at Boats.com -- www.boats.com/blog/ To subscribe, unsubscribe, and select HTML or Text format visit scuttlebutteurope.com Editorial and letter submissions to Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html |
Due to continued growth North Sails UK are looking to recruit two additional sailmakers.
Oban marina is looking forward to a royal visitor - Bloodhound, the fully restored classic 1930s yacht which once belonged to Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. Bloodhound now belongs to the charitable trust that also owns and manages the five-star visitor attraction, The Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh. She is normally on view to visitors throughout the year as the centrepiece of a new Royal Sailing Exhibition.
