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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 Toughing It Out In The Trenches
* Day two of Skandia Sail for Gold opened on a much more positive note than day one with winds up to 20 knots and two tough but thrilling races for the Finn fleet. Dan Slater (NZL) won the opening race before Ben Ainslie (GBR) struck back to win the second and take the overnight lead from Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) in second and Slater in third. The weather had changed overnight bringing cloud, lots of breeze and a chilly start to the day with the sun trying to break through. The start was delayed slightly as the wind shifted about a bit but race two finally got away at 11.30 The race committee was still hoping to catch up the one race lost on Monday, but after rumours that another race might be held, the fleet was sent in for the day with winds gusting 25 knots. Ainslie said, “The first race was a bit strange. On the first beat I thought the right side of the course had the best conditions but I didn’t read it very well and ended up well behind the leaders. I started to catch up from there and finished strong to get seventh place. In the second race the wind came up a bit more which made it difficult to read the best side of the course to take. Luckily I took the best side and at the first mark I was third and I then I slowly pulled through to win the race.” “Today was hard work physically. The winds were strong, the waves choppy and the races long. You’re out there for six hours and racing for three so it’s all about saving yourself for the right moment and getting the crucial decisions right.” The Match Racing completed the first group stage, giving us the Gold Group (Quarter Final) qualifiers. From Group A it was the Netherlands’ Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen topping the group with six points equal to - but winning the tie-break with - second placed Sally Barkow, Elizabeth Kratizig-Burnham and Alana O'Reilly from the USA. In Group B, Anne-claire Le Berre, Alice Ponsar and Myrtille Ponge (FRA) went through on six points, one win clear of Australia’s Nicky Souter, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Witty, qualifying in second. And from Group C it was Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vendemoer and Debbie Capozzi (USA) going through with a clean sheet, and Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor (GBR) joining them with five wins. Racing continues at Skandia Sail for Gold until Saturday. Provisional Results Tuesday 7th June 49er - Sailed: 5 470 Women - Sailed: 4 470 Men - Sailed: 4 Finn - Sailed: 3 Laser - Sailed: 4 Laser Radial - Sailed: 4 Star - Sailed: 3 SKUD 18 - Sailed: 3 Sonar - Sailed: 3 2.4 - Sailed: 2 RS:X Men - Sailed: 4 RS:X Women - Sailed: 4 www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk Loick Peyron To Helm Banque Populaire V Owner of the Maxi Banque Populaire V, a Figaro Beneteau and a 60-foot monohull, Official Partner of the French Sailing Federation, the French Sailing Olympic Team, of Eric Tabarly Association and of the CNOSF, Banque Populaire "is in full sail" and heads for 2012, reaffirming its performance objective. After having designated Armel Le Cleac'h to helm her new monohull for the next Vendee Globe, she has now entrusted Loick Peyron with the helm of her maxi multihull for the next record attempt round the world sailing crew non-stop and unassisted. Loick Peyron, with impressive credits on all types of boats, is a multihull specialist who has developed numerous boats in this category. His experience with world tours and the G-Class is unquestionable. At the helm of the Maxi multihull Innovation Explorer, he ranked second in "The Race", the first "no limits” The beginning of the season will be dedicated to training, in the next few days off Lorient, home port of the largest multihull. Then, from June 17 to 21st, the Maxi Banque Populaire V and her team will take part in the Record SNSM and in the historic Fastnet race in August. Then, the time will come to prepare for the Jules Verne Trophy; the standby period is set for early November 2011. OC Thirdpole Postpone the Transat 2012 Following the postponement of this year’s Istanbul Europa Race scheduled for July, due to insufficient entries, OC ThirdPole, a long time supporter* of the IMOCA circuit, has acted to help solve the difficult position of this IMOCA race. By offering to release to it’s organiser Olay Nautic it’s long established May slot in the pre-Vendee Globe 2012 calendar, it has permitted the rescheduling of the Istanbul Europa Race to 2012 with hopefully a stronger fleet. OC ThirdPole will now re-evaluate, along with its partners, the future timing and format of The Transat, with potentially a biennial event alternating between the historical solo and duo formats, supporting IMOCA’s key pillars of a round the world race every two years (Vendee Globe, Barcelona World Race).
Musto BR2 For stockist information see www.musto.com Spinnaker Tales A high performance fleet of 41 crews representing England, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australian mainland states of West Australia, Victoria, News South Wales and Queensland present an interesting duel for championship honours. Last year the series was decided in the final 200 metres of the last heat when the New Zealand Champion Alistair Gair came from behind to clinch the series after a tactical arm wrestle with New South Wales helmsman David Clark. Both crews are again listed among the top chances along with former championship Gold Medallists Michael Coxon (NSW) and Victorians Ian Johnson and Damien King (Vic) plus the strong mix of challengers including Wild Oats XI Rolex Sydney Hobart skipper Mark Richards Queensland’s Vaughan Prentice and Sydney 2000 Olympic 470 Gold Medallist Tom King. All are worthy to be nominated as the most likely to fight out what promises to become an interesting boat on boat tactical struggle which will definitely be decided on the human element related skills of being consistent out of the starts and then selecting the smartest and fastest options with the wind that blows over the deck. The strict nature of the One-Design Etchells provides every crew with an even chance of winning with the result always determined by the crew who makes the least errors in technique and tactical strategy between the start and the finish lines. New Zealand’s champion from 2010 Alistair Gair will no doubt become the target for tactical attention when the sails are tensioned for the opening race of the 2011 championship on the open waters of the Coral Sea off Pt Cartwright on Friday. However he has proved to be a seasoned tactician and promises to protect his sailing space in a weather system which promise to test the moderate to fresh wind sailing skill of the fleet. Alistair Gair who sailed his best race in last year’s fresh wind final has the potential to become the first skipper to win back to back Musto Australasian championship trophies. He has proved his class in all wind velocities but this series will prove to be a test of character for the exceptionally talented Kiwi skipper and his Valsheda crew. The depth of tactical talent which includes Americas Cup champions, Olympic Gold Medallists, Sydney Hobart winners, World and Australian champions suggests that skipper Alistair Gair and the Valsheda crew will need to ‘dig deep into their kit of tactics’ to become the first crew in the 15 year history of this classic fleet racing regatta to win two titles. -- Ian Grant. Event site: www.mooetchells.yachting.org.au Victory for Team Gaebler at German Tornado Grand Prix
Last year we finished 5th. This year we had a much better run over the 6 races. With the places 1-1-3-1-1-6 we won with 7 points just ahead of Veit Hemmeter/Dominik Halbig (GER, 9 points) who won last year. They both are the locals here and normally unbeatable. But this time we had also a bit luck some wind shifts. In some parts the races were very tricky and it was not easy to find the right way to all the wind shifts. It was a chess game with the wind and somehow we made the right moves on the water against the best teams from Germany, Austria and Suisse. The Racecourse of the German Tornado Grand Prix was just in front of the wonderful island of Lindau. The Alps in the background. A perfect scenery for the Tornado Class. On top of this the great hospitality of the Lindau Sailing Club, who tried the best to get the races running. We had 15 Teams from 3 Nations. 6 were mixed teams. This is 40% of the fleet and shows that mixed sailing has a great standing in the international Tornado Class with the perspective to the Olympic Games 2016. Next race is the Tornado Speedsailing http://www.speedsailing.org at Kieler Woche with the new Audi Sailing Arena in the center of Kiel from the 18th to 26th June. -- Roland Gaebler www.teamgaebler.de British Soldier: All About Duty To Country and Sailing “It’s all about putting a bunch of guys in a demanding situation, out of reach of immediate outside assistance, where they must work as a team in arduous conditions in order to succeed,” said 47-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Bate, who serves as skipper of British Soldier. “That is the ethos of adventurous training; it also provides some excitement and reward in between other demanding duties.” “We have a core of gladiators, but otherwise it’s a bit of a mix,” said Bate, explaining that 48 soldiers have raced with him recently, and he had a largely different crew aboard for both the RORC Caribbean 600 and the Annapolis to Newport Race, both distance races that - along with the TR 2011 - are part of the inaugural Atlantic Ocean Racing Series that British Soldier has also entered. As for Bate, he has raced a wide variety of yachts from his own International Dragons and Cornish Shrimper up to 153’ classic yachts. He started racing on an IOR ¾ tonner in the early 1980s, and after joining the Army in 1987, he competed in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race on British Defender and has also sailed the Rolex Fastnet Race eight times. This will be his fourth Atlantic crossing. There are 30 entries total in the TR 2011, with the U.S. fielding 14 teams, Germany six, the U.K. four, and China, Italy, Lithuania, Monaco, Saint Barthélemy and South Africa one each. Crew Fuel - Energy Before Sailing The following morning you manage a quick breakfast before heading on the water and asking your body to perform at maximum intensity levels in 20 knots for the whole day or longer. Your energy levels crash and you are dehydrated leading to declined concentration and poor results. Don't worry, you are not alone, this is a familiar problem for many sailors, and one we want to help you address. Crew Fuel Hi Energy Meal helps to build and maintain energy levels with a quick and easy to mix drink with slow release Carbohydrates and key nutrients. Perfect for building your energy levels before racing. Nutritional planning is vital and Crew Fuel provide energy and hydration solutions on and off the water. Countdown To First America’s Cup World Series Event Cascais is the perfect town to host the thousands of AC World Series spectators anticipated to watch the first racing of the America’s Cup World Series. The event will feature both fleet and match racing, with courses designed to test the athletes’ physical and mental prowess. August 6 - 7, fleet racing In addition to the on-the-water action, the AC World Series also brings the America’s Cup experience to fans on land. Events and activities associated with the AC World Series will be announced later this summer. Richard Worth, Chairman of the America’s Cup Event Authority said: “The America’s Cup World Series will expose hundreds of thousands of more people to the sport of sailing in its most exciting form - right in front of their eyes. We are excited to begin our global journey in Cascais, where both the racing and the experience will be first-rate.” North Sea Race 2011 was a Heavy Test
'It was cold and it was just pounding the waves', was about the most heard comment on the jetty in Scheveningen. Only after rounding the MSP buoy off the Ijmuiden coast, the spinnaker could be hoisted for the last miles to the finish. After the leading group of Tonnerre, Oystercatcher and Pleomax followed a gap of about three hours. The IRC overall podium shows the same order with Tonnerre winning again. In the evening at 23.19 hours Dutch time, the last participant Strata 6 crossed the finish line. HH Memorial Trophy It was the first time that the Hans Horrevoets Memorial Trophy was awarded at the prize giving ceremony of the North Sea Race and not during the Whitsun weekend. And it was the first time that Bobby and Kit, the daughters of the ocean sailor Hans Horrevoets who died in 2006, did this alone without grandpa. With the endearing words 'congratulations with the prize of my daddy", skipper Peter de Graaf of Baraka GP received the special award. According to the calculation formula, the HH Memorial Trophy goes to the youngest team with the best average performance in both offshores. Based on both results, the Redan of Hein van Schaik (NED) appeared to be the best in the ORC fleet. In the IRC classes it is the Checkmate of Peter de Ridder (NED) that leads the overall ranking. Coming Friday, June 10, the Delta Lloyd Regatta North Sea really kicks off along The Hague coast. During four days, the competitors will battle it out on the North Sea and back onshore they will enjoy the live music. -- Diana Bogaards Complete results: www.rorc.org Double Victory for Generations Ecole Navale
The students on "Generations Ecole Navale" knew perfectly well how to exploit their knowledge of the water and their mastery of the Longtze: they hit the double by winning the French Championship 2011 and winning the final of the Longtze Student Cup! With 7 wins from 11 rounds, the team "Generations Ecole Navale" ultimately left little hope for their pursuers: the Lanveoc-Poulnic students win the French Championship title by a 13 point lead and confirm their leadership of the Longtze Student Cup. A double title that the young people from the Ecole Navale had in their sights all along. The Longtze European Tour crews will meet again next week at the Normandy Week (from 11 to 13 June), the final events of the Atlantic Trophy. Other events on the Longtze European Tour will then take place in the Mediterranean and the Alps before the World Cup final this autumn, on the Big Blue... Ranking of the Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale-French Championship Monotype 2011 *1. Generations Ecole Navale Ltze, Nicolars Pauchet, FRA, 16.00 points * Student teams Featured Brokerage When preparing for the 2000 America's cup in New Zealand, the BMW/Oracle syndicate was having trouble getting enough time in the wind tunnel to test sail shapes and the costs were escalating. They hit upon the idea of designing a building to 1/3 scale models for on the water testing. Set up to be sailed by two people, they have all the sophisticated sail and mast controls of the full size boats and the mast placement in the boat can be varied for and aft. Carbon fiber laminated hull and deck. Lead keel bulb with steel shank. Carbon fiber rudder and tiller. Exterior of hull and keel painted black. Brokerage through Sparkman & Stephens, Inc.: Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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