Brought to you by Boats.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 George David Reflects On Transatlantic Crossing "It was really nice to see David Aisher (Rear Commodore Yachting of the Royal Yacht Squadron) greet us on the line with some Cornish pastries and some champagne and beer. We feel pretty good; it was a remarkably fast time. "For the first 80 hours of this race we were ripping along; towards the end we hit a few holes in the wind, but the net speed average was 15.7 knots across the Atlantic, which I think is going to prove a record in its own right--as a speed record for any transatlantic race. We feel pretty good about that. "Kenny Read is about 100 miles behind us with his PUMA Team. The odds are he is probably going to win the race on corrected time, but we will see what happens over the next 15 hours, which is about the amount of time that we give them. We will keep a look out on the tracker, and we will see when the time expires, but just like politicians, we are not going to concede just yet. "Flying along at 28 knots is an exhilarating experience but one that concentrates the mind. Rambler is a finely balanced machine and anything can go wrong and there are huge forces opposing each other. If those forces go out of balance, bad things can happen very quickly. But as I say this has been an exhilarating race, where we have been well out of sight of land, completely unsupported and in a high performance machine, which you are taking close to the edge, for a very long time--that is, without doubt, exhilarating." Rambler 100 crossed the finish line of the Transatlantic Race 2011 on Sunday 10th July at 16h 08m UTC. The elapsed time for Rambler 100 was 6 days, 22 hours, 8 minutes, 2 seconds. It has established a new record for the 2,975 nautical mile course from Newport, R.I. to Lizard Point, South Cornwall, U.K., which is to be ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. Stena Match Cup Sweden After his victory on the waters of Marstrand Fjord last year Ainslie went on to win the World Championship - and Williams will be aiming to pick up his third world title after closing the gap at the top of the overall Tour standings. The win moves Williams within three points of second-placed Peter Gilmour (AUS) and within ten points of Tour leader Francesco Bruni (ITA) Bruni Racing. In 2007 Hansen became the first Swede to win Match Cup Sweden - but his dreams of a second title were shattered this afternoon by Williams' on-fire team. It's the second time in two events that Hansen has been beaten in the knockout rounds by Williams. Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners secured third place, his best result of the 2011 season, with a 2-1 victory over Gilmour in the Petit Final. After an opening win for Gilmour, Radich levelled the scoring in match two. Gilmour's bid for third took another blow as he was then docked one point for a collision earlier in the match. With just one more win needed to secure the final podium position, Radich led off the start line and never looked back, winning by a huge margin. The next stage of the Tour will see racing head to St Moritz in Switzerland from August 30 to September 4 where the skippers will vie for the title of King of the Mountain. Stena Match Cup Sweden Final: Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar beat Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team 3-2 Petit Final Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners beat Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 2-1 2011 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings (After Stage 5): First Spinnakers To be clear about this: Hasso Plattner's cant-keeled Morning Glory lowered the monohull course record to 6 days, 16 hours in 2005, and Neville Crichton's cant-keeled Alfa Romeo in 2009 lowered it to 5 days, 14 hours. But for a lot of these boats, this year, it's about fixed keels and the Barn Door. Some 32 miles astern of Bella Mente and 12 degrees to the north (at morning roll call; not subject to the six-hour transponder delay) was Magnitude 80, built with a canting keel but reconfigured for this race with a fixed keel so that Doug Baker could have another crack at the Barn Door. With Friday starters winning the luck of the draw - a fast pass through the inner coastal waters and an easy launch into the synoptic wind on the ocean - the navigators will soon be showing their hand as they "pick a lane" for rounding below the calms of the Pacific High Pressure Zone. To that end, the smaller, slower Monday starters who worked north of the rhumb line, just to keep moving, are likely to be twice-punished. Or thrice, in the case of Harry Zanville's SC37, Celerity, farther north than anybody and reporting that, overnight, they tangled with a fishing net and spent 45 minutes overboard, diving and knifing, to set themselves free. Around the fleet there are some great battles forming. "Dr. Laura's" Katana led the handicap standings this morning in Division 2 but was also farthest north in the group and possibly vulnerable for that. The sleds are still tightly grouped, led by Pyewacket, and the six SC50s racing as a class are, frankly, as bunched as you would expect to see them without a transponder delay. Two more boats have withdrawn. Andy Costello's J/125, Double Trouble, should have been a threat for a time allowance win overall. Instead, navigator Trevor Baylis reported "rudder damage issues" as the boat turned back for the mainland. And a boat that had many admirers - Jeff Urbina's sexy RP45, Bodacious 3, out of the Great Lakes - made the dock in San Diego this morning after turning back due to a shoulder injury to one of the crew. The parched crew of Jeff Brauch's Crash arrived back in Long Beach this morning and were met at the dock by Principal Race Officer Dave Cort, Heinekens in hand. Crash turned back when the crew realized they had lost their fresh water supply. All of it. First there was the one tank that was leaking, so they pumped that water over to the next tank. Then they found that tank was leaking itself to empty. No watermaker. Case closed on what decision to make (turn back while we can) and there are theories as to the cause of the failure, but so far, only theories. -- Kimball Livingston Royal Docks 2012 - London Superyacht Berthing in the Summer of 2012 Onshore facilities will include: Concierge services, 24 Hour Security, VIP Lounge, VIP Parking and crew facilities. Superyacht berthing is limited so early reservation is recommended. Full details are available on the new website: www.royaldocks2012.com For more information please call +44 (0) 23 9252 3980 or email: IODA European Championship Final The last day of races was characterized by SW wind between 8 to 10 knots, allowing the execution of one final regatta of this international competition. After 12th regattas completed, the European Champions are Luis Cabrera from Spain and the Italian Francesca Bergamo, who kept the leadership during the last days. The Spanish sailor of 14 years old is very pleased with the victory: "I knew I had chances, but the feeling now is better than I expected", he says. The Italian champion said that "the support of the team and my individual efforts influenced my victory". Top three: Male Group: Female Group: This event brought together 225 young people from the 5 continents providing a magnificent sports cultural exchange. This was the 5th event of a run of six National and International championships and regattas organized by Tavira Sailing Camino Wins, Spanish Sweep J/80 Worlds The last day racing dawned with grey skies, easterly winds of 10 knots and rain pouring down in Dragør, but that was not going to stop the Royal Danish YC's PRO from pressing forward to complete yet another challenging World Championship.11. After four days and nine races of excellent sailing in conditions that saw light to moderate winds for the entire event, it was clear the Spanish sailors are not only fast in a big breeze and big waves, they're also quite fast and smart in shifty, wind streak, "drag race-type" sailing conditions on the Baltic Sea where the winds never exceeded 12 knots. The Cinderella story of this year's Worlds has to be the remarkable comeback of Jose Maria van deer Ploeg sailing his boat GREAT SAILNG. Jose started off the series on the first day barely in the top 20 with a 27-17-11, disappointing to say the least. Thereafter, from day two to day four, Jose's team (including his young son) simply smoked the fleet. Third in the Spanish sweep of the podium was Carlos Martinez racing MAPFRE with his very strong, well-practiced team. Carlos' team was yet another Spanish team that raced up the ladder after a disastrous first day, starting with a 3-26-4, to then finish off the series with an average of 6th place to finish with 44 points and lose the tie-breaker to Jose Maria. Fourth yet another Spanish J/80 World Champion, Rayco Tabares and crew on Hotel Princess Yaiza Grand Canarias, the same boat he's raced for years. Full results on worlds.kdy.dk/index.php4 Volvo Dun Laoghaire The major overall prize went to the Class III IRC winner Supernova (Syd MacCormack/Ken Lawless/Pat Shannon) who produced three wins and three second places in a 38 boat fleet, the biggest class of the regatta. The biennial regatta is being hailed an enormous success both afloat and ashore as a combined fleet of 420 boats raced over nine courses and a range of conditions since racing began last Thursday, 7th July from full gale to flat calm. The cruisers zero IRC winner, in the biggest turn out of the class this year is Alan Chambers and Norbert Reilly's Crazy Horse. Steven Cowie's Beneteau 40, Zephyr from Royal Gourock was 4 points behind the Howth winner with the Dufour 42 Grand Cru from Clyde Cruising club three points further adrift. In Cruiser one IRC the prize went to the National Yacht Club's Something Else (John & Brian Hall & Sue McDonnell). Second was Scotland's Carmen II (Paul Scutt/ Alan Jeffrey) and third Bengal Magic (John Moorehead/ Chris Ferres) In class two Howth's Impetous lifted the IRC trophy from a fleet of 21.Second was Sligo traveller Conor Ronan sailing Ruthless, a Corby 25, Third was the half tonner King One (David Cullen) from Howth. In the one designs class champions prevailed in the SB3, the Sigma and the Flying fifteen classes. In a new departure for the event Kitesurfing was added to the slate and the sport was showcased yesterday off Seapoint. Francios Colussi won the demonstration event. The next Dun Laoghaire regatta will be held in early July 2013. -- Jane Curtin dlregatta.org/sandbox/2011index.asp 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 RORC Cowes - Dinard - St Malo Race Colin Buffin's Swan 62, Uxorious IV, was the overall winner of the race winning the prestigious Edward VII Cup. Uxorious IV was unable to come into St Malo as they had to get to Cowes the following day to register for the Swan European Regatta. Colin Buffin was amazed to find out that the team had won such a major race. There was another good battle in IRC Zero, Franck Noel's Swiss TP52, Near Miss, took line honours and the class on handicap from Dutch skipper, Harm Prins' Volvo 60, Pleomax. The Volvo 60 got away well but the lighter TP52 came back in the lighter air to pass them in the latter part of the race. Uxorious IV was the winner of IRC One beating two highly successful yachts. Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens was second and the Grand Soleil 43 Codiam claimed third. In IRC Two Peter Rutter's Grand Soleil 43, Quokka 8 raced by Sailing Logic enjoyed their first class win of the season, beating Michel Peritie's French A 40, Stamina III into second place. Nigel Wakefield's First 40, Carpe Diem sailed by Ed Broadway was third in class and will have enjoyed getting the better of all the other First 40s including Iritis and La Réponse. One of the most impressive performances in the race was in IRC Three. The French A 35, Ame-Hasle won the class by nearly an hour and a half and was also second in IRC overall. IRC Four was won emphatically by the JPK 9.60, Whalalla, skippered by Yves Sale. The Cherbourg based team scored a memorable victory over Jean Yves Chateau's Nicholson 33, Iromiguy by over 5 hours on corrected time, Longue Pierre was third in class. Of the 23 yachts that sailed the race two-handed Nicolas Gourio's IMX 40, Warhorse was the out and out winner. The French team flew around the course and it was over eight hours before another two-handed boat crossed the finish line. Paddy Cronin skipper of HOD 35, Psipsina, was second and RORC Season's Points Class leader in the Two-Handed Class, Matthias Kracht 's JPK 9.60 Ultreia! was third. The RORC Season's Points Championship continues on 30th July with the Channel Race, starting in Cowes at finishing in The Solent. The Channel Race is the penultimate race before the highlight of the RORC season, The Rolex Fastnet Race, which takes place next month. -- Louay Habib Miani Victorious At Invitational Smeralda 888 Sunshine, blue skies and blazing sunshine accompanied the competing teams while breezes were constant, allowing the YCCS Race Committee to complete all eight scheduled windward-leeward races. Smeralda V won four of the eight races and remained at the top of the leaderboard from day one. A spirited battle for second place went on between Botta Dritta, Vamos Mi Amor and Mascalzone Latino but an OCS in the penultimate race of the series earned Mascalzone 11 points and relegated her to fourth place overall. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's sporting activities will continue in September with sailing giants attending the Perini Navi Cup (1-4 September), Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (5-10 September) and Veteran Big Boat Rally (12-15 September). A fleet of grand prix racers will then compete in the Audi TP52 World Championship (2-8 October) before the Club turns its attentions to its new sister-site in Virgin Gorda for the winter season. www.yccs.com Solo Around Australia Arms, after months of hard work and preparation,says he is ready to embark on the epic voyage. He aims to create a world record by sailing solo around Australia in just 35 days in his 14 metre catamaran, Big Wave Rider. He admits he is starting to get excited and a bit nervous at the same time, but is still really looking forward to the challenge ahead. 'The previous record was 42 days. I aim to reduce it by seven days.' Arms says he will use his voyage to help raise awareness of SOS Ocean Racing, which was formed in 2010, to raise awareness of the damage to our environment through the use of plastic and plastic bags. For full details on Bruce's world record attempt visit www.brucearms.com Featured Brokerage Originaly purchased by Sobstad Sails and optimised - hull & keel fared. All fittings replaced with Harken. Successfully raced in the USA (Winner of Block Island Week). Used to produce the successful tuning guide for J-35s, produced by Sobstad. Imported into the UK in 1983. Has continued winning ever since. Purchased by present owners in 2004 and major programme of works completed. Racing success has reflected this effort. Racing results: Scottish Series - 1st 2006, 1st 2007, 3rd 2008. Cork Week - 2nd 2006, 1st 2008. Strangford Week - 2nd 2007. Dun Laoghaire Week - 1st 2007 Plus many other local successes over the last four years. Brokerage through Nick Stratton Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/nickstrattonyachts/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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