Scuttlebutt Europe #2388 - 14 July
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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 Breeze On For Day Two
From the very first beat Louise Morton's 'Espada' helmed by Colette Blair, Rob Gray on 'Aguila' and 'Cote' owned by Darren Marston and Olly Ophaus, were all engaged in a nip and tuck battle at the front of the fleet. There was nothing between all three of these boats for the entire race with each of them taking the lead at various points. In the end 'Aguila' crossed the line overlapped with 'Espada' to take the line honours victory, with 'Cote' just two boatlengths back in third place on the water. On handicap however 'Espada' squeaked to victory by just a single second ahead of 'Aguila' in second place. 'Cote' had to concede third place to Ian Southworth's 'Whiskers' by 5 seconds on corrected time, pushing 'Cote' down to fourth, ahead of Paul Treliving's 'Odd Job' in fifth. The breeze had reduced by a couple of knots by the time the fleet lined up for the start of Race 4. However the startline enthusiasm of the fleet remained undiminished, forcing another General Recall before the race could eventually get away. With conditions moderating a little more and just the hint of rain in the air, Race 5 got away under a Black Flag. With two wins under their belts, the 'Espada' crew were now on a roll and saw off sustained challenges from 'Kote', 'Alice II', Eamonn Rohan's 'Anchor Challenge', as well as George Kenefick's 'Tiger' to take another first both on the water and on corrected time. 'Tiger' corrected out into second, with 'Cote' third, 'Alice II' fourth and 'Anchor Challenge' fifth. The various attempts to start the final race of the day involved a variety of penalty flags and resulted in 5 boats receiving Z-Flag penalties and a further 5 disqualified under the Black Flag rule. With all of the scheduled 6 races completed and the regatta now back on track, the results show a new overall leader in the shape of Louise Morton's 'Espada'. Their impressive 1,1,1,3 scoreline for the day sees them hold a 16 point lead going into the final three races tomorrow over Ian Southworth's second placed 'Whiskers'. Yesterday's overnight leader, Rob Gray on 'Aguila', has dropped down to third tonight, just 1 point behind 'Whiskers' and 6 points ahead of George Kenefick's 'Tiger' in fourth. Rounding out the top 5 at the end of Day 2 is Eamonn Rohan's 'Anchor Challenge'. -- Justin Chisholm Keep Calm and Carry On Fair winds still elude the yachts; however, more wind is expected to arrive from the south or southwest in about 24 hours' time, which should increase in strength, giving the yachts a roaring finish into The Lizard. Most of the yachts should finish the Transatlantic Race over the coming weekend. The big decision at the moment is whether to try to make it to the southern coast of the island and pick up breeze from the land or to stay to the south, where the breeze should fill in first. Tony Lawson's Class 40, Concise 2, skippered by Ned Collier-Wakefield (Oxford, U.K.) is heading for the Irish coast. The young British team have seen their substantial lead over class rival Dragon, skippered by Mike Hennessy (Mystic, Conn.), evaporate to just a few miles. Similar anguish must be present on Carina, skippered by Rives Potts (Essex, Conn.). Their main rival, British Soldier, skippered by Nick Bate (Falmouth, Cornwall, U.K.) is now in a threatening position, but the British Army team does owe Carina a considerable amount of time in IRC Class Four. Dragon Edinburgh Cup
Two cut and thrust races were completed in the sparkling conditions and by the end of the day Russia's Mikhail Muratov, sailing Murka 8 with Valentin Uvarkin and Vladimir Krutskikh had taken the overall lead with a second place in the opening race and a win in race two. Muratov's nearest rival tonight is current Irish National Champion Martin Byrne, racing Jaguar with Adam Winkleman and Pedro Andrade, who won the opening race and went on to finish sixth in race two. Just one point behind Byrne in third overall is defending Edinburgh Cup Champion Klaus Diederichs, who this week is sailing with a brand new crew of Peter O'Leary and Dave Burrows, better known as one of the top Olympic Star teams having finished second at this year's Baccardi Cup. Fourth place overall is currently a tie between Russia's Olga White sailing Murka 7 with Martin Leifelt and Vadim Statsenko, and Gavia Wilkinson-Cox of Cowes sailing Jerboa with Martin Payne and Lars Wegener. In the Corinthian Division, for which only non-professional crews compete, Burnham's Mark and Mandy Wade racing Avalanche with Andrew Norden lead the fleet and also hold sixth place in the overall standings. Three points behind the Wades is Simon Brien aboard Kin from Cultra, Northern Ireland, sailing with his brother Mark and David Gomes, who also make the overall top ten at eighth place. Just three points separate places three to five in the Corinthian division, which are held by Ireland's Richard Goodbody sailing Diva, Rob Campbell from Burnham sailing Ganador and Owen Pay from Cowes sailing Nijord. Racing continues until Saturday 16 July with up to five more races scheduled. The forecast for the coming three days is for moderate to strong winds. Two races are scheduled for Thursday and Friday and a single race is scheduled for Saturday. edinburghcup.britishdragons.org New Tidetech Model Provides Tactical Advantage for Cowes Week The company producing the model is Tidetech, an oceanographic data specialist comprising the world's foremost tidal and surge modelling scientists. Notably, Tidetech has been recruited to supply the 34th America's Cup with its San Francisco Bay model. Tidetech's science team has over 60 years of combined research experience with the Proudman Oceanography Centre, the world's leading centre for tidal prediction. Dr Proctor also provided support to the British Olympic Sailing Team at five consecutive Games between 1988 and 2008. Tidetech director Penny Haire said races in the Solent were more often influenced tactically by tides than by wind. "The model shows lots of areas that could well influence competitors' tactics... it's quite revealing, as there are areas of localised tidal acceleration that occur within very short distances. "Over Sturbridge Shoal and at Lepe, for example, there's a visible half-knot variation within 100m distance and that could make a considerable difference." The data is available as GRIB and in an online viewer accessible via subscription on a computer, iPad or smart phone as well as printed PDF to take afloat. Further information: Zhik 2011 Moth Nationals Heralds a New Champion
The man who managed to adapt best and put together an excellent regatta was ex Olympian, ex Moth National Champion and newly crowned 2011 National Champion Jason Belben. Saturday became the turning point of the event with winds again in the early 20s and a very confused sea state that saw carnage at the windward mark. As the leaders rounded, many following found themselves unable to bear off for the downwind leg and most of the top 15 pitchpoled around he spacer mark providing a minefield to negotiate as well as the difficult swell and chop. After two races it was decided to abandon racing for the day with so many broken boats and sailors. Sunday and final race day, the competitors were greeted with a flat Stokes Bay and a gentle 8 knots on the course which would present a completely different set of challenges to the sailors. This would be where tactics, flawless boat handling and equipment would decide the winner. The final race was won convincingly by Jason. So after many years of Simon Payne (Mach 2) dominating, Jason Belben is crowned National Champion (Aardvark Ninja) using the latest iteration of Ellway foils. Top 10 final standings: Jason Belben (Stokes Bay SC) Barbara Kendall Elected as IOC Member Kendall won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona in the Lechner Class. This was followed by a silver medal in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia and a bronze medal in 2000 in Sydney all on boards. Kendall finished fifth at the 2004 Games in Athens and sixth at the 2008 Games in Beijing. She is the first woman from New Zealand to compete at five Olympic Games and in 2007 she was inducted into the ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame. After having been a member of the IOC Athletes Commission since 2005 and a two year period of IOC Membership she was the Oceania athletes' representative on the International Olympic Committee from 2005 to 2008, having replaced Susie O'Neil who resigned in 2005. Sailor Fernando Lima Bello (POR), 1953 Snipe World Champion and two times Sailing Olympian, has been awarded the Olympic Order. Also elected were Jose Perurena, president of the International Canoe Federation and Gerardo Werthein president of the Argentina Olympic Committee. Open Europeans Helsinki
Rising British 49er stars Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign have been crowned European Champions at the 2011 Open European Championships in Helsinki today (Wednesday 13 July). Fletcher and Sign's victory is Skandia Team GBR's first medal at this multi-class event, which has seen some 43 British sailors racing across six classes in the Finnish capital. The 23-year helmsman Fletcher, and Sign, 25, finished second overall in the 65-boat 49er fleet - but with the Australian series winners Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen ineligible for the European crown, the title passes from one British boat to another, with Chris Draper and Peter Greenhalgh having won the event in 2010. Fletcher and Sign picked up four race wins from the nine races held in the series, and in spite of a disappointing final medal race on Wednesday in which they finished ninth of the ten boats, they claimed their first major event title three points ahead of their nearest European opposition - Denmark's Emil Toft Nielsen and Simon Toft Nielsen. The European Championship crown goes some way to atoning the pair's disappointing outing at last month's Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth and Portland, where gear failure on day one left them on the back foot and out of medal contention. * Echavarri and Rodriguez Are Star European Champions Spanish duo Fernando Echavarri and Fernando Rodriguez Rivero are the new European Champions in the Star class. They won Thursday's Medal Race and the whole competition ahead of their main opponents from Greece. Emilios Papathanasiou and Alexandros Dragoutsis (GRE) were left fifth in the Medal Race, which was still enough for the silver. The Greek were in fact leading the class until yesterday, when the Spaniards moved ahead by just one point. On Thursday morning the winds surrounding racing areas in Helsinki were very light. Therefore the Race Officer decided that it was best to wait for better conditions ashore. Stars finally got their Medal Race going at 13:30. In the start, Echavarri and Papathanasiou chose the opposite sides of the course. Echavarri was first on the upper mark and managed to hold the lead all the way until the finish line. Japan's Kunio Suzuki and Daichi Wada placed fourth in the Medal Race. This meant that they took home bronze medals. Sailors outside of the top ten in the Star Class didn't compete at all because of the lack of wind. * Finn European Championship: A Sail-Off for Gold The Croatians ruled the water on the final full day of racing at the Finn European Championship at the Open Europeans Helsinki 2011. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) won Race 9 and then Marin Misura (CRO) won Race 10 by nearly a minute. Josip Olujic (CRO) also took the lead in the Junior European Championship for the first time this week. This leaves Kljakovic Gaspic with a six point lead going into Thursday's medal race over Giles Scott (GBR), who picked up a fourth and a third today. Third placed Andrew Mills (GBR) scored a 12th and 34th today so is out of contention for the top spot but has an 11 point lead over fourth placed Thomas Le Breton (FRA) and both are far enough ahead of the rest to have their own battle for the bronze medal. In the Junior European Championship, Josip Olujic (CRO) built an 18 point lead over Egor Terpigorev (RUS), who is 29 points ahead of third placed Julian Massler (GER). Thursday's final race will finally decide who gets the medals. Laser Standard and Laser Radial will have their Medal Races (for the best 10 sailor both class) on Friday, starting at 12:00 local time. Nineteen Swan 42's Converge on Newport for U.S. Nationals Four teams will be representing their clubs using this as a practice series for the Invitational Cup where they are guaranteed a spot. Jim Madden's "Stark Raving Mad VI" is representing Newport Beach Yacht Club in CA, Bill Lynn and "Interlodge" will be sailing for the Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA, Peter McChesney and the team from Annapolis Yacht Club in MD will be aboard "Mustang", and Barry Sampson and "Long Echo" will represent the Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR). Other teams include Brendan Brownyard and "Barleycorn", Gosia Rojek and "Better Than...", John Hele and "Daring", Paul Zabetakis and "Impetuous", Gibb Kane and Drew Shea with "Mutiny", Sandy Vietor and "Orbit", Roger Widmann and "Quintessence", Mark Watson and "Tiburon", and Jon Halbert with "Vitesse". Watch the races with live tracking from Kattack at "The Fabulous 40s" Book Presented In Porto Cervo
The book tells the story of what is one of the most successful contemporary one-design racing yachts worldwide. The 240-page hardcover coffee table book focuses on the annual Rolex World Championship regattas held across the globe since 1998, and features a host of iconic Farr 40 owners and yachts in addition to the current fleet. With words by renowned yachting journalist Bob Fisher and over 350 images, supplied by world-class photographers such as Carlo Borlenghi, Daniel Forster and Kurt Arrigo, "The Fabulous 40s" is destined to make a riveting read, both for Farr 40 owners past and present and for sailing enthusiasts in general. To order your copy of the “The Fabulous 40s” please contact: Europe Farr 40 owners - USA Farr 40 owners - Asia South Atlantic Publishing, Australia & New Zealand Boat Books Australia, Available to purchase online through Boat Books Australia at www.boatbooks-aust.com.au The Spaniard and the Briton
Britain's Neal McDonald, will be one of the watch leaders on "Telefonica". Onshore his main responsibilities will be focused on the mast, the boom and working alongside those in charge of the rig. McDonald's CV is certainly impressive. His track record boasts victories in the world's main offshore regattas, such as the always challenging Sydney-Hobart, the Fastnet Race, the Newport Bermuda Race, the Middle Sea Race and the Gotland Round, to name but a few. The America's Cup is also one of sailing's greats, and one the Briton has not missed out on. He was part of the "Sydney" team in 1995 and then Swedish entry "Victory Challenge" on which he was strategist and traveller in the 2007 edition held in Valencia. He also has Olympic successes under his belt, becoming European Champion in the 49er class in 1998 and taking part in the Olympic Games in Seoul 1988 in the Flying Dutchman class. The Volvo Ocean Race has eluded him so far. With four round the world regattas to his name, the first in 1997 and the most recent in 2008, his best finish so far was a second place with "Assa Abloy" in the 2001 edition. Jordi Calafat: "I'd like to retire with a Volvo in the bag" "Telefonica" crew list confirmed to date: www.volvooceanrace.com Featured Brokerage Superb world-girdling thoroughbred actively for sale as the owner is replacing her with a larger Oyster. Comprehensive specification including hydraulic furling rig, thruster etc. Built to MCA. She has an extremely comfortable five cabin/five head layout. Mahogany joinery complemented by off-white bulkheads giving a light yet classic look. Panoramic views from the upper saloon. Easily handled, well presented, and seriously good value. Brokerage through Oyster Brokerage at: Complete listing details and seller contact information at: The Last Word |
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Durban, South Africa: Olympic Windsurfing Champion Barbara Kendall (NZL) has been elected a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 123rd session of the IOC in Durban, South Africa.
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