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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 Bella Mente Takes The Barn Door
Fauth's Reichel-Pugh designed sloop was lengthened five feet, to 74 feet overall, and apparently that mattered. She was able to hold off a strong bid from Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, reconfigured for this race from canting-keel to fixed keel, to make it eligible to race for the Barn Door. In the final two days of the passage, Baker and his navigator, Ernie Richau, made life interesting for Fauth and his navigator, Ian Moore, by breaking away to the south, out of cover, to roll the dice. At one point they took 40 miles out of Bella Mente's lead and at another point were equidistant from the finish, but Bella Mente had the more favorable sailing angle and put the angle to best use. "For four days before the start, we ran models of the race," Fauth said. "No matter how the different models came out, they all had one thing in common. They all told us that, 400 miles from the finish, we'd better be 150 miles north of Honolulu. The routing kept coming back to that, but, intuitively, you don't want to go north in this race, especially in the mushy stuff we sailed into in the middle of it, when everybody slowed down." Bella Mente navigator Ian Moore said, "By the middle of the race it came clear that our opponent was better downwind than we were. They could match our speed and sail 5-6 degrees lower [closer to the finish] so we had to change our tactics. The favored route was north, but there were risks attached because north puts you closer to the High Pressure Zone. You could lose the breeze. But we had to do something different, and that made it simple. We had to take full advantage of the shift. We had a meeting of both watch captains, Mike Sanderson and Tom "TomMac" McLaughlin, and Hap, and me. We all agreed. Hap understood the risks, but he was supportive, and maybe, just maybe, we could have gone half of those 150 miles north and still made a gain. But we went the whole way for maximum leverage." With a perspective from the opposite deck, here is Magnitude 80 navigator Ernie Richau: "They controlled the side of the course we wanted. Wanted, but couldn't have. We could never get across them without paying a price we couldn't afford." -- Kimball Livingston Complete results at www.transpacrace.com Martin Byrne of Ireland Wins the 2011 Edinburgh Cup
There were four attempts at getting the final race, the sixth in the series, started including three under black flag. A total of six teams were disqualified including Olga White, whose hopes of making the podium were immediately dashed. Eventually at the fourth time of asking the fleet got away cleanly for what proved to be the best race of the series with the wind up at around 20 knots from the southwest and some nice big waves which made the runs pretty exciting. Off the line Byrne got the best start at the committee boat end and was the first to tack off to the right with Diederichs and Muratov following. By the mid point Byrne had already established a lead with Diederichs and Muratov jostling for position on the front edge of the pack. Muratov went further right than Diederichs gaining a significant advantage at the top end of the course and as they rounded the first mark Byrne led with Muratov in fourth and Diederichs seventh. As Diederichs and Muratove fought their way out of the pack, Bryne established control of the race and clearly had no intention of relinquishing it, gradually stretching away from the fleet. Behind him at the leeward mark Muratov rounded third with Diederichs on his tail in fourth. On the second beat Byrne extended his lead to some 200 yards, Muratov moved into second and Diederichs third. They held their positions on the second run and up the final beat Byrne was able to maintain a loose cover on the fleet and cruise to a very well deserved victory. As Byrne was enjoying himself out front Muratov and Diederichs were still fighting it out. Meanwhile Simon Brien had been showing bursts of incredible speed to pull up through the fleet and as the fleet came on to the final beat he was challenging Muratov and Diederichs. Brien chose to work the middle whilst the other two went hard right and his move paid off. On the line Byrne and his team looked back to see Muratov finish second, Brien third and Diederichs fourth. Brien's nearest Corinthian challengers Nigel Biggs and Patrick Gifford crossed the line in fifth and thirteenth places. So Martin Byrne and his crew of Pedro Andrade and Adam Winklemann sailing Jaguar were declared 2011 Dragon Open British Champions and winners of the historic Edinburgh Cup. Complete results at www.scyc.co.uk 470 European Championship Gold Medals to Spain and Croatia Titles being contested were for the Open 470 European Championships with all teams eligible for the podium places and the 470 European Championships restricted to teams from European nations only. 470 Men 470 European Champions 470 Open European Champions 470 Women A sensational triumph for this team, with the 2011 470 Women European Championships title following on from some stunning results they secured at junior level, including the 2009 470 Junior World Championships. Women's 470 European Champions Women's 470 Open European Champions Complete results at www.openeuropeans2011.com
Get A Deal On The Racing Rules! To order the Rules DVD or learn more about it, go to: www.LearnTheRacingRules.com Slam Bunk "The guy right up the front kind of gets squashed on the front wall," laughs skipper Chris Nicholson, "like an insect on your windscreen." Camper, the Emirates Team New Zealand entry in the 2011-12 race, is farewelled this week as it packs up and heads to Europe for final preparations. "You have to tell yourself that you are going to start each leg at a certain level of fitness and unfortunately you are going to go downhill," says Nicholson. "There is no one that steps off these boats healthier than when they stepped on them... Sleep quality is pretty poor - but at the end of the day, it is enough; we all finish the leg." Not surprisingly, the old salts have established a definite pecking order below deck on Camper. "We hang all our wet weather gear up front - and it is pretty dingy and smelly and you could probably assume - even guarantee - that the young guys will be sleeping up there," smiles Nicholson. The Camper team will each consume 5000-7000 calories daily, mainly freeze dried food as well as supplements, protein bars and protein shakes. "Someone asked me if there is a choice for each meal," says Nicholson. "I said, 'Yeah, sure - you can either eat it or you don't. Some guys won't be happy but they'll eat it." Full article by Michael Burget in the New Zealand Herald: Battle for the Podium However, Sasha, skippered by Albrecht and Erika Peters (Munich, Germany), has until approximately 16:10 UTC on 17 July to bump Jacqueline IV out of the last podium position in the class, and, as of 10:00, had 63.4 miles to go and was making well over seven knots in northwesterly winds. The day's spectacular conditions in the southwest approaches to The Lizard - 30 knots of wind gusting to near gale force with 15' waves - will provide Sasha a wild downwind sleigh ride as the final finisher of The Transatlantic Race 2011. Clean Sweep For Quokka
Matters were made no easier for the crew after Quokka 8's skipper unwisely chose light and moderate weather kites for this regatta, which has typically seen the wind rarely drop below 20 knots. Rutter paid his respects to the RORC race committee for laying on a good series, also admitted that being one of the fastest boats in Class 2 also helped. One of the favourites in IRC1, Jonathan Goring's new Ker 40, Keronimo, put this to the test today when on the final run of the second and final race, she was nailed by a squall, causing her to re-enact the famous pitchpole of Silk II (as captured on camera by Beken of Cowes). Tactician Simon Shaw recounted what occurred: "A big black cloud was chasing us down the run and we'd just changed on to the no4 and gybed to come into the mark when the front of the gust hit and the wind went from 26 to pretty much 40 knots... "The boat instantly jumped into the wave we were following. The rudder was fully out of the water. It was a bit like watching one of those Extreme 40 capsizes - you are on top of the world looking down at the boat, holding on to the runners with your legs dangling down into the cockpit going 'hang on I thought this only happened on catamarans!'" Keronimo teetered in her pitchpoled position for what seemed like 10 seconds, her bow buried so deeply into the water that the instrument displays on her mast were submerged, until eventually the fitting at the end of her bowsprit exploded and the chute roared aft destroying all the stanchions along her starboard side. "We lost one guy off each side and one off the bow," continued Shaw. "So we scooped everyone back in, wrestled the chute down over the back, pulled the jib up, bore away and carried on with the race." Thankfully no one was hurt in the incident. Victory in the hard fought IRC 1 was deservedly scooped up by the winner of both today's two races, Piet Vroon's Ker 46 Tonnerre de Breskens 3, also winner of the Jackdaw Trophy for coming second overall under IRC. Anthony O'Leary's Antix finished just a point adrift in second in IRC 1, ahead of third placed Keronimo. Another equally unusual incident occurred prior to the start of today's first race on board Peter Morton's MAT 1010, one of the contenders in IRC 3, when her port cabintop window imploded. The exact reasons for this remain a mystery. but Morton believes the window was weakened by a barber hauler block repeatedly rapping against it and broken terminally when the weight of one of the crew was applied to it. In the brisk conditions they were forced to retire. In IRC3 today's winner, claiming both races, was Michael Brough's Bavaria Match 38 Steady Barker, but even this fine show left them three points adrift of Mike Bridges' Elan 37, Elaine, the class victor. IRC 4 saw Adam Gosling's Corby 30 Yes! claim two bullets to win their class overall, albeit just three points ahead of Michael Kershaw's Half Tonner, Chimp. Full results at rorc.org Dubarry Crosshaven Boot Dubarry Crosshaven - boots born in the Southern Ocean. Cirillo Crowned 2011 Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series Champion
Cirillo meanwhile had the added distraction of maintaining his slender 3 point lead in the overall season series over Alessio Marinelli on ITA 1 Audi Fratelli Giacomel. In the battle for the regatta and the overall season series, Cirillo had managed to get past Carroll but could only manage tenth place, just 3 places ahead of Carroll. Marinelli had also made gains on the final leg but could only close to within 2 places of Cirillo. After bringing the fleet ashore in the hope that a southerly breeze would establish itself, several hours later the Race Committee called the competitors out to the racecourse again. After a further wait however, the breeze failed to stabilise sufficiently for fair competition and racing was finally abandoned. This meant that Carroll was confirmed as the winner of the regatta and Cirillo as winner of the overall four-regatta season series. Cirillo also retained his second place in the regatta, 12 points behind Carrol and 7 points ahead of third placed Lalli. The Melges 32 fleet now moves to Palma, Mallorca for the Copa del Rey regatta, a warm up for the 2011 Melges 32 World Championship on September 20-24. Top Ten Results (Final, After 7 Races) 1. Jason Carroll/Andy Horton, ARGO, 19 Top Five Audi Sailing Series Results (Final, After 4 Events) Running The Rhumblines Both he and his long term crew were on top of the game in the ideal 12-15 knot South East breeze winning the top handicap place by a runaway 2 minutes 32 seconds over line honours winner the Terry Archer helmed AC40 Questionable Logic. The victory has no doubt built the crews confidence of carrying the form into the more important Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week Performance Handicap class championship from August 12-18. As expected the larger and faster Questionable Logic controlled the race for line honours to eventually record a relatively comfortable 1nminute 4 second win over the MBD 41 Reignition (Charles Wallis) with a further 5 minutes 54 seconds to the Damien Suckling steered Jutson 43 Another Fiasco. But the Idle Time crew racing with a handicap rating of .804 the lowest in the fleet sailed a tactically smart race to remain in control of protecting their rating ahead of Questionable Logic and Esoteric (Col Forster). However the Idle Time crew who celebrated the win can expect to face a tactical challenge from their rivals before the final series deciding race is contested on July 27. Meanwhile skipper Kevin Fogarty who deserved the honour to sit on the 'winner's stool' at the yachties bar remains confident of protecting his point score while the rival crews on Questionable Logic and Esoteric search for a marginal boat speed advantage to match the lower handicapped Idle Time when the sails are tensioned for the important trophy deciding final. It has been some weeks since the Idle Time crew have featured in a major place in the Twilight Sprint Race series suggesting the experienced crew were off the pace. -- Ian Grant Ken Colburn Wins U.S. Swan 42 Nationals: Will Represent NYYC at Invitational Cup
Phil Lotz's Arethusa won the last two races today and clearly won the final day with a 6-1-1 finish. That left him tied after 11 races at 62 points with Ken Colburn and Apparition, the series leader. However, on the strength of Colburn's five first-place finishes to Lotz's two, Colburn was named the winner of the US Nationals. Four points behind Colburn and Lotz was Jon Halbert's Vitesse, fourth was Glenn Darden's and Phil Williamson's Hoss and fifth James Madden's Stark Raving Mad IV. A total of 19 yachts sailed. On the first day (July 14) the wind was ripping from the north, and the humidity took a well-deserved day off. Apparition staked its claim this day with 16 points in three races; that included two firsts. Next was Bandit, Andrew Kennedy, and then Vitesse. Friday was a light-air day, but Saturday and - especially Sunday - were great days at the races. Colburn won the 2011 Block Island Race Week in the Swan 42 class as well as in 2009. He also won this class in this year's New York Yacht Club 157th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex. On the strength of his performance there and in the Swan 42 Nationals will be named the NYYC representative to the NYYC Invitational Cup presented by Rolex in September. In the 2011 NYYC Selection Series for the Invitational Cup, Colburn finished 76 points ahead of Lotz, winner of the 2009 Invitational Cup. The NYYC's Harbour Court will host 22 yacht club teams - representing 16 nations from six different continents - with racing on NYYC Swan 42s September 10-17. Final results on swan42.org and nyyc.org Flying 15 British Championship Competitors Welcomed to HISC
In welcoming the visitors the Rear Commodore reminded them that HISC has a long and close history with the class, having an active Flying 15 fleet since 1949 and has hosted nine National Championships, a European Championship and last hosted the Worlds in 1980. Racing cancelled for Sunday, 17 July, first racing day of the Flying 15 British Championship. A change to the Sailing Instructions has been issued to allow the first start to be one hour earlier on Monday, at 12:00 hrs. The intention is to run three races on Monday 18 July. So far, the weather gods have not been kind to the 200 competitors waiting to start the Flying 15 Nationals, the pre-event for the World Championships which start on Friday 22 July. With the wind registering 25 knots with gusts of 30 knots and a gale warning issued for the area, racing was cancelled for the day. In order to get back on schedule, three races are planed for Monday, with the first start moved an hour earlier, at 12:00hrs. Racing in the National Championship is scheduled to finish on Wednesday. -- Gerald New Correction From The 49er Class Office Featured Brokerage Beautiful Oyster 655 with American cherry interior joinery and Sea Sand Alcantara upholstery, providing stylish and contemporary living below decks. Eight berths in four cabins afford her guests and crew spacious and comfortable accommodation in all weathers. This particular example benefits from a hydraulic in mast furling mainsail and cutter rig complete with twin hydraulic furling systems for both head sails. In essence, a very easily handled yacht that has been skipper maintained since her launch in 2007. Early viewing recommended. Brokerage through Oyster Brokerage at: www.oystermarine.com/brokerage Complete listing details and seller contact information at: www.oysterbrokerage.com The Last Word |
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