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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 Container Consistent in the Cagliari Mistral, Quantum Racing Wobble
If Container's modest Kiwi tactician Hamish Pepper, 2006 Star world champion, shrugged off another day of steely consistency as the cards simply falling in their favour, conversely Cagliari's blustery, offshore Mistral breeze may have seemed unduly cruel to the Circuit leaders Quantum Racing. The TP52 world champions finished the first day at the bottom of the regatta leaderboard after a pair of sixth places. With the wind funnelling down the long flat valley to the north of the race area, accelerating with some muscular gusts to over 25kts at times, but peppered with sudden lulls of a mere 15-17kts, often there were also big differences in wind direction on either side of the track. It was never straightforward. And while Pepper and the Markus Wieser-skippered team on Container proved to be as much masters of the comeback as they were assured in their slick, solid boat handling under pressure, the exciting but changeable conditions perhaps did not suit the usually dependable Quantum Racing style of more risk averse sailing. 52 Series Results after two races: 1. Container (GER), 1+2=3 points Panerai British Classic Week
Despite the unseasonal weather, which at times comprised rain, mist, torrential rain and only occasional short lived spells of sunshine, nevertheless returning to the dock after racing most of the competitors appeared to have enjoyed their day of classic yachting. Some had fared worse than others however; in an unfortunate incident, seemingly caused by a period of poor visibility, a port and starboard collision between the Class 3 yacht 'Maybird' and the leading Class 4 yacht 'Caritana' saw 'Caritana' dismasted. Although boat boats retired, happily there were no reported injuries. With the third day of the regatta designated as Ladies' Day, ranging across Classes 2 - 4, no less than 16 lady helmsman took up the challenge to skipper their respective boats during racing. In Class 4, Fiona Davies aboard 'Mitten' was the first lady helm on corrected time, finishing in seventh place in the overall Class 4 fleet. In the 20 boat Class 3 fleet, Alice Bellamy was the first lady, steering 'St David's Light' to a fifth in class finish. Meanwhile, in Class 2, first lady helm Angela Matheson brought 'Opposition' home in fourth place in the 10 boat fleet, and was also awarded the overall Ladies' Day prize. The match racing between the two 12 Metres at the front of the Class 1 fleet continued unabated, with R A Rankin's 1985 'Italia' evening the series score with a win over Richard Matthew's 1985 'Crusader'. Stephen Jones, helming his own self-designed Spirit of Tradition 'Meteor', took third place. The Six Metre Class managed to complete their first race of the regatta, with Avea Willment's 1986 'Blade Runner' taking a comprehensive line honours and corrected time win, ahead of second placed Robin Richardson on the 1987 'St. Kitts'. Tom Richardson's 1990 'Georgia' took third place. Full results are available online at: 29er Europeans
Sent out on the course, the sailors quickly held more races to get all 154 boats even to 4 races a piece. After tonight, the fleet will be reshuffled into 4 fleets to be sailed again tomorrow to determine the split between the gold, silver, bronze and emerald fleets. After the long day, leaders are emerging including Jael Jaffrezic/Julien Bloyet (FRA), Phil Walker/John Mather (GBR) and James Sly/Tom Dwyer (AUS). The top female team are sisters Jule an dLotta Gorge of Germany who sit in 8th overall. Qualifying races will be extended another day followed by the final series and the winner crowned on 23 July. Bainbridge International Introduces Membrane Sails Diax2 Membrane is designed to give the sailmaker a stronger, lighter, high performance membrane made to their exact specifications. DIAX2M utilises advanced fibre stringing techniques and is available in a variety of styles and fibre types, with the race version featuring clear films and the cruise version with double taffetas. Single and internal taffetas are also available. Playing a vital part in the launch our new membrane sail construction is the creation of sailsource.bainbridgeint.com - an interactive trade website which allows the sailmaker easy access to accurate membrane quotes. For more information on new DIAX2M or to request samples of any of our products, please contact your local sailmaker or email us at Goacher and Evans are Flying 15 UK National Champions
And those conditions were very much to the liking of defending champions, Steve Goacher and Phil Evans, as they blasted to two victories. The conditions brought to the fore a lot of familiar names, revelling in the spray and spume: Russell Peters and Tim Hall, Greg Wells and Mark Darling, Charles Apthorp and Gavin Tappenden and Australian's Grant Alderson and Dean Mcaullay, and Dave Tucker and Matt Summers. But a significant factor in the day's results was the retirement rate in the rough sea conditions and the number of black flag transgressions, something that was to be critical as the week unrolled. Now, all thoughts turn to the Flying 15 World Championship which begins on Friday. Headed by Goacher and Evans the Britsh fleet has great depth and they are looking to return the World title, held by Australians Grant Alderson and Dean Mcaullay, to the Old Country. The strong Aussie entry plus the 28 extra boats joining the fleet for the Worlds, including additional entries from Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland and France might just upset that plan . . . weather permitting. -- Gerald New Flying 15 Championship of the British Isles (Pre Worlds Regatta) Top tive: 1. Steve Goacher / Phil Evans, GBR, 4 points Full results at www.hisc.co.uk What Happened to the Lusitania? 'In a sense, Lusitania is a much bigger story than Titanic , and the links to the local area are more concrete," says Gregg Bemis, the American millionaire who owns Lusitania . " Titanic was a romantic matter because it was man against nature. In the case of Lusitania you have politics, war, intrigue and this horrible disaster. So, really, what we're talking about is man against humanity rather than man against nature." For more than 40 years Bemis has dreamed of discovering what exactly was in the cargo hold of the Cunard liner. Munitions? Priceless art? Jewels? This summer he hopes to find out, as he leads possibly the largest and perhaps the final expedition to the famous shipwreck, which has lain off Co Cork since it was torpedoed during the first World War, leading to the deaths, according to a best estimate, of about 1,200 of the almost 2,000 passengers and crew who are believed to have been aboard. Bemis has dived to the wreck of the Lusitania twice before, in 1993 and 2004. Critics have questioned his motives, claiming that he is intent only on finding valuables that may have been on the ship. The art collector Hugh Lane was aboard, and rumour has it that he had several lead-cased masterpieces with him. Bemis says the chances of finding anything of value are very slim, and points out that although he can keep anything he retrieves that relates to the ship or its previous owners, he is not allowed to recover anything that belonged to passengers. The real value of the expedition, according to Bemis, lies in trying to answer the controversial question of whether or not Lusitania was carrying munitions as well as passengers. Full report in the Irish Times: Yngling World Championship
The Championship was held over a 7 day period at the Attersee, Austria. A strong line-up with 60 teams and 15 nations represented. Out off the 10 planned races, 9 could be completed. Long days without wind or wind only at the club site of the lake only added to the tension. Despite losing Olympic status, the Yngling class is enjoying a remarkable growth, both in quality and quantity. Many young and aspiring teams have picked up former Olympic boats at bargain prices, title hopefuls of other classes turn to the Yngling for the challenging level of competition and lively atmosphere afterwards. The next Worlds will be held in Sydney, in January 2012. Many (mostly young) teams are in desperate search for backing and sponsors to help them transport their boats (and themselves) to Australia. Teams from Holland, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, the USA and Sweden are hoping to be able to compete at the highest level in Sailing Country. www.yngling.nl One Manufacturer, Four Winners IRC0 - Pace (3Di/3DL), IRC1 - Tonnerre de Breskens 3 (3Di/3DL), IRC2 - Quokka (3DL), IRC3 - Elaine (3DL), IRC4 - Yes! (3DL). North Sails continue to show their dominance in the UK race market powering every class winner to victory. These results are a testament to the worlds leading sailmaker's continued investment in product development and after sales service. ISAF Nations Cup Regional Final Starts On Thursday In Gdynia, Poland The ISAF Nations Cup consists of 8 Regional Finals, taking place from March to July 2011. Regional Finals winners will participate in the Grand Final of ISAF Nations Cup, which will take place 13-18 September in Sheboygan, USA. Regional Finals will be sailed in South Africa, Austria, Bahrain, Poland, USA, Australia and Brazil. Winners go to Grand Final, which will be sailed with the defending champions France and hosts: the United States. The fight for ISAF Nations Cup 2011 title will take place in open category and women's category. ISAF Nations Cup for the first time took place in 1991, then 1993, 1995 and after the break came back in 2006. The last edition took place in 2009, the Grand Final was sailed in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Boklunder Melges 24 European Championship The local Danish fleet have fielded the largest contingent with 15 boats, but the fleet also boasts entries from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway Switzerland, Sweden, the Ukraine, and even as far afield as Japan. Whilst the lineup features many familiar faces, it also includes a large number of teams competing in their first ever Melges 24 European Championship - a testament to the underlying strength of the Melges 24 class in Europe. Equally encouraging for the class is the number of entries in the strictly all amateur Corinthian category, where 31 teams will be racing for the 2011 Melges 24 Corinthian European Championship title. Arguably, based on the form guide, the Italian squad represent the strongest challenge, with proven performers such as International Melges 24 Class Chairman Ricardo Simoneschi and tactician Gabrielle Benussi on ITA 819 'Audi', Alberto Bolzan and tactician Danielle Cassinari on ITA 716 'Saetta', and Carlo Fracassoli with tactician Andrea Felci on ITA 803 'Saetta', all more than capable of stringing together a championship winning series. Flavio Favini on SUI 782 'Blu Moon' is a past winner of both World and European Melges 24 titles and will doubtless be looking to clock up another major championship win in Aarhus this month. Amongst the many 'wildcard' entries who will be competing in Aarhus next week, the talented local all-girl team on 'Sailing Academy Aarhus - Team XX' headed by Joa Storebjerg will be hoping to use their local knowledge to best advantage to upstage some of the more established teams. There will be practice racing on Saturday 23 July and the European Championship will be raced from Sunday 24 to Thursday 28 July with up to twelve races scheduled. OK Dinghy UK National Championships A north westerly breeze of around 10 knots meant that the Race management Team could set a full championship course in the race area to the north of Great Cumbrae Island. 1. Nick Craig, GBR, 5 points They're Back! Celebrating it's 26th continuous year of operation at Cowes Week, the World's premier regatta. Cowes Radio provides the only live, continuous on the water commentary of sailing, giving minute-by-minute information to competitors, spectators and regatta followers, live from our fully instrumented commentary boat, and direct from our race experienced commentators Dick Johnson afloat and Simon Vigar ashore on the platform of the Royal Yacht Squadron. A hugely experienced team of broadcasters bring you live commentary and interviews with celebrities, skippers, crews and organisers, winners and losers, race results and up-to the minute comment from the people who matter. We offer competitions, fun and games, plus a social guide. Cowes Radio is a really useful way of finding out what's going on in the up-to the minute daily guide to 'what's on' and 'who's doing what. We also stream live and are listened to all over the World on the Internet. Featured Brokerage Successful and manageable IRC race boat, with a full specification for inshore and offshore challenges. 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