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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 Audi Medcup Region of Murcia-Cartagena Unmatched consistency on a very difficult race area ensured that the Spanish crew secured the 52 Series regatta title of the first Spanish regatta of the season. Such regularity was only slightly exceeded in the Soto 40 Class where the British crew of Ngoni overhauled the Spanish favourites on Iberdrola Team, who came to Cartagena unbeaten on the Audi MedCup Circuit this season, to win the 40 Series' Region of Murcia Trophy even before they had contested their one race today. Bribon clinched their first Trophy Regatta win since triumphing here in 2008 when they staged a remarkable recovery from last at the first mark of the first of two races today. After choosing the wrong side of the first leg, double Olympic medallist Ross MacDonald (CAN) guided them down the right side of the first downwind and by the first leeward gate they had a slender lead. Finishing second to Synergy (RUS) meant the Spanish team only needed to start the final race to lift the trophy. They finished the nine race series with a winning margin of three points over Italy's Audi Azzurra Sailing Team. The team skippered by Guillermo Parada (ARG) collect their second runners up position after last month finishing behind Audi ALL4ONE (FRA/GER) in Cagliari. For the British crew of Ngoni, their win was missed by owner Tony Buckingham who will be back on the helm in Barcelona, but their triumph is a result of a well run programme which saw Ngoni as the second Soto 40 in Europe, training early season alongside the benchmark Iberdrola Team. Despite four changes of crew line up since Cagliari last month, the British team gelled quickly, were fast in the lighter conditions and showed every sign they can be equally competitive in Barcelona. Iberdrola Sailing Team finished second in Cartagena but have built their Circuit lead by two points here to 28 points. -- Sabina Mollart-Rogerson Region of Murcia-Cartagena Trophy: 52 Series 40 Series 2011 Audi MedCup Circuit, standings after four regattas of five 1. Quantum Racing, USA, 129.5 points 40 Series Tornado Worlds The anticipated cold front brought fresh westerly wind of four to six Beaufort. Shortly after ten clock, there was no holding back on the start line. Two false starts were the result. The teams then sailed three races in quick succession. The favourite was impressed by neither wind nor whitecaps and pulled away again. The Australian Brett Burvill Duffield and Ryan (AUS 327) won against the European champions from Greece, Iordanis Paschalidis and Konstantinos Trigonis (GRE 7) and the German reigning World Champion pair of Roland Gaebler and Nahid (GER 1). In the second race of the day, the Greeks took victory but were OCS and the race was not counted for them. The mixed team of Roland and Nahid Gaebler took victory against the Australians. The native Jean-Marc Cuanillon and Michael Gloor (SUI 232) reached fourth place. The wind picked up, and capsizes were the result. There have never been so many capsizes in a World Championships, Roland Gaebler said later, he and his wife were affected, they reached the third race of the day but still finished eighth. The ten who had traveled as Mixed teams are hoping that the Tornado is in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 as the Mixed Multihull for the Olympics. There is now time for the competitors to rest ahead of the Tornado European Championships on Lake Como, Italy from the 8th - 11th September. Final results Full results (PDF) - www.tornadochampionships.com Dubarry Lahinch - Inspired By Design Dubarry Lahinch - performance perfected. Michael Kershaw's Chimp Wins Half Ton Classic Cup Whilst there was disappointment at losing the two final races it was clear that all felt their Champions were worthy winners and at the prize giving Hampshire's Michael Kershaw and the crew of Chimp received a rousing reception as they claimed the trophy. Helmed by Ireland's George Kenefick the crew also included Graeme Love, Ian Brown, Roger Merino and Ed Fitzgerald. 38 boats is possibly the biggest gathering of Half Tonners ever, including the Half Ton Cups of the class's heyday in the 1980s. Completing the podium line up were defending champion Philippe Pilate's French team aboard General Tapioca, a 1978 Berret, and Concorde, the 1989 Gautier design, owned by Francis Marshall from Cornwall. In the Production Boat Division the winner was Francois Michelin's Chani, one of Ron Holland's wonderful Golden Shamrocks. In second place was the SJ32 Fletcher Lynd, owned by Fredric Denis, and Michael Langhan's Albin Ballad Strolch came third. The Half Ton True Spirit Trophy is awarded not to the winning team, but to the team that best represents the true spirit of camaraderie and competition in the Half Ton Classic Class. The members of the fleet elect the winner and by a massive number of votes the 2011 recipient was confirmed as Jean-Benoit Boels' Envol crewed by Diego Boels, Lionel Coquelet, Bert Jansen, Olivier Michel, Adrien Michele and Tom Jansen. At 11 years old Tom Jansen was also the youngest competitor and it was a lovely sight to see him proudly holding aloft the keeper prize, a unique canvas printed photograph by local photographer Hamo Thornycroft. -- Fiona Brown Full results at halftonclassiccup.wordpress.com Giovannini & Progli Snatch Lipton Cup On the final beat to windward, and the finish line, Davis managed to claw back one position, but it was just not enough. Andrea Giovannini & co-skipper, Markus Progli crossed the line with the required two boat buffer to become the new Lipton Cup Champions. With their win, they have brought the highest honour in South African sailing to themselves and their club, False Bay Yacht Club. Next year, the event will be sailed in False Bay, where they will have to defend their title. Winning The Lipton Cup Challenge is the highest achievement for sailors in Southern Africa and this year's event saw the closest racing ever seen in the over 100 year old challenge event. Speaking to Andrea and Markus, just after their win, Andrea told me that winning The Lipton Cup Challenge is something he has dreamed of since he started sailing. Markus echoed his sentiments and for this team of young sailors, aged from 13 to 29, they have climbed the Everest of South African Offshore Sailing and won, against the most experienced team ever to defend the Cup. The Team on Colorpress have collectively won The Lipton Cup Challenge a total of 31 times and defending champions has personally won it 7 times out of the last 10 Challenges. Congratulations to Andrea Giovannini & Markus Progli and their Intasure Marine Insurance Team who now hold the Lipton Cup trophy and who will defend it next year from False Bay Yacht Club. -- Matthew Thomas Howie Hamlin Wins 6th Title Echo that about racing sailboats here. Howie Hamlin, a 58-year-old land broker from Southern California, has now won six of the 10 annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club, but Friday's clutch scenario played out like the Perils of Pauline. Hamlin, with crew Matt Noble and Paul Allen on CST Composites, went into the last day with a one-point lead over Australia's John (Woody) Winning on Yandoo and five points over Michael Coxon's Thurlow Fisher Lawyers---the top three boats all week. The latter performed like the defending champions they were, winning two of six races when Coxon, suffering from a neck injury, turned the tiller over to the veteran Trevor Barnabas. Until the very end Friday, with Coxon back, it seemed they would win the last three. Hamlin won three of the 10 races, including the finale. Both of Friday's contests were two laps around the 1.1-nautical mile windward-leeward set from inside the Golden GateBridge to just past Alcatraz Island. Final top ten (10 races, including two discards; skippers listed first) 1. CST Composites, USA, Howie Hamlin/ Matt Noble/Paul Allen, 14 points Hamilton Island CEO in Command After fighting for clear sailing space out of the start the Club Marine crew gradually outpaced their rivals to then misjudge the current and colliding with the rounding mark. Both sail handlers Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith who always sail cool under pressure reacted cleverly when Glenn Bourke had to slam Club Marine into a crash tack and re round the mark. However they appeared to have lost any chance of chasing down the advantage held by race leader Phil Gray in Dulon when spinnakers were set for the power sailing downwind run where the exciting SB3 sports boats scudded at pace before the 20 knot breeze. Dulon with skipper Phil Gray using the advantage of setting the pace from the front of the fleet correctly applied a tight wind shadow over his nearest rival on the second upwind beat. Naturally the Dulon crew felt they had the race wrapped up when spinnakers were set for the run to the finish. But the never say die attitude shown by skipper Glenn Bourke supported by faultless spinnaker setting and gybing by Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith allowed Club Marine to pave a speed sailing path for to snatch an important race win from Dulon in the final metres of the race. In the Grand Prix IRC class championship the series favourite Hooligan moved another race closer to winning the prestigious Audi Hamilton Island race week with another convincing win. Hooligan the re-named Team New Zealand Merit Cup winning TP52 skippered by Marcus Blackmore and racing to the tactical strategy from World Olympic Laser champion Tom Slingsby recorded their fifth win from seven races. They assumed command with unmatched boat speed to finish with a 1 minute 31 second win over the Robert Hanna skippered Victorian TP52 Shogun while the defending champion Stephen Ainsworth's Loki filled third place another 3 minutes 15 seconds off the pace. -- Ian Grant. 
The All New Anakena Sailing Shorts The Anakena shorts are handcrafted in San Diego, California to help reduce our carbon footprint. Buy some today! Newport Pre-Bucket Race The few spectators who, by chance, found themselves watching yacht racing history unfold were totally absorbed by these J Class yachts - dating back to America's Cup racing in the 1930s. Sheer size, power, tactics, crew work and boat speed kept the boats locked together within a couple of lengths for more than three hours. In this last race it was VELSHEDA who crossed the line first, leaving us with the thrilling promise of even more enthralling and spectacular sailing when a fleet of J's race together in the UK in June 2012. For more information on the UK 2012 J Class regattas visit www.jclassyachts.com GOR's Palma Race Village is Unveiled Frau and his team confirmed that all the events held in the Global Ocean Race Village will be free to the public. The Race Village will have a covered area of approximately 1,000 sqm divided in two areas: one section for events and presentations with a second area designated for official institutions, Village sponsors, the GOR Race Office and the GOR Media Centre. The Global Ocean Race Village is located by the race fleet berthing area at the Muelle de las Golondrinas, in front of the Auditorium on Palma's Harbor Promenade, the Paseo Marítimo, running alongside the city's main marina and will remain open between the 9-25 September. Local yachtsman, Hugo Ramon, just back from his mandatory, 2,000 mile GOR qualifier, explained his passion for the race and also commented that the Desafio Mallorca project was hoping to announce its commercial partners very soon. Running the Rhumblines Sandpiper which has raced under several owners in the Whitsunday Sailing Club point score events went within one point of winning the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week Division 2 Cruising class championship last Friday. Both Colin Pruden and his crew of Whitsunday Sailing Club mates including Mick Phillips who had shown their rivals how to race against strong wind and savage current were in the thick of the tactical action duelling for a possible win when a typical glass-out forced officials to abandon the final race on Saturday. When they motor/sailed onto Dent Passage on Saturday morning the enthusiastic Colin Pruden believed they had a chance to win the series after recording a 7-4-11-3 in the physically demanding island passage races contested in moderate to fresh and frightening winds. Unfortunately after the breeze blew to a recorded 32 knots during the week there was barely enough reliable breeze to raise a ripple on Dent Passage when the final race was officially abandoned. Prior to that the Peter Maitz helmed Beneteau 50 Leonardo racing under the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club burgee held a 1 point advantage after winning the Long Island Passage race on Friday while Sandpiper finished third missing out second place by 20 seconds. While Saturday's abandoned race denied the local crew the opportunity to show their rivals how to maintain boat speed when racing in light wind and against current Colin Pruden was happy with his result. "It would have been nice to have had a crack at them but I'm happy with our result" He said. The racing was close with Sandpiper missing third place in race 2 by seven seconds and tenth place in race four by twenty seconds had those results been reversed then the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week championship trophy would now be displayed among the club trophies already won by Colin Pruden and crew. Sandpiper returns to racing in club point score events on Pioneer Bay with a threat of attracting a handicap penalty however her popular skipper has shown he is tactically prepared to meet the challenge. -- Ian Grant. Letters To The Editor - * From David Thomas: Sigma owners ( and there must be quite a lot reading your gallant publication ) would be interested that this months Fastnet Race, 2-handed Results were included 1st Sigma 33, 2nd Sigma 36 and 4th Sigma 38. Life in the Old Girls Yet! Featured Brokerage Sleeps six sailors in three double cabins plus two more can sleep in salon settee. Master stateroom is forward. Two head compartments with shower. Brokerage through Denison Yacht Sales: www.yachtworld.com/denisonyachtsales/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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