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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 Italian Domination
With their form unchanged since Sunday, Italians Diego Negri and Enrico Voltolini extended their overall lead in the 26-boat fleet, counting one win plus a third place while discarding their eighth place in race six. Polish 2008 World champion and past Finn Olympic Gold medallist Mateusz Kusznierewicz with Dominik Zycki also showed good pace, with a fifth place and a win yesterday while discarding a ninth in the hunt for the overall lead. Canada's Richard Clarke with Tyler Bjorn also moved up a place to third overnight as the final two races are slated for Friday - weather permitting. In local interest, a slip in form for Peter O'Leary and David Burrows saw the Cork/Dublin pair drop to fifth place while Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks failed to find their form today. Star European Championship 2011 at Royal St. George YC, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (Provisional overall standings after six races): 1. Diego Negri & Enrico Voltolini, ITA Updates and results are being posted daily at: www.rsgyc.ie/stareuro2011/ ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final Hosted by Sail Sheboygan, one of four US Sailing Centers, the competition will see some of the finest sailors from across the globe mixing it up along the Lake Michigan shore in identical one-design class sailboats for this culmination of a series of eight match racing regattas that started in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on 24 March. The ISAF Nations Cup is a global competition to find the world's top match racing nation in open and women's events, while also promoting and developing the sport of match racing in sailing, which pits one boat against another. Gaining popularity, women's match racing will make its debut as an Olympic Sailing event for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The 2011 Nations Cup included seven regional finals, from which the top teams will compete in Sheboygan. The Grand Final will be sailed in the Sonar class for the open event and the Elliott 6m for the women's event. Ten teams will compete in the women's event, and ten entries have been confirmed in the open event. Competitor List Women's www.visitmalta.com will Race the Soto 40 Patagonia in Barcelona The new team will race in Barcelona on board Patagonia, the boat which has been loaned to aspiring crews by the class president Norberto Alvarez Vitale. The Spanish owner is well known as the owner-skipper behind the Solete and Gramona programmes, he is also a regular participant at the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre regatta each year, and a committed competitor on the Spanish cruiser-racer circuit. Their Soto 40 project will be named www.visitmalta.com and features some of Spain's top sailing talent from Catalonia, the Canary Islands, Galicia and Andalucía. www.visitmalta.com will form part of the fleet of six which will comprise the 40 Series fleet racing on the famous Olympic waters off the Catalonian capital city. The new boat of Toni Guiu and Àlex Laplaza's, www.cruiser-racer.com, is expected to arrive imminently to be raced on the duo's native waters. Alfredo Mella, one of the grounders of the new www.visitmalta.com team, explains: "The idea started about a a year ago, when we introduced the project to www.visitmalta.com. They liked the idea from the beginning", he adds, "Malta has the potential and wants to become a sailing destination, and this project perfectly suits that goal". The Conde de Godo Barcelona Trophy, the fifth event of the 2011 Audi MedCup Circuit takes place from the 12th - 17th of September in Barcelona. Dubarry Lahinch - Hanging Ten In Style Dubarry Lahinch - performance perfected. Volvo Ocean Race Confirms First Group of Broadcast Partners Other broadcast partners include Channel Ten (Australia), ORF (Austria), Rogers Sports Net (Canada), Hi Fidelity (Canada), Guangdong TV (China), Nova Sport (Czech Republic), Sky Pacific (Fiji/Pacific Islands), NOVA Sport (Greece/Cyprus), Neo Sports (India), Indovision (Indonesia), Sports Channel (Israel), Sky Italia (Italy), Fox Sports Latin America (Latin America excluding Brazil), Astro Super Sport (Malaysia), OSN (pan-Middle East), TV4 (Poland), Digi Sport (Romania/Hungary), StarHub (Singapore), SportKlub TV (Southeastern Europe), TV3 (Spain/Catalan) and Sky Sports (United Kingdom). Among the current list of broadcasters, roughly 75 percent of them have agreed to take the live production of the In-Port Races and Leg Starts in the upcoming race, boosting the amount of Volvo Ocean Race programming from previous races. The Volvo Ocean Race television programming will also see a return to live HD coverage of the race: all nine Leg Starts will be available to broadcasters with 60 minutes of live HD coverage, while each of the 10 In-Port Races will feature in a 90-minute live show on select weekends every month from October through to July. www.volvooceanrace.com/fanzone Four New Sailors Join Green Comm Racing
Green Comm Racing's crew will be built around the core group that raced in Cascais a month ago. Slovenia's top sailor and twice Olympic medallist, Vasilij Zbogar, will again take the helm of the Spanish AC45 yacht. He will be surrounded by Ed Wright (GBR), Javier de la Plaza (ESP), Pete Cumming (GBR) and Anthony Nossiter (AUS). Joining them in Plymouth will be a group of multiple Olympic, World and European champions. Spain's Fernando Leon, a seasoned multihull sailor and Tornado gold medalist in the 1996 Olympics, will come onboard as the team's second helmsman. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic from Croatia will be another of the Finn sailors fit for the physically-demanding yachts. Ivan is Croatia's most successful sailor ever, twice European Finn champion and has finished on the podium in every World Cup event he raced in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and in nearly all the regattas he sailed. Another Finn sailor on Green Comm Racing is Jonathan Lobert. He's France's top sailor in the class and one of the two candidates for the 2012 Olympics. He won the gold medal in the 2010 Test event in Australia and most recently he was second, tied on points with Ben Ainslie, at the Kiel Week. The crew roaster is completed with Simon Hiscocks, one of Great Britain's greatest sailors. Simon won a silver medal in the 49er class in the Sydney Olympics and a bronze in the Athens games. Green Comm Racing's sailors are in for a tough ride in Plymouth as the weather forecast for the opening days promises breezes well over 30 knots, with gusts close to 40 knots. Italian Act Coming Up At the halfway stage, each Act has been won by a different team (Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Act 1, Muscat; Luna Rossa, Act 2, Qingdao; Artemis Racing, Act 3, Istanbul; Emirates Team New Zealand Act 4, Boston; and Act 5 at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week in the UK, Luna Rossa were near victors but lost out in the final race to Oman's The Wave, Muscat skippered by British Olympic Tornado sailor, Leigh McMillan. With Luna Rossa just 1 point adrift of Emirates Team New Zealand who top the overall standings and the French team of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, 4 points from the top, there is plenty at stake. The Race Village for Act 6 opens on the 14th September and there is plenty for the public to do and see with promotional and retail stands and live music every day. The Extreme 40 fleet will start racing at 1500 CET every day from the 14th to 18th September, with the fleet racing inside the harbour in 'stadium racing' mode from the 16th. Team Extreme will be racing under the colours of 'Sailing Seacily' during Act 6 and will skippered by Sebbe Godefroid in place of Roland Gaebler. Joining the Extreme 40 fleet for the next three Acts is Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, Ben Ainslie, as he takes over as skipper of Oman Air and the British public and media will be watching closely to see how he takes to two hulls. In addition, local children will be racing in up to 50 Optimist dinghies before the Extreme 40 race as part of the circuit's initiative to open up the doors of its events to young sailors. Overall standings after 5 Acts 1. Emirates Team New Zealand, 44 points UK-Halsey Rules Quiz The answers to all the quizzes were re-written for the rules changes by Rob Overton, who has been a member of the US Sailing Racing Rules Committee since 1993. Rob was one of five international rule writers who drafted the new Section C rules that took effect on January 1, 2009. See the Rules Quiz page at www.ukhalsey.com/RulesQuiz/quiz_list.asp You can buy the Quiz program for $55 or $100 for the program plus two of the best books written on the 2009-2012 Racing Rules - Understanding the Rules by Dave Perry and The Rules in Practice by Bryan Willis. Both are reviewed in our Rules Blog. Points System Could Help Shake Up Championship Race WMRT: Following the cancellation of the 2011 Danish Open is there a points system in place for the Tour Card Holders that were allocated that event? Is it standard ISAF practice if an event is cancelled and can you explain how the system works? Craig Mitchell (Tour Director): The Tour Card Holders who chose Denmark as one of their 6 allocated events (everyone except Francesco Bruni) will receive an average points score based on their other 5 allocated events. If that average is one of their best 5 scores this season it will count towards their Championship total. I'm not sure it's standard ISAF practice as the points system is created by the World Match Racing Tour management team, but the average points system was introduced a few years ago in case this eventuality occurred. WMRT: Do any teams stand to gain or lose from the cancellation of the 2011 Danish Open? CM: For sure most Tour Card Holder teams will gain from this system, some more than others if they have currently included a very low scoring event in their top 5 scores which combine to make up their total Championship points. Amongst the Tour Card Holders, it's only Francesco Bruni whose score won't change either way as he didn't select Denmark as one of his six allocated events. Equally, as Bjorn Hansen is not a Tour Card Holder, his score won't change either. The potential gain ranges from plus 3 points for Mathieu Richard to plus 16 points for Ian Williams. As it stands Williams would benefit the most as he could replace the tenth place (2 points) he scored at Match Race France with his average which is high at 18 points because he has two firsts and two third places to his name. That would give him a 16 point advantage over his current total score of 90. WMRT: When do these points changes come into effect? CM: These points changes will come into effect after next month's Argo Group Gold Cup because there are two Tour Card Holders, Johnie Bertnsson and Phil Robertson, who selected that event as one of their six allocated events. We won't know their average until they have a score for that event. Full story on wmrt.com Mistral Delivers Once Again at Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
The 18 to 20 knot Mistral breeze blowing off Porto Cervo this morning, teamed with blazing sunshine and blue skies, provided perfect conditions for the first of today's three windward-leeward completed by the Mini Maxi class. Ran 2, with Adrian Stead calling tactics, led the fleet for the duration of both the first and second race of the day and looked ready to dominate the third race as well. Thanks to some excellent tactical decisions, however, Shockwave (USA), owned by George Sakellaris, was able to move into pole position by the second windward leg and went on to take victory. The remaining divisions were set a 36 mile coastal course which took them along the Sardinian coast and north past the La Maddalena island to the isle of Barrettinelli di Fuori before embarking on a long downwind leg to the finish off Porto Cervo. Hasso Plattner's 44.9 metre Visione was the fastest boat of the Supermaxi division, which comprises the largest yachts in the fleet, but it was the Bermudian ketch Hetairos that came out on top today with the combined IRC and ORC scoring system. The 34-metre Nilaya continues to lead in the overall classification followed by Hetairos and Visione respectively. Racing is scheduled to continue Friday 9th September, at 10.30 with windward-leeward races in programme for the Mini Maxi and Wally fleets and a coastal course for all other divisions. Westerly winds of approximately 12 knots are predicted. Provisional overall results on 08/09/2011 Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship Maxi Racing/Cruising Maxi Racing Wally Supermaxi Hero Ships Rescue Four French Sailors in the Atlantic The U.S. Coast Guard, reports that they, the Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax, a Canadian Forces CC-130 Hercules and two merchant vessels worked together to rescue the four French sailors more than 1,400 miles east-northeast of Provincetown. The 600-foot tanker Unique Sunshine, an Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER) member, and the 250-foot oil rig tender Maersk Chancellor rescued the sailors after their boat, the 36-foot red-hulled sailboat, reported their predicament by satellite phone to the skipper's father. The Unique Sunshine arrived on scene first and provided the sailboat with shelter from the wind, maintained communications with the sailors and provided the Coast Guard with updated information while the Maersk Chancellor was en route. The Maersk Chancellor has two rescue vessels and the crew is trained in offshore rescues. Once the Maersk Chancellor arrived on scene, the oil rig's crew rescued the sailors as the Unique Sunshine continued to shelter the vessels from strong winds and heavy seas. AMVER, sponsored by the Coast Guard, is a computer-based voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea. -- US Coast Guard/Sail-World Cruising Featured Brokerage In collaboration with Nauta Yachts Srl of Milano Italy, Reichel/Pugh Yachts are pleased to announce that the 79' Maxi Yacht Capricorno (formerly Morning Glory) is now for sale. A yacht with an impeccable pedigree that includes in its list of noteable results: - 1st Place and Breaking the Course Record in the 1996 Cape Town to Rio Race Capricorno was originally designed with a race oriented minimalist interior arrangement geared towards both inshore and offshore racing. In 2004/05 her owner converted her interiors into a cruising configuration. The original race aesthetics were maintained through the prevalent use of composites which gives the interiors a modern, yet elegant, look and atmosphere. Brokerage through Reichel/Pugh Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/reichelpugh/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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