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 Williams Turns The Screw At The Gold Cup The wind continued to build in Bermuda today where big gusts rolled across Hamilton Harbour, forcing teams to hike hard all day around the course. In Group 3 it all came down to the final flight, with Ian Williams, Mathieu Richard and Damien Iehl all on 5 wins and Eric Monnin close behind on 4. Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo Group was involved in a close tussle with Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team, the lead changing hands several times amid plenty of penalty calls. Williams was the eventual victor and goes through to the quarter-finals with a 6-1 scoreline and first pick as the top seed. In the other key match, Monnin (SUI) Oklays Corum beat Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team and would’ve qualified automatically in second place, but the Swiss was given a half point penalty for a collision. It cost him dearly - the penalty relegating him to the repechage and propelling Richard into the quarter-finals. The repechage and quarter-finals get underway at 0900 local time (-4hrs GMT) on Friday 7 October. Catch the preview on The WMRT Morning Show with Hannah White and a review of each day on The WMRT Today Show after racing finishes at www.wmrt.com Live coverage of the 2011 Argo Group Gold Cup quarter-finals start at 1300 local time (-4hrs GMT) on www.wmrt.com Results after Qualifying Session Three: Group One: Group Two: Group Three: Overall Championship Standings - after 6 stages: Waddell’s Bullets Pace Fleet Conditions were rugged for the young sailors today, but the deciding factor to call it off early was both shifty winds and reports of a severe weather front heading towards the sailors. Discretion being the better part of valor, chairman of the race committee Charles Tatem decided to call it for the day. The heavy breeze was a factor in Waddell’s stand out performance but he also played the wind shifts beautifully to dominate both races. Although he will “age out” of the Optimists at the end of December, he noted that “hiking out was important today but I really also had to play the shifts. It was really shifty. When it is like this, I usually just try as hard as I can to keep the boat flat, but I really needed to play the shifts today.” Waddell added that much of the time sailing upwind he and his fellow competitors were bailing their boats to keep them afloat. For second place finisher Marvin Frisch of Germany, who had a sixth and a third place but is lighter than Waddell “these are not my kind of conditions. It was really difficult for people as light as me and I was really struggling.” Racing resumes Friday morning on the Great Sound and the race committee aims to complete 15 races before Sunday, so they will have their work cut out for them. For more results and photos go to www.argogroupgoldcup.com and click on the Jr Gold Cup tab. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/165836818967/ Transat 6.50 He covered 1148 miles between La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime/France) and Funchal (Madeira/Portugal) in 9 days 08 hours and 31 minutes at the average speed of 5,11 knots. Clement Bouyssou (Douet Distribution) is the second Series boat to cross the finish line of this firts stage. His race time between La Rochelle and Funchal is 9 days 09 hours and 22 minutes at the average speed of 5,09 knots. Davy Beaudart (Innovea Environnement) completes the Series podium after 9 days 09 hours and 59 minutes at sea. He covered 1148 milles at 5,08 knots. www.charentemaritime-bahia.transat650.net From Cape Town To Geraldon Race 4 started under cloudless blue skies and a brisk south easterly breeze of 15 to 20 knots, typical of a Cape Town early afternoon. It made for a lively start for the stripped down 68-foot yachts as they crossed the start line and tacked upwind to the first mark in Table Bay. Gold Coast Australia was first to cross the line, marked at one end by the South African Navy mine hunter, SAN Umzimkulu. The teams have opted to head away from the shore to avoid the wind shadow created by Table Mountain which frames the Cape Town skyline will allow them to keep some good breeze as they head for the Cape of Good Hope this evening and the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans collide. Half have opted to go north around the back of Robben Island while the other half have stayed to the south. The fleet is expected to arrive in the City of Geraldton, Western Australia, between 29 and 31 October. It will be the second time the city has hosted the event following a hugely popular debut visit in Clipper 09-10. Dubarry Crosshaven - The Best Gets Better If you want to design the world’s best offshore sailing boot, you don’t fanny around in a lab. You go to the Southern Ocean. So Dubarry did, onboard Green Dragon. They learned plenty, then they made the new Dubarry Crosshaven boot. It’s got a hard-wearing waterproof built-in gaiter with top draw-cord, which keeps water out of the GORE-TEX® Duratherm waterproof thermal insulation inside. The toe and heel are as tough as the sole and they’re part of Dubarry’s unique D-chassis system, developed using Formula 1 technology to deliver maximum support. Dubarry Crosshaven - boots born in the Southern Ocean. Emergency Operation Forces Sanderson out of Qualifying Leg The skipper of Team Sanya said from his hospital bed in Alicante that his chances of participation in this Friday’s Volvo Ocean Race qualifying leg from the southern Spanish port are “marginal”. However, his participation in the race proper is not in doubt. The 40-year-old New Zealander suffered severe stomach pains on a flight to Alicante having first experienced discomfort while sailing on another boat earlier in the week in France. He had the operation shortly after landing in Spain. Volvo Ocean Race chief executive Knut Frostad said: “This is the worst thing that can happen when you’re in the middle of the ocean as Mike would have been in just six or seven weeks’ time. “There’s nothing really that can be done until you get medical help on land for this kind of thing.” The three-day, 600-nautical mile qualifying race begins on October 7 and will finish three days later. The first In-Port Race for the Volvo Ocean Race will be held in Alicante on October 29 before the fleet heads for Cape Town on November 5. Folkboats UK 2011 Boat Show Exceeds Expectations “...it gave us a chance to meet our customers properly without feeling the pressure to make sales, I think people really appreciated that and genuinely enjoyed the show. We have big plans for the Folkboats UK Show 2012 and we look forward to seeing even more people there next year.” The popularity of the Nordic Folkboat has endured for more than seventy years thanks to its timeless design, strong build quality, and appeal to beginners and experts alike. The combination of performance and accommodation makes them an excellent choice for both cruising and racing, a factor that the discerning UK market is increasingly coming to value. Folkboats UK have their boats online at www.folkboats.co.uk MOD70 Circuit Revealed Though the KRYS Match is the inaugural event of the Multi One Championship, the real launch of the latter will take place in July 2012 during the KRYS Ocean Race, a crewed transatlantic race which will set off from New York (USA) bound for Brest (France). As such this exhibition in La Trinite will serve as a trial run for the majority of protagonists involved in the MOD70 circuit. - The KRYS MATCHES will be run from Thursday 6 October to Saturday 8 October 2011. In order to enable you to track the whole event, a new website has come online today. Besides the results and the various news items, you’ll have the chance to track the races live: Facebook page www.facebook.com/KrysOceanRace The forces present* at the KRYS MATCH 2011: 1. Race for Water (SUI) skippered by Steve Ravussin * Competing against the first three MOD70s, Gitana 11 - a 77-feet prototype trimaran - which Gitana Team are using until the launch of their own MOD70 Edmond de Rothschild scheduled for 25 October 2011. RORC Caribbean 600 - Online Entry Now Open for 2012 Race The fleet will battle the 600nm course which circumnavigates 11 Caribbean Islands starting from Fort Charlotte, English Harbour, Antigua and heading north as far as St Martin and south to Guadeloupe taking in Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba and St Barth's. Perfect racing in perfect conditions. It's the Caribbean sailing conditions that attract highly competitive and successful racing teams such as Niklas Zennstrom's Rán. They are hoping to add to their silverware collection following overall wins in the Rolex Fastnet Race and Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship this year George David is planning to return to the Caribbean to defend the 2011 title he won in Rambler 100. This time he will be using the water ballasted Reichel/Pugh designed Rambler 90 and this will be the first race the team will have done together since the capsize of Rambler 100 in the Rolex Fastnet Race that sent shivers through the yachting community. Interest has already been received from a diverse range of boats and crews: In the super yacht class - the 38m Philippe Briand designed, P2, skippered by Jonathan Kline and Peter Harrison's Farr 115, Sojana. Peter has been an admirer of the race since its conception and he competed for the first time this year finishing second in IRC Zero and third Overall. Also planning to compete is the brand new 66.7m (219ft) ketch, Hetairos, built by Baltic Yachts. In the Spirit of Tradition class, the 180ft (55m) classic twin-masted schooner Adela will line up against the 155ft Windrose of Amsterdam whose classic hull and modern schooner rig was conceived to win races of this type. Other interesting entries include: Brad Van Liew's Le Pingouin, winner of the 2010/11 Velux 5 Oceans. Also intending to compete: Idea, the Reichel Pugh-designed 78ft maxi, Peter Aschenbrenner's 63ft trimaran Paradox, Amanda Hartley's Swan 56 Clem, Christian and Lucy Reynolds Swan 51, Northern Child and the Swan 48, Scarlet Oyster. Ondeck will enter Farr 65s and a Beneteau 40.7, First 40 and Santa Cruz 37 for charter. The Grand Soleil 46, Belladonna Logic has been entered by Sailing Logic, winners of the RORC 'Sailing School Boat of the Year' for the past six years. Assa Abloy: The New Generation In Legends Fleet Both ASSA ABLOY yachts were built by Green Marine in Lymington on Britain’s south coast on a single female mould as this was thought the best way to produce two identical boats. ASSA ABLOY 2 was ultimately chosen to race around the world. Jason Carrington was the principal boatbuilder for both boats and a member of ASSA ABLOY 2’s crew. Ten years later, Carrington is the principal boat builder for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. The distinctive golden yellow ochre Kevlar cloth could be seen through a clear outer layer of lacquer on ASSA ABLOY 2 and her striking hull graphics were entered in the 2001 International Art Direction and Design Awards in London. ASSA ABLOY 2’s crew included Legends Ambassador Magnus Olsson, who had sailed in four previous races and had been a helmsman aboard Paul Cayard’s winning entry, EF Language in the previous race. Before the start, navigator Mark Rudiger, also a veteran from Cayard’s winning campaign, said, “We know we’ve got a good boat and we’ve got a great team.” ASSA ABLOY 1 was renamed Ambersail in 2008 and has been kept extremely busy ever since, clocking some 100,000 nm to date. She circumnavigated the world in 2008-09 to commemorate the Millennium of her new home country Lithuania ( www.1000odiseja.lt ). With her all-Lithuanian crew Ambersail has featured in many major offshore regattas including Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland, RORC Caribbean 600, Transatlantic, Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Middle Sea Races. Although from bygone era and not designed for racing corrected time racing, she still regularly upsets more modern international competition. Catamarans at the EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix Among the F18 entries is two time Tornado Olympic medallist Mitch Booth, who’s lengthy CV includes 10 world championship wins across most of the top catamaran classes. Booth also founded the Extreme Sailing Series with its short courses set close to land for maximum spectator appeal. This ‘stadium sailing’ format has also been adopted for the medal races in the Olympic Games and is philosophically aligned with what the organisers of the EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix wish to achieve with their new regatta. As Booth puts it: “I support anything where there is something a bit modern. They have got the right formula. They have catamarans, skiffs, foilers - they have all the right parts of the sport and of course my kids are pushing me like crazy, because they are all multihull fanatics. One of my boys is starting in an F18. He is only 14.” While Booth senior is competing in Murcia next week, so is son Jordi, both of whom are warming up for the F18 European Championship due to be held in the Canary Islands in early December. In fact Mitch’s crew on board their Hobie Wildcat F18 comes from the Canaries in the form of Miguel Perez. Spain’s A-Class catamaran fleet has the benefit that many of them are already are based on the shores of the Mar Menor. The class has gained in popularity in Spain with the biggest fleets in Barcelona, Valencia, Andalusia and Murcia. While Australia usually dominates the results at A-Class World Championships, Spain is one of the nations on the rise in the class and at this year’s Worlds, held in Aarhus, Denmark, they had four boats finishing in the top 15. It known that several Moth sailors wish to line up with the A-Class catamarans to determine which is the world’s fastest singlehanded dinghy. The EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix could provide that opportunity. The organisers of the EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix have extended the deadline for entry to their event until 9 October. For more details visit www.sailingmurcia.com Featured Brokerage This is a popular racing dinghy that has been priced to sell on account of it requiring a new suit of sails. It is currently out of the water and is being sold with a braked road trailer. Brokerage through Bates Wharf: www.yachtworld.com/bateswharf/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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