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 Nick Craig and Toby Lewis Win 2011 Endeavour Championship Craig, who has now won the event a total of five times, and Lewis who's won it three times, didn't have it all their own way however, and racing went down to the wire in the last of the eight-race series. Their biggest threat in today's final three races was the young, talented RS200 national champions James Peters and Alan Roberts. With two impressive race wins for Craig, two second places for Peters in today's first two races, and just two points between them, the scene was set for a spectacular showdown. Craig and Lewis did what came naturally in their vulnerable position by switching into match racing mode to ensure they were in control of Peters and Roberts' destiny. They did a particularly good job initially, which put them both at the tail end of the fleet but the canny youngsters were fully focussed which meant they were ready to pounce when Team Craig slipped up during a tack during the closing stages of the second beat. A coming together resulted in Craig and Lewis having to carry out penalty turns, which meant Peters and Roberts were able to slip ahead and maintain their controlling position to the finish. Unfortunately for them, however, it was too late to make any effect on the results, which meant Craig and Lewis had done enough to secure the championship. Overall Results (after 8 races, and 1 discard) Full results: www.royalcorinthian.co.uk/endeavour-championship EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix The sun came up over the Murcia region of Spain's Mar Menor today but was obscured by cloud cover. By the deadline of 1400 local time, the wind had failed to stabilise enough for racing to be held on the final day of the EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix. Because of this, yesterday's results stand. The closest finish was in the men's Kite Cross World Championship where Americans Damien LeRoy and Bryan Lake were tied on points, after Lake had drawn level at the close of play yesterday. Ultimately LeRoy took the championship title, being ahead on count-back. The EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix included the first ever Kite Cross World Championship. The organisers, however, were experimenting with the course formats and also the rules, which have still to be finalised. Spanish sailor Enrique Cornejo's results were flawless, posting six bullets in the competition between the A-Class catamarans. However there was disruption to the rest of the podium as two discards came into play today. This saw Mickey Todd elevated to second overall, Spain's Abdon Ibañez taking third with France's Thomas Gaveriaux unfortunately dropping off the podium. For Cornejo, who comes from Barcelona and is considered no 2 in the Spanish A-Class fleet, this was the first time he had achieved a perfect scoreline in 18 years of racing the singlehanded catamaran. With eight bullets in nine races, double Olympic medallist Mitch Booth and Miguel Perez dominated the F18 catamaran to finish ahead of Michael ten Bokun/Enrique Ortiz with Marc Verdaguer/Alberto Torner third. The 29erXX class was particularly experimental in trying out new course formats this week. Nielsen said she particularly liked the slalom courses but felt that the Seiko Speed Challenge was unfair because running it one boat at a time, the wind varied between runs. Organiser of the EUROSAF High Performance Grand Prix Rafa Gonzalez said he was happy with how this first event had gone, even though at the start of the event he had been nervous about a potential lack of wind. He confirmed that both EUROSAF and the Murcia government have agreed to hold the event again in 2012, however he has yet to finalise a date. The Girls Are Back In Town Heineken is the second W60/Volvo Ocean 60 to enter the event and she will line up against ASSA ABLOY which finished second during the first Volvo Ocean Race in 2001-02. She will be raced by a predominantly female crew which will include Dawn Riley, her original skipper, as well as some of her original all-female line-up. They will be joined by members of the pioneering crew of Maiden, the first all-female team to contest the round the world race, as well EF Education/1997-98 and Amer Sports Too 2001-02 who took part in subsequent races. Originally built for the 1993-94 W60 class winner Ross Field and named Yamaha 1, Heineken was used as a training boat for Field's team. On completion of his race boat, Yamaha 1 was chartered to an American all-female team. Funds ran out during leg one, and race sponsor Heineken stepped in, promoting Riley to skipper and repainting the boat in their green and white colours. Riley brought with her a handful of experienced sailors from the Maiden campaign of the previous race and set off into the Southern Ocean towards Fremantle, Western Australia. Many competitors claimed that the final leg to Southampton was the toughest. Dawn Riley and her crew lost their rudder 800 nautical miles from the finish and were helped by the crew of maxi Uruguay Natural who handed over their spare rudder to help the Heineken crew finish the leg, albeit six days after the winner. Entries in the Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta and Reunion Ocean Safety Team's Last Minute Checks for Volvo Yachts On the dockside at the Alicante base this week is a team who knows a thing or two about safety at sea. Director Richard Besse, Service Manager Alistair Hackett and Service Operator Steve Mace will check every piece of the equipment that their company Ocean Safety has supplied to the six yachts that will be lining up to tackle the 39,000 gruelling and risk-taking miles ahead of them. The team will be giving all the Ocean Safety-supplied Zodiac Xtrem 16-person liferafts a last minute service and check that all equipment is operational, properly stowed. Ocean Safety has already carried out a rigorous Sea Survival Training Course for the crews. Every crew member will carry a Kannad R10 Survivor Recovery System (SRS), which signals via AIS. Two of Ocean Safety's tried and tested Jonbuoy Recovery Modules are onboard and they will also be fitted with the Kannad R10 SRS which automatically activates if the Jonbuoy is launched. Five of the six teams will carry Ocean Safety's Kru Sports Pro lifejackets, also designed to incorporate the R10. Perth 2011: Conquering the Wind and the Waves - the 49er Challenge Three years on, Outteridge is preparing to qualify his country and gain selection in the 49ers but that Qingdao medal race capsize looms large in his mind. Nine months before the 2012 London Olympic regatta in Weymouth, he and childhood friend Iain 'Goobs' Jensen (AUS) are considered the 49er favourites. The duo has won all four regattas they have contested at the 2012 Olympic site in Weymouth. The Outteridge and Jensen combination burst onto the 49er scene in 2009 with stunning success. While the Australian pairing has results on the board, the 2011 Test event win was a very close call. They finished on equal points with 2004 Olympic champions and 2008 silver medallists Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez of Spain, winning the gold only by a count back. Outteridge considers their New Zealand training partners Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, their most serious threat beyond the Spanish team and perhaps the Brits on their home turf. It's been a big year for Outteridge beyond the 49er scene. He won the 2011 Moth World title on his home lake, Lake Macquarie (NSW) last January and was in the top 10 in the Farr 40, 505, SB3 and Melges 32 World Championships in 2010. And he was been named as a finalist for the 2011 ISAF Sailor of the Year award, while sailing at the Melges 32 2011 World Championship in Spain. He considers the break away from the 49er class a major plus in Olympic preparation. 'Every time I come back to the 49er after sailing another boat it is fresh. Everything on the Moths happen so fast that when I go back to the 49er I feel like I have all this spare time, whereas the 49er happens really quickly so now I have time to make better decisions.' 'At Perth 2011 we are scheduled to race in the afternoon. With a 20 to 25 knot big afternoon sea breeze, I think it's going to be a challenge to get the boat around the course let alone race it. -- Rob Kothe and the Sail-World.com The Case For Helmets They are fast becoming accepted in other high risk sports, such as skiing, and are beginning to be seen in sailing. Think of the Extreme 40 circuit, or the new America's Cup AC45s: everyone has to wear a helmet to protect themselves on these fast-paced, capsize-prone multihulls. There's a good argument for wearing a helmet on a smaller boat as well. According to the Coastguard and RNLI, being hit by the boom is one of the most frequent causes of injuries on board. The problem with wearing a helmet, though, is that in normal civilian sailing circles no-one else does. Let's face it, if you turned out for weekend racing looking like Wallace from Wallace & Gromit you'd get some funny looks. One sailor has come up with a great answer. This is Tom Tait, and he has produced a sailing helmet that looks like a yachting cap. Seeing the value of head protection, Tom has gone back into business with the SafaSail Cap, which he is marketing through Nauticalia. There are two versions, one that looks like a standard peaked yachting cap, and another with a narrow peak that makes it easier to see telltales and mastheaad wind indicator. The caps conform to EU standard EN812 - the same as construction site bump caps (though not as impact resistant as the standard for cycling helmets). I think the SafaSail cap is a great idea as it looks very inconspicuous. Read Elaine Bunting's full posting at: The hat: www.nauticalia.com Solent IRC Series Championship The seventh and final day of the 2011 series was hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron on Saturday 8th October. The day started as forecast with overcast skies and a NW breeze of 10-15 knots, but by the time we reached the Squadron start line, the sun had broken through in defiance of the Met Office. The tide was ebbing strongly all morning, so the race committee wisely set a downwind start, sending the fleet into the Eastern Solent to avoid the stronger tides in the west. The first leg was a long run against the tide to NE Ryde Middle, so the tactical options were to run deep along the bank minimising the tide or to sail hotter angles but venture into deeper water and stronger adverse tide. We chose the shallow water! Once round, the beat back to Air Canada favoured the deep water, with the tide giving a powerful boost. A similar strategy was in order for the second run to Mackley Construction, followed by a short reach inshore across the tide to Peters and May, then on upwind to Seafarers Ale before the final run to N Ryde Middle. The tide was slackening fast on the last beat to the finish at the squadron line, where we arrived just as the tide turned eastwards. The wind, although shifty on the Island shore, stayed between 10 and 15 knots throughout the race giving enjoyable sailing, in contrast to the very light and very strong winds experienced in earlier races in the series. -- Mike Short Class winners for day 7 were: Fastnet Race Crew Return to Thank Rescuers Sixteen of the 21 crew were rescued from the overturned hull, but five had drifted in the water for up to three hours when co-ordinators at Valentia pointed a dive boat in their direction. Maurice Curtin, who was on duty at the radio station, explained how instinct had steered the searchers. "We decided to run a drift line instead of the square search which is the normal practice," Mr Curtin said. This resulted in the five being plucked from the sea in half an hour. Running the square search would have taken 1½ hours. "We really appreciate that they have come back to say thank you to us and to the Irish people. "This is not a regular occurrence," Mr Curtin said. -- Anne Lucey,The Irish Times: The Fabulous 40s' A collector's book covering the first 15 years of the Farr 40 International One-Design Class compiled by Bob Fisher The Farr 40 One-design Class is unique within the world of offshore yacht racing, having been a pathfinder during a period of great change within the sport. While major events around the world like the Admiral's Cup in the UK and Kenwood Cup in Hawaii were in terminal decline, this 40ft Bruce Farr® designed yacht has shone like a beacon on a distant shore. The lavish, limited edition The Fabulous 40s book produced with the support of long-time Farr 40 Class sponsor Rolex, tells the story behind this remarkable Class. 152 of these boats are now spread across 19 countries, making it the most successful internationally recognized offshore racing class in the world. Key to this success lies only partially with the enduring beauty and sleek lines of its design. What really made this Class so successful is the fact that the yachts are owner-driven, quite literally. It was the idea, unique at the time, that owners - all amateur helmsmen - should be alone in having their hands on the helm during Class racing. Previously, owners had, by and large, become hostage to their crews, forced to hire the best 'guns' in the sport to gain any success, while they rode the stern as passengers, their only active role, to write the cheques. Lavishly illustrated with more than 350 pictures, many of them double page spreads taken by some of the best photographers in the world, including Carlo Borlenghi, Daniel Forster and Kurt Arrigo, this 240 page book captures the close racing and comradeship between crews competing in many of the best locations in the world. This is a book for all yacht race enthusiasts and lists the results of all the Rolex world champioships from 1998-2011 as well as owners and their yachts. 'The Fabulous 40s' RRP - £60 + P&P (approx €70, $100US) To preview the book and place an order, visit www.Southatlanticpublishing.com Garmin Hamble Winter Series After the first weekend's boisterous conditions, light winds saw in the 2nd weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, with the conditions giving all classes some sparkling sailing and nail-bitingly close racing. This weekend featured the Hamble Big Boat Series on both days, with top-class racing for a strong 18-boat fleet in IRC0 and 2 Farr 45's. Thanks to Rule 26 who sponsored the event. Saturday dawned with 8-12 knots of breeze from the east, expected to shift to the right during the day. Four races were run, with a windward-leeward course set across the North Channel from a committee boat at East Knoll. David Bartholomew's Mills 40 Tokoloshe sailed an impressive series, scoring 2, 1, 2, 1 on Saturday, ahead of Peter Rutter's Grand Soleil 43 Quokka 8 and the Farr 52 Bob. By contrast, Sunday morning saw thick fog, with ships sounding their way slowly up Southampton water with foghorns blaring. PRO Jamie Wilkinson set an hour's postponement to let the fog clear, later postponed by a further hour when ABP, backed up by a competitor in a RIB reported that the Southampton Water was impassable. Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and this wasn't an unpopular move as it allowed competitors to watch the end of the rugby. In IRC Zero Tokoloshe continued her winning form ahead of Bob in second and Brevity in third. Seaquest 36 Circus took the top spot in IRC 1 ahead of Jenga II and Visit Malta Puma, while Starspray won the IRC 2 class. IRC 3 was dominated by the J97s Jika Jika and IndulJence, while just 21 seconds separated Peter and Fiona Diamond's Rapscallion in 1st and Nick Gale's 3rd-placed Zanzara in the Sigma 38 class. IRC 4 saw three Impala 28s taking to the podium, with Trudi first and Curved Air and Polly tied second. Jagerbomb won the J109 class. Next weekend sees the second Autumn Championships weekend, with racing for J109, J80, SB3, Quarter Ton and Impala 28 one design classes on both days, plus the third Winter Series race day on Sunday. Spinlock is the day sponsor. Featured Brokerage Most beautiful Open 40 of them all! Total refit in 2010 incl. carbon mast, PBO, North Sails carbon, Karver/Ronstan gear, Holmatro winches and hydr., new paint etc. Rotating keel The Last Word |
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