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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 Cape Verde Tonight for the First Protos Until now hidden in the pack, David Raison (747 - TeawWork Evolution), in the past 24 hours took the controls of the race at midday.. He was the first to jibe just after midnight and that propelled him straight towards the islands of Sao Nicolau and Boa Vista, 150 km before him. Tonight's menu: squalls, squalls and some more squalls, icing on the cake, the merchant marine traffic and the islands effects (venturi, wind holes etc.). Maybe a decisive part will be played tonight, even if there are still 2 000 miles to cross, with these peculiar weather conditions and with the Doldrums of which the northern border is very close of the archipelago border. If there is one sailor in the Series fleet that stormy depressions, with their sharp wind acceleration to over 30 knots, do not seem to intimidate, it is Clement Bouyssou (514 - Douet Distribution). Bouyssou was 2nd in Funchal but has sailed between Gwenole Gahinet (455 - Asso Watever-gwenolegahinet.com) and Pierre Brasseur (552-Voiles Ocean). He headed - yesterday afternoon - to the south when he was still sailing neck and neck with Davy Beaudart (674 - Innovea Environnement) and this manoeuvre propelled him in the duet's wake. He covered 222 miles in the last 24 hours that could place him among the best prototypes. The Series boats passage across the Islands should be made in the daytime, as they were still 175 miles away in the afternoon. www.charentemaritime-bahia.transat650.net Clipper 11-12 Race 4: Cape Town to Geraldton Current leaders, Gold Coast Australia, find themselves being hunted down by New York. Just 14 nautical miles ahead of New York in second, Gold Coast Australia hope to maintain their lead in the race to Western Australia. Focused on putting an end to Gold Coast Australia's winning streak is New York skipper Gareth Glover, as his crew relished the Southern Ocean's recent conditions. "With all the crew briefed and mainsail reefed and with the head sail down the barometer got to a low of 998 at around 1400 UTC and with the winds blowing 40 to 50 knots plus. We were in for a great night of racing, with speeds up to 22 knots as we surfed down waves in the pitch black. The conditions recently experienced by the ten-strong fleet are the exact ones in mind when the Clipper 68s were designed and built as they surf on swells bigger than buildings, breaking helming records in the process. Positions at 0900 UTC, Tuesday 18 October 1. Gold Coast Australia, 2238nm to finish, 0nm to leader RYA Eric Twiname Team Racing Champions Crowned The final day of the regatta (Sunday 16 October) was of a similar story to the opening day with the force 2-3 wind not filling in until lunch time only allowing for an approximate 100 races to take place in both Junior and Youth events. On Sunday, the Youth fleet were split into gold and silver leagues and raced a total of 60 races where 'West Kirby Youths' were unstoppable with sailors who triumphed at the ISAF Team Racing World Championships 2011 proving influential in the overall win. 'Bluefin', who are made up of U16 sailors from Burghfield SC, Cardiff Bay SC and Penarth SC, continued their dominance in the round robin stages booking their place in a semi-final showdown with 'Teamextreme' who are made up of sailors from Dabchicks SC, Royal Lymington YC, Burfield SC and TBSC. With 'Bluefin' entering the Championships favourites after winning the title in 2010, 'Teamextreme' put up a good fight winning the first race of the semi-finals, the first team to beat 'Bluefin' over the course of the weekend. However the defending champions hit back by taking the next two race wins and securing their place in the final against 'Spinnaker Flying Shrimps' who beat 'Port Dinorwic Pirates' 2-1 in the other semi-final. With the 2011 RYA Volvo South Zone Laser 4.7 Champion Matt Whitfield leading the charge for 'Bluefin', the 2010 Junior RYA Eric Twiname Team Racing champions were just too strong for the 'Spinnaker Flying Shrimps' as they clinched event victory with a 2-0 win in the grand finale. Top three: Youth Junior Full results www.ryaracingevents.org.uk Oyster Marine We are looking for a Retail Charter Broker with minimum two years experience to assist in our newly opened office in Palma, Mallorca. Role and responsibilities In addition to charter broker duties the role will include the administrative duties of the Palma office: reception, monthly accounting, coordinating office logistics, supporting brokers and the company with regards to individual marketing projects and events. Requirements Please send your CV with a short covering letter to Molly Marston at: Spinnaker Tales There were the expected sceptics when the high profile SB3 Dart made its initial debut under the Oceanburo banner however the class has continued to attract attention with fleet numbers growing throughout Australia. The strict design pedigree and the flighty nature of this 'clone' class where the hull, sails, rig and mechanics are identical which provides all crews with an even chance off the start line has and will continue to attract the attention of the sailor who is searching to master a supreme personal challenge. Queensland class stalwart Rod Jones held a personal vision that the exciting SB3 Dart would successfully fill an important place on the Australian regatta circuit. His personal passion and vision to develop a one-design class of sailing for all Australians will be rewarded when the World championship (the first to be contested outside of Europe) is decided at Hamilton Island in December 2012. Meanwhile the Australian crews which are expected to include Olympic helmsmen Nathan Outteridge (49er) and Matthew Belcher (470) will have a selection of major regattas to refine their skills before they face the starter's orders on the windy Whitsunday Island waters. "There is a growing interest in the class and we are expecting strong fleet numbers to contest the major regattas including the 2012 Australian championship in Tasmania next February". Rod Jones said. The talented ocean racing skipper Rod Jones who combined with his Mooloolaba mate Greg MacAllansmith and the multiple World championship winning helmsman Glenn Bourke to finish 4th in the 2011 SB3 Dart World championship in England are naturally accepted as the crew to beat after their runaway Queensland championship win at Hamilton Island last August. However while this trio are presently ranked as the crew to beat they know from experience that past reputations can only be protected with winning on the race course. The intense regatta campaign for the Queensland champions in Club Marine Blue commences with the Geelong Race Week on Corio Bay in late January followed by the Australian Championship on the River Derwent in February and their State championship defence at the Southport Yacht Club Sail Paradise regatta in March. They have including the New South Wales championship at Port Stephens in their racing log for April as the final regatta before contesting the Wintersun championship series off Mooloolaba Beach during June and July. By then the Club Marine Blue racing team of skipper Glenn Bourke, and his Sunshine Coast sail handlers Rod Jones and Greg MacAllansmith should have a guide on the boat speed and tactical standard they will have to produce to improve on their fourth at the 2011 Worlds when the tactical 'slug fest' for the 2012 World crown begins off Hamilton Island in late December. -- Ian Grant 1998 Sydney Hobart Winner Returning to Ocean Racing
The little sloop, then owned by Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas, went on to win the Lord Howe Island Race the following year. She was later sold to a Victorian yachtsman but has done little ocean racing in recent years. New owner James Cameron and his crew from Drummoyne Sailing Club, better known as a 16-foot skiff club on Sydney's upper harbour, will return Midnight Rambler to ocean racing in the 414 nautical mile race across the northern Tasman Sea to Lord Howe Island. This will be Cameron's first long ocean race as a skipper, although he has raced to Hobart and to Lord Howe Island previously as a crew member. "We are not at the top of the ocean racing fraternity, but we have a well-found and proven ocean racing yacht," he said. "When I bought the boat in Melbourne less than 12 months ago she was run down, but we sailed her back to Sydney and have worked hard to bring her back to her former status." The category 1 race will start from Broken Bay, north of Sydney, at 1pm on Saturday week, 29 October. NSW Police Minister Mike Gallagher will officially start the 38th race from aboard the Water Police launch Nemesis on a line between Barrenjoey headland and Lion Island. The late withdrawal of two-times line honours winner Ocean Affinity has reduced the fleet for the Hempel 38th Gosford to Lord Howe Island Yacht Race 2011 to just eight boats - the smallest fleet in many years. The size of the fleet has always been limited to less than 25 boats because of restrictions on the number of yachts that can moor inside the pristine lagoon of the World Heritage listed island. The limit this year was 15 boats in total, with less than half that number being able to moor inside the lagoon, where there is also a limit also on the draft of the yachts. Race director Rob Swan believes a number of factors have reduced the fleet this year: the deeper draft of so many modern racing yachts, the heavy weather conditions encountered in last year's race which also impacted on moorings in the lagoon, and the increasing costs of taking competing in this event. "Nevertheless, we have a quality fleet of proven ocean racing yachts including two past Sydney Hobart winners in Wild Rose (IOR winner in 1993) and Midnight Rambler (overall winner in 1998)," Swan added. Wild Rose, Roger Hickman's Farr 43, and Copernicus, Greg Zyner's Radford 12, are two boats in the Lord Howe Island Race fleet that have already been entered for this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart and James Cameron may also enter Midnight Rambler. "We will make a decision after the race to Lord Howe Island," Cameron added. -- Peter Campbell France's Former Winner Lines Up for Legends Back in 1985, the French sailor had chosen a boat built for the previous race. The former 33 Export was a lightweight Briand design that had shown great promise until losing her mast in the Southern Ocean. Pean asked the designer to update the alloy yacht and, after spending three months in a shipyard, she re-emerged as L'Esprit d'Equipe, meaning 'team spirit'. L'Esprit d'Equipe arrived in Cape Town at the finish of the first leg with nothing more than flaked paintwork to take an 11-hour lead over nearest rival, the Dutch yacht Philips Innovator. On leg two she was becalmed for two days on the approach to Auckland, which allowed Philips Innovator to take the advantage. But, during the New Zealand stopover, the crew noticed the mast was bent. A sleeve was bolted to secure the damage and Pean set off again into the Southern Ocean. Eleven days out into the ice-strewn South Atlantic, Pean reported to race control that the mast had split in two places below deck while surfing towards Cape Horn. More sleeves were constructed by the crew but they didn't hold back and much to Equity and Law's consternation, they continued to push the boat as hard as they could. By the time they reached the Uruguayan stopover, L'Esprit d'Equipe had recaptured the lead and had a five hour advantage. Equipped with a new section of mast, Pean and his crew sailed the perfect final leg to claim the winner's position. About L'Esprit d'Equipe Kayospruce Releases Sailbag Range at METS
Sailbags can be ordered online at www.sailcloth.co.uk All enquiries should be directed to Ian Clark at Kayospruce on +44 (0)1489 581696 or at Vinacapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race The race is not for the faint-hearted, with challenging downhill conditions of 15 to 30kts often leading to gear failure on even the best-prepared boats. Entrants must pass strict scrutineering and safety checks, and are required to have a minimum of 50% of their crew qualified in First Aid and have undergone Safety at Sea Survival training. Grant Wharington's 2004 monohull record of 42h 45m 41s may be under threat from the Super Maxi Audi ultra, however Singapore-based skipper, Ludde Ingvall, while confident of taking line honours for the 2011 event, does not expect to top the podium after IRC handicaps have been applied to the finish times unless he and his team have sailed an exceptional race. Tim Wilson's El Oro is, literally, in a class of her own, being the only Premier Cruising boat to enter this year's race, however the Auzepy-Brenneur, thwarted in her attempt to race in the 2010 event, is champing at the bit after last year's post-Megi delivery trip, with Wilson saying "We are looking forward to the VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race because we got a feeling of how good this Race could be with 30kts downwind last year and 20kts speed down the waves with reefs in." Let us hope that the wind gods deliver! Oman Sail Launch Women's Sailing Programme Since its launch in 2008, Oman Sail has taken nearly 7,000 Omani children sailing, over half of which have been females. The Women's Programme, supported by Bank Muscat, will take that to the next level, instilling confidence and teaching valuable, transferable life skills while also creating jobs and unique opportunities for the nation's women. From Oman Sail's national grassroots community programme to its 2020 Olympic ambitions, Omani women will be trained, coached, qualified, employed, developed and nurtured every step of the way, equipping them with all the necessary skills to excel. Omani Sailors have shot to prominence on the international sailing stage over the past three years, taking part in some of the world's highest profile events, including the Extreme 40 Sailing Series and the Tour de France à la Voile. Now Oman's women have taken upon the same opportunity to stand alongside their male colleagues in inspiring the nation and reconnecting Oman with its proud maritime heritage. Double Olympic gold medallist, Shirley Robertson, and round the world yachtswoman, Samantha Davies, have been recruited as Project Ambassadors. Letters To The Editor - * From Georges Bonello DuPuis, Commodore Royal Malta Yacht Club As you are all aware, last Sunday's storm severely damaged the RMYC's main pontoon. As a club, we are committed in having the pontoon in place before the start of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. This morning six pontoon sections were lifted and placed on the lower quay. By the time you all read this, half of these pontoons would have already been repaired and ready to be lowered back into the sea. We are confident that we will manage to host all our guests at the RMYC marina yet again. I would like to thank all those who in any way assisted us in safely removing the moored boats to other marinas and especially all the volunteers who in some way made this operation possible. Thank you! Featured Brokerage The sweet sailing J-100 offers an attractive and versatile platform for daysailing, club racing and occasional overnight. "Remedy" is well equiped with tack-tick electronics, Autohelm Smart Pilot, and many sails for both daysailing and racing. She has never been in salt water until 5/11 and appears to be in excellent condition. Brokerage through Kingman Yacht Brokerage: www.yachtworld.com/kingmanmarine/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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Charter Broker/Administrative Assistant - Palma
