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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 Tell us about your favourite Sailor's Bar for our annual Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar contest. Aquarelle.Com Class40 Winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre
Yannick Bestaven and Eric Drouglazet left their rivals in their wake since they powered off the start line in the lead of the fleet of 16 Class 40s over three weeks ago. They had already won one race before they had even started? a battle to be ready for the gun after damaging their rudder during the delivery passage to Le Havre. It would appear that this was their only set back as the duo composed a faultless victory. During the first ten days leading the fleet they fought strong adverse winds and big seas but still lead. Sadly their nearest rivals, the young British duo Ned Collier Wakefield and Sam Goodchild on Concise 2, the race's youngest duo, had to retire into the Azores with hull damage but they had been pushed hard, with the Brits as close as two miles behind just before they were forced out. That gave free rein to the duo to sail their own race, keeping a loose cover on the chasing duo on ERDF Des Pieds and Des Mains who have mostly been more than 100 miles behind and who are expected to finish later today. Tiller Takes Charge In Malaysia Tiller's winning streak included the scalps of five Tour Card Holders including current Tour leader Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar and Torvar Mirsky (AUS) The Wave Muscat, two of the three favourites to win the ISAF Match Racing World Championship but who've struggled for consistent form so far in Malaysia. With Williams and Mirsky suffering indifferent form here in Kuala Terengganu, they'll be weary of their nearest rival for the Championship, Francesco Bruni who is just one win away from a guaranteed berth in the quarter-finals. The Italian has looked confident in the Foundation 36 boats, but the two losses he suffered late in the day to Phil Robertson and Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team frustrated him: The French Match Racing Team duo of Mathieu Richard and Damien Iehl, have endured a torrid time at the 2011 Monsoon Cup with both teams on the brink of going home. Just one more defeat for either skipper would spell the end to their 2011 Tour. For Richard, a skipper widely tipped to finally win the World Championship this season but who relied on a wildcard to compete in Malaysia, the pressure is on to get a good score here and boost his overall position in the Tour standings. Torvar Mirsky finished the second Qualifying Session on 3-4 and sits afoot a group of teams, including Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing, Jesper Radich (DEN) Adrian Lee & Partners and Ian Williams (GBR), who all have some work to do to qualify for the quarter-finals. Interestingly, Williams faces both Mirsky and Bruni, his nearest title rivals, in his first two matches tomorrow. While never certain, five wins here should put teams into a tie-break for the quarter-finals while six wins should assure teams of a semi-final berth. The one thing that is certain is that Jeremy Koo, the qualifier from the Asian Match Racing Championships will not make it to the knock-out stages with a winless Monsoon Cup campaign so far. The Malaysian though will have a chance to redeem himself tomorrow when he takes on Hansen and Berntsson. Qualifying will conclude from 10:00 (GMT+8) on Friday 25 November 2011, after the World Match Racing Tour Morning Show with Hannah White. Live coverage from Pulau Duyong continues from 15:00 to 17:00 (GMT +8) on www.wmrt.com Results after Qualifying Session Two: Sailing Legends - The Story Of The World's Greatest Ocean Race A special numbered limited edition signed by the authors to make the perfect Christmas gift The Whitbread Round the World Race - now the Volvo Ocean Race - spans 40 years, ten races and more than 300,000 miles across the most inhospitable seas. From gentlemanly competition in yachts designed more for graceful living than screaming around Cape Horn, the race has progressed to purpose built craft with few creature comforts, crewed by fanatical, professionals. Millions have been spent, legends created and six men have died. No one takes the race lightly and no one tells the story better than journalists, Bob Fisher and Barry Pickthall who have been there for every race from the first in 1973. They mark the anecdotes, highlight all the major stories, and provide biographies of sailing's greatest names from the first handicap and line honour winners, Ramon Carlin and Sir Chay Blyth, to double winner Conny van Rietschoten, French legend Eric Tabarly, those great New Zealand rivals Sir Peter Blake and Grant Dalton, through to the latter day Volvo race winners. They also detail the awesome advances in design and construction that make today's yachts formidably tough, surfing greyhounds capable of hitting 40knots + and sustaining 600 mile daily runs. The book also lists every crewmember to have taken part. 176 pages. 128 colour pictures and illustrations. To order, go to www.southatlanticpublishing.com To view a "flipping book" format of Sailing Legends see issuu.com/pplmedia Five Wins In A Row For Gold Coast Australia
Beating into a strong north westerly breeze they crossed the finish line at 03.26 local time on Friday 25 (1426 UTC Thursday 24). The team had led from the start of the 3,800-mile stage, which set out from Geraldton, Western Australia, 19 days ago. As they closed in on the finish line in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, the brakes went on for the front runners and they had to watch as the chasing pack closed down their lead. As they rounded the East Cape, 100 miles from the finish line, disaster struck and they damaged their mainsail, forcing the team to complete the race under a much reduced sail plan. Gold Coast Australia's winning streak equals that of Ras Turner and his crew on Ariel in the first edition of the event, Clipper 96. The record of six consecutive wins is held by Alex Thomson, winning skipper in Clipper 98. This will be the first time the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has visited New Zealand since its inception in 1996 and organisers will be meeting with local businesses and government representatives to strengthen links with the region and demonstrate how partners use the event as a global platform to promote trade, tourism, culture and social inclusion. Race 6 to Gold Coast, Australia, starts on Sunday 4 December. YJA Pantaenius Yachtsman and Young Sailor of the Year Ben Ainslie CBE Dee Caffari MBE Nick Craig Finalists for the YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year include: Elliot Hanson Ben Jelf Annabel Vose and Megan Brickwood Winners of both awards will be voted for by members of the Yachting Journalists' Association. The YJA Pantaenius Yachtsman of the Year will be announced at an awards ceremony at midday on Tuesday 10th January 2012 at Trinity House, Tower Hill, London. The YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year Award will be announced at 14:10 hrs on Saturday 7th January 2012 at the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show at ExCel, at the Knowledge Box. Piling On The Pressure They've been taking miles out of Telefonica's lead for the past 24 hours and have now closed to within 100 nautical miles of Martínez and his men. Nicholson has everything stowed aft and is pushing Telefonica as hard as he can. Navigator Andrew Cape, has positioned Telefonica perfectly to the southeast of CAMPER and a significant windshift to the southwest this evening will force CAMPER to gybe bringing with it the threat of the windless centre of the Saint Helena High. Telefonica however will be perfectly positioned for the new wind direction. Although the finish is now within a 1000 nm, CAMPER's crew is still completely focused on reeling in the leader and for the first time in days, they are sailing in similar conditions. The team is realistic about their slim chances of overhauling Telefonica, but a breakage or a bad call would give the chasing team just the opportunity they are seeking. Much further north and dodging round the edge of the Saint Helena High, third-placed Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) has been sailing in near perfect conditions for the last three days. "It's exactly what I was looking for when starting the Volvo Ocean Race," said helmsman/trimmer Thomas Coville. Leg 1 hasn't been an easy leg for Groupama who made some early choices which left them trailing. "Being behind isn't nice and, at least, we are enjoying ourselves when steering and trimming. It helps to forget a few things" said Coville.
Dubarry Crosshaven Dubarry Crosshaven - boots born in the Southern Ocean. 'Hoisting A Spar' On Hobart's River Derwent
One of them was Robert Clifford, chairman of Incat, the Hobart-based ship-building company known internationally for its ocean-going, high-speed commercial catamarans. Another was Bruce Darcey, who had spent a lifetime building wooden boats and had been in charge of interior fit-out of some 40 vessels until his retirement after working at Incat for 20 years. Within a few months Bruce ('Darce') was convinced that it was time to build one more boat, a gaff-rigged wooden 'couta boat. 'Couta boats are restored originals or replicas of the famous gaff-rigged Queenscliff gaff-rigged 'couta boats that fished for barracouta ('couta) in Bass Strait in the early 1900s, their base being the historic fishing village just inside Port Phillip. Their catches became an integral part of the 'fish 'n' chips business in Melbourne, the fastest boats to sail back to Sorrento getting the best price for the fish. Over the past 25 years, 'couta boats, both restored originals and replicas, have become widely popular among recreational yachtsmen, with regular racing regattas held on Melbourne's Port Phillip at Sorrento. There are now hundreds, spread around the coastal waters of Australia. Plans were drawn, and Bruce began working on the hull mid-winter 2010, with three owners, Robert Clifford ('Big Bean'), Peter Fugslang ('Fuggles') and Bruce Darcey ('Darce') involved in the project. All three had built wooden boats at some stage of their careers, but Bruce was the consummate professional. Working mostly alone, Bruce had the sheer plank on by Christmas. Sadly, over the holiday, Bruce fell ill and passed away in early February 2011 before seeing the boat completed. Just over a week later, the part completed boat, built of three iconic Tasmanian timber, King Billy, Huon and Celery Top pines, attracted much attention as a working exhibit at among the 300 wooden craft at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival on Hobart's historic waterfront. The owners, and Darce's former Incat colleagues, worked from February to July this year to complete the boat, and last Saturday (19 November) this magnificent replica of a Queenscliff 'couta boat 'hoisted a spar' on a sparkling River Derwent. "We're sure Darce would be proud of the finished result," was the unanimous comment from his fellow owners, family, friends and former boat-building colleagues who gathered on the shores of the Derwent at the bottom of Derwent Lane, Battery Point, for the launching and naming ceremony. -- Peter Campbell ARC Yachts are Few Among Many Jimmy Cornell is the founder of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, one of the most well organized and popular long distance cruises ever. Every year the rally gets fully booked well before the start. The ARC is a secure and very social way to cross the Atlantic. But most sailors do not participate in the ARC. They choose to sail the Atlantic on their own, according to statistics from Cornell. He will soon publish his latest book Cornell's Ocean Atlas. In an article in the November issue of Cruising World he writes about how the cruising life is changing and where sailors prefer to sail. The Atlantic Ocean is by far the most popular. "Las Palmas continues to be the main port of departure on a westbound transatlantic passage and the port authority recorded a total of 1,485 foreign flagged yachts calling at Las Palmas during 2010. Approximately 80 percent of those boats continued across the Atlantic; another 200 boats, roughly, left from other Canary islands. Some also leave from Madeira, in the Madeira Islands, and even directly from Gibraltar, so it can be assumed that around 1,500 crossed the Atlantic along the northeast trade winds route in 2010, which is similar to most years", he writes. -- Jon Amtrup Featured Brokerage Designed by Bruce Farr this pocket rocket is just as happy on a short windward leeward course or offshore. 'Astarte' is arguably the best equipped and prepared First 34.7 sailing today. She is for sale by a motivated vendor who is selling to buy a bigger boat to accommodate their increasing family size. She is a highly custom spec'd boat - please have a look at the full specification for details on the extensive sail wardrobe and the custom commissioning list. 'Astarte' is ashore for winter and available for viewings by appointment any time. Brokerage through Nicolle Associates: Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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