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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 Cessna Citation Takes the Gun in Punta Del Este
In south-easterly breeze, Colman and Kuttel sailed the final miles off the wind, crossing the finish line between the Puerto de Punta del Este harbour break water and an inflatable buoy laid just east of Isla Gorriti. Escorted into the marina by two RIBs from the Yacht Club Punta del Este (YCPE), Cessna Citation was welcomed by a crowd of well-wishers including the Commodore of the YCPE, Horacio Garcia Pastori and the club's Secretary, Pablo Elola, who had both been in Palma at the start of GOR Leg 1. Mooring stern-to, Colman and Kuttel were quick to step ashore onto solid land after a month at sea. "Sign me up for the next one!" said Colman when questioned if he'd repeat Leg 3. "It was fantastic sailing, just full-on," added Kuttel as the champagne celebrations began. Meanwhile, 515 miles south of the finish line in second place, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon are 100 miles off the coast of Patagonia with Financial Crisis, while Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire are 50 miles north-west of the Falkland Islands trailing Financial Crisis by 470 miles with Phesheya-Racing. GOR leaderboard at 23:00 GMT 29/2/12: 1. Cessna Citation Finished 20:37:30 GMT 29/2/12 Morgan Larson is the Headline Act Again
It was a game of cat and mouse on day 2, Act 1, Muscat as Oman Air's new skipper, Morgan Larson, continued his impressive form to keep the pressure fully on the all-French team Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Oman Air won the first race of day, the French team the next two, then another Oman Air victory - as the two teams traded places at the top of the Extreme Sailing Series leaderboard, now only separated by 1 point. It was not until the fifth race of the day by which time the breeze was starting to go light, that another team got a look in - this time, Leigh McMillan and his team on The Wave, Muscat. The Wave's win broke the dominance of these two front-runners and both Roman Hagara, driving Red Bull Sailing Team and Ernesto Bertarelli, new skipper on Alinghi, each scoring their first race win of Act 1 - for Bertarelli, his first win in his Extreme 40 debut. The Swiss team only just 1 point adrift of ZouLou driven by Loick Peyron in 6th place. But five different race winners out of eight races on the second day, keeps the competition close. On the short stadium courses, there was plenty of close racing and some boat to boat contact between the teams, which made for great online viewing from the multi-camera live race coverage that started today Extreme Sailing Series 2012 Act 1, Muscat, Oman after 14 races: 1. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) Pierre Pennec / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Herve Cunningham / Bernard Labro / Adeline Chatenet, 85 points Take The Weight Off Your Liferaft
The UltraLife liferaft is contained in a carbon container or valise and it has a carbon fibre wrapped aluminium gas cylinder for inflation. Equipped with an onboard survival pack to last for up to 24 hours, typically a 10 man Ultralite canister weighs little more than a conventional 4 man valise. The liferaft is fully ISO compliant and meets requirements under current MCA Code of Practice, Class XII and ISAF Special Regulations. Despite its lightness the Ultralite, which is available in 6,8,10 or 12 person sizes, is constructed to withstand harsh offshore sea conditions. Boarding is made as easy as possible with an aluminium tubed ladder, full knee scoop with grab handles and a hand over hand ladder extending internally. It has insulated flooring and an automatically activated light. So make sure you cross the finish line first and with your Ultralite liferaft still on board! Guest Editorial: Red Diesel Nonsense Okay but what if we want to go to France, Belgium, the Netherlands or further afield? As a direct result of the parochial and, some would say jealous reaction by Belgium to the UK's red diesel policy, our HMRC is in process of revising the rules for its use. As from 1st April 2012, i.e. 30 days from now, when buying red diesel we shall be asked to sign a document stating it will not be used outside of UK territorial waters. I guess this means if we are caught in France or Belgium with red diesel then the UK government will prosecute us as well. Belgium has stated that it will stop and fine any boat in its waters found to have dyed diesel in its tanks. It has already begun doing this. The fines have been swingeing. This means that anyone who intends to go across the Channel will first have to drain and rinse his tanks clean of dyed fuel. We are advised to always keep our tanks topped up to avoid condensation contaminating the fuel so each of us will have a tank full of red diesel to dispose of. The average yacht tank holds approximately 120 litres so it contains fuel costing £149 on 60/40 taxation basis. What is to happen to all this fuel? It represents 24 off 5 litre cans and it cannot be used in a road vehicle and few have a suitable central heating boiler. How are we to get it out of our tanks and will the fuel company agree to take it back? I suspect there is a risk that persons sufficiently displeased with the Government's handling of this might be tempted to dump it surreptitiously or release it into a waterway and risk prosecution. Now we need to also consider the plight of the motorboat owner. His fuel load is 1200 litres at a cost of £2,550. Is it reasonable to ask him to throw away this amount of money? Most tanks, when drained via the pipe to the pump, leave about 10% of the fuel behind. i.e. approximately 2½ gallons in a 25 gallon tank. This is deliberate on the part of the builder to prevent drawing sludge and water from clogging the engine's fuel filters and resulting in engine failure. It is understood that 1% of red diesel found in any sample tested will represent a failure to comply. Being mainly sail driven, many yachts only need to fill up once a year and then only when they get down to half full because going on a cross Channel voyage with any less fuel is dangerous and poor seamanship. Thus it will be the seventh year before the red diesel concentration gets to below 1%. Clearly the owner, who has no means of knowing the concentration of red diesel in his tank, will need to take other measures. These days tanks often do not have a drain outlet at the bottom lest the valve leaks diesel into the accommodation. If the tank does have a drain it would be possible to drain the tank into the aft cabin - but this is a cabin normally used for sleeping. For many it will mean opening up the tank by removing the fuel gauge (if there is one) and having the fuel pumped out. Then having the tank flushed with white diesel and tested to ensure the concentration is below the limit. Is it reasonable for legislation to cause all of the above expense, trouble and distress. Having done all that where is the owner going to get additional supplies of fuel? In areas where sales to fishermen and other commercial users predominate white diesel will not be available and where suppliers change to white where will the fishermen get theirs? Most fuelling berths that own their tanks are unlikely to have sufficient throughput to warrant burying an additional tank and installing another pump. The "Cruising Routes" charts published by the RYA in response to the threat of wind farms sufficiently illustrate the huge number of cross Channel trips that are made by leisure sailors each year. Many of these are of foreign craft coming to the UK as visitors. These too will require fuel and will thus fall foul of their own legislation when they return home. Effectively this means no craft with red diesel, or the remains of red diesel in its tanks can risk going to France, Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain. Unless a resolution is found I believe the nett effect will result in an almost complete cessation of visits by boats from both sides of the Channel. The closeness of the implementation date of 1st April has meant that the consultation period is to close on 11th March this year. It is vital that sailors make as much noise as they can before this date as, otherwise, we shall have an impossible and unworkable situation foisted upon us. The "Law of Unintended Consequences" is yet again in full spate. -- Barry Dunning PS: The Cruising Association are also lobbying hard but will need wider support from the average sailor. Colin Rathbun Rolls to Victory in Budget Marine Match Racing Cup For his victorious efforts, Rathbun and his crew - Kevin Wrigley and Nick Cunha - took home the winner's purse of $5,000. Second-place finisher David Storrs, a U.S. sailor based on Long Island Sound whom Rathbun topped by a score of 2-0 in the best-of-three finals, earned $2,000 for his efforts. In the petit final to round out the podium, Russian match racer Eugeny Nikiforov beat Holland's Bouwe Bekking - one of the world's top ocean racers and a veteran of multiple Volvo Ocean Races - in straight sets for the third-place prize of $1,000. Rounding out the score sheet, after Bekking's fourth-place result, were St. Maarten sailor Jan Willem (Frits) Bus, Guadeloupe's Luc Duponteil, and young Swedish competitor Jonatan Amein, respectively. For full information on the 2012 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, including entry lists and entry information, the Notice of Race, photos, videos, party and band information, and much, much more, visit www.heinekenregatta.com Groupama 4 - Mean Green Reaching Machine Smoking Towards Auckland Sheets eased and high mileage in the open ocean are exactly the conditions the Volvo Open 70s are designed for, and during today Telefonica (Iker Martínez/ESP) became the fourth boat in the six-boat fleet to break the 500 nm barrier, covering 500.32 in the past 24 hours. But, speed comes with a price. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand split their number 2 headsail and the crew of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) had to repair to their daggerboard crane. Both teams have completed the jobs and the two boats are back up to speed, trying to regain the miles lost. At 1600 UTC today, all five boats chasing Groupama 4 had made small inroads into their lead, which stood at 79.10 nm, however at 1900 UTC tonight, Groupama 4 has pulled out two miles on PUMA who is 80.70 nm behind in second place. Telefonica has gained a mile and is 10 nm behind the big cat in third, while CAMPER has managed to stop the bleeding and has her big headsail set. Only five nm behind is Ian Walker and his men. Losing a mile in the last three hour sis Team Sanya who is 156.6 off the lead. Average speeds over the last three hours are all around 19 - 20 knot mark. Video from Camper: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CZ7eTRqUDE Boatspod: Deal of the Week 20% off Minorca Sailing Holiday for a holiday for four persons To receive BoatsPOD, and to benefit from this weeks deals, register at www.boatspod.co.uk (Note: BoatsPOD is only available in the UK) IRC Distribution Country/Continent - % of total Great Britiain - 24 These have been published on the IRC website (with an illustrative chart) -- Jenny Howells Download the PDF: www.ircrating.org JOG Nab Biscay Race Management Team The Race Director is Roger Townsend, formerly Race Director of Royal Southampton's Biscay Challenge and he will be joined by BC colleagues Dave Giddings (CRO of Solo Offshore Racing Club and a PRO of Cowes Week 2011), and Mike Short (a National Racing Judge and member of RYA Racing Rules Committee). Roger Townsend commented "Dave, Mike and I are delighted to be building on our experience of the Biscay Challenge and running this exciting new event for JOG, one of the few 1000 mile races to start from the UK. We are even more delighted that it is fully sponsored." Full details, together with the Notice of Race, will be announced at the end of March 2012 Farr 40 Usa Circuit Championship Event # 2 Hot on the heels of the 25th Anniversary of Quantum Key West Race Week in January, this event is sure to provide top notch racing with some of the fleets most competitive and talented teams. Among those competing in the Farr 40 USA Circuit Championship Event #2 is Jim Richardsonis Barking Mad, who is currently sitting at the top of the leader board after the conclusion of the Januaryis Key West Race Week Circuit Event #1. The Farr 40 Class is delighted to see entries from five different countries represented at this event, including Turkey, where the Farr 40 European Championship was held in October of 2011, as well as Italy, Monaco, Germany, and the United States. The Farr 40 Class Association expects that the number of entries will grow as the US Circuit moves up the east coast, making stops in Annapolis, MD in May, and in Newport, RI for the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship in July. This regatta is the second of five events in the US Circuit for teams preparing for the 2012 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship at the Chicago Yacht Club, September 17 - 20 For Live event Updates: Biscay 2012 Offshore Race
The Southern announced its technical partnership with Sunsail Racing last August and has access to its fleet of Beneteau F40 cruiser/racing boats that can be chartered by Club members and other interested crews. As part of this relationship, the Royal Southern and Sunsail Racing are holding a 'Sign Up' Open Day on March 24th for anyone wishing to enter and to have a look over the F40, or to learn more about this new Race. You don't have to be a Club member to come along and everyone is welcome to meet the Royal Southern's and Sunsail Racing's representatives, ask questions about Biscay 2012 and have a look over the yacht that will be moored on the Club pontoon between 10am-4pm. Created as a legacy to members from the Royal Southern in its 175th Anniversary year, the Race will be run as a biennial and an international event. This year's start line will include crews representing several European and international yacht clubs. Closer to home, the former RORC Commodore Peter Rutter and 2011 IRC National Championship title winner, Quokka, his Grand Soleil 43, will be racing in Biscay 2012 as part of their training programme for the ARC 2012. Competitors for Biscay 2012 are able to build their racing miles in the F40s in the Sunsail Racing Programme in the UK this year. The four Regattas in the Royal Southern Yacht Club's 2012 summer racing programme and the Cowes-Deauville Race will also count towards crew familiarisation and in the latter case, part of crew qualification, for the Biscay 2012 Race. The Notice of Races is also available to view and download on the Biscay 2012 website. The Race Entry Form will be online from 7th March at: www.biscay2012.co.uk Featured Brokerage As a racing boat the Henderson 30 is unmatched. The sail plan allows total control in all conditions along with blistering downwind speed. "Reach Around" is located in Dana Point, California. If you look at race results from San Diego to Frisco if there is a Henderson in the harbor she is winning. Brokerage through Mariners Yacht and Ship Brokerage: www.yachtworld.com/mysb/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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