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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 Groupama Plays Tropical Storm Alberto to Perfection "We might actually be faster than this low," said CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand navigator Will Oxley earlier today. "If it is stationary and we move off it won't be so good. If it moves with us we could see some fast 24-hour runs for sure. For now we're concentrating on this particular system - there's another low ridge at the end so there's plenty of stuff going on. We don't care how long the leg takes as long as we're first." Earlier, Groupama and PUMA set off down wind at high speeds while the chasing pack of four struggled with upwind conditions. By 1900 GMT tonight, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand had risen to second position as PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG paid heavily for an expensive hitch to the north, losing 24 nm in the past three hour period. Although speeds have settled at around 18 knots for the leaders, the chasing pack of five in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet have yet to engage in a really high-speed chase. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's skipper Ian Walker/GBR is looking for a break, although spirits on board are high after winning the PortMiami in-port race on Saturday. "With a bit of luck we'll be able to stay in the south east quadrant of it [the storm], and, as the depression moves northeast we can ride with it giving us a good angle up to the north east," he said. "It really then depends on whether we can stay with the depression up towards the ice exclusion zone or whether we try to hop across the Azores High. It's all very uncertain at the moment." Positions at 21/05/2012 19:17:58 UTC 1. Groupama, 3274 nm to finish Rolex Volcano Race
Berenice Bis was the fifth boat to cross the finishing line in Capri, arriving at 03:53.04 CEST this morning and in the process ousting two Mini Maxis - Sir Peter Ogden's Jethou (GBR) and Marton Jozsa's Wild Joe (HUN) - on overall handicap. As widely predicted, Claus-Peter Offen's 100-ft Wally Y3K (GER) sealed line honours, finishing the course in 11 hours, 37 minutes and 32 seconds. In a close-run contest, Y3K saw off a strong challenge from Filip Balcaen's Nilaya (BEL), finishing just over three minutes ahead of her nearest rivals. Fifteen international crews completed the race. The last arrival was Giulio Simeone's Nelson 67 ISMEF Pep (ITA), finishing at 12:40.13 CEST. The fleet will berth this evening in Capri. Leg Two of the race is scheduled to commence tomorrow at 11:00 CEST and comprises a 300-nautical mile voyage around the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Conditions for the longer leg are currently looking more cautious than initially forecast, with stronger winds predicted for the rush down to the islands and lighter conditions for the return stretch to Capri. www.internationalmaxiassociation.com Get Your Grip On This was the foundation for the launch of our GripX3 Technology™ which was created in collaboration with Team Sperry Top-Sider, a world-class team of 35 sailors who tested the footwear in extreme competitive conditions. Designed to provide maximum traction on the water, GripX3 targets sailors who demand the best in grip and traction. Lab tested and athlete approved, the technology combines three core features to optimize performance: Adaptive Wave Siping™, Hydro-Grip Rubber™ and Sperry Top-Deck 360™. Over a 15-month period, Sperry lab tested more than 1,000 rubber compounds and tread patterns to create the stickiest outsole ever. Hydro-Grip Rubber is the stickiest outsole for ultimate on-deck traction. Sperry Top-Sider's Adaptive Wave Siping was created following extensive testing to develop the best solution for dispersing water underfoot to reduce slippage on wet and dry surfaces. Along with maximum traction, it is also essential to have reliable rubber to hold feet in place. Sperry's Top-Deck 360 technology ensures all-round performance and grip through integrating the rubber outsole and upper. Please visit www.sperrytopsider.com for more information. 470 World Championships Finals Up first on bravo race course were the 470 Women Gold silver fleet, where the final two Olympic Qualification places decided, followed by the 470 Women Medal Race and then the 470 Men Medal Race. The 470 Men Gold, Silver and Bronze and 470 Women Silver fleets raced on course area alpha. Conditions were light, with a strong current and big swell. 470 Men Mat Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) secure their third World Championship yesterday, and now make it three World titles in a row - a phenomenal achievement. 470 Men - Final Top 10 Overall In the 470 Women event, Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark (GBR) make it a first for British sailing by winning the 470 World Championship title. They went into the Medal Race on equal points with the Dutch team of Lisa Westerhof / Lobke Berkhout (NED). 470 Women - Final Top 10 Overall Subject to final ISAF ratification, seven new nations in the 470 Men event and five new nations in the 470 Women secured their place at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. Olympic hopes were pinned on the teams from Austria, Croatia and Russia today. As the lowest on the leaderboard, the Russians had the biggest gain to make up, whilst the Austrians and Croatians had no simpler calculation to make than stay ahead of the Russians to guarantee their tickets to the Olympic Games. Croatia finished ahead of the three, with Austria going through as the final nation to secure qualification. Of the five 470 Women places awarded at the 2012 470 Worlds, Croatia and Poland's teams make history by qualifying their nations for the first time ever in the 470 Women event. Nations Qualified to the 2012 Olympic Games (subject to ISAF Ratification) 470 Men 470 Women Nations already qualified to the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition from the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships and Great Britain's host nation entry are: 470 Men - Argentina, Australia, Austria, China, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA. 470 Women - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, USA. Class Split Determined In 2012 Audi Orci World Championship Based on the entries received by 1 May 2012, organizers at the Merenkavijat Sailing Club (MSC) and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) have announced the split between Class A and Class B entries in the 2012 Audi ORCi World Championship to be held in Helsinki over 4-11 August. Competitors with a 2012 ORC GPH (General Purpose Handicap) rating of 614.9 sec/mile or less will race for the Class A World Championship title, and those with a 2012 GPH of greater than or equal to 615.0 sec/mi will race for the Class B World Championship title. At the current entry level of 128, this puts over 40 boats in Class A and over 80 boats in Class B - figures are not exact yet, as some teams listed their 2011 GPH figures in their entries. The large number of entries has prompted MSC to create two separate course areas for racing Class A and Class B that are south of the event venue on Sarkka Island. But the difference in the numbers of entries in each class has also prompted a racing format for Class B that while new for an ORC championship, is not unusual for other championship events in large one-design fleets: the creation of Gold and Silver heats. The format will operate like this: before the start of racing, Class B will be divided equally by selecting alternate boats from the entry list in order of GPH into two groups, called Heats, that will race in a Qualifying Round over the first three days of competition. These three days will include one offshore race and from 3 to 4 inshore races. Organizers have said it will be the intention of the Race Committee to have the Qualifying Round consist of a maximum of 5 races, including 1 offshore race and 4 inshore races, although weather may determine some modifications to this plan. Cumulative results from each Class B Heat will then be used to determine the top half teams that will advance to the Class B Gold Heat, and the bottom half to race in the Class B Silver Heat. The remaining races of the event will then be held within each fleet, with points carried from the Qualifying Round added to new results to determine the top half of the final results from the Gold Heat. The remaining places will be determined from the final results in the Silver Heat. www.orciworlds2012.com New Captive Winch from Seaway Powell Marine The weight of the unit is significantly reduced, whilst still ensuring the required levels of strength and robustness. It has also been developed to reduce sheet wear and tear. The 9 ton version is currently being built for a customer and will form the cornerstone of the range. They will also be exhibiting a comprehensive range of Marine Actuators which have been developed over many seasons with the capability to respond rapidly with high force and high speed. Stainless steel ram and components, plus epoxy coatings and sealing technology make these electro-mechanical units ideal for tough commercial, defence and marine applications, offering reliability and endurance over other systems. Visit SPM at SEAWORK Stand A293 Farr 40 East Coast Championship Comes To Chesapeake Bay Italian entry Enfant Terrible, skippered by Alberto Rossi, leads the U.S. Circuit after two events - having captured the Miami regatta and placed second at Quantum Key West 2012. Enfant Terrible is actually tied on points with Barking Mad, which won Key West then took second in Miami with owner Jim Richardson (Newport, R.I.) at the helm. Struntje Light, a German boat skippered by Wolfgang Schaefer, stands third after placing third in Key West and Miami. Other foreign entries making the trek to Annapolis are Charisma (Nico Poons, Monaco), Asterisk Uno (Hasip Gencer, Turkey) and Provezza 8 (Ergin Imre/Onur Erardag, Turkey). The Annapolis fleet is turning out in force for the four-day regatta with skipper Rod Jabin and the Ramrod team leading the way. Other local entries include Nightshift (Kevin McNeil), Sundance (Gary Beers) and Yellow Jacket (Larry Bulman/Jeff Scholz). Storm Trysail Club will provide race management with PRO Dick Neville seeking to complete 10 windward-leeward starts. Neville intends to set a course in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay between the mouth of the Severn River and Thomas Point Light. RORC North Sea Race Skipper Frans Rodenburg on the First 40 Elke scored a second place in de Vuurschepenrace to Harwich and ended just after Baraka GP in the IRC class. On the way back Rodenburg and his crew just added a little more. They therefore didn't only win the IRC 2 class in the North Sea Race, but also ended up first overall in the IRC class after two races. Erik van Vuuren just came home from his Global Ocean Race adventure and immediately appeared at the start of the Vuurschepenrace. This time as skipper of the Lenco, a Salona 37, with which he managed a double win. He and his crew won both offshore races. 'These are the stars of today." With these words organizer Frans Sluyters introduced Bobby and Kit Horrevoets, daughters of sailor Hans Horrevoets. Just like last year they handed the Hans Horrevoets Memorial Trophy, named after their father. The prize was for Elke. Skipper Rodenburg was very pleased. 'It feels very special to win this trophy. Especially because I also come from Drimmelen. Hans was an icon in the sailing world. Everybody knows what happened to him and you think about it when you sail through the night. Honestly I hadn't realized that we had such a young crew to win this price. The Hans Horrevoets Memorial Trophy is awarded to the average youngest crew with the best results in the offshore races of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. Friday May 25 the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta will start off the coast of The Hague. For four days teams will battle in the North Sea and will enjoy live music onshore. Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta: www.dlnsr.nl Europa Warm Up Race: Virbac Paprec 3 Leads Towards the Atlantic Wind forecasts suggest the Spanish coast should yield a more breeze which is more to the right, allowing a more direct angle to be sailed for some of the time as they close in to the narrows, but so far the advantage remains very much with the leading boats. Mid afternoon Monday and Virbac-Paprec 3 lead by just under 4 miles from PRB of Vincent Riou in second and MACIF, skippered by Francois Gabart lying third at 6.8 miles behind the leading boat. Since Banque Populaire chose their investment in the north, towards the Spanish coast with an early morning tack, they have conceded about half a miles to MACIF, finally breaking contact with their friends and nemesis. Indeed Gabart noted ironically this morning that the twin sisters from the VPLP/Verdier offices had been in sight of each other for the last three weeks. The gap back to the second group remains relatively constant with Groupe Bel, Kito de Pavant giving chase as the Dick and his crew approached the half way mark of the 800 miles leg from Barcelona to Cascais, by Lisbon. Groupe Bel is some 30 miles behind Banque Populaire. There has been consistently more breeze offshore and it still appears the leaders have had the best of it, Virbac-Paprec 3 had around 110 miles left in the Mediterranean. Plans for the 50th Anniversary Cowes-Deauville Race are Unveiled Most recently organised for the British contingent by the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Royal London Yacht Club and Junior Offshore Group, and for 2012 including the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), whilst for the French the Race is organised by the Deauville Yacht Club with the support of the Yacht Club de France, this event could more properly be described as a 'raid'! However, for the serious players, it is open to IRC and HN-rated boats plus offshore one-designs who enjoy full-on racing, Club Class yachts and a Cruiser Rally for both sail and power craft. The event's IRC Classes are being joined by entries from RORC, for the first time in recent memory and, bolstered by their presence, the staggered starts in Cowes on Friday, June 1st should see a collective fleet of over 80 boats. Apart from the large British and French representation, this Anniversary Race has also attracted entries from Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. This year also sees a new dimension added as the Deauville YC and the Royal Southern YC incorporate some inter-club fleet racing using J/80 one-designs into the racing schedule on both sides of the Channel. Late entries are being accepted up to Thursday 31st May. Featured Brokerage The J/92 is an asymmetric performance cruiser-racer from J Boats. At thirty feet the J/92 is fast, manageable and fun. Accomodation for six crew. A great boat for family sailing and short handed racing. Brokerage through Key Yachting Ltd. www.yachtworld.com/keyyachting/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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