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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
Cork Week: Nip and Tuck
IRC Zero boasts an international fleet of the fastest yachts racing at Cork Week. Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens won both of today's races, with local favourite, Corby 38 Gloves Off, skippered by Kieran Twomey scoring two podium finishes to end the day second in class. A tie for third place in race 2 typified the intense battle in the big boat class. Michael Bartholomew's South African Mills 40, Tokoloshe and Jamie McWilliam's Ker 40, Peninsular Signal 8 from Hong Kong, could not be separated after time correction. In IRC One the day was emphatically won by Richard Fildes' Corby 37, Impetuous, which won both of today's races. In the 1720 Class, Jane McLelland's Girls Antix, with Libby Greenhalgh at the helm, won the first race of the day and after two races the girl's team are level on points with Denis Murphy's Aquatack. In IRC Three, Peter Deasy, Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club took the win in the only race of the day. Local weather expert, Eddie English believes that conditions for tomorrow's racing may be fairly similar to today with perhaps a slight shift to NNW with maybe a knot or two more pressure. -- Louay Habib
Tour Voile: Courrier Dunkerque 3 Wins In Brittany
A few minutes later TPM Coych crossed the line and moored alongside the dock. Fabien Henry and his team have red eyes because of the salt water and exhaustion. The long hours upwind marked them! "Aaah, the finish was really stressful. We sailed well but we had to fight with a fishing pot at the start and seaweeds at the end. We hung it there even though they were all pushing behind, but it's slightly frustrating not to be able to catch up." The podium was completed by Ville de Geneve Carrefour Prevention. The Swiss are euphoric - they now lead the amateur ranking. They've been in front since Dieppe, even rounding first the final inshore mark. "Tough, really tough! But to be able to sail in the right group after 180+ tacks proves how good our team is. Our navigator did an exceptional job! We sailed all night long with competitors nearby, it's difficult mentally speaking but it does help to push the boat as much as possible. The goal is now clear: finish in the first 5 overall of the Tour de France a la Voile." At 9.30pm, the Russians on Fascinating Seas International were the last ones to cross the line. Lorenz Mueller's Swiss team won't finish this leg. They retired to sail to St Malo to fix their main sail, ripped shortly after the start. The teams won't have much time to discuss that leg neither. Once ashore, they quickly ate something before to go and rest. The race starts again tomorrow. At 12.30am, they will take part in at least two technical races in front of St Cast Le Guildo. Provisional ranking after 13 races:
1. Courrier Dunkerque 3 (FRA 08) - Daniel Souben, 327 points Provisional amateur ranking after 12 races:
1. Ville de Geneve - Carrefour Prevention, Elodie Jane Mettraux / Jerome Clerc, 330 points www.tourvoile.fr/us/2012/homepage.html
Defenda&Trade; Inflatable Yacht Fenders
The solution to this problem is a set of inflatable fenders from FENDACENTRE. Manufactured from third generation Polyester or Hypalon fabric, the DEFENDA™ range comes in ten standard sizes from 50cm to 4m long, with bespoke sizes and shapes available to order. They are highly resistant to abrasion, chemical attack and UV degradation, with stainless steel attachment rings and a low profile air valve that matches those on inflatable boats. Swiftly inflated and deflated by manual or electric pump, DEFENDA™ inflatable fenders are available with snug fitting covers in a wide range of colours to ensure an ultra-soft interface between fender and hull. FENDACENTRE also offer a range of accessories, including pumps and fender hooks to fulfil every need for yachts large and small.
Living On The Edge
It was during these most demanding conditions that Yann Guichard and the crew of Spindrift Racing which includes Pascal Bidegorry - the skipper who set the current Atlantic record - slid into the race lead on their slightly more northerly routing. Through Monday Spindrift racing lead over Sebastien Josse's young crew on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Michel Desjoyeaux's FONCIA has climbed progressively. From 3.6 miles at 2200hrs UTC last night, by afternoon Spindrift were 23.1 miles ahead, still showing a speed which remains quicker than the next two boats. Conditions were due to ease slightly as Monday rolls on, with the SW'ly breeze expected to drop back to a more manageable 25 kts and with it some of the sea state which at times has been quite problematic. Michel Desjoyeaux's FONCIA remain firmly in touch, calculated at less than half a mile behind Groupe Edmond de Rothschild on the midday rankings, but had dropped a dozen miles during the afternoon. The fleet leaders had less than 2000 miles to sail to Brest with Spindrift reeling off an incredible 639.9 miles 24 hours run to 1300hrs UTC today. Forecasts suggest that the high speed chase to Brest will continue for another two days at least, with the MOD70's enjoying a dream debut spurred by a fast moving front which has really proven 'to order'. * Musandam-Oman Sail, the Omani Multi One Design 70, was lying in fourth place in the Krys Ocean Race fleet alongside Michel Desjoyeaux' Foncia and Sebastian Josse' Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, 1,000 miles into the race from New York to Brest when shortly before midnight (UTC) on Sunday July 8th, the port foil, which adds extra speed by lifting the hull out of the water, failed. "We were going between 30 and 32 knots in about 25 knots of breeze when we noticed the boat had slowed down and the bow was digging in deeper than usual," explained skipper Sidney Gavignet. It is not clear why the equipment failed but it was removed and put down below. Further investigations will take place when the boat gets to land. "We didn't feel anything and couldn't see any reason why it did happen. It is not good news - we are now sailing at 70% of our potential - the other boats are going at 30 knots but we are at around 25 which is disappointing but there is nothing we can do until we get the boat to Brest and have a look. Until then, we will just keep going."
Panerai British Classic Week
After yesterday's massed start for the opening warm up race around the Isle of Wight, today the fleet was divided into six classes according to each yacht's handicap and design and the formal race series began. In Class 1, for the modern classic yachts, Stephen Jones' Meteor put in a bravura performance to win his class by over seven minutes. Steven jokingly put their victory down to "Other people making more mistakes than we did." "Very satisfactory." was Jamie Mattheson's comment on finding out that Opposition, his Sparkman and Stephens sloop originally launched as Morning Cloud for Ted Heath's 1971 Admiral's Cup campaign, had won Class 2. And after all that sparring Cetewayo, David Murrin's 1957 Laurent Giles sloop, took second in class with Golden Fleece, the 41' bermudan sloop designed by Sparkman & Stephens and owned by Michael Wheeler, in third. In Class 3 Vagabundo II, a 1945 German Frers Snr Bermudan ketch that placed second overall in the inaugural Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro Race in 1947, was victorious beating the French team of Mirella, Yvon Nicolas' delightful Illingworth 12m Bermudan cutter, by one minute thirty seconds. Third place went to Cereste, the Shoreham 10 Tonner of Jonathan and Scilla Dyke, which has been lovingly and beautifully restored after Jonathan and Scilla found her in a very sorry state in South Wales in 1998. Tomorrow's racing will will feature two inshore races, the first of which will be sponsored by Berthon, with the first start scheduled for 10.00 and a forecast for south-westerly winds of around 10-12 knots. Racing continues until Friday 13th of July and the regatta concludes with a Parade of Sail on Saturday 14 July. www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta
Single-Handed Transpac Record Crushed
Philippe and Richard Clarke race the boat doublehanded in the 2008 and 2010, and had the fastest crossing in 2008, completing the course in 7 Days, 15h, 17m & 50s, boat for boat beating afully crewed, TP 52 Flash, Santa Cruz 70 Holua, and the Wylie designed 70' Rage in the process. Zan Dredges, who has worked with and crewed with Alex for some time "Truth" as Alex prepared for the trip was dutifully impressed. " It's a monster to handle shorthanded" says Zan "Taking the boat out by yourself is no small task" He also adds that Alex has been doing most of the work on the boat himself of late, even pulling apart the hydraulic winches, which later required some assistance getting back together. "The boat reaches beautifully and when locked in, is super stable, but she has to go through 110 degrees during gybes, which can be troublesome solo." Alex managed to minimize the gybes, keeping them to 5 and rode the south side of the rhumbline all the way into the record books! -- Eric Simonson
New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport Presented By Rolex
Race Week's second half also will feature the J/109 North Americans and the Beneteau First 36.7 Northeast Championship. With 18 J/109s signed up so far, the turnout has only been exceeded at the class's inaugural North American championship in 2006, when 19 boats competed. The J/105 and Melges 32 classes will compete on Saturday, July 21, and Sunday, July 22, only, with the latter class preparing for its national and world championships, which will be held in Newport later this summer. For sailors with PHRF-rated boats, Race Week offers Navigator Races on the final Saturday and Sunday, using government marks and courses that emphasize navigational skills over around-the-buoys boathandling skills. Race Week's first half will be equally exciting, as it is the second leg of the 2012 NYYC Classic Series, and the 12 Metres will compete for the Newport Trophy. At the conclusion of Race Week, Rolex timepieces will be awarded for best overall performances in the IRC class, in the One-Design classes and to the winning skippers in the Swan 42 and J/109 classes which are holding their National and North American championships, respectively. For a full list of entries and additional information, including registration, please visit the Race Week event page on New York Yacht Club's website at www.nyyc.org
Running the Rhumblines
They presently hold a commanding 20 point lead over the John Galloway skippered Queensland Marine Services while Kevin Fogarty safely holds onto third place with Twister. However while the Wobbly Boot crew remain happy with their results they have entered the important countdown to be race ready and on the pace when the battle lines are drawn for class honours in the 2012 Telcoinabox Airlie Beach Race Week set down for racing over the tactically demanding Whitsunday Island waters from August 10-16. As their results suggest the Wobbly Boot crew have been at the top of the game under the short Sprint racing format and translating this form into the longer and more tactically demanding Island passages races will be challenging. Furthermore there will be limited opportunity for the crew to sit back and enjoy the ride when the sails are tensioned to decide the star performer in the tactical arm wrestle to decide the Telcoinabox Performance handicap class champion for 2012. The Wobbly Boot crew who have the advantage of understanding the local conditions are not in the position to rest as the group of strong New South Wales crews including Matt Allen's (Ichi Ban) and former Airlie Beach Race Week champion John Bacon (Dark Star) have the proven crew skills and boat speed to command respect. Wobbly Boot will certainly face a searching test and will need to stay clear of being tactically engaged with their larger and faster New South Wales rivals. There is no doubt that the competitive nature of the Wobbly Boot crew will have them fighting from the front however they will not be able to afford to become engaged in any time consuming periods of sailing in the wind shadow of their rivals. While Wobbly Boot has the points on the board in club racing the competition to win the boat of the series in the 2012 Telcoinabox Airlie Beach Race Week Performance Handicap championship promises to turn into a State against State and Mate against Mate dogfight with New South Wales yachts Ichi Ban, Dark Star, Ropabull, Local Hero and UBS Wild Thing expected to set the pace. -- Ian Grant
Vintage Yachting Games
The link to the past Olympic games is strong here in Italy. The races on Campo Alpha (5.5 Metre & Dragon) and Bravo (Europe Female, Europe Male and O-Jolle) started at 13:00 as planned. On campo Charlie (Flying Dutchman, Tempest and Soling) the wind became stable about 45 minutes later.
For results see:
18ft Skiff Sailor Andrew Chapman Goes to 29er Worlds
Although he will be building new sails for Smeg and Kenwood-Rabbitohs, as well as his own Fisher & Paykel skiff, he is competing with Jessica Hansen in the 2012 29er World Championship at Travemunde, Germany from 22-28 July. Andrew is Youth Sailing Team coach for Yachting NSW and 19-year-old Jessica, of Southport YC, Queensland, an experienced up-and-coming young sailor. Chapman is a former Australian champion in both the F11 and Cherub classes as well as 12ft Skiff Junior champion in 2006. Hansen is an Australian Womens Match Racing champion with extensive competition in the 29ers and offshore racing (as helm & bow) over the past three years. Jessica has packed many other classes into her 19 years. These include Sabots, B14, Optimist, 420, 470, Sailboard, Hobie 16, Nacra 5.8, 29erXX, Moth, Etchel, and more. She was also 2011-2012 team coach for NNSW at the Sabot nationals. During the recent 2011-2012 Australian season, Jessica got a taste of sailing an 18ft Skiff when she joined Andrew and the crew of Fisher & Paykel in the annual Queen of the Harbour race on Sydney Harbour. After competing as crew throughout the race, Andrew handed over the helm to Jessica after crossing the finish line and Jessica showed her class by steering the skiff home to Double Bay under the big #1 rig. Andrew's next 18ft Skiff event will be on 14 October when he skippers Fisher & Paykel in Race 1 of the $10,000 3-Buoys Challenge at the Australian 18 Footers League. -- Frank Quealey Australian 18 Footers League
Sea Scamp On Quarry Ledge
Sea Scamp was built in Germany in 1936, with the name Zeisig, and was used by the Luftwaffe for navigation training. After the war it was taken as reparation by the Royal Navy, but since 1984 it has been sailed by the Sea Scamp Syndicate. The 41 foot yacht Sea Scamp went aground on Quarry Ledge, near Thorness Bay, at some point after 7pm. Cowes and Yarmouth RNLI came to the aid of the Bermudan-rigged sloop, with support from Needles Auxiliary Coastguard. Rescue crews used the yacht's anchor to help stabilise the stricken boat and left the scene once the boat was secure. The yacht and its crew of six then had to wait hours until high tide to refloat. Cowes RNLI returned after midnight to ensure the boat refloated safely and then escorted it back to Cowes, where it was due to be inspected for damage. -- Ross Findon in the Isle of Wight County Press Online
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