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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 Olympics Day 3
Ireland's Annalise Murphy has won all four Laser Radial races to open up a 12 point lead over Belgium's Evi Van Acker after the second day of Radial racing at the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. The Irish sailor has relished the windy conditions using her strength to her advantage and finished ahead of Great Britain's Alison Young in both races by eight seconds in Race 3 and 30 seconds in the fourth race. Young clawed herself back into contention for the medals today with two seconds having had a shaky start to the regatta. She takes 21 points into the third day of racing and will want to put in a similar performance to overcome Marit Bouwmeester (NED) who's third on 18 points and Van Acker, second on 16. The Radials resume racing tomorrow at 12:00 local time on the Weymouth Bay West course. -- ISAF, http://sailing.org * Elsewhere In The Bay
Star - Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson continued to hold their lead in the Star class, winning the first race and coming second to Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada in the following race. The upshot on points was to keep the score between these two the same as the night before, the Brits holding a slim 4 point lead over their main rivals. After the race Percy was keen to stress that the day had been 'great fun' but was clearly aware that there was still a long way to go. 49er - Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen had an impressive day and moved themselves into first overall with Kiwis Peter Burling and Blair Tuke 9 points behind in second. In a fleet that has more races (and quick-fire ones at that) than any other class bar the match racing, Outteridge says that to maintain in medal contention you need to be averaging an 8th position or better. Despite capsizing on the second race they still managed a 4th - with that kind of performance its easy to see why this pair remain the favourites. RSX Women RSX Men Laser Men Match Racing Report by Matthew Sheahan from Yachting World's Olympic coverage: Top three results by class: 49er after 4 races Elliot 6m Women's Match Racing - 6 Matches Finn after 6 races Laser Men after 4 races Laser Radial Women after 4 races RS:X Men RS:X Women Star Men The sailing gets VERY busy for a few more days... Yachting World has a nice schedule to keep up. Download it here: www.yachtingworld.com/olympicschedule Complete results at www.sailing.org/olympics/london2012/results_centre.php Wallycento Hamilton Prepares for Race Programme with Ocean Safety
Hamilton III, a Wallycento built at Green Marine, carries Ocean Safety's UltraLite liferaft as does the yacht's tender. The Ultralite not only saves vital weight as part of the specification of a serious racing yacht built of lightweight carbon composite, but is also low profile and housed in a carbon fibre casing. In addition, all the crew will be equipped with Ocean Safety's Kru Sport Pro lifejackets, each of which is fitted with a Kannad R10 AIS Survivor Recovery System (SRS), a pocket sized unit which works by sending out a structured alert message and GPS position which will be picked up by AIS receivers on vessels within a four mile radius. Personal safety equipment has also been supplied for the delivery crew. Record-Breakers
By finishing in first they will write their names in the race books for the overall victory in the 2012 event as well as for setting the new record. The Multi50 reference time, established by Franck-Yves Escoffier with 11 day, 3 hours and 19 minutes should be smashed by no less than 20 hours. Le Roux and his crew have managed to escape brilliantly from the many dangers and the Atlantic Ocean has thrown at them and the young skipper will have another win to add to his already successful cv. Behind the low pressure system Le Roux so skilfully avoided, the Class40 are offering a real show by fighting hard for the leadership as they get nearer to Brittany. Current title holder, Halvard Mabire on Campagne de France is fending off the attacks from his immediate competitors Sebastien Rogues on Generation Eole - GDF SUEZ who has succeeded in coming back to just 9 miles on a slightly more northerly route, Germany's Joerg Riechers on Mare in third 16,7 miles behind the leader and Fabrice Amedeo on Geodis in fourth at 39,7 miles all seem to be still in the match. After nine days of neck and neck racing the battle is not over yet. No doubt the final 900 miles will require the sailors' utmost focus, careful navigation and good manoeuvring. Another record, Halvard Mabire's set it in 2008 with 13 days, 13 hours and 50 minutes, could be broken too. The final verdict, according to the latest forecast, is for Friday night. Check out the latest position on the Transat Quebec Saint Malo online tracker at: transat.korem.com/course Top position report on July 31st at 13:40 GMT Class40 Open Class The Legacy of Prince Albert Edward's Yacht
The reconstruction process will commence with a full stripping of the interior and then a thorough process to refit the yacht to exact requirements and specifications. Britannia will be fully restored to her pristine condition at her new home. Her former namesake was privileged to be tagged as the 'King's Yacht' and her re-construction will be similarly worthy of royal approval. She will once again be legendary and rekindle memories of a world where nobility and honour were the norm. The yacht Britannia designed by George Lennox Watson was built by Henderson's on the Clyde in 1893 for Queen Victoria's son Prince Albert Edward of Wales. She served him and his son King George V with a long yachting career. Both builder and designer made a fine job of the Prince's new yacht. It was said of Britannia that a better balanced and better built vessel never crossed the starting line. Built of wood and planking on steel frames she had a major refit in 1931 where she was transformed by a Bermudan rig. Made of silver spruce, it was the largest mast ever made as one spar for a yacht, weighing over 3 tonnes. During her racing career which spanned over 40 years, in 635 races she won 231 firsts and of a total of 350 prizes. By the end of her first year racing, Britannia had scored 33 wins from 43 starts. In her second season she won all 7 races for the big class yachts on the French Riviera and then beat 1893 America's Cup defender Vigilant in home waters. In January 1936 the British people mourned as King George V passed away. It was announced that in accordance with the late King's wishes upon his death that Britannia would be stripped of her spars and fittings and scuttled. So on the 10th July 1936 her hull was picked up by HMS Winchester and towed out to St. Catherine's Deep near the Isle of Wight. She was then scuttled and sent to rest beneath the waves with a simple garland of flowers placed on her stem head. In 1994 the only exact replica of Britannia was commissioned and built in Russia gaining Her Majesty's blessing. Her then owner shipped her from Russia to Norway but unfortunately the completion of the project came to a standstill. It was not until late 2011 that Britannia was acquired for the purpose of completing her rebuild so that she could be used for charitable projects. Britannia was towed from Norway and arrived in the Isle of Wight on 4th February 2012 where she was lifted and dry-docked in her cradle where she sits today at Venture Quays, East Cowes. She will be rebuilt according to her 1931 specifications when the original Britannia was refitted with a Bermudan rig and converted to the J Class As a floating venue Britannia will be gifted to charities around the world for fundraising and other events that will promote charities or provide direct benefits to the charities. Adidas Sailing Looking for Distributors Do you have a good understanding of your market, a comprehensive retail network and the financial muscle to promote a brand like adidas sailing? If so, we would like to hear from you! Please contact Stefan Sasse at for more information. terrathree shares adidas' commitment to creating relevant, innovative and inspiring products that enhance performance and empower athletes to achieve their potential and be the best they can be. Thomas Fochler, terrathree's CEO, believes that outstanding design is the key to success and that sailors will be quick to recognise the range's excellence in that respect: "we have been developing, designing and fine-tuning the range for over a year and have sourced materials thoroughly so that no detail was left to chance. We are committed to being totally performance oriented and this comes through in every product in the collection." Spinnaker Tales The successful sailing duo will team up with a group of equally talented sailors from the Oxygen high performance sailing team to man the deck on the modified Welbourne 50 A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast. Skipper Rod Jones the principal organiser for the UON SB 20 World Championships to be held at Hamilton Island from the 12th to 20th December has welcomed the chance to return to face another serious test against his tactical ocean sailing strategy. Apart from finishing with a creditable fifth on line honours in the Qantas Brisbane to Gladstone Race over the Easter weekend A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast has remained motionless at her mooring in the Mooloolah River while skipper Glenn Bourke and crew mates Rod Jones and Greg Macallansmith combined their skill to win the Australian SB20 championship in Hobart. This weekend's ocean race is set to be contested in a typical winter weather system of an unstable wind which has a history of bending towards the land between the dusk to dawn hours has shown little indication of blowing at the velocity to propel line honours favourite Wild Oats XI at the required boat speed to challenge her 24 hr 22 minute 20 second record set last year. However while the forecast promises to be challenging the Mark Richards helmed Wild Oats XI which shattered Brindabella's record in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast record last Sunday morning with an average speed of 17.4 knots remains as the short price line honours favourite. The race for outright handicap honours is expected to unfold into a match race between the consistent performing Mark Bradford skippered Black Jack and the smaller challengers A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast, the recently launched Kerumba (Tam Faragher) and veteran Sunshine Coast skipper Bob Robertson's Lunchtime Legend. Black Jack following her runaway win in the Qantas Brisbane to Gladstone race and a second in last week's Audi Sydney to Gold Coast race has the proven form guide to be ranked as the corrected handicap favourite. But while the Black Jack crew are set to chase the wake of the speed sailing Wild Oats XI the match race to decide third place on line honours between A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast, Kerumba and the Stewart Lewis helmed Ocean Infinity is expected to play a major role in determining the corrected handicap places. Based on the recent form which ranks Black Jack as Australia's best sailed pocket maxi places them as strong chance to win while the experienced coastal passage racing crews on A5 Audi Centre Sunshine Coast and Lunchtime Legend have the proven offshore sailing experience to sail to their handicap rating. Ramsgate Week The Royal Temple Yacht Club was founded in 1857 by a group of yachtsmen sailing from the Temple Steps, on the River Thames in the center of London, which then opened the Ramsgate Clubhouse in 1896. Ramsgate week 2012 got off to a bright start on Monday. In near perfect conditions, eleven of the fleet of thirteen yachts enjoyed champagne sailing as they raced for around four hours off the coast of Kent. Two long legs dead downwind dented the chances of the asymmetric yachts as the fastest yachts stretched out the fleet. Line honours went to Peter Jackson's "ASSASSIN" but lost time, following the destruction of his heavy no.1 genoa, leaving him fourth on handicap. Robert Jochim's "GRIEL" was second on the water and won on handicap by under a minute from John Barret & Paul Woodward's First 35, "STILLETO". Third on handicap was RTYC Commodore Mike Brand in his X-35," X-WAVES". A gaggle of boats finished just after the four hour mark, "EXPEDITE" X99 Julian Poupard, claiming fifth place. "MARLENE" and "SURPRISE" continued their weekly club battle finishing in close order sixth and seventh. Altogether a great day's sailing which promises much for the week ahead. In IRC Class 3, Race one got away in 15KH of breeze and sunshine, as good as it gets. First off the start line was "KING ONE" and that was the story of the race with "KING ONE" leading from the start and finishing with a well-deserved first place. Full results on all classes at www.ramsgateweek.com Hydros Little America's Cup Yacht In Build
Two versions of the catamaran are being built by the Decision SA shipyard in Ecublens, so that the sailing team will be able to test and compare different configurations of foils and centerboards. Both catamarans will be built using thin ply technology (TPT), a technique invented on the shores of Lake Geneva that has already been used in Formula 1 and on a number of wing masts for the forthcoming America's Cup, but which has never previously been employed in yacht construction. The first boat - a masterpiece of high technology - will be launched at the end of the year, and the second version will follow two months later. The name of its skipper, an internationally famous sailing champion, will be announced at the end of the summer break. The selection procedure for the second yacht will begin at the end of the summer, with the aim of recruiting a first-rate Swiss crew. The Hydros project has three main components: a yacht flying the Swiss flag being entered for the Little America's Cup, the "Defi des Grandes Ecoles" (university challenge) and the catamaran l'Hydroptere.ch, which recently broke the one-hour record on Lake Geneva and achieved the best time since 2007 on the Blue Ribbon course, smashing the record by covering the stretch from Geneva to Le Bouveret in 1 hour 44 minutes. -- Bernard Schopfer Featured Brokerage One of the most popular boats built by Najad, the 373 offers superb Swedish quality with excellent accommodation together with easy handling. This boat has a fully battened mainsail and a furling headsail system. She is well set-up for serious passage making with radar/plotter and full instrumentation. Lightly used and maintained to a high standard. She represents excellent value for money and should be viewed. Brokerage through S.D.Marine Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/sdmarine/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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