Scuttlebutt Europe #2660 - 22 August
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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
Zhik Nautica Moth Worlds
When asked earlier in the morning about what he considered to be his advantage over the rest of the fleet, Scott Babbage stated that he was consistent across the range from light to windy and that even if he didn't win "very often" he would come on top... Yet, three hours later, the Australian sailor would thrash his opponents and score three bullets in the day's three races. With a record-setting 125 entries, organizers split the fleet into two groups that alternated on an inner and outer racing area. Getting the right start, ahead of pack, flying to the rocks and tacking under the layline first would practically guarantee a win in the inner course. On the outer loop, further in the middle of the lake, things were much more complicated. The breeze was much harder to read and a favored side in one race would then fail to pay out. Still, Scott Babbage managed to tick all the boxes. He nailed his starts, got to the rocks and seemed to always pick the favored side in the outer course, something that his closest opponent, and favorite according to the form guide, Joe Turner, failed to do. Indeed, with the exception of Babbage, the form guide didn't seem to hold true on the opening day of the 2012 Zhik Nautica Moth Worlds. Bora Gulari and Turner are fifth and tenth, respectively, while Australian Joshua McKnight and Anthony Kotoun from the Virgin Island had an excellent day and sit on second and third place overall. Racing resumes on Tuesday and the weather forecast calls for the same type of conditions. The African heat wave passing through Italy results in record-high temperatures that don't allow the "Ora", the afternoon breeze Lake Garda is famous for, to develop properly. However, even with 8-9 knots of breeze the Moths are fun and spectacular to watch and the tight leaderboard promises another exciting day. * No racing on day two of the 2012 Zhik Nautica Moth World Championships The very light and unstable breeze on Lake Garda didn't let the Moths fly today. The race committee will try to schedule as many races as possible on Wednesday with an 8:30am morning start. Top ten after three races:
1. Scott Babbage (AUS), 1+1+1=3 points
Looking Ahead To 'Exhilarating' Racing On San Francisco Bay
This afternoon the fleet took to San Francisco Bay for a practice session in winds between 17 and 20 knots. The action was exhilarating for JR Hildebrand, 24, a San Francisco native and IndyCar driver who spent the day as guest racer with ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL "It was awesome. It's such a cool thing to be a part of," said Hildebrand, the 2011 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. "You don't have to be going 200 mph to feel like you're hauling ass. It was very cool. It's a like-relationship, racing cars and racing boats. Everything's very sensitive. How these guys work together to get right up against the other boats is really impressive. It gives me a lot of appreciation for what these guys do." In other practice action, Emirates Team New Zealand and China Team each capsized. Five crews now have capsized since practice began. Wednesday's match racing schedule features No. 6-seed Team Korea vs. No. 11 J.P. Morgan BAR, No. 7 Luna Rossa - Piranha vs. No. 10 Artemis Racing Red and No. 8 Luna Rossa - Swordfish vs. No. 9 China Team. Each match is a best-of-three. Racing continues Thursday with two pairs of the match racing quarterfinals and the first two fleet races. View the racing lineup at ACWS San Francisco Regatta Format and additional event information at the ACWS San Francisco event page. * The 34th America's Cup is expanding and enhancing its digital outreach with a new app for iOS and Android devices, as well as a re-launched website and a new Digital Boathouse, which will be on site in the AC Village in San Francisco. The new AC mobile application America's Cup, which is free and available in the iTunes app store (soon to come for Android), features content such as latest news, results, videos and event schedules, but it's the delivery of the real-time live action that promises to take the mobile race viewing experience to new levels. Optimized to run on mobile platforms, the Americas Cup 3D Viewer, driven by data accurate to within an inch from LiveLine, will now also provide direct access to live audio from your favorite teams on the water as well as live race commentary. Future development plans include new levels of Augmented Reality and access to the live on board cameras. Last week, the America's Cup website, www.americascup.com, was re-launched with a new design. The new site is easier to navigate and allows the teams to express their identities more creatively. Enhancements, including a mobile site, will continue to be made to the new website to incorporate the latest in social media and web technology. Fans who attend the AC World Series in San Francisco will be able to participate in the Digital Boathouse, a multimedia studio set up in the AC Village where fans and media can engage in real-time, accessing original content and starting conversations around the racing. Racing on Thursday through Sunday (2:00 pm PDT start time from Thursday through Saturday at 11:30 am PDT on Sunday) will be broadcast live around the world on the America's Cup YouTube channel (subject to territorial broadcast restrictions). On television, coverage is available Thursday through Saturday throughout the Bay Area on NBC Bay Area 11.2, and in California on Comcast Sportsnet California. The Sunday finale will be broadcast live, coast to coast in the United States, on NBC from 11:30 am PDT.
Defenda&Trade; Inflatable Yacht Fenders
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MOD70 European Tour Musters In Kiel, Germany
The inaugural tour event encompasses challenging offshore races linking Kiel in Germany, Dùn Laoghaire - Dublin Bay, to Cascais by Lisbon in Portugal to Marseille in France to a finish in Genoa, Italy. The race starts from Kiel on Sunday 2nd September. The five offshore stages will encounter a full range of weather and sea conditions, from strong contrary winds and big seas off the North of Scotland to the very light, unpredictable winds of the Mediterranean. Aboard the five MOD70's will be some of the best, fastest offshore multihull sailors in the world. Yann Guichard's Spindrift racing has already won the KRYS OCEAN RACE across the Atlantic and includes Atlantic and round the world record holders such as Pascal Bidegorry and recent winner of the Solitaire du Figaro Yann Elies. Michel Desjoyeaux, skipper of FONCIA has won the Vendee Globe solo round the world race. Class and circuit co-founder Stève Ravussin of Switzerland will be joined by Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Franck Cammas and Thomas Coville on Race for Water. Sidney' Gavignet's Musandam-Oman Sail will again have Britain's fastest round the world sailor Brian Thompson on board. The Omani team will be joined by German ace Michi Mueller for the inshore city races. Sebastien Josse can rely on the cohesion and performance of his well trained team on board Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. At each city stop the five identical MOD70's, all equally matched 70 foot high speed offshore racing multihulls, will compete in a series of short, fast races closer to shore City Races and Speed Matches. The MOD70 European Tour is the second event of the Multi One Championship, following on from July's inaugural KRYS OCEAN RACE which saw the MOD70's race the Atlantic from New York to Brest, France at remarkable speeds. The first three boats finished within less than two hours after traversing the Atlantic in under than five days with the winning boat making more than 711 miles in one 24 hours period.
Chasing The Big Cats
"We put four engines on the back of it for a couple of reasons - if we ever have a capsize, two engines would not be enough to right one of these big boats. We thought we needed the extra power. Also, with the wings, if you break something, you can't just turn and go home, because the wing loads everything up. You've got to be able to tow faster than the wind speed home, which we can do now." Full article at www.cupinfo.com
Palermo - Monte Carlo Regatta
German sailing legend Jochen Schumann, skipper of the Esimit Europa 2 yacht, chose tactics to sail near the Italian coast, rather than going through the Strait of Bonifacio between Sardinia and Corsica, the most common route for the race: "We were very well aware of the forecasted weather conditions, with light winds and dead calms in front of us. Therefore, we have chosen the best of all possible wind forecasts for us and hoped for some local breeze which would push us up the coast. When we entered the last part of the race, less than 100 nautical miles before the finish line, we have finally picked up some good breeze, seized an opportunity and passed the leading yacht less than 20 miles before Monte Carlo. In the last few miles we have faced dead calm again, but fortunately escaped out of it. I am pleased with crew's efforts and their motivation throughout the entire course and happy that we took line honours at the end." This year's regatta, organized by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia in collaboration with the Yacht Club de Monaco, marked the 8th edition of this sport event.
www.esimit.com
Enfant Terrible Wins 2012 ORCI for Second Consecutive Year
Rossi recently skippered Enfant Terrible to its second straight AUDI ORCi Offshore World Championship, beating a slew of new generation high-performance boats. The Italian team became the first repeat champion, having captured the 2011 title in their debut off Cres, Croatia. Veteran professional Tommaso Chieffi called tactics while Giovanni Palama served as navigator aboard Enfant Terrible, which won Race 7 and placed second in three others. The Italian entry also had two fourths in the eight-race series in totaling 21 points - 12 better than runner-up Blixt Pro Sailing, a TP 52. Other entries in the 47-boat fleet included a GP42, IMX 40, X-41, XP 38, Sydney 40 and Farr 400. Rossi said his team is battle-tested from having competed in the Farr 40 class for the past four years. Enfant Terrible currently stands second behind Barking Mad (Jim Richardson) in the North American Circuit standings. Competition was held out of Helsinki, Finland on the Baltic Sea, which usually features light air during the month of August. Rossi had Enfant Terrible slightly modified with a square-top mainsail in anticipation of forecasts of 4-8 knot winds. Instead, it blew 13-18 knots for the distance races and 14-25 knots for the buoy races. Rossi said Enfant Terrible reached 25 knots of speed at one point. Daniele Cassinari, Gaetana Figlia di Granara, Lars Borgstrom, Daniele Fiaschi, Roberto Strappati, Jacopo Bagnaschi and Alberto Fantini completed the crew on Enfant Terrible. Rossi, owner of the shipping firm Adria Ferries, stated firmly that he will seek a three-peat of the ORCi Offshore World Championship when it is held next year in his hometown of Ancona, Italy.
Dubarry Women's Open Keelboat Championship 2012 Entry Opens
Entry is just £75 and is now open at wokc.eventzilla.net The Notice of Race is available on the club's website www.hambleriversc.org.uk Racing will take the same format as in previous years with two fleets, firstly an IRC class with a recommended rating between 0.900 and 1.090. If a boat's rating is outside this banding it may be entered at the discretion of the committee. The second class will be the one design J80 for which there will be no weight-limit but instead a maximum of five women per boat. Three races are planned for both Saturday and Sunday to take place in the Solent under the supervision of our excellent PRO Peter Bateson and a team of female race officers. The prizes provided by Dubarry of Ireland will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each class as well as overall for the event. The event will begin with a Pink Party at the Hamble River Sailing Club in the evening of Friday 14th Sept. On Saturday evening there will be a drinks reception for competitors, followed by the famous "Frocks and Flipflops Party" with tickets at just £12.50, including a delicious hog roast and 5th birthday cake. The evening will include a raffle with fantastic prizes donated from local businesses and companies in the marine industry. All proceeds from the raffle, as well as other funds which are raised during the event, will go to Breast Cancer Care.
Spinnaker Tales
Top level Sunshine Coast sailors Rod Jones and Greg MacAllansmith sailing with multiple World champion Glenn Bourke of Hamilton Island and rival Mooloolaba skipper Phil Gray remain locked in tactical combat to be presented with the important trophy at the gala presentation on Saturday night. Meanwhile both evenly matched crews Glenn Bourke helming Club Marine and Phil Gray skippering Dulon Polish. While they remain intensely focused on winning this series the Australian crews are sailing in practice mode to be race ready for the UON World Championship at Hamilton Island in late December. Both the Club Marine and Dulon Polish crews have been evenly matched over the past 12 months and the battle at Hamilton Island has continued to show there is little between them in terms of skill and boat speed. Phil Gray and his Dulon Polish crew realise they are up against a tough team however they are prepared to 'push the envelope' in their selection of tactics. Gray admits one design racing is not for the feint hearted and is always prepared to protect his sailing space. However on occasions he has fallen short with the outcome presenting him with an unwanted expense including the replacement of a broken mast. This unfortunate mast snapping incident which occurred during the 2011 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week series contested in brute trade winds sent an important message to Phil Gray to never take a chance to force the port and starboard rule from the wrong side. He paid the penalty with a collapsed mast when the spinnaker pole on Club Marine clipped the back stay on Dulon Polish. Their boat on boat match race continued in the 2012 Australian Championship on the River Derwent when Dulon Polish entered the final holding what appeared to a championship winning 2 point margin. But at the end of the day the Dulon Polish crew had to accept that they were second best when master tactician Glenn Bourke and his equally determined crew mates Rod Jones and Greg MacAllansmith completed a remarkable fight back to win the National trophy by 1 point. The exciting match race to decide Australia's number one team for UON World championship has continued this week on the tactically demanding windward-leeward courses off Hamilton Island. After seven races Club Marine with a 1-2-1-4-1-2-2 score lead Dulon Polish 3-1-2-3-3-1-1 by 2 points with the championship hanging in the balance between the two evenly matched crews. Based on average elapsed times Club Marine has been the faster by 26 seconds however Dulon Polish is poised to again test the tactical experience of their rivals when the final battle lines are drawn to decide the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week SB 20 champion for 2012. -- Ian Grant
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