Scuttlebutt Europe #2684 - 25 September
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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 America's Cup Nostalgia
Taking overall victory in the event for the Pine Brothers Trophy was Dennis Williams (Hobe Sound, Fla.) and his Victory '83 team. Their performance in Modern Division topped all others from the Grand Prix and Traditional Divisions; the team won all of its races over Ralph Isham's (New York, N.Y.)/Alex Aursberg's (Newport, R.I.) Courageous and Jack Curtin's (New York, N.Y.) Intrepid, which took second and third in the Modern Division, respectively. In fact, Victory '83 could have sat out the last day's final two races and still won its class, but that would have made for one less day of satisfaction and disrupted the team's "take no prisoners" enthusiasm for the competition. The schedule was adhered to perfectly on Friday when three kick-off races were conducted on Rhode Island Sound, the same arena that hosted the America's Cup races for 12 editions, starting in 1930 and ending in '83. Interestingly enough, "Mr. America's Cup" himself, Dennis Conner (San Diego, Calif.), was present and skippering KZ-7 (Kiwi Magic) in Grand Prix Division with many of his old Cup team members and a balance of crew comprised of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) cadets. (KZ-7 is currently owned by the USMMA Foundation.) By winning two of the three races, he established his lead over Kip Curren's (Newport, R.I.) KZ-5 and James Heckman's/Andy MacGowan's (Washington, D.C./Middletown, R.I.) USA. It was a lead of which he would never let go, and it left his two adversaries to collect second and third, respectively. Conner's return to Newport could have been bittersweet had he let his loss of the Cup here in 1983- a defeat that ended the longest winning streak in the history of sport--overshadow the memories of his four times of winning it (1974, '80, '87, '88)...or his opportunity to sail again with long-time Cup tactician Tom Whidden (Essex, Conn.), who has done eight America's Cups, three of them on Conner's winning team. Results Grand Prix - yachts built for the 1987 America's Cup KZ-7 (Kiwi Magic) - KZ7, Dennis Conner, San Diego, Calif.1-1-2-1-1-1-1, 9 Modern - yachts built between 1974 and 1983 Victory '83 - K 22, Dennis Williams, Hobe Sound, Fla., 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, 8 Traditional - yachts built between 1958 and 1970 Columbia - US 16, Alain Hanover, Weston, Mass. 1-1-1-2-1-1-2-2, 11 Magic Marine SB20 European Championships
With a 3, 5, 1 today, Team Russia maintain their lead after races 4, 5 and 6. Speaking to Rodion Luka and Oleg Zherebtsov after racing today, they told me about their day on the water. "Generally we've had a good day, the Jury gave us one yellow flag (Rule 42 infringement) but we are very happy with our results. We still have a lot to get used to with the new boat; on the water each day we are changing our settings. We are very happy with the new boat and the crew is sailing well together. With the results we have so far, the race is really on, the fleet is extremely competitive, and we are really impressed with Robert Greenhalgh and Geoff Carveth, they are both sailing really well." Robert Greenhalgh (GBR) and his crew have, in their words, "been finding their feet," at this event having not sailed together for a year. I'm not sure many would agree considering they are lying third overall after 6 races. Opening Day Opens... Late.
There were some high-tension moments today at noon at the Vieux Port in Cannes as a huge, massive black cloud hovered over the pontoons and the race village, to release its charge of heavy, torrential rain. No more than half an hour of big raindrops, a gusting wind blowing at more than 30 knots and then the sun came out again, warm and bright, drying up the place. By 4.30 pm the situation changed dramatically and the Dragons were sailing in over twenty knots and choppy sea. The Committee quickly launched the starting procedure, as the wind gusted to 25 knots. The race, on a double windward to leeward course of 1,2 miles, was won by Russian expert Vassily Senatorov (I feel Good), followed by reigning champion Giuseppe Duca from Italy (Cloud) and by Denmark's Soren Pehrsson (Blue Lady) while the first French crew to cross the line was Gerard Blanc (Tsuica II) finishing in twelfth. The most represented country at the Regates Royales-Trophee Panerai is France with thirty-three boats, followed by the UK with twenty-seven and Italy with nine. Montecarlo (3), Canada (2), the Isle of Man (2), Malta (2), Holland (2), the Cayman Islands (2) are also present as well as the USA, Tortola, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland... not to mention the Dragons coming from Finland, Germany, Ireland, Russia and Sweden. Temperatures Falling - Key West Competition Heating Up! Start planning your escape for the best of competition, unique shoreside fun and South Florida's sunshine and dependable breezes. January 20 - 25, 2013. Entries and more: www.premiere-racing.com 2.4 Metre World Championship On the final day Berlin came through to record his third race win of the regatta in Race 9 and second successive bullet. But as the second discard kicked into play Andersson's lead extended to four points. Berlin made it three bullets in a row in Race 10 but Andersson did what he needed to do to take gold by coming in fourth. Andersson failed to win a race throughout the regatta but his consistent top four performances ensured he took the crown. Great Britain's Megan Pascoe rounded off the podium. Full results at www.inter24metre.org Mistral Holds Up The Action In Marseille Match Race France uses the quick and highly manoeuvrable J80 boats, and as with the St Moritz Match Cup these are four person boats. So the team will use the same line-up that raced in Switzerland, with Japan's Yasuhiro Yaji handling the forward end of the boat. In the cockpit there will be lots of local knowledge, with France's Thierry Douillard trimming and Guilmin on the mainsheet and doing tactics. Once again the regular bowman, Kazuhiko Sofuku will be sitting this one out. The event opened today with the regular practice sessions, ahead of the first day of qualifying on the 25th September. Or at least that was the plan, but sailing was disrupted by a strong Mistral wind blowing down the Rhone valley after the passage of a cold front. It was 25-to-30 knots out on the water, and so Gilmour and his teammates joined the rest of the competition in the club, everyone hoping that the breeze would drop - it didn't. Overall Tour Championship Standings - after 5 stages: Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team - 93 points Realstone Sailing Wins the Grand Prix Grange & Cie and the Vulcain Trophy A weekend to remember at the Yacht Club de Geneve: 10 thrilling regattas in 2 days, a lot of action and a great public in a friendly atmosphere. Okalys Corum skipper Nicolas Grange finished the weekend with a victory in front of "his" public. The weekend marked another victory of Realstone Sailing. This success allows the young team to already climb on the highest step of the podium of the Vulcain Trophy 2012. Jerome Clerc and the entire crew of Realstone Sailing, coming from the Geneva Regatta Training Center received a big applause at the Prize Giving. Ranking Grand Prix Grange & Cie: 1. Realstone Sailing - Jerome Clerc Provisional Ranking Vulcain Trophy 2012: 1. Realstone Sailing - Jerome Clerc 7 pts 2012 ISAF Annual Conference Meeting Papers Online The 2012 ISAF Annual Conference takes place from 1-11 November 2012 and will bring together the ISAF Council, Committees and Commissions along with other leading figures from the sailing world to debate, discuss and decide upon the key issues in the sailing world. Over 100 Submissions - proposals to either change an existing ISAF policy or introduce a new policy in the sport - have been received from ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), ISAF Classes, Committee Chairmen and the Executive Committee covering many aspects of the sport. These will be debated alongside the other items addressed on each Committee's Agenda at the meetings in November. For ease, there are various options by which you can download papers - by a specific Committee, by Submission, by Agenda, by Supporting Paper - and the papers can be downloaded individually or as a bulk download, which is provided by a zip file download. The meeting papers are available to access here. On the ISAF Meetings microsite, you can find more details on the 2012 Annual Conference and General Assembly. There's also a simple guide to ISAF's decision-making process and a full database of past meeting papers. www.sailing.org/meetings/2012-conference.php High Winds Shutter Grand Pavois Opening The Grand Pavois decided not to open its doors on Monday. The wind conditions of the night and the early morning with gusts to over 51 knots that damaged the structures do not allow the organization team to open the site to visitors. Alain Pochon, President of the Grand Pavois: "We are very sorry to have made this decision for our enthusiastic visitors and for the marine professionals. After having been on site since 6:00 this morning, we must admit that the conditions of reception and security matters do not enable us to open the boat show today." The Grand Pavois 2013: September 25 to 30 / from 10:00 am to 07:00 pm. For The Record Record: Singlehanded. 24 hours John Reed Miracle Rescue Off Gibraltar The yachtsman, Dr Robert Bard, and crew sailing his Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45.2 rescued the man from the water and brought him ashore after failing to raise emergency services on VHF radio. 'We were on our way down to Las Palmas from Gosport for the ARC [transatlantic rally],' reports Dr Bard. 'It was a lovely day we spent the morning there and on the way back in the early afternoon about six miles out from Cueta on a direct course for Gibraltar. 'One of the crew asked me if I could see a red flare in the water about three quarters of a mile to the west. The sea state was slight to moderate. 'At first none of us could see it, but when I looked through the binoculars I could see a tiny red glow on the water. 'We all discussed whether it really was a flare, and whether to investigate. We decided that, on the slim basis it might be a flare and it might be real, and one day might be one of us, we would sail westwards and have a look. 'As we got nearer another crewmember said that what we thought was perhaps a lobster pot or some sort of buoy was actually a man in the water in an old fashioned red lifejacket. 'It came as a shock. What sort of state would he be in? And we had large container ships passing within hundreds of metres of us and him! 'The bathing ladder was put down, the crew pulled him round the back of the yacht, lifted him on board. The casualty was a middle aged, Spanish man. 'It seems he had been in the water for about 20 to 30 minutes. He had been out in a small day boat and it caught fire. He grabbed some flares and a lifejacket and jumped in. 'As we got him on board he started sobbing. I spent half an hour trying to get a response from the authorities and find out where to take him. On Channel 16 there was total silence. Tariffa Control responded only in Spanish and said something about sending a rescue boat, but never bothered asking our position. See the full report in the forthcoming November issue of Yachting World. Bill King Galway Blazer II, designed by Angus Primrose, after consultation with Bill's wartime friend, legendary solo yachtsman Blondie Hasler, was hit by a hurricane 1,000 miles south-west of Cape Town. In September 1970, Bill set sail once more. Seven days out of Fremantle, Western Australia he was rammed by a great white shark which holed the boat on her port side. He eventually made it round the world and was awarded the Royal Crusing Club's medal and the American Cruising Club's prestigious Blue Water Medal for his circumnavigation. Bill, who died at his castle in Oranmore, Galway, Ireland, was the only man to go right through World War II as a submarine commander on both the Allied and Axis sides, being decorated with the DSO and bar and DSC. After the war he crewed as navigator, for yacht designer John Illingworth in his boat Myth of Malham, competing in the Bermuda and Fastnet races. He wrote four books in co-operation with his wife, writer Anita Leslie, who predeceased him: Adventure In Depth, The Stick and the Stars, Capsize and The Wheeling Stars. Anita also wrote a poignant biography of Sir Francis Chichester. An obituary of Bill King will appear in the November issue of Yachting Monthly. Featured Brokerage 'Zwerver' was originally built at the Aluboot yard in Hindeloopen after a design of the dutch well known designer Dick Koopmans sr. "Zwerver" is kept in perfect condition due to her complete refit and overhaul in 2004, this includes a complete new paintjob of hull and mast, new set of sails, complete new set of navigation. Also the interior layout was changed. Now her spacious interior and shallow draft makes her ideal for cruising around the world even on shallow waters. 'Zwerver' can be inspected in our salesmarina in Hindeloopen. Brokerage through De Valk Yacht Brokers: www.yachtworld.com/devalkyb/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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