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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 Riders On The Storm
In driving rain with thunderbolts lighting up the medieval bastions, the South African crew, soaked to the skin, looked astonished to find out that they are now the hot favourites to win the overall prize for the Rolex Middle Sea Race. To put the amazing performance into perspective, Hi Fidelity's corrected time was nearly seven hours quicker than Niklas Zennstrom's JV72 Ran but the team had no idea until they finished. "We didn't have a clue how well we were doing until we finished, it is unbelievable," exclaimed De Villiers. "The crew have been absolutely fantastic, I can not give them enough praise. This has been one hell of a race, we have had just about everything thrown at us. Coming through the Comino Strait there was a terrific amount of thunder and lightning it was all around us and the wind touched 37 knots. To come through the finish and find out that we have such a great result is truly amazing!" Two yachts pose the biggest threat to HI Fidelity's overall lead Josef Schultheis' & Paolo Semeraro's Xp44, XP-ACT and the reigning Rolex Middle Sea Race champion, Lee Satariano & Christian Ripard's J/122, Artie RTF. Both yachts are expected to finish this afternoon. -- Louay Habib Dutch Victory for Leg Two of the Nord Stream Race "It was such a fantastic race, we made some right decisions in the tactical department, Kalle Coster did a great job for us. The boat moved fast, everyone was working hard and the three of us, with Team Europe and Team Russia were so close together. Between 5 and 10 miles before the finish Team Europe announced over the radio the gap was only 20 metres, but we managed to pull away when it mattered and it was great to cross the finish line first! Course change for leg three Due to deteriorating weather conditions Leg Three has been amended to race from Visby 150 miles to Karlskrona in Sweden, starting at 0900 on Thursday 25th October. The teams are due to arrive into Karlskrona late on Thursday evening. The change of course comes from the careful decision of the Organising Authority and the Principle Race Officer taking into consideration the pending forecast and the safety of the fleet. The event will conclude in Greifswald, Germany as planned on Saturday 27 October. Finding and Saving a Man Overboard Using the new generation Mk V Jonbuoy, a high visibility and high stability inflatable support ring, can make recovering a person who has fallen overboard a simple operation. But if the weather is extreme and there's no visibility, a bit of backup in the form of an AIS Survivor Recovery System can be very welcome. Combining the two innovative products is a massive step towards improving survival prospects. The Jonbuoy does its job by supporting the MOB in a cradle like position in its inflatable support structure, while the R10, the first personal AIS transmitter of its kind, provides high precision GPS information, bearing and range, relayed to the vessel's AIS system updated every 60 seconds. The R10 SRS is professionally fitted to the Jonbuoy so that when the Jonbuoy is deployed from its container - an easy operation since it inflates automatically - the system is ready for use and the R10 automatically starts transmitting. Italian AC72 Hits The Water This Week Skipper Max Sirena says preparing the new boat has been the main focus for the team for several weeks, at the expense of results in the last AC World Series event earlier this month in San Francisco. The two Luna Rossa crews finished in 9th and 11th place, after consistently placing on the podium in their previous events. "This week has been the worst… But we consider it an investment in the future," Sirena said after the final race. "Now we're ready to move forward and concentrate on the AC72, with which we will race in the America's Cup, our ultimate goal." "We've very much been focused on our move to Auckland and getting ready for the AC72," helmsman Chris Draper agreed. "For the next six months, we'll use the AC45s as training boats, but we'll be putting almost all of our attention into the AC72." ... But Bertelli Is Not Pleased With The Price Tag The president of Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 is in Auckland for the launch of their AC72 tomorrow night. He hosted a media gathering in the city today and joined the growing chorus who have suggested the massive yachts are too big and too expensive. "Whatever solution makes it more affordable for more challengers to participate ... that is the solution," Bertelli said. "Is that smaller cats or very fast lightweight monohulls?" While Oracle will defend the Cup next September, the challengers are in a race to get their boats up to speed for the Louis Vuitton Series in July. There are just three challengers with the Italians joining Team New Zealand and Sweden's Artemis Racing for the right to take on Oracle for the sport's oldest trophy. Bertelli revealed Luna Rossa's budget was $90m. Moving forward, Bertelli said a starting point should be "how many challengers do we want at the next America's Cup?" -- Duncan Johnstone in Stuff.co.nz Full article at www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/7862208/ 2013 RC44 Championship Dates Announced 2013 RC44 Championship Tour Calendar: 30th January to 3rd February - The Wave, Muscat, Oman The 2013 Tour will start in Muscat, Oman hosted by The Wave, Muscat, the first time the fleet has visited the country which invests so much in reigniting their maritime history. Occupying the south-east corner of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman offers crystal clear water and a prevailing north-easterly wind providing great sailing conditions to kick of the season. The country boasts a rich maritime heritage, has played host to a number of successful international sailing competitions over the past few years. Another new venue to be added for the 2013 season is a soon to be announced town in Sicily, Italy. The second event in May will be organized by Massimo and Francesco Barranco's Vela del Sud. Sailing To The Fastnet So notorious is it among sailors that you could say the Fastnet Rock is the northern hemisphere's Cape Horn. Legends have formed around this famous landmark: of storms, and shipwrecks and the terrible events of the RORC race in 1979. It may surprise people who haven't sailed there before, but the Fastnet Rock is only six miles from the mainland and four miles from the closest island. With a fair wind you can be grasping your first pint of Murphy's within the hour at Ciaran Danny Mike's on Cape Clear or O'Sullivans in Crookhaven... ... Being fascinated with the lighthouse, I've asked several times if I can join the RORC Fastnet officials and the answer has always been no. (This year I'll remember to tell them about the excellent Irish soda farls and wheaten bread I make, not to mention cakes. I'll bet the RORC team marches on its stomach and that this, rather than any yachting knowledge, could be the clincher.) The rock is a sight all right, and certainly one worth sailing to, but as for getting there and gybing to sail 250 miles straight back to Plymouth: forget it. As I say, the delights of land are too temptingly close. This area is a fantastic place to cruise with some of the nicest villages, pubs and local food you'll find anywhere in Ireland. I'd be turning right for O'Sullivans. A lot more between the elipses in Elaine Bunting's blog: www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/532932/sailing-to-the-fastnet Industry News The British Marine Electronics Association (BMEA) Conference 2012 took place on 17th October at the Novotel Hotel, Southampton. The event had over 60 delegates from all over the marine electronic and electrical sectors of the marine industry. After a full day of conferencing followed by the Association‚s Annual General Meeting, the day ended with the announcement of four major awards: The winner of the BMEA Product of the Year sponsored by Boating Business was the Furuno TimeZero Touch. The winner of the BMEA Dealer of the Year Award‰ is Boat Electrics & Electronics Ltd. The winner of the BMEA Newly Certificated Technician of the Year was Ashley Maginnis of A Maginnis Electrics. Brian Ash was the recipient of the BMEA Lifetime Achievement Award for his role as co founder and supporter of the BMEA and his contribution to the Marine electronic industry. ----------------------------------------------- Last week the Jury convened in Amsterdam and selected the nominees for the most prestigious design competition for new marine equipment and accessories. From a total of 115 products from 25 countries, 39 have now been nominated. The category winners and overall winner will be announced in the morning prior to the start of METS on 13 November. During METS, all short listed products and details of all winners will be on display in the special DAME presentation, located in the RAI Elicium. www.metstrade.com/mets/innovations-awards/pages/default.aspx Complete list of nominees (PDF): www.metstrade.com/mets/ ----------------------------------------------- Boats.com, the global online resource for boat enthusiasts to explore, discover, manage and share information on a single website, and a division of Dominion Marine Media, announced today its latest editorial innovation - "Short Take" videos - will be a prominent component of its editorial coverage of the 2012 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. Along with producing nearly 200 text boat reviews each year, the editorial team led by Editorial Director John Burnham and Senior Editor Lenny Rudow considers video a vital resource for site visitors. They have published dozens of full-length video boat reviews in the last year and recently launched a series of Short Take videos from earlier fall boat shows. Each video runs less than a minute. "Every year we return to Ft. Lauderdale as a larger and stronger editorial team," said John Burnham, editorial director, Dominion Marine Media. "This year we're featuring 'Short Take' videos as a fresh way to show new models to consumers, whether they're interested in the boats today or researching the same boat months or even years from now." Boats.com currently hosts a library of more than 1,100 boat reviews, plus an archive of more than 10,000 articles and blog posts used every day for research by boating shoppers and enthusiasts. ----------------------------------------------- Swedish engine manufacturer Volvo Penta today announced that global demand for its marine and industrial engines in the third quarter of 2012 was weak as a result of the continued uncertainty surrounding the economy, particularly in the previously strong boat markets of Southern Europe. Total net sales in the third quarter declined by 17 per cent year-on-year to SEK1,720m, or by 15 per cent when adjusted for currency fluctuations. Sales of marine engines were down 15 per cent to SEK912m, while industrial engines fell by 20 per cent to SEK808m. "The declining economy and financial turmoil has a negative impact on the total market for industrial engines in Europe and also in North America, and during the quarter demand has declined in other key industrial-engine markets such as China and India," says the company in a statement. ----------------------------------------------- The new Oyster magazine app is now accessible in iPad format and available for free download via the iTunes store. To view the new Oyster app please visit https://itunes.apple.com or click on the image above to access the iTunes store and download the new app onto your iPad. The new look magazine marks Oyster's inaugural move into the exciting world of digital publishing. ----------------------------------------------- The new shore block at Stranraer Marina is the latest project to benefit from the Sail West initiative across western Scotland, Northern Ireland and the northwest coast of Ireland. As the Galloway Gazette reports, the new waterfront building comprises a permanent harbour office, coastguard base, showers and toilets, as well as a community education room. "The ongoing development of the marina is key to branding Stranraer as a marine leisure destination," said local councillor Roberta Tuckfield. "Plans to add more pontoons and another breakwater should bring in additional pleasure craft, increasing tourism numbers benefiting the whole town." The marina improvements have been made with the goals of boosting the number of marine leisure users in Stranraer, fitting in with Sail West and its cross-border MalinWaters marine tourism brand across the channel. More in Afloat magazine: afloat.ie/port-news/irish-marinas/ Featured Brokerage We are happy to present our boat, that was presented in major Polish boatshows and made a great impression. It was used also for a few, short sea trials but we will sell it with full warranty. Brokerage through Horyzont Sp. z o.o.: www.yachtworld.com/hanseyacht/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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