Alamitos Bay Yacht Club

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 editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Zbogar Extends His Lead at Finn Europeans
Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) has taken a six point lead going into the final qualification day of the 2013 Finn European Championship in Warnemunde, Germany, after winning the only race sailed on day four. Ed Wright (GBR) moves up to second while Josh Junior (NZL) is up to third.

The patience of the sailors was tested yet again on day four of the championship as the fleet was held on shore all morning following an overnight change in the weather that brought rain and cloud to the area. Finally just as everyone was giving up hope the cloud cleared the sun came out and a light sea breeze began to establish itself. The AP flag was removed at 14.30 and the 100 boat fleet set out for a first start at 15.50 in around 6-8 knots of wind.

Race seven turned into a game of snakes and ladders with some large shifts and tricky conditions.

The race team tried valiantly to start race eight, but after around half a dozen attempts with the sea breeze starting to clock round they hoisted AP over A and sent the fleet back to harbour. It was 18.00 and the sailors were tired and hungry.

In the Junior Championship, the points gap has closed with Peter McCoy (GBR) still leading, but by only 30 points from Jake Liley (AUS), who had a better result today.

Racing continues Friday at 12.00 with three races scheduled before the final race and medal race for the top 10 on Saturday.

Top 10 after seven races:

1. Vasilij Zbogar, SLO, 23 points
2. Ed Wright, GBR, 29
3. Josh Junior, NZL, 40
4. Jonathan Lobert, FRA, 42
5. Andrew Murdoch, NZL, 43
6. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, CRO, 46
7. Pieter-Jan Postma, NED, 47
8. Alican Kaynar, TUR, 59
9. Max Salminen, SWE, 60
10. Thomas Le Breton, FRA, 66

Juniors
1. Peter McCoy, GBR, 158 (24th overall)
2. Jake Lilley, AUS, 188 (32nd overall)
3. Lennart Luttkus, GER, 251 (44th overall)

Event website: www.finneuropeans.org/ec2013
Class website: www.finnclass.org

Charisma Holds Its Own, While Barking Mad Makes Its Play
Photo by Sara Proctor, sailfastphotography.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Edgartown, Massachusetts, USA: Gloomy skies and strong northeast winds weren't exactly what the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce had in mind as a treat for island guests today, but at least 11 teams of sailors appreciated it, since it meant three excellent races could be added to their score lines at the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship. Hosted by the Farr 40 Class and the Edgartown Yacht Club, the event kicked off yesterday in more brochure-like conditions but today tested heavy-air boat handling skills and shuffled standings behind leader Nico Poons (Monaco) and his Charisma team, which-as it did yesterday-sailed smartly, winning the first race and placing second in the following two.

Poons called his start at the committee boat end in race one "splendid" and said it allowed his team to lead by the top mark and for the rest of the way around the twice-around windward leeward course. His start was not as memorable in the second race, and Jim Richardson's (Boston, Mass.) Barking Mad got the advantage at the pin end and went on to win that race. In the third race it was Helmut Jahn's (Chicago, Ill.) Flash Gordon that won, but nevertheless, Charisma and Barking Mad were head-to-head in battle, with Charisma passing Barking Mad on the last run to take second, leaving third for Barking Mad.

Tomorrow's forecast is for 27-30 knots in the morning; therefore, the race committee has slated a one-hour delay in the start to 12:30.

Results:

1. Charisma, Nico Poons , Monaco, MON, 8 points
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 16
3. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 24
4. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 26
5. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 28
6. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 29
7. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 30
8. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 37
9. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 39
10. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernardo Minkow / Julian Fernandez, MEX, 44
11. Oakcliff, Oakcliff Sailing, USA, 53

farr40.org

Opening Day In Porto
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

An epic nine races were sailed in open sea on the opening day of the Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 in Porto, with plenty of hull flying, close mark roundings and even a man overboard for the local boys on ROFF Cascais Sailing Team to keep the on water umpire team busy. Despite hydraulics problems for The Wave, Muscat before racing had even started the defending champions were on fire, winning the opening race before going on to a further three race wins staking an early lead in Porto. Never letting them far from their sights however was Pierre Pennec who returns to the Series at the helm of Realteam, leading the Swiss entry to an impressive three race wins and showing everyone why he is one of the most formidable skippers in the fleet ahead of tomorrow's Stadium Racing.

13 knots of breeze that built to 15 knots for the final race gave the teams a chance to stretch their sails and push their carbon fibre catamarans hard around the course, with each race lasting an average of 14 minutes.

Pierre Pennec didn't take long to find his Extreme 40 feet again, having last raced in the Series in 2012, and three race wins sees them just four points behind The Wave, Muscat.

The new faces to the Series onboard Team Tilt showed they can mix it up with the more experienced skippers on their first ever day of Extreme 40 racing, even posting a race win in the third race of the day before a string of top three results.

Friday and for the next three days it's Stadium Racing for the fleet and there is plenty of anticipation dockside for what SAP Extreme Sailing Team co-skipper Jes Gram Hansen described as "one of the best racecourses I have ever sailed on" in this morning's press conference.

Standings after Day 1, 9 races

1. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi, 78 points
2. Realteam (SUI) Pierre Pennec, Bryan Mettraux, Nils Palmieri, Cedric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem, 74
3. Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Ben Lezin, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 66
4. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Røssberg, Nicolai Sehested, 58
5. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Simon Cooke, Graeme Spence, 58
6. Team Tilt (SUI) Lucien Cujean, Jocelyn Keller, Jeremy Bachelin, Thomas Mermod, Jonas Schagen, 51
7. GAC Pindar (NZL) Will Tiller, Brad Farrand, Stewart Dodson, Harry Thurston, Shaun Mason, 47
8. ROFF Cascais Sailing Team (POR) Antonio Mello, Bernardo Freitas, Joao Mello, Ricardo Schedel, Joao Matos Rosa, 33

www.extremesailingseries.com

Specialist Advice and Expertise
At the Marine Advertising Agency we understand race boats, the people that campaign them and their sponsors demands. We know what designs work and what doesn't and how best to push a message through this medium.

Specialising in design, branding, PR, HTML newsletters, product launches and advertising for the marine market, the Marine Advertising Agency slots into businesses to offer specialist advice and expertise.

Clients including Alex Thomson Racing, Clipper Ventures, Raymarine, Beneteau, Henri Lloyd, Crewsaver and Contender UK have all enlisted the knowledge and skills of the Marine Advertising Agency in a variety of different ways.

The Marine Advertising Agency gets it, gets on with it and delivers results for you.

www.marineadagency.com
@marineadagency

Once More Unto The Breach
At best for organizers of the America's Cup yacht race, a lawsuit by a would-be American team of sailors is just another unwanted episode for an event riddled with a range of missteps and calamity.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club did not approve any U.S. challenges to Oracle Team USA, right. At worst, it could severely delay September's finals, international sailing's main event.

The suit claims that the Golden Gate Yacht Club, holder of the trophy and the host of this year's race, did not act in good faith in 2011 when it reviewed and rejected the application of African Diaspora Maritime, described as a North Carolina-based sailing syndicate with a mission of training African-American race sailors.

A New York court initially dismissed the suit, but a state appellate court in late June reinstated one of the claims and sent the case back to the trial court to ascertain whether Golden Gate Yacht Club acted in good faith when it rejected African Diaspora Maritime's application in April 2011. The group filed the original lawsuit in December 2011.

With the case bubbling up again, lawyers for Golden Gate Yacht Club on Monday requested permission from the appellate court to ask New York's top court to dismiss the claim. In the meantime, the parties [were] scheduled to appear in court in New York City on Wednesday to discuss a potential trial. -- John Branch

www.nytimes.com

420 World and Ladies World Championships
Valencia, Spain: A light breeze of around 7 knots greeted teams for day 1 of racing at the 2013 420 World Championships, as racing got started under a clear blue sky and dazzling sun. By the time race 2 was underway, the wind had increased to around 10-12 knots.

The 110 teams in the 420 Open fleet have been seeded into yellow, blue and red fleets, with the 87 Ladies teams seeded into yellow and blue for the six races of the three day qualification series. Teams will be reseeded after each of the three qualification days, before advancing to the final gold, silver and bronze fleets for the 420 Open and gold, silver for the 420 Ladies for another six races over the three day final series.

420 Open - Leaderboard Top 5
1. Gianmaria Caiconti / Edoardo Portoraro, ITA, 3 points
2. Tiago Brito / Andrei Kneipp, BRA, 3
3. Santiago Mas / David Mas, ESP, 5
4. Ibuki Koizumi / Tsubasa Arioka, JPN, 7
5. Jose María Ruiz / Fernando Davila (ESP, 9

In the 420 Ladies Championiship, Carlotta Omari / Francesca Russo Cirillo of Italy were the team of the opening day, knocking out two race wins with what looked like relative ease in the blue fleet.

It is just day 1, but interesting so far to see Italian 420 teams representing fifty percent of the top 10 leaderboard.

420 Ladies - Leaderboard Top 5
1. Carlotta Omari / Francesca Russo Cirillo, ITA, 2 points
2. Jenifer Poret / Lucie Scheiwiller, FRA, 6
3. Paula Barceló / Margarita Alba, ESP, 7
4. Carmen Davila / Julia Davila, ESP, 10
5. Ilaria Paternnoster / Di Salle Benedetta, ITA, 11

www.420sailing.org/worlds

A Bit More About Dorade
As I am sure you all know that Dorade just won the 2013 TransPac -- for the second time -- at 83 years old. If you wish to read more about her win, see some gorgeous photos and learn more of her history go to www.dorade.org.

When the book LINES by Olin Stephens was published some years ago, blue leather book marks (I guess you would call them) donated by S & S were included in the boxed copies.

They were copies of souvenirs handed out at the ticker tape parade in NYC held for the DORADE crew when she came back in 1931 from winning the 1930 transAtlantic race to Europe and subsequent Fastnet.

As the DORADE website mentions she is now the oldest boat to participate in and win the TransPac, and the photos available on the internet of her running down the Channel to the finish line show her in all her glory. If you look carefully, you can see that the skylight midships is open which is noteworthy considering her reputation for rolling, and the often nasty conditions between the islands. You can also tell that she is whistling right along and she looks "happy." I have read (although it is hard to believe) that her top speed during the race was either a over 13 or 15 K (two different reports) with an average speed of 7.8 K for the almost 3000 nm race. This was 8.1% faster than her winning performance in 1936.

The website says it all: "Really there were eight of us on this -- seven crew members and the eighth was DORADE -- and she didn't disappoint us, she performed flawlessly and did everything we asked her to do." (Matt Brooks who owns DORADE with his wife Pam). -- Ginny Jones

Besson / Riou Extend Lead at NACRA 17 Worlds
Photo by Laurens Morel, saltycolours.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

The Hague, Netherlands: On the first day of the final series, the French Billy Besson and Marie Riou extended their lead at the Nacra 17 Worlds 2013 in The Hague, Netherlands. As expected, it was again a sunny and quiet day. The sailors got more time to recover from a full day of action yesterday, as AP was up until 16:12 hours. The race committee managed to get in one race for the Gold Fleet.

After the breeze shifted to the west and picked up to 8-10 knots, the boats were sent out for the second time today.

The Dutch Mandy Mulder and Thijs Visser won the qualification series, tied on points with Besson and Riou, but they lost points today with a 18th position.

There are three final races needed to start the Medal Race and five to discard the worst result. That makes two discards: one in the qualification and one in the final series. For Friday there are three races planned for the Silver fleet and two for the Gold, but the weather forecast remains the biggest challenge. -- Diana Bogaards

Top 5 Gold Fleet after 6 races and 1 discard:

1. Besson/Riou, FRA, 8 points
2. Saxton/Diamond, GBR, 15
3. Vaireaux/Audinet, FRA, 16
4. Bissaro/Sicouri, ITA, 24
5. Jones/Saunders, NZL, 24

www.nacra17worlds.com

Grabbing Points
The moment Groupama 34 crossed the finish in La Seyne, the team won the Tour de France a la Voile 2013. Courrier Dunkerque and Bretagne Credit Mutuel are tied for second place and Sodebo, who finished second today, is still in a threatening position. Cammas won but the fight for second is far from over.

The leg from Gruissan to La Seyne was a tricky one with a lot of wind shifts throughout the 123-mile route, scored by a factor of 3. Groupama 34 claimed their 18th victory over the 30 races sailed since the race started in Dunkirk on June 29. Cammas and his men cannot loose the Tour before the end of the race in Marseille on Saturday. There are six races left (total scoring factor of 7) and they are 98 points ahead tonight.

Their first place overall is symbolised by a blue spinnaker but they are still looking to claim the green (offshore ranking) and red chutes (inshore ranking) as well. And to top it off, Groupama is gunning for a 100-point lead over the second place team.

As of today there are two runners up: Courrier Dunkerque 3 and Bretagne Credit Mutuel, both tied for points after Bretagne was disqualified for an in-port race in Gruissan. But the second two places on the podium are wide open. Sodebo finished second today, and now Tomas Coville's team is only 12.7 points becond the runners-up.

www.tourvoile.fr

Bo Petersen Still Leads OK Dinghy Europeans
Click on image for photo gallery.

On the fourth day of the OK Dinghy Europeans in Carnac France, only one race was managed in the ongoing tricky conditions. Dawid Kania (POL) seems to know what is going on though with his second race victory for move up to sixth overall.

However, the math is now getting more complicated as Stefan Myralf (DEN) picked up a second place and is now only trailing championship leader Bo Petersen (DEN) by just one point. Young Pole Kania, scored his second consecutive win in this series. The top is still very close so both Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE) and Tomazs Gaj (POL) could still come from behind and take the title if the two leading Danes had a bad race.

Other than Kania moving up the top ten stayed in the same order, though it is still all up for grabs on the final day - if the wind shows up. -- Robert Deaves

The championship concludes on Friday.

Results after seven races:

1. Bo Petersen, DEN, 15 points
2. Stefan Myralf, DEN, 16
3. Thomas Hansson-Mild, SWE, 23
4. Tomasz Gaj, POL, 25
5. Greg Wilcox, NZL, 29
6. Dawid Kania, POL, 41
7. Nick Craig, GBR, 42
8. Lee Child, GBR, 52
9. Jorgen Lindhardtsen, DEN, 56
10. Rene Johannsen Sarabia, DEN, 56

Event website: www.yccarnac.com
Class website: www.okdia.org

Weymouth Keelboat Championships
The Yacht clubs of Weymouth (YCW) are counting down the days to the Weymouth Keelboat Championships in association with the Ellen MacArthur cancer trust (EMCT.) This is the biggest regatta planned for many a year by YCW which starts with feeder races from the Solent and Poole on Tuesday 13th August.

Arranged to allow competitors the chance to enjoy Weymouth and the surrounding countryside during the day yet experience local club racing in the evenings (Wednesday and Thursday) and sample some offshore racing around the headlands of Portland and St Albans on the Friday whilst bashing the cans on Saturday and Sunday.

The National Impalas are holding their nationals as part of the championships, whilst Squibs, PY and IRC classes are also catered for. The Keelboat championships welcomes limited validity IRC holders.

Working with the EMCT we are trying to raise £500 to allow a local youngster recuperating from cancer the chance to experience sailing to build their confidence and mix with like minded people.

The socials based at Weymouth Sailing Club are sponsored by Old Pulteney whiskey and the apres sail games are now legendary along the south coast.

Local Preparatory School, Thornlow are sponsoring trophies and prizes for under 18's who excel on the water but just as importantly those that assist in race management.

For more details and to enter visit www.weymouthregatta.co.uk

Featured Brokerage
1972 Royal Huisman Sparkman Stephens 48. US$ 199,000. Located in Norway.

"Azahara" has a two stateroom layout that is typical of racer/cruisers of the early 70's era. There are two berths in forward cabin, with two settee and two pilot berths in the main salon. The aft cabin has two double berths and two singles. The galley is aft on the starboard side and there is one head.

Azahara is finished with traditional satin varnish applied over teak. In 2009, the teak, along with the headliner was renewed. The cabin sole is teak and holly. The interior cushions were at the same time also reupholstered.

There are lee cloths for all the berths forward and leeboards for the aft cabin berths. The companionway ladder is aluminum and teak and there is a smaller teak ladder from the aft cabin to the aft cockpit.

Brokerage through Bollman Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/bollmanyachts/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. -- Stephen Hawking

About boats.com
boats.com is a highly powerful and effective global marketing solution for the boating industry. With half a million new and used boat listings, offered across the globe by manufacturers, brokers, dealers and private advertisers, it is the most comprehensive site in the World. Over 1.4 million boating consumers visit our sites every month, generating up to 16.5 million page views, with over 500,000 of these visitors coming from within Europe. Whether you are providing a product or service or selling new or pre owned boats, boats.com offers an extensive and varied range of solutions, tailored to suit all marketing budgets offering extensive local and international coverage.

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Emirates Team New Zealand Elects to Advance to Louis Vuitton Cup Final
Photo by Luna Rossa / Studio Borlenghi/ Borlenghi-Butto. Click on image for photo gallery.

San Francisco, California, USA: Emirates Team New Zealand today won its ninth consecutive race of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America's Cup Challenger Series, cementing its status as the top team in the challengers' series.

Later in the day skipper Dean Barker announced his team would exercise its right to advance to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, scheduled to begin Aug. 17. Emirates Team New Zealand earned that right by winning the round robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Emirates Team New Zealand will race either Artemis Racing or Luna Rossa Challenge. Those two teams will race the Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinal, scheduled Aug. 6-15.

Barker said the team considered racing the semifinals, but in the end opted to advance development program of Aotearoa, the team's AC72.

"We thought hard about doing the semifinals to get more racing and more starting, to get more race time under our belts," Barker said. "But we also have a fairly large amount of work to do to our boat, a lot of changes and modifications intended to improve the performance.

"That takes time, so we will take the next period to make changes and we look forward to lining up against whoever we will race in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final," Barker said.

Barker said his team has informed Artemis Racing that it won't be on the start line for their scheduled match on Tuesday, but it's unlikely Artemis Racing would participate. Artemis Racing skipper Iain Percy said his team is still targeting the Aug. 6 start of the semifinals for their first live race.

On the racecourse today, the Kiwis completed a sweep of Luna Rossa Challenge, their one-time training partners. With Barker back on the helm after yesterday's breather and movie star Tom Cruise watching, the Kiwi crew grabbed the lead on the first reach leg and never looked back. The Kiwis led by 7 seconds at the first turning mark, 35 seconds at the second turning mark and 1:35 at the third turning mark en route to a 3:20 victory.

Standings
1. Emirates Team New Zealand 9-0, 9 points (1 race remaining)
2. Luna Rossa Challenge 4-5, 4 points (1 race remaining)
3. Artemis Racing 0-8, 0 points (2 races remaining)

americascup.com

Vasilij Zbogar Wins Finn Europeans
Andrei Gusenko. Photo by Robert Deaves. Click on image for photo gallery.

Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) has won the 2013 Finn European Championships in Warnemunde, Germany after all racing on the final day was cancelled with the wind failing to stabilise over four knots. Ed Wright (GBR) takes the silver and Andrew Murdoch the bronze.

The sailors have played a waiting game all week and the final day was no different. The forecast cloud cover did not materialise but the race course was largely windless nonetheless, with searingly hot sunshine at least offering the promise of something later in the day. The fleet race was cancelled at 13.30, the medal race was cancelled at 14.00, and the sea breeze arrived slighty kater although still very light compared to previous days. This left the results standing from Friday. The week had ended how it began, with no racing taking place.

In taking the title, Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) wins his first major championship in the Finn class. He was clearly the best sailor here this week and fully deserves to lift the trophy. In spite of two breakages which cost him valuable points he kept his usual cool and consistency to remain in control and win the last two races.

The new European Champion, Vasilij Zbogar placed sixth in the London 2012 Olympics after finishing as runner up at the 2012 Finn Europeans. He is the key sailor at Luca's Devoti's Dinghy Academy in Valencia, which the Finn Class is supporting through limited campaign funding for eligible sailors.

The sailors now have a brief respite before gathering again in a few weeks time Tallinn, Estonia for the Finn Gold Cup from 23-31 August. -- Robert Deaves

Final results (top 10 from 103), eight races:

1. Vasilij Zbogar, SLO, 24 points
2. Ed Wright, GBR, 31
3. Andrew Murdoch, NZL, 48
4. Pieter-Jan Postma, NED, 50
5. Josh Junior, NZL, 54
6. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, CRO, 63
7. Max Salminen, SWE, 72
9. Jonathan Lobert, FRA, 73
9. Thomas Le Breton, FRA, 66
10. Alican Kaynar, TUR, 59

Juniors

1. Peter McCoy, GBR, 176 (23rd overall)
2. Jake Lilley, AUS, 193 (25th overall)
3. Lennart Luttkus, GER, 285 (39th overall)

www.finneuropeans.org/ec2013

The Wave, Muscat Wins Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 In Porto
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Porto has delivered the ultimate challenge in Stadium Racing for the eight international teams competing this week, with a narrow river, high walls, strong tides, big rocks and gusty winds to contend with. After 30 races it came down to the wire between The Wave, Muscat and Alinghi in the final double pointer with just three points separating two of the most experienced teams on the circuit. Impeccable boat handling from McMillan and a win in the final race - their tenth of the Act - ultimately saw the Omani flagged team claim a deserved win who have been unflappable this week having led the charge since race eight.

Porto is the third Act win this season for McMillan and his crew Peter Greenhalgh, Hashim al Rashidi, Musab al Hadi and Ed Smyth following victories in Oman and Qingdao which significantly leaves them tied on points with Alinghi at the top of the overall Series leaderboard.

Always in contention and pushing the top teams hard was Pierre Pennec, who returned to the Series at the helm of Realteam for this Act. Pennec - who is known to be one of the most daring sailors in the Series - has lost none of his edge, and pushed the Realteam Extreme 40 hard around the course to help the team to their first ever podium position.

With four Acts complete and four Acts to go, the Series is at its halfway stage and next heads to the Welsh capital Cardiff over the August bank holiday weekend where they will be hosted by the Cardiff Harbour Festival, 23-26 August.

Final standings after Day 4, 30 races (28.7.13)

1. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi, 248 points
2. Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Ben Lezin, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 235
3. Realteam (SUI) Pierre Pennec, Bryan Mettraux, Nils Palmieri, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem, 223
4. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Rossberg, Nicolai Sehested, 214
5. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Simon Cooke, Graeme Spence, 204
6. GAC Pindar (NZL) Will Tiller, Brad Farrand, Stewart Dodson, Harry Thurston, Shaun Mason, 173
7. ROFF Cascais Sailing Team (POR) Antonio Mello, Bernardo Freitas, Joao Mello, Ricardo Schedel, Joao Matos Rosa, 156
8. Team Tilt (SUI) Lucien Cujean, Jocelyn Keller, Jeremy Bachelin, Thomas Mermod, Lionel Vaucher, 156

Extreme Sailing Series 2013 overall standings after Act 5, Porto
Position / Team / Points

1. The Wave, Muscat, OMA) 36 points
2. Alinghi, SUI, 36
3. Red Bull Sailing Team, AUT, 30
4. SAP Extreme Sailing Team, DEN, 27
5. Realteam, SUI, 22
6. GAC Pindar, NZL, 21
7. Team X Invitational, 17
8. Team Korea, KOR, 16

extremesailingseries.com

NACRA 17 Worlds Ends Without Medal Race
The Hague, Netherlands: On Saturday July 27 2013 at 15:30 hours it was finally clear that Billy Besson and Marie Riou from France were the first ever World Champions Nacra 17. After another long day of waiting, the thunderstorm left The Hague without any breeze and the Race Committee had no choice but cancelling the decisive Medal Race. The British pairing of Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond takes silver, followed by Matías Bühler and Nathalie Brugger from Switzerland.

The latest starting time according to the Sailing Instructions was 16 hours and boats needed at least thirty minutes to get there, so the practical cut time was 15:30 hours. That was when Billy Besson knew he had won his second World title within one month.

Now he is not only world's best F18 helm of 2013, but also in the new Olympic mixed multihull class.

The cancellation of the Medal Race was especially disappointing for Renee Groeneveld and Carel Begemann from the Netherlands, who where not far from a podium finish. Now they remain fourth overall, one point behind the Swiss team. -- Diana Bogaards

Top ten 2013 Nacra 17 Worlds in The Hague:

1. Besson / Riou, FRA, 20 points
2. Saxton / Diamond, GBR, 23
3. Buhler / Brugger, SUI, 43
4. Groeneveld / Begemann, NED, 44
5. Vaireaux / Audinet, FRA, 48
6. Waterhouse / Darmanin, AUS, 50
7. Delnooz / De Koning, NED, 51
8. Bissaro / Sicouri, ITA, 52
9. Jones / Saunders, NZL, 56
10. Zajac / Frank, AUT, 58

www.nacra17worlds.com

Antipodeans Rule
Photo by Robert Hajduk, www.shuttersail.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

arhus, Denmark: Morning rain and a dead calm greeted the sailors upon arrival at the Kalovig Sailing Club in Aarhus, Denmark for the 2013 29er World Championship. After a bit of a postponement on the water, the wind slowly built from nothing to 19 knots and 3 races were held on the 4 courses set on Kalovig Bay.

After some close racing and a quick ride back to the shore, the sailors downunder and across the pond stand in the top 3 positions. Charlie Wyatt and Tom Siganto of Australia sit in first with 1-3-1 followed by New Zealanders Markus Somerville and Jack Simpson with 5-3-1. American brothers Dane and Quinn Wilson sit in third overall posting a 2-1-7. Dane WIlson, crew of the US boat commented on the day, "it was shifty in all conditions, but we sailed well." When asked about coming from the Youth Worlds, "we're really practiced and we sailed against the best; coming here there's more depth."

ISAF Youth World champions Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros of France sit in 4th overall. The top female team of sisters Ragna and Maia Agerup of Norway who finished 11th in the Youth Worlds and were the only all-female team, currently are the top female team in the Worlds sitting 11th overall. Denmark's top team of Frederik Just Melson and Markus Oliver Nielsen are 21st overall in the standings and also came straight from the ISAF Youth Worlds.

Twenty-five nations are representing all continents with 213 entries in this highly competitive fleet.

Racing continues on Monday, July 29 with two more days of the qualifying series followed by three days of the final series. The prizegiving will be held on Friday, August 2.

www.29erworlds.org

Charisma Dominates To Win Rolex Farr 40 North Americans
Photo by Daniel Forster, www.DanielForster.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Edgartown, Massachusetts, USA Nico Poons (Monaco) and his mostly Dutch crew aboard Charisma sealed their deal today, winning the Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship in Martha's Vineyard with only two finishes worse than second in a 10-race series. The event, which began on Wednesday (July 24) and hosted 11 teams from six nations, had seen Charisma top the scoreboard at the end of each of three prior race days, and going into today, with seven races in its score line, the team had a rare-for-the-class ten points on its closest competitor, Jim Richardson's (Boston, Mass.) Barking Mad. In contrast, Alberto Rossi's (Ancona, Italy) Enfant Terrible was only five points behind Barking Mad, which put into play a most intriguing game of chess on the game board that was the flat, sunshine-soaked sea off the Vineyard's northeast shore.

This is Poons's first North American title in the Farr 40 class, for which he was awarded the 2013 Farr 40 North American Trophy and a Rolex Submariner timepiece. His next target is the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in Newport, R.I. in September.

Day Four, Final Results

1. Charisma, Nico Poons, Monaco, MON, 25 points
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 33
3. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, Ancona, ITA, 37
4. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 54
5. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 58
6. Plenty, Alexander Roepers, USA, 60
7. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 64
8. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 72
9. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernardo Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 78
10. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 78
11. Oakcliff Farr 40, Oakcliff Sailing, USA, 108

farr40.org

The King Canute Regatta
Hamble, Hampshire, UK: As so many of its racing events have been hit by adverse weather throughout the early part of the Royal Southern Yacht Club's racing programme this year, the Hamble-based club has announced a one-off and free-to-enter 'King Canute Regatta' that will take place on Saturday 31st August.

The Club's Sailing Committee is putting up a new prize - the Canute Cup - for the overall winner. As its Chairman Colin 'Canute' Hall quipped, "We might not be able to turn back the tide, but we can help make up for the dreadful weather."

Although this Regatta won't count for the Club's Series Championship, as a stand-alone event it will earn Class winners invitations to the Club's glittering AVEVA-sponsored Prizegiving Dinner in November.

There will be two round the cans Solent-style races offered to both IRC and Club Class divisions. The overall winning boat will be chosen from the each division by the Race Committee which will have the additional discretion to award extra merit to teams entering into the spirit of the event, family crewed boats, youngest and oldest crew, and fancy dress.

www.royal-southern.co.uk

Bo Petersen Wins 2013 OK Dinghy European Championship
The OK Dinghy European Championship in Carnac, France, concluded on Friday without another race being sailed. Very light winds kept the fleet on shore all day in the sunshine. So Bo Petersen (DEN) won the title from Stefan Myralf (DEN) and Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE).

After only two years in the class the 50 year old architect Bo Petersen won the championship by just one point from Myralf. Petersen said, "I was hoping the wind would not materialise, while Stefan hoped that the wind came. Four years ago I said to myself that I would win a World Championship before I was 50; now I'm 50 and have won a championship."

Final results (seven races, one discard)

Event website: euro2013.yoleok.org
Class website: www.okdia.org

GC32 at Cowes Week
Photo by Christophe Launay, www.sealaunay.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Visitors to Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week will get a taste of state of the art catamaran racing as the Great Cup makes its UK debut during the world's most famous sailboat regatta.

The Great Cup, a new circuit due to launch properly in 2014, is raced in latest generation GC32 one design catamarans. These have been designed by foil expert and fluid mechanics PhD Martin Fischer, designer of several World Championship winning F18 dinghy catamarans such as the Phantom, as well as the foils on Franck Cammas' Volvo Ocean Race victor, Groupama.

These 10m long by 6m wide catamarans are built by Premier Composite Technologies in Dubai and feature reverse 'Dreadnought' bows, L-profile rudders and unique double S-shaped daggerboards, with control lines to alter their pitch.

Three GC32s will be competing in the Multihull class at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.

Spax Solutions is being campaigned by Frenchman Laurent Lenne, creator of the Great Cup and the GC32 catamaran. Racing with Lenne will be his right hand man in the Great Cup, Australian former Tornado sailor Andrew Macpherson, plus Swedish Volvo Ocean Race sailor Mikael Lundh and young New Zealand match racer and former China Team AC45 crewman James Williamson.

An all-British GC32 crew will be racing on Time on the Water, named after the company run by former Team GBR Olympic Tornado sailor and Extreme 40 helmsman Hugh Styles. On board with Styles, who is today coach of British Laser Radial ace Ali Young, will be other ex-Team GBR squad members, 470 sailor Richard Mason and 49er crew Rick Peacock, plus catamaran expert Adam Piggott.

Another strong contender will be Flavio Marazzi's Marwin team. Marazzi is making his transition to catamarans having previously represented his native Switzerland in the Star class at both the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games. Also racing on board is Swiss 470 turned Nacra 17 Olympic catamaran sailor Matías Bühler, Diego Stefani from Uruguay and France's Nicolas Heintz.

www.thegreatcup.com

Featured Brokerage
1937 Holms Batvary - Gambely Shipyard Bermudian sloop. EUR 550,000. Located In Port Grimaud, France.

Beautiful Swedish built wooden classic yacht, Havsornen went trough a few major refits in 1987 and 2000 and is completely restored to her original state.

The yacht has won several prizes in the Mediterranean regattas and will now try to do the same in the Caribbean classic regattas.

Brokerage through Pierre-Andre JEANNE Yacht Broker: www.yachtworld.com/paj/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. -- Kinky Friedman

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

32nd Copa Del Rey MAPFRE
Today was the first day of competition in the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE. A north-easterly wind of 10-12 knots greeted the fleet in the Bay of Palma on opening day. Conditions have been uneven in the three race courses, but all classes were able to sail at least one race. The Alpha race course was the most favoured, where the X-35 and J80 were the only two fleets that managed to sail two races.

The first leaders of the week are: British "Jethou" in the Hublot IRC 0 class, Italian "B2" in Hublot IRC 1, Swedish "Ran" in Gaastra IRC 52, Romanian "Natalia" in G.H. Mumm ORC 1, Spanish "X-Spain" in G.H. Mumm ORC 2, Spanish "Vamos Spain" in Nespresso Soto 40, Italian "Margherita" in La Caixa X-35 and Spanish "Turismo do Algarve" in Mahou J80.

The regatta program continues tomorrow in the Bay of Palma. The Race Committee will attempt to organize three races in all classes except for La Caixa X-35 and Mahou J80, which has scheduled a maximum of two races tomorrow. The first start of the day is scheduled at 13h00.

www.regatacopadelrey.com

* The challenges came in different forms for some of the top 52's on the first day of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE on the Bay of Palma, Mallorca, but it was Niklas Zennstrom's crew on Ran Racing which won the one and only race for the Gaastra IRC Class.

The unusual NE'ly wind direction had several navigators and tacticians searching their memory banks to recall the best strategy for what ultimately proved to be an excellent opening contest for Spain's showcase annual regatta.

While Ran Racing's tactician Adrian Stead and strategist/trimmer Andy Hemmings read it well, guiding Ran Racing to a very comfortable win, by some two and a half minutes ahead of a tightly matched group, second placed Azzurra started badly after a series of mishaps spiralled to leave them out of sorts, last off the start line.

Azzurra overcame their own pre-race troubles and fight back through the fleet. An engine malfunction and radio problems had left them slightly short of their usual preparation regime.

Ergin Imre's Provezza lead to the first mark, hung on to second around most of the course and only slipped to fourth, one second behind 52 SUPER SERIES leader Quantum Racing, despite racing with no electronics and with a stand in, late substitute bowman.

www.52superseries.com

Mirror World Sailing Championships
Click on image to enlarge.

182 sailors in 91 boats began competing today on Lough Derg, Dromineer, Co. Tipperary for the title of 2013 Mirror World Champion. Sailors have travelled to Lough Derg Yacht Club from the UK, Australia, the Philippines, South Africa, Canada, Sweden as well as parts of Ireland to compete in this highly respected two-man dinghy regatta. This is the first time a world sailing championship has been held on the inland waters of Ireland. The biennial regatta was last held in Australia in 2011 and will be hosted by South Africa in 2015.

Racing began late this morning in squally, rainy conditions with gusts reaching as high as 20 knots.

The breeze died down slightly, the clouds parted and the sun emerged for Race 2. As the fleet rounded the first mark it was the Irish that were dominating by taking the lead and also filling two more of the top five spots.

Leading the pack after the day's two races are the Robinson siblings from the UK, in 2nd overall are fellow Brits David and Edward Coady and in 3rd are mother and son Sarah and George Richards. Racing will continue daily until Friday. -- Rachel Solon

www.mirrorworlds2013.com

Marinepool - Clothing Partner of the Extreme Sailing Series
Marinepool is widely regarded as one of the leading sailing clothing and maritime lifestyle brands and is the "Official Clothing Partner" of the Extreme Sailing Series™.

We have built a reputation for outstanding quality, excellent service and quick and reliable deliveries. These are only a few of the reasons why no less than 3 out of 8 teams in the Extreme Sailing Series™, among them 2012 Champions The Wave, Muscat, are racing in Marinepool kit.

Using only the best materials and state of the art production technologies, no detail is omitted to ensure every product is optimized before it reaches the market. More than 22 years of experience and design excellence, plus the invaluable input of the world class athletes proudly wearing Marinepool garments, guarantee the products are at the cutting edge of technology.

Uncompromising, highly functional and extremely light weight; Tested and approved by many of the world's finest sailors.

As a group of companies with German roots and head quarters, operating in 43 countries, with product lines ranging from performance sailing clothing and a test winning life jacket range to maritime fashion, Marinepool is uniquely qualified and the perfect match for the clothing requirements of YOUR sailing team or company.

Purchase the Extreme Sailing Series Collection by Marinepool directly from the official online store: www.extreme-sailing-series-store.com or contact us for your customized team wear.

www.marinepool.com

Melges 24 European Sailing Series - Event #3
Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy: After eight intense hard fought races, Audi Ultra has successfully won Act 3 of the Melges 24 European Sailing Series.

Racing in Torbole waters, Audi Italia Sailing Team has imposed itself since the first challenges, standing its own ground over a strong fleet, such as EFG Bank, with Chris Rast, the Italian champions of Giogi, helmed by Balestrero-Celon.

This morning's final race saw Audi Ultra sailing just before the start side by side the above mentioned Giogi: "During the pre-start of the last race we have focused on Giogi that was our only leadership competitor, says Riccardo Simoneschi. It has been a hard challenge, match race style, defending a good control position. Once started we sailed side by side, keeping up with their moves and marking their way."

Race 8 was won by the Danish team of DEN-823, ranking 13th on a fleet of 27 teams, allowing a clearer view of the General Ranking of this third leg of the Melges 24 European Sailing Series: Audi Ultra placed 1st followed by EFG Bank with 8-point-margin and Giogi at 3rd before the Japanese team of Makoto Nagahashi and Taki 4 of Giacomo Fossati.

After this third success in the continental circuit of the Melges 24 Class, Riccardo Simoneschi is already thinking about their next commitment: " Torbole has been very important allowing us to undestand our skills in preparation for the next European Championship in Medemblick happening on the third week of August.

Audi Ultra's racing hosted by Circolo Vela Torbole has been helmed by Riccardo Simoneschi, with tactician Enrico Fonda, trimmer Federico Buscaglia, pitman Michele Cannoni and bowman Lucia Giorgetti.

After Torbole, the Melges 24 European Sailing Series will be preparing for its decisive stages in Medemblik, Holland (16-24 August) and Hanko, Norway (6-8 September). -- B.Plan Sport&Events

Results after 8 races (PDF): www.circolovelatorbole.com

RS Feva Worlds: Great Britain On Top Of The World
Photo by S&T Communications J.R. Taylor. Click on image for photo gallery.

It was an all-British finale today at the Compagnia della vela Grosseto-hosted RS Feva World Championship 2013 with all three steps of the podium occupied by duos from across the English Channel. The new World Champions after 14 races are young Hanna Bristow and Bobby Hewitt (GBR 4610) of Leigh and Lowton YC who controlled their nearest rivals' every move in a 240 degree wind blowing at 10 knots. They took home a seventh and a 12th-place finish that saw them end the week with a total score of 34 points.

A good 21 points behind them in second place are their fellow countrymen Wells/Todd (GBR 4332), who take the silver medal on 55 points, just one ahead of Brown/Davies (GBR 4768), on the third step on 56 points. Unfortunately, the Italian former World Champions Stocchero/Virgenti did not make it to the podium and, as a result of a 16th and a 3rd place on this final day's racing, had to content themselves with the wooden medal on a score of 75 points.

The standings for the other two fleets were also British-dominated with Vennis-Ozanne/Lewis topping the Silver standings ahead of Italians Tognoni/Quilici and Mulcahy/Lindsay-Brown dominating the Bronze.

RS Feva World Championship - Final Standings Gold - Top 5

1. Hannah Bristow / Bobby Hewitt, GBR, 34 points
2. Elliot Wells / Jake Todd, GBR, 55
3. Arthur Brown / Niamh Davies, GBR, 56
4. Leonardo Stocchero / Gianluca Virgenti, ITA, 75
5. Samuel Grade / Katie Prescott, GBR, 77

Complete standings available from: www.sailwave.com

470 Class 50th Anniversary
There was no gentle introduction to the opening events at the International 470 Class 50th Anniversary celebrations in La Rochelle today, with a blustery and building breeze greeting teams on the race courses.

The 2013 470 Junior World Championships, Masters' Cup and Open Classic have launched the 50th Anniversary Celebrations for the International 470 Class, by showcasing the youngest 470 sailors through to the more senior connoisseurs of 470 sailing.

Averaging 14 knots, with 18 knot puffs many of the younger teams relished the conditions, but the same could not entirely be said for some of the teams in the Grand-grandmasters division, where the combined age of the crew must be at least 120 years.

Racing got underway today soon after 1300 hours with 2 races held for each fleet.

The 59 teams in the 470 Men Junior Worlds have been split into two fleets for the two day qualification series of 5 races, before qualifying to the gold or silver fleet for the 7 race final series. The top 8 boats will then advance to the Medal Race stage.

A record breaking 91 teams are competing in the 470 Masters' Cup, racing in divisions based on age, from the youngest Apprentice Masters through to the Grand-grandmasters.

Organized in collaboration between the International 470 Class Association, Societe des Regates Rochelaises, AS470 France and the Federation Francaise de Voile, alongside the racing there are numerous shoreside activities, including a concourse d'elegance of some of the earliest built 470s, the launch of the 470 Great Book, Legends' Trophy, 50 Year Cup, Gala Dinner and much more - wrapping up on 10 August with the Closing Ceremony for the 2013 470 World Championships.

470.org

Gearing Up For Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week 2013
Gill is extremely proud to be the official technical clothing partner to Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes week for the fourth consecutive year.

To celebrate their partnership with this iconic event the official clothing range is now available to buy online as well as at the event. The range comprises a classic look this year, with selected pieces from the Gill collection including men's and ladies polo's, T-shirt's and caps proudly carrying the official event logo for 2013. All competitors can enjoy 10% off all full priced Gill products throughout the regatta at Gill in the Yacht Haven, where you can also soak up the party atmosphere with entertainment on the Gill stage. Pascall Atkey and Sailing Clothing Store on the High Street will also be running the competitor offer.

Gill Race Teams will be making an impact on the water with several teams competing in the regatta including Dunkerque Plaisance competing in IRC3 (A35) and the Rolex Fastnet, Cobra will also be racing in IRC1 (King 40) and the SB20 class sees Sarah Allan in the final Grand Slam of 2013.

Shop the official merchandise collection: www.gillmarine.com/gb/gallery

Tickets Go On Sale For Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Final
On Tuesday afternoon at 3:00pm, tickets for reserved grandstand seating at the America's Cup Village at Marina Green will go on sale for the Semi Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup at http://www.americascup.com

The Semi Final pits Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge against Sweden's resurgent Artemis Racing in a best-of-seven format beginning August 6.

Tickets for the Semi Final will be available in the East Grandstands and The Deck, positioned directly opposite the start line and the first mark of the racecourse where the boats approach the first turn of the race at maximum speeds near 50 mph.

Construction of the grandstands begins today.

The release of additional tickets was made possible by Sunday's confirmation that Artemis Racing was targeting a return to racing for the Semi Final. This, after Emirates Team New Zealand elected to advance directly to the Final which set up the Semi Final pairing of Luna Rossa vs. Artemis Racing.

In electing to advance directly to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, Emirates Team New Zealand also confirmed it would put its boat into the shed for modifications immediately, meaning the team will not race Tuesday's match against Artemis Racing.

But Luna Rossa Challenge has indicated it plans to race on Thursday, when it is expected to sail the course alone in the last race of the Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin.

Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin Standings
1. Emirates Team New Zealand 9-0, 9 points (1 race remaining)
2. Luna Rossa Challenge 4-5, 4 points (1 race remaining)
3. Artemis Racing 0-8, 0 points (2 races remaining)

americascup.com

CH Marine Glandore Classic
Click on image to enlarge.

The 2013 CH Marine Glandore Classic concluded last weekend with the final prize-giving on the balcony of the Marine Hotel. The committee were delighted that the new format regatta was so well received by all throughout the week. There was a fantastic turn out for the Parade of Sail on the opening weekend, the addition of cruise days to Baltimore and the Fastnet was well supported. The town of Baltimore put on a great reception for the Classic visitors and later in the week the trip to Castletownsend was also well supported on the water and at MaryAnnes.

While the stars for many were the appearance of Jolie Brise, "The Boat of the Regatta" award, and the lovely Fife Solway Maid "Concours de Regatta" award, the Commodore Diarmuid O'Donovan emphasized that it takes all the skippers crew and boats to make the regatta so successful and he thanked a lll participants and volunteers as he presented overall prizes for the nine divisions that participated in the regatta.

The Harbour fleets of Menai Straits Fifes, Dragons, Squibs, Ettes, Dayboats and Clinker classes were keenly raced over the six days with tie break winners in the Dragon and the Squib class.

In the Bay and Workboat classes Mike Walshes 1979 Holman & Pye "Saidhbhear" won the Bay Class2 in the Gaffers Sean Walsh's "Tir na Nog" was the winner. The other new addition for this regatta was the Oar and Sail programme this got off to a very promising start with three of the Atlantic Challenge Bantry Boats and well as a number of raid type boats on the water and competing on the Saturday and Sunday, the regatta was delighted with their participation and hope to increase the Oar and sail programme for the 2015 Glandore Classic Regatta.

glandoreyc.com/classic/

Dino Silva's Yacht Found
In Scuttlebutt Europe #2868 of July 1, we relayed an email sent to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston from solo sailor Dino Silva who was forced to abandon his yacht Lua on his way to Iceland. His broken rudder, repaired five times, finally became inoperable. He was picked up by a freighter and taken to the USA.

Good news today via Afloat magazine:

It was an unsettling discovery for a Donegal skipper to happen upon a deserted yacht drifting in the Atlantic Ocean last week.

As BBC News reports, the unmanned vessel materialised in fog off Downings harbour in the north-west of the county, evoking memories of the famous Mary Celeste.

Fearing the worst, local charter boat operator Michael McVeigh sent two divers abroad to investigate, and all they found were rotting food and an e-mail address left on a note on the table.

But the mystery was soon solved after McVeigh contacted Malin Head coastguard - who confirmed that the yacht's owner had been rescued some 600 miles west of Galway.

The yachtsman had been sailing on a "dream trip" from his home in the Azores towards Iceland when he encountered difficulties and used his satellite phone to call for help.

He was later picked up by a passing freighter, leaving his yacht to drift.

afloat.ie

BBC has more... Dino has been contacted... Using the email address that was found on the yacht, Mr McVeigh was able to contact the sailor who has since been reunited with his vessel.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23461608

Featured Brokerage
2005 Cookson 50. EUR 475,000. Located In Hamble, Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Ex Chieftan, and winner of Fastnet, Caribbean 600 etc, etc...Top drawer IRC canting keel beast. So, so competitive offshore, and a dead cert to help you lift a trophy, all you need is the talent.

Brokerage through Berthon International: www.yachtworld.com/berthon/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Well, I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation. -- David St. Hubbins

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

An Intense Second Day
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

The second day of competition gathered the most international fleet in the history of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE for an intense share of racing in the three race courses in the Bay of Palma. This time, the wind at the start of the first race went from 7 to 13 knots, depending on the race course. The race committee was able to accomplish its program: three races in all classes except in Mahou J80 and La Caixa X-35, who sailed two races. Now all classes have four races sailed.

Hublot IRC 0 and IRC 1
Sir Peter Ogden's British "Jethou" is still leading the provisional results in the class IRC Hublot 0 despite finishing fourth in the last race of the day. Today, the best of the class was Alessandro Rombelli's Italian "Stig", with two victories (1-3-1).

In Hublot IRC 1, Michele Galli's "B2" signed an almost perfect score (2-1-1) which allows him to escape to the front of the overall results with a nine point cushion over German "Speedy", winner of the first race of the day. Third is Swiss "Team Vision Future", one point behind "Speedy".

Gaastra IRC 52
Today Niklas Zennström's "Ran" and Ed Baird's "Quantum Racing" fought a magnificent duel in the Gaastra IRC 52 class. The Swedish boat won today's first two races, but a mistake at the start of the third race prevented him from finishing a perfect day. Zennström managed to climb back to literally cross the finish line at the same time as American "Interlodge", so they each received 5.5 points. Ed Baird scored the victory in the last race and is the new class leader, but only half a point ahead of "Ran".

G. H. Mumm ORC 1 and ORC 2
Today the best among the 36 teams in G.H. Mumm ORC 1 was Rafael Carbonell's "Rats on Fire". The Swan 45 scored two bullets and a third allowing him to lead the provisional overall with a difference of six points over his nearest rival, "Grupo Clínico Dr. Luis Senís" skippered by Axel Rodger, who won the last race of the day.

In G.H. Mumm ORC 2, Pedro Campos' "Movistar" has completed an excellent second day, scoring 2-1-1 and leading its class, three points ahead of arch-rival, Iñaki Castañer's "X-Spain" (3-3-2). Joan Cabrer's "Airlan-Aermec" completes the provisional podium, which won the first race of the day and finished the other two races with a fifth and a fourth.

The 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE will continue tomorrow at 13h00. All classes are scheduled to sail two windward/leeward races except Hublot IRC 0, Hublot IRC 1 and Hublot IRC 52, which will sail a coastal race around the bay of Palma.

Full results: www.regatacopadelrey.com/resultados2013/

www.regatacopadelrey.com

So... How Fast Is Oracle?
Team New Zealand are still trying to get definitive performance figures on Oracle but have conceded that the America's Cup holders look "real quick".

Team New Zealand's shore crew had the syndicate's giant catamaran in the shed yesterday for the start of modifications aimed at gaining more speed for the Louis Vuitton Cup final starting on August 18.

So members of the sailing crew took the opportunity to board a chase boat and spend the day observing Oracle's two-boat testing on San Francisco Bay.

While the Kiwis have totally dominated Italy's Luna Rossa and struggling challenger Artemis Racing will need a miracle to be competitive, the big question remains: how fast are the Americans?

The problem is the Kiwis are struggling for exact data on Oracle.

They have filed two series of questions to the International Jury asking why Oracle aren't making their performance data available when they are two-boat testing on the race course, often immediately after a challenger race.

The challengers have to make their statistics public. Oracle can punch those numbers into their computer and get a strong comparison against their own figures.

But that information flow is a one-way system at present.

"They have got a pretty good idea of our performance. They can analyse our numbers and angles. We haven't had that opportunity (to analyse Oracle's numbers).

"So they probably have the slight upper hand in knowing how we are and we can only guess theoretically the performance of their boats," Glenn Ashby said. -- Duncan Johnstone in Stuff.co.nz

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/8981736/

Race Ready For Cowes Week?
We all know Mother Nature can throw anything at you during Cowes Week, so don't get caught out and make the right calls on your kit today.

MUSTO has everything you need - from GORE-TEX® foulies to keep you dry to a large selection of fast-dry SPF40 T-shirts and headwear to protect you from the sun.

There's still time to order in time from www.musto.com

International 8mr World Championship
Helskinki, Finland: Four races have been completed at the Nordea Private Banking 8mR Worlds in Helsinki, Finland with Hollandia strengthening their lead in the strengthening wind on day two.

Tuesday morning in Helsinki was cloudy and on the island of Liuskasaari, home for the organizing club Helsingfors Segelsallskap, the weather forecast promised strengthening winds and some showers.

Race Committee decided to choose the area G for racing to avoid high waves typical in an easterly wind. This area is to the northern side of Isosaari and covered wind and waves from the open sea. As the fleet approached the race area some minor showers appeared but the air was warm and a steady 16 knot wind was blowing.

The first start of the second day was successful and 27 boats went to the racing course at 11:00. The first boat over the finishing line was Yquem II SUI-2 owned by Jean Fabre after 58 minutes of sailing, followed by Ruud van Hilst's Hollandia NED-1 and Lafayette GBR-2, owned by Murdoch McKillop.

Not so lucky was Elfe II H-9 owned by Andi Lochbrunner who had a man overboard resulting in outside help from the press boat so they got DNF to the results for the race. Fortunately no one was hurt in the incident.

The second race started with even stronger wind of 20 knots from East at 12.40.

Racing will continue on Wednesday at 11:00 local time. The wind forecast is not that promising: weakening winds and major direction change around midday.

events.sailracer.org

29er World Championship - French Remain Atop Leader Board
Aarhus, Denmark: A challenging day for competitors and race committee alike on Kalovig Bay! A morning race was held in 8 knots for all courses with the Race Committee holding a watchful eye on the radar with an approaching thunderstorm. The impending storm cell hovered south of Aarhus before bringing wind and rain at the finish of the race, sweeping across the edge of Kalovig Bay.

Thomas Jorgensen, IRO commented "We have had a long day for the 4 Race Management teams on the water. We started at the scheduled time at 12:00 but we had heavy rain with thunder at the finish and displayed AP on all courses and waited for better conditions. But another cell was behind it and we made the decision to send all fleets ashore for safety reasons. After 2 hours on shore, the wind arrived again from the southwest and we had 12 knots with 2 fine races to complete the qualifying series."

With the fleet now split into gold, silver, bronze and emerald fleets, the final push is on to determine the 29er World Champion. Leaders in the gold fleet are Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) who remain in the lead. Charlie Wyatt and Tom Siganto (AUS) had a stellar day moving back to second and American brother duo Quinn and Dane Wilson sit third overall. Ragna and Maia Agerup of Norway continue to be the top female team and are 17th overall.

Aarhus Sailing and Kalovig Sailing Club are host to the event and have enlisted the many parents as volunteers to help with the launch and retrieval and trolly sorting as well as distributing the daily after race snack to all competitors.

Twenty-five nations are representing all continents with 213 entries in this highly competitive fleet.

The finals begin on Wednesday, July 31 followed by two more days of the final series.

www.29erworlds.org

RS Tera World Championships
Photo by Gabrielle Morehead. Click on image to enlarge.

Weymouth, UK: Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) home to the 2012 Olympic Sailing Venue this week play host to 122 RS Tera competitors, numerous parents and supporters for the 2013 World Championships. Entrants from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America will be competing in the 2012 Olympic Waters for the Championship title in what will be a highly international and closely contested event.

122 boats were put through registration and scrutineering from Sunday to Monday morning. The event is made up of two fleets, RS Tera Pro fleet and RS Sport fleet, who will sail a 10 race series on trapezoid courses over the next four days with today being allocated for those who wanted to practice sail. The current conditions down in Portland Harbour were windy today so the practice race was cancelled in favour of close to shore practice sailing for those who wanted to test the waters prior to the event.

RS Tera Sport fleet World Champion Billy Vennis-Ozanne from Great Britain will be looking to repeat his performance, this year in the RS Tera Pro fleet. He will however, be challenged by the strong team of South African entries in the Pro fleet as well as sailors from Denmark, Spain and Australasia.

In the RS Tera Sport fleet, the Dutch and Argentinian sailors along with those from Australia and New Zealand will all be competing hard with Great Britain to the poll position.

events.sailracer.org

Marlow Cowes Support
The Marlow Van will be in the regatta support area at Cowes Yacht Haven for Cowes Week. Providing a repair, replacement and technical advice service to all the sailors throughout the week in conjunction with Spencer Rigging.

This will be the 3rd year that the Marlow Van has been on standby ready to assist. Repairs and remakes can be completed overnight ready for the following day of racing. The world famous regatta gives Marlow a chance to engage with the end users and iron our any issues with product and hardware interaction. Technical advice is available pre and post sailing with technical minded staff on hand to look over your boat.

Look out for the Marlow Van and come and talk to the guys.

Marlow will be working in partnership with Spencer Rigging on the island to provide the rope and rigging services. They are located at Empire Buildings, St Mary's Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO31 7SX Tel: 01983 292022

www.marlowropes.com

Spain and Great Britain Crowned 420 World Champions
The final day of racing at the 2013 420 World and Ladies World Championships in Valencia, Spain ended with Spain's Xavier Antich/Pedro Terrones winning the 420 World Championship title and Great Britain's Annabel Cattermole/Bryony Bennett-Lloyd sealing victory in the 420 Ladies World Championship in Valencia, Spain.

The surprise of the day was undoubtedly the victory in the 420 Open fleet by Xavier Antich/Pedro Terrones, who managed to close the gap separating them from the first placed team going into the day and recent ISAF Youth World Champions Tiago Britto/Kneipp Andrei from Brazil.

The Spanish pair literally snatched victory from Brito/Kneipp who had led the series until race 11, by sailing the race of their lives, with the Brazilians back in 28th.

420 Open - Leaderboard Top 5
1. Xavier Antich/Pedro Terrones, ESP, 83 points
2. Tiago Brito/Andrei Kneipp, BRA, 86
3. Sebastien Simon/Pierre Rhimbault, FRA, 92
4. Swann Hayewski/Alexis Thomas, FRA, 93
5. Jose María Ruiz/Fernando Davila, ESP, 94

Great Britain's Annabel Cattermole/Bryony Bennett-Lloyd exceeded their expectations and secured gold. It was only after the qualifying stage of the Championship that the pair became realistic contenders, as their consistent scoreline stood out, with only two finishes outside the top 10.

There is no break for Bennett-Lloyd who will be charging over to La Rochelle, France to sail a 470 for the first time, as stand-in crew for Anna Burnet at the 470 World Championships, which gets underway on 5 August.

The British pair also won the John Merricks Trophy for the best under-18 crew.

420 Ladies - Leaderboard Top 5
1. Annabel Cattermole/ Bryony Bennett -Lloyd, GBR, 52 points
2. Kimberly Lim/Savannah Siew, SIN, 69
3. Sara Scotto Di Vettimo/Vittoria Barbiero, ITA, 74
4. Nadja Horwitz/Carmina Malsch, CHI, 76
5. Carlotta Omari/Francesca Russo Cirillo, ITA, 79

A successful top overall nation defence for Spain, who retain the Francis Mouvet Trophy they won in 2011 after a dominant performance from the results of Xavier Antich/Pedro Terrones, Jose Maria Ruiz/Fernando Davila and Paula Barcelo/Margarita Alba.

A stunning week of racing at the 2013 420 World Championships in Valencia, Spain with 374 sailors from 27 nations enjoying 6 days for racing hosted by the Real Club Nautico Valencia.

www.420sailing.org/worlds

Mirror World Sailing Championships
Photo by Gerardine Wisdom. Click on image to enlarge.

Day 2 of the Mirror World Sailing Championships on Lough Derg, Dromineer, Co. Tipperary got off to a tricky start. Race 3, the first race of the day, began with a total of three general recalls and two race abandonments due to severely quick shifting winds. Eventually, sixth time lucky, the fleet were clear and the race finally got under way. Finishing yesterday in 3rd overall, Sarah Richards and her son George (GBR) took the win in this race followed by Katie Davies & Gemma Keers (GBR) in second and father and daughter Jeremy and Lauren Stephens in third (GBR).

The second race of the day got off first time under a black flag. Up the middle seemed to be the optimum tactic in the steady 18 knots breeze.

Up the second beat with winds were gusting to 25 knots. With wind constantly between 20 and 25 knots and quite a few retirees, the PRO called the fleet temporarily ashore after the second race of the day. However with no reduction in wind the fleet did not venture out for a third race. -- Rachel Solon

Top five after four races:

1. Ryan Robinson / Michaela Robinson, RSA, 22 points
2. Jeremy Stephens / Lauren Stephen, GBR, 30
3. Sarah Richards / George Richards, GBR, 32
4. Katie Davies / Gemma Keers, GBR, 33
5. Douglas Elmes / Scott Levie, IRL, 36

www.mirrorworlds2013.com

Deepest Shipwrecks Found In Gulf Of Mexico
Underwater cameras have spotted two other sunken vessels that likely went down with the main ship 170 miles southeast of Galveston in Texas sometime during an early 19th century storm.

They came to rest 4,360ft (1300m) below the surface, making them the deepest Gulf or North American shipwrecks to have been systematically investigated by researchers.

During eight days of exploration that ended this week, the scientists used remote-controlled machines to recover more than 60 artefacts from the initial shipwreck site.

It is likely each ship was carrying 50 to 60 men and that none of them survived. Among the wreckage were telescopes and other navigational tools that survivors likely would not have left behind if they could have helped it, the researchers said.

The ship that the team set out to examine initially was armed with six cannon and may have had two masts. Undersea images show the outline of a copper-clad, 84ft (25m) long by 26ft (8m) wide wooden hull.

Sky News: news.sky.com

Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentenary Regatta
The Royal Yacht Squadron will issue its Preliminary Notice of Regatta this week as preparations get under way for the Club's Bicentenary Regatta to be held in 2015.

Founded in 1815 the Club will mark its 200 years with an invitational regatta during 25th - 31st July 2015 at its historic home in Cowes with racing on the Solent and a race around the Isle of Wight. The Royal Yacht Squadron has invited 25 clubs from 19 countries to send crews to the event with the option of taking part in a one design regatta with yachts provided by the Organising Authority or participating in IRC racing. Additionally two crews of four aged up to 30 from up to ten of the invited clubs will take part in a J80 team racing competition.

The 2015 Transatlantic Race, organised by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the New York Yacht Club , the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club, is expected to attract a good number of entries who will use the race from Newport, RI as a feeder event to the Solent.

The regatta is open to Transatlantic Race participants rated up to IRC 1.850, while larger yachts can take part in the Race Around the Island. Yachts from the invited clubs will race in IRC 1.050 - 1.850 and two boat club teams can be formed in the rating band 1.050 to 1.350.

A very high level of interest has already been shown in the event. A number of J-Class yachts have indicated their interest in taking part in the Bicentenary Regatta, and Nautor's Swan will be adding the Transatlantic Race to their 2015 ClubSwan calendar with a provisional plan to have a Swan class in the regatta.

The RYS Bicentenary Regatta will be held two weeks before the annual Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week regatta and the Rolex Fastnet Race.

The 2015 Bicentenary Regatta pages will be launched on the RYS website rys.org.uk shortly.

Featured Brokerage
1990 Nordia 57. EUR 395,000. Located In Netherlands.

The Nordia 57 ''Golem'' is built and equipped for long distance cruising with an optimum in comfort. Good performance under sail and very easy to handle with her full hydraulic operated rig. ''Golem'' is a high quality aluminium cruising yacht which is lovely maintained by her skipper, in ''as new'' condition. Instantly available and inspection highly recommended.

Brokerage through De Valk Yacht Brokers: www.yachtworld.com/devalkyb/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at
uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
A woman drove me to drink and I never even had the courtesy to thank her. -- W.C. Fields

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Prince Felipe of Spain Joins the 32nd Copa Del Rey MAPFRE
Photo by Max Ranchi, http://www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

The fleet of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE has from today a new participant. H.R.H. Prince Felipe has joined the regatta this morning as skipper of Spanish Navy's "Aifos" in the class Hublot IRC 1, one of the three fleets that have competed today in the coastal race, along with the Hublot IRC 0 and Gaastra IRC 52. All monotypes have been able to fulfill its program of two windward/leeward races, while the two G.H. Mumm IRC classes had to settle with a single race sailed.

With the first half of the regatta program raced, the provisional leaders are: British "Jethou" in the class Hublot IRC 0, Italian "B2" in Hublot IRC 1, American "Quantum Racing" in Gaastra IRC 52, German "Elena Nova" in G.H. Mumm ORC 1, Spanish "Movistar" in G.H. Mumm ORC 2, Spanish "Vamos Spain" in Nespresso Soto 40, Italian "Margherita" in La Caixa X-35 and Spanish "Turismo do Algarve" in Mahou J80.

Tomorrow, the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE will be halfway through its regatta with the celebration of its fourth day of racing. The classes G.H. Mumm ORC 1 and G.H. Mumm ORC 2 will sail a coastal race, while the rest of the fleet will compete in windward/leeward races. The first start of the day is scheduled for 13h00

Full results: www.regatacopadelrey.com/resultados2013/resultados_uk.php

www.regatacopadelrey.com

Channel Race: Hat Trick For Night and Day
Pascal Loison's JPK 10.10, Night and Day. Photo by Joel Ahrweiler. Click on image to enlarge.

Organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, 86 yachts in the Channel Race experienced thunder, lightning and all manner of wind conditions, which produced a complex 100 mile race in The Solent and offshore along the south west coast of England.

Pascal Loison's JPK 10.10, Night and Day, was the overall winner of the Channel Race. The French team have excelled winning class in their last three RORC races. However Pascal was not on board for the Channel Race, his son Alexis and Joel Ahrweiler were the crew. Sensationally Night and Day won the overall prize, IRC Three and the Two Handed Class.

In IRC Canting Keel two goliaths had a monumental match race, with the lead on the water changing on many occasions. Andy Budgen's British Volvo 70, Monster Project, had an early set back when one of the crew suffered a hand injury requiring medical attention but the team fought back to challenge IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing. In a sprint finish, Monster Project passed Artemis Ocean Racing to take Line Honours for the class by under seven minutes but, on corrected time, the class win went to the young crew on board Artemis Ocean Racing.

In IRC Zero Harm Prins' Volvo 60, Pleomax, had a memorable race pacing the canting keel class around the track and finishing the course in the fastest elapsed time. Pleomax won IRC Zero to extend their lead for the RORC Season's Points Championship, as the Dutch team corrected out to win by just over 6 minutes from Derek Saunders' British CM60, Venomous. Dutch Volvo 60, Team Heiner One, was third.

In IRC One Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3, took line honours by some distance but after time correction the current leader for the RORC Season's Points Championship could only score 6th place for the race.

RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine racing British First 40, La Reponse, was triumphant in IRC Two, after a close battle with the British Army Sailing Association's J/111, British Soldier, and former RORC Commodore Peter Rutter racing Grand Soleil 43, Trustmarque Quokka.

Night and Day was the winner of IRC Three with Jerome Huillard's French A35, Prime Time, second in class and third overall for the race and John Allison's J/109, Jumbuck, third in IRC Three. Night and Day also won the Two Handed Class with David Gebbett's Dehler 36, Krackpot, in second place and the Artemis Offshore Academy's Figaro II, Artemis 21, in third.

In IRC Four Andy Theobald's Sigma 362, Nokomis, corrected out to win the class ahead of Kevin Sussmilch's Sigma 38, Mefisto, and Chris Choules' Sigma 38, With Alacrity. -- Louay Habib

www.rorc.org

Uncompromising, highly functional and extremely light weight; Tested and approved by many of the world's finest sailors.

Purchase the Extreme Sailing Series Collection by Marinepool directly from the official online store: www.extreme-sailing-series-store.com or contact us for your customized team wear.

www.marinepool.com

Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week
Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Rupert Holmes looks ahead to the tides for this year's Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, and takes a look at the weather and changes to the Sailing Instructions...

High water on the opening day is 10:05, so for the first few days of the regatta, the entire start sequence will see the tide setting to the west. At the same time, water levels will be falling during the racing, so be careful if sailing in shallow water to avoid an adverse tidal stream.

Later in the week tides become larger and move later in the day, with high water on the final day at 14:30. This means that early starters will progressively be starting in slack or east-going stream, with the inshore eddy that forms close to the shore likely to play an important part in White Group starts - make sure you have the best tidal information you can find.

While it's too early to predict exactly what's likely to happen with the weather this year, early indications are of a ridge of high pressure pushing northwards over the south coast, shielding the Solent from more inclement weather that may affect areas further north in the UK. At the same time, the indications are of a sufficiently strong pressure gradient to give perfect winds for racing, most likely a force 4 or 5 over the first few days.

Following a general simplification of the Sailing Instructions over the past few years, there are relatively few changes for this year's event. The biggest of these, however, will affect all Black Group competitors, as the start line is moved further east than last year, to the south of the Bramble Bank. It's again shorter than it has traditionally been, and is now known as the Bramble line.

It's worth getting along to the skippers' briefings at the Events Centre in Cowes Yacht Haven - these are at 18:30 on Friday 2 August for White Group Classes and at 19:30 for Black Group competitors.

Anyone still thinking about entering for this year still has time to do so. Entries are accepted until 17:00 the day before any given day of racing but entries received after 17:00 on Wednesday 31st July must be made in person at the Regatta Centre.

www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

Oldest Known 470 Takes To Water, But No Breeze For Racing
Photo by Breschi / SRR. Click on image to enlarge.

Hot, humid and no wind was the order of play here in La Rochelle on race day 3 of the 470 Junior World Championships. The Masters' Cup and Open Classic fleets were enjoying a day off, but for the junior fleets it was a long wait hoping for a breeze that never materialized.

Racing was called off at 1540 hours, with the Race Committee hoisting AP over A.

Racing at the 470 Junior World Championships will resume on Thursday 1 August, with three races planned and a scheduled start time of 0930 hours for the women, followed by the men's gold and silver fleets. The Masters' Cup and Open Classic fleets will race another two races, with the first start scheduled for 1400 hours. The forecast is for 9-10 knots from the south, veering a bit east, to end the day from the south west.

The star performance today went to the oldest known 470, sail #13 which was built in 1964 by Jean Morin and has been meticulously maintained by its owner. Christian Piot and Nicolas Guichet, author of the 470 Great Book, were onboard and took their stately lady for a sail near the old harbour of La Rochelle.

When not on the water, 470 #13 is part of the historic line up of 470s tracing the boat's evolution from 1964 to the present day in a shoreside exhibition. Everything on #13 is original, including the buoyancy aids worn by the crew today.

Following on from the 1964 boat, the next oldest 470 was built in 1972 also by Jean Morin, and is practically a modern 470 with fittings that are used today. Onto 1981 and we have a 470 from Fountaine Pajot, one of the most popular builders at the time. Next in the line-up is the 1988 Olympic Gold medal winning 470, which was sailed to victory by France's Thierry Peponnet/Luc Pillot in Seoul and now belongs to Club Nautique d'Ablon. The renowned Peponnet/Pillot team also won the 1984 Olympic bronze medal and were the 1986 World Champions and will be one of the teams taking part in the Legends' Trophy on Sunday 4 August. Move on a decade and we have another iconic French boat, the 470 sailed to 1998 World Championship gold by Gildas Phillippe/Tanguy Cariou, which now belongs to Nicolas Guichet. The exhibition ends with a bang up to date 470 built in 2012, showcasing the very latest in technology and on loan from Nautivela.

worlds.470.org

Clipper Race Stop In Albany
Click on image to enlarge.

The 2013-14 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will stop in Albany, Western Australia, at the end of Leg 3 from Cape Town later this year.

Amateur crew from all walks of life competing in the 40,000-mile Clipper Race will be welcomed with a community festival at Albany's waterfront marina in late November after completing the notorious 'Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride' leg from Cape Town.

City of Albany Mayor, Dennis Wellington, said the Clipper Race's global focus will provide a great opportunity for Albany to position itself as an international tourist destination.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the chairman and founder of the Clipper Race: "I first heard of Albany 45 years ago in October 1968 during my solo non-stop Golden Globe circumnavigation as I was sailing past and heard about the wool auctions there from the local radio.

"That created a curiosity to see the town and the Clipper Race visit will give me that opportunity at last. The crews are looking forward to enjoying the legendary hospitality of Western Australia."

The Clipper 13-14 Race will set off from St Katharine Docks, in front of Tower Bridge in London on Sunday, 1 September on a 40,000-mile journey around the globe.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

UV Protection. Gill Have Got You Covered
The Gill UV Collection is sun protective sailing sportswear designed with technical performance at its core. Getting the right sailing kit for summer is just as important as it is for foul weather. Comfortable lightweight garments with UV protection are vital. Your clothing should wick moisture away from the body and be fast drying to ensure you remain cool and comfortable all day long.

Gill's UV protective garments, all of which offer 50+ UV protection (the highest there is) include a selection of shorts, t-shirts and long sleeved tops with high necks offering increased protection from the sun's harmful rays. This technical collection is available in both men's and women's styles and a selection of colours - perfect for team co-ordination on and off the boat.

Shop UV protection www.gillmarine.com

Change Of Leaders In The 29er Worlds Finals
Aarhus, Denmark: With the fleet now split into Gold, SIlver, Bronze and Emerald, competition heated up with every race on the line. Three races were held on the four courses simultaneously but with differing winds as they were spread across Kaløvig Bay

With a noon start for all, the first races were held in light to moderate breeze on the Bronze and Emerald courses while the Silver and Gold had 6-8 knots. Two small rain squalls crossed the course bringing rain, increased wind with puffs to 18, and shifty conditions for the sailors and Race Committee to monitor. Once the squalls had passed the wind dropped again below 10 knots with enough to complete the scheduled races.

Leaders of the other fleets are: Silver - Don and Dylan Whitcraft (THA); Bronze - Joshua Belben and Robert Masterman (GBR); Emerald - Marco and Matteo Bucalossi (ITA).

After racing, the sailors were able to meet 2008 49er Gold Medallist Martin Kirketerp (DEN) and try on the medal for a photo with future aspirations of their own in the 49er or 49erFX.

Twenty-five nations are representing all continents with 213 entries in this highly competitive fleet.

The finals continue on Thursday, August 1 followed by one more day of the final series.

www.29erworlds.org

Pink Kite on Day One of SB20 Grand Slam
Click on image to enlarge.

The SB20 UK Association is delighted to confirm the return of the "pink kite" to the SB20 Grand Slam at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. Specialist marine leisure logistics operators GAC Pindar provided the SB20 class with the pink kite, which will be flown by the winner of the previous day's racing.

The pink kite will be flown on day one of the SB20 Grand Slam at AAM Cowes Week by 2012 class winner, Jerry Hill (SportsboatWorld.com). From Sunday onwards (Day 2), the pink kite will be flown by the overall winner of the previous days two races. The SB20 class will enjoy a new format of racing this year, with two races scheduled per day instead of the traditional, one race per day format.

The pink kite was first introduced in 2004 and has always been a talking point at Cowes Week. Spectators lining The Green in Cowes can easily see who won the SB20 class racing the day before, and perhaps more importantly how they are fairing on the Solent the following day!

Thirty one SB20's will compete in the SB20 Grand Slam at AAM Cowes Week which runs for the first four days of the regatta (Saturday 3rd - Tuesday 6th August). Racing will continue for the SB20 Class on Wednesday 7th August, when the fleet will return to the traditional one race per day format for the remainder of the event.

SB20class.com

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne Notice of Race Published
The Notice of Race is online and entries are now being accepted for ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, the second regatta of the 2013-2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup series.

The regatta will run out of the world acclaimed Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne Australia, from 1 to 8 December 2013.

The full suite of classes that have been confirmed for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will be contested in Melbourne; 470 Men's, 470 Women's, 49er, 49FX, Finn, Laser, Laser Radial, Nacra 17, RS:X Men, RS:X Women, 2.4mR, SKUD18 and Sonar.

Registrations are starting to come through and amongst the early birds confirming their attendance is 2012 Olympic 470 Gold medallist Mathew Belcher. The 2013 regatta is also set to see the return to Olympic competition of many of Australia's 2012 London Olympic heroes after their America's Cup duties.

Download the Notice of Race
sailmelbourne.com.au/website/racedocuments.html

Enter Online
eventoffice.com/sm/team_product_selection.asp

ISAF Sailing World Cup Website
www.sailing.org/worldcup

Tall Ship Lost But All Aboard Saved
The Tall Ship Astrid, a 42m Dutch training vessel taking part in Ireland's Gathering Cruise, has hit rocks inside the Sovereign Islands at Ballymacus Point, near Kinsale in Ireland with 30 people on board. Thanks to those standing by and the RNLI, all on board were rescued.

Four RNLI lifeboats were involved - the both Kinsale and Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboats together with Ballycotton and Crosshaven. There was a 2m swell and winds were force five to six.

Irish Coast Guard helicopters from Waterford and Shannon were also on scene along with ambulances and medical crews from Cork.

The vessel experienced engine failure as it was leaving Oysterhaven as part of The Gathering Cruise parade of sail into Kinsale.

The rescue teams were able to safely rescue all 30 crew, who were brought to Kinsale on board the yacht Spirit of Oysterhaven and the lifeboat.

They were then brought to Kinsale Yacht Club, where they were provided with showers, food and dry clothing. All of those rescued were given medical checks and found to be in good health.

Sail Training Ireland and Kinsale Yacht Club are working together to make arrangements for accommodation and for returning the crew to their homes.

www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=112400

Featured Brokerage
2010 Baltic 65 Stig. EUR 2,400,000. Located in Italy.

STIG designed by judel/vrolijk yacht has been built with racing and cruising in mind, but Baltic 65 STIG is probably one of the most high-performance boats ever constructed at Baltic Yachts. It still has a full interior, but there is no teak on the deck, it is painted instead to save weight and reduce heeling moment. The interior layout is very interesting combining a twin cockpit deck layout with a single aft entrance. This enables an interior layout with a saloon area aft and all living space forward. The interior is very modern and is minimally fitted out, with very little permanent furniture. Baltic 65 STIG has a telescopic lifting keel that is located completely outside and does not influence the interior or limit the cabin arrangements.

Brokerage through judel/vrolijk & co - brokerage GmbH.: www.yachtworld.com/judel-vrolijk/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
God invented space so that not everything had to happen in Princeton. -- Martin J. Rees

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

29er World Championship - French Regain Lead
Aarhus, Denmark: The racing was close today on Kaløvig Bay with the lead for the Gold fleet changing at each race. Four races were held starting at 3pm after a postponement on shore waiting for a front to pass, but leaving behind light winds for the sailors.

In the Gold fleet, Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) sailed a consistent day of 13-2-1-13 to regain the lead after falling yesterday in the standings. 6 knots across the course persisted through the first three races with the wind shifting 90 degrees to the north and increasing in strength to 10 knots. The conditions pushed the sailors to perform at their best and the results rewarded those who did. Nick Muller and Kai Frieseke (USA) moved up in the standings to third overall by sailing a 10-5-5-6 series while Kiwis Marcus Somerville and Jack Simpson were able to maintain second overall. Previous days leaders Jack Colley and Shaun Connor (AUS) had a more difficult day and used the last race as their discard and have dropped to 4th overall.

Silver fleet leaders are Tomas and Mads Mathisen of Norway with Bronze leaders Douglas Campbell and Cameron Seagreen from Australia. Var Osborg and Eric Collet (NOR) lead the Emerald fleet. The top female team remains Ragna and Maia Agerup of Norway.

Twenty-five nations are representing all continents with 213 entries in this highly competitive fleet.

The final race and prizegiving will be tomorrow, Friday, August 2.

Live reports and daily results can be found on www.29erworlds.org

Cowes Classics Week
Photo by Tim Jeffreys. Click on image for photo gallery.

The Royal London Yacht Club, in its 175th year, supported by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club and the Island Sailing Club welcomed Classic Keelboats and Classic Cruisers to the 6th Cowes Classics Week from the 15 to 19 July.

We had a record entry this year of 127 boats in 11 classes which were 12mR, 8mR, Darings (glass 5.5mR), Classic Dayboats (including 6mR), Sunbeams, Squibs, Flying Fifteens, XODs, BODs, Old Gaffers and Classic Cruisers (including SCODs, and Nicholson 32s celebrating their 50th anniversary).

The classic fleet ranged from the elegant 12 metres to the delightful little Howth 17s which are gaff rigged and have a topsail. We are reliably informed that the metre classes (12s, 8s and 6s) have not raced in the same regatta since Cowes Week 1939!

This is now a truly international event with boats and crews coming from the US, Australia, France, Belgium and Ireland. The UK boats came from as far as Perthshire.

The largest classes were the Solent Sunbeams at 20 (celebrating their 90th anniversary), XODs at 38 and Classic Cruisers at 16.

The last race day, Friday dawned with a good easterly breeze and racing started on time with three races being achieved for the smaller boats enabling them to catch up so a total of six races counted for the series before discard for all the classes apart from the Classic Cruisers who had four races. The Harken prizes were awarded to the winners of the first race of the day.

The official charity this year was the Andrew Cassell Foundation for Paralympic Sailing. Friday was Andrew Cassell Foundation Race Day. Just as Weymouth geared up to host the 2012 Paralympic Games, Andy announced his project to train disabled sailors with a view to preparing them for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, from his base on the Isle of Wight. The project is being jointly run by the Andrew Cassell Foundation, Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club and the RYA. In excess of £3500 was raised during the event for the official charity.

The Overall Prize giving took place after high tea for 180 at the Royal London and the prizes were presented by Andy Cassell and his Paralympic Sonar crew Andrew Millband and Tom Avery, one of the potential sailors in Rio.

Prize Winners

12 Metre: Bartlett Cup Italia - Richard Rankin
8 Metre: Aitken Challenge Cup Saskia - Murdoch McKillop
6 metre: Kirlo half model Monsoon - David Elliott
Daring: The Loup Garou Model Dolphin - David Gower
Solent Sunbeams: Queen Victoria Anniversary Trophy, Cowes Classics Week Cup & Mike Till Painting
Fleury: Jo Burnie
Nicholson 32: Bartlett Insignia Hobbit - Tom Robeyn
SCOD: Phoenix Challenge Trophy Stirling - Jaik Tari
Classic Cruisers: Danegelf Half Model Mandamus - Rod and Sue Moody
Loch Long: Mike Till Painting Tantrum - Binnie Evans
Classic Dayboat: Maurice Wilmot Trophy Cockleshell - Jonty Sherwill
Flying 15: Calf Cup Vamoose - Robert Salmond
Old Gaffers: Old Gaffer Model Aura - Ian Malcolm
XOD: Haines Boatyard Trophy Astralita - Mike Martell
BOD: Red Funnel Plate BOD 1 Peter Summerhayes
Solent Grounding Trophy Hobbit: Tom Robeyn
Travellers Trophy: Ratsey and Laphtorn Decanter - Johnny III - Aubrey Finburgh from Lake Annecy in France
Overall Winner: Harken Trophy Solent Sunbeam Fleury - Jo Burnie

www.cowesclassicsweek.org

Team Oracle Allowed To Keep Boat Data Secret
America's Cup defenders Oracle will be able to keep their information advantage over the challengers, including Team New Zealand.

The Kiwis went to the International Jury to sort out the status of Oracle while it trained on the cup course, particularly in the immediate aftermath to Louis Vuitton Cup challenger races.

The challengers have to present all their performance data while under race conditions.

Oracle has access to that and can then match it against the performance of its two boats who have also been on the course.

Oracle haven't been supplying any data for their time on the course\, leaving their rivals guessing about their actual speed and performance.

The jury released its answers today to the question put to it by Team New Zealand.

The key answers came in favour of Oracle with the jury ruling that:

- Racing between the two Oracle yachts didn't constitute an America's Cup Defender Series because the defender (Oracle) had already been selected.

- Therefore Oracle didn't need to provide telemetry data while practicing on the race course. -- Duncan Johnstone, Stuff.co.nz

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/

Let The Semi-Finals Begin
America's Cup commentator Gary Jobson gives his take on the upcoming Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinal between Luna Rossa Challenge and Artemis Racing:

The anticipation around the waterfront in San Francisco is building in advance of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinal series scheduled to start on Tuesday August 6. At this writing no one has any idea which of Artemis Racing or Luna Rossa will advance to the final against Emirates Team New Zealand. But in this first elimination round, one team will go forward, while the other will be finished competing.

It's important to remember the AC72 class catamarans are new for everyone. Each day the teams learn something new. One of the big questions for team managers is when to make changes to a boat. The whole concept is to sail faster, but the history of sailing shows that America's Cup teams sometimes make progress and sometimes take a step backwards. There is a long history of designers making mistakes.

In 1962, for example, Nefertiti was winning the early trials. Skipper and designer Ted Hood decided to add ballast for the August trials. Unfortunately, for his team the wind went light in August. Nefertiti was too heavy and lost.

This kind of story will certainly be in the minds of the designers here in San Francisco too. On the other side of the equation there are many stories about America's Cup teams that have made late improvements that ended up making the difference. The pressure will be on to make good decisions every day.

For all fans of the America's Cup it will be great fun to watch how each team responds to their performance on the water. You can be sure that every sailor, designer and manager will be working hard to make the correct choice. -- Gary Jobson

americascup.com

Copa Del Rey MAPFRE
Photo by Nico Martinez, http://www.martinezstudio.es Thursday was the fourth day of competition of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in Palma de Mallorca. The fleet completed the regatta program established by the Race Committee, with two windward/leeward races for all classes except for the G.H. Mumm ORC 1 and ORC 2, which sailed a coastal race. The Mahou J80 and La Caixa X-35 classes reached their eighth race, which means they can discard their worst result of the week. "Aifos", skippered by the Prince of Spain, signed its first victory of the week and stands fourth overall in the Hublot IRC 1 class.

With only two days left until the end of the regatta, the provisional overall results are headed by British "Alegre" in the Hublot IRC 0 class, Italian "B2" in Hublot IRC 1, American "Quantum Racing" in Gaastra IRC 52, Spanish "Rats on Fire "in G.H. Mumm ORC 1, "Movistar" in G.H. Mumm ORC 2, and "Vamos Spain" in Nespresso Soto 40, Italian "Margherita" in La Caixa X-35 and Spanish "Turismo do Algarve" in Mahou J80.

The regatta program for the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE continues tomorrow on its fifth day of competition. The entire fleet will compete in windward/leeward races, with the first start scheduled at 13h00. The regatta will finish on Saturday.

Full results: www.regatacopadelrey.com

www.regatacopadelrey.com

* With two days of scheduled racing remaining for the 52 SUPER SERIES at Palma, Mallorca's showcase 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE, Quantum Racing's lead grew a little more thanks to back to back wins in typical Palma sea breeze conditions.

As a crew Quantum Racing have never won the prestigious Copa del Rey but increasingly it is looking like they are piecing together a winning campaign.

Strategist Jordi Calafat, Olympic gold medallist and America's Cup winner has only won once - last year with Jochen Schuemann on All4ONE - in more than 25 years of trying.

Tactician Terry Hutchinson's best successes on the Bay of Palma include consecutive victories in the 2008 Breitling Regatta on the MedCup Circuit then steering the 52 El Desafio to victory in the Copa del Rey in consecutive weeks.

The team, under skipper-helm Ed Baird has now won four races back to back from seven starts, today elevating themselves to be six points clear of Niklas and Catherine Zennström's Ran Racing which scored a 2,3 for the day.

32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE - Gaastra IRC 52 Class
1. Quantum Racing (3,2,2,1,1,1,1) 11 points
2. Ran Racing (1,1,1,5.5,3,2,3) 16.5
3. Azzurra, ITA (2,4,3,7,2,7,2) 27
4. Rio, USA (6,3,5,3,7,3,7) 34
5. Provezza (5,9,4.4,5,4,4) 35
6. Interlodge (4,8,6.5,5.5,4,6,5) 39
7. Gladiator (8,5,8,2,9,5,8) 45
8. Paprec, (9,6,6.5,9,8,8,6) 52.5
9. Aquila, (7,7,9,8,6,9,9) 55

www.52superseries.com

Clash Of The Titans
While the Rolex Fastnet Race's top prize is the Fastnet Challenge Trophy and Rolex chronometer for the first of the 302 boats competing under IRC Rating, another significant battle will be between the most high profile monohulls and multihulls, gunning for line honours into Plymouth.

Leading the charge among this year's record breaking entry (currently standing at 350 in total) will be two of the world's fastest offshore racing monohulls, the maxis Esimit Europa 2 and Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard. Of these the European-flagged Esimit Europa 2 is the clear favourite: Both boats are fitted with canting keels and are 100ft long, but she is some 40% lighter than ICAP Leopard.

However Esimit Europa 2's skipper, German three time Olympic medallist Jochen Schumann observes that the 100ft maxis don't have the greatest record on this course. Rambler 100 broke her keel and capsized just after rounding the Fastnet Rock in 2011 while, in her previous life as Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, Esimit Europa 2 was forced to pull out while leading the 2007 race.

"We are unbeatable unless we break the boat," admits Schumann, adding that Esimit Europa 2's ideal conditions are light to medium. "From 12-14 knots we are fully loaded and then we start reefing and slowing down the boat. In more wind than that the VO70s could be faster reaching or downwind than we are. In heavy breeze, it will be a really tough competition."

Schumann competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race during the 1990s aboard the ILC40 Aerosail and on the IMS50 Rubin XV.

However leading these monohulls around the race course are some superfast multihulls, including the two fastest offshore race boats in the world. The 40m long trimaran, then called Banque Populaire Maxi, set a new multihull course record, reaching Plymouth first in just 32 hours 48 minutes two years ago. This boat, now called Spindrift 2, is back but in the hands of co-skippers Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard.

The Banque Populaire team is also back, but with another trimaran, this time the more compact 31.5m long former Groupama 3. In her previous guise this boat set a new record for sailing fastest non-stop around the world and incredibly her skipper then, Franck Cammas went on to sail her singlehanded (albeit with a shorter rig), winning the 2010 Route du Rhum.

Surprisingly, despite these two boats having been on the water, even operating out of the same homeport, for the last five years, the Rolex Fastnet Race is the first occasion they will race in anger. -- James Boyd, TheDailySail.com

fastnet.rorc.org

ISAF Nations Cup
Middelfart, Denmark: The Nations Cup begins next week (Tuesday, August 6-10) in Middelfart, Denmark, with 10 countries represented in a highly competitive field of skippers.

Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and USA will contest the Open competition and Brazil, Denmark, Norway and USA, the women's competition.

The opening ceremony will take place on the evening of Tuesday, August 6 with racing from Wednesday, August 7 to finals day on Saturday, August 10.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will be contesting an exhibition match on August 8, skippering an Olympic class team of Danish legends, including Jesper Bank. He will face a crew led by one of Denmark's brightest talents, the 23-year-old Nicholas Sehested, who is ranked 12th in the world and is one of the favourites for the Nations Cup.

www.nationscup2013.dk

Hollandia Holds Firm
A challenging day of shifty wind at the Nordea Private Banking 8mR Worlds in Helsinki, Finland but Hollandia holds the lead with six races now completed.

Third day of the Nordea Private Banking 8mR Worlds started with cloudy sky starting to clear while Race Committee and the fleet were heading to the race area G from the island Liuskasaari, home for the organizing club Helsingfors Segelsällskap.

The race area is in northern side of Isosaari and covered from the open sea winds and waves

During the racing there was a collision between Katrina FIN-14 owned by Hannu Kahonen and Wanda NOR-38 owned by Magne Brekke at the gate. Wanda retired from the race after this collision and Katrina was disqualified from the race after the protest hearing.

After the sixth race was done, the worse score was excluded from boat's series and Hollandia leads overall by two points from Lafayette.

Event site: events.sailracer.org

Nord Stream Race 2013 Starts With A Match Race
The organisers of Nord Stream Race 2013 have decided to crown the start of the 800sm long-distance-regatta from Flensburg to Saint Petersburg with a Match Race-event.

The Match Race-Regatta is going to be held with almost 20 metre-long Gazprom Swan 60 yachts. Five teams from five different countries will compete directly in a one on one challenge on Thursday, 12th of September.

The races will take place right in front of the harbour mole at the Marina Sonwik in Flensburg so that spectators can be close to the action.

One of the Nord Stream Match Race competitors is Team Germany, sponsored by Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, with Dr. Johann Killinger helming. America's Cup- and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Tim Kroger will again steer Team Europe like he already did in 2012. Also entering for the second time is the current Swan 60 world champion, starting as Team Russia, as well as Team Holland who are well known from 2012. The newcomer this year is Team Turkey.

The start for the Nord Stream Race from Flensburg to Saint Petersburg will take place three days after the Match Race on 15th of September. Here the Swan 60 yachts will be joined by the ORC yachts. -- Annette Kruger

www.nord-stream-race.com

Berthold Beitz
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is greatly saddened to learn of the death of IOC Honorary Member Berthold Beitz at the age of 99.

A practitioner of sailing, shooting and rowing, Mr Beitz enjoyed a long association with the IOC and Olympic Movement. He was an IOC Member for 16 years (1972-1988), after which he became an Honorary Member. An IOC Vice-President and Executive Board Member from 1984-1988, he was also member of the following Commissions: Finance, New Sources of Financing, Olympic Movement, Preparation of the XII Olympic Congress, and Council of the Olympic Order. He was also an Honorary Chairman of the Olympic Museum Foundation from 1989.

Mr Beitz was a Member of the Board of the West German NOC (1972-2006), a Member of the Board of Directors of the Organising Committee for the XX Olympiad in Munich in 1972, and President of the Administrative Council of the Olympic sailing events in Kiel, Germany (1966-1972).

The IOC and ISAF expresses deepest sympathies to Berthold Beitz's family.

www.sailing.org/news/35439.php

Featured Brokerage
2002 Starlight 46. 197,000 GBP. Located in Devon, United Kingdom.

This particular 46 was built by Bowman for the present owner in 2002, being the third boat of the series. Always maintained by the owner in impeccable condition, with many upgrades, regular maintenance and fastidious care and attention. This yacht has provided for this very experienced owner extraordinary sea-going capability and comfortable fast cruising - many times two-handed.

Fitted with cutter rig, powerful fully-battened main and yankee high-cut jib and with the benefit of Stephen Jones design. This Starlight 46 provides impressively effective windward performance with unusually high level of stiffness and reassuring directional stability down-wind in waves. Power winch for the mainsail halyard and efficient sail-handling all contribute towards enjoyable short-handed sailing.

Brokerage through Mike Lucas Yachting.

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time. -- Leonard Bernstein

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Day 1 Round-Up At Cowes Week
A gusty and reassuringly warm southwesterly airflow averaging 16-22 knots, provided a perfect day of racing on the opening day of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, with the wind against tide conditions giving lively downwind sailing on predominately windward-leeward courses.

The first starts, heading east against a building ebb tide, were for the J/70 and SB20 classes, both of which completed two races on Saturday, 3 August 2013, marking a significant break with the event's long-standing traditions.

The Etchells fleet opted for a different strategy to the SB20s at the start of their closely-fought race. The bulk of the fleet stayed well to the west of the line, with all but one boat holding well back until less than 20 seconds before the gun. Rob Elliott's Esprit was first to hoist the spinnaker, but crossed four seconds early - an expensive mistake, especially as she did not return following the recall. Andrew and Donna Cooper's Ice looked well placed a few minutes after the start, followed by Elvis, skippered by Tim Daughton, with both boats on a tight spinnaker reach towards West Ryde Middle buoy.

By the finish it was Mark Downer's Moonlight, who stayed further offshore after the start, trading a tidal disadvantage for a steadier wind, who came out on top, finishing 23 seconds ahead of Esprit. With the latter scored OCS, Rob Goddard's Stampede took second place, crossing the line 45 seconds after Moonlight, and Shaun Frolich's Exabyte V third. It was a close race, with the first half of the fleet finishing in little more than three minutes.

Not long after 1400 there was a rapid string of Black Group yachts finishing close to shore and under spinnaker on the RYS line. One of the highest-rated boats in IRC Class 4, Adam Gosling's newly refurbished 18-year-old Corby 36 Yes!, took line honours in that class. However, the lowest-rated boat in the fleet, last year's overall class winner, David Franks' Strait Dealer, finished less than 10 minutes later to win by a margin of just 18 seconds on corrected time.

The Sigma 33 class proved once again that this 34-year-old one design cruiser-racer is capable of providing extremely close competition. After almost three hours of racing, Jeff Worboys' Workout crossed the line just eight seconds ahead of Richard Puddifoot's Whippa Snappa. -- Rupert Holmes / CWL

www.cowes.co.uk
aamcowesweek.co.uk (busy server at press time, could not retrieve day 2...)

Copa Del Rey MAPFRE
The 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE finished today on the sixth day of competition in the Bay of Palma. The unstable wind conditions complicated the Race Committee's work today, and therefore, several classes couldn't sail a second race.

The winners:

Hublot IRC 0: "Alegre"
Andres Soriano's team "Alegre" won his second back to back Copa del Rey MAPFRE, after conquering it last year in the Soto 40 class. This time he takes the victory in the class Hublot IRC 0, after an intense duel with Sir Peter Ogden's, also British, "Jethou".

Hublot IRC 1: "B2"
Michele Galli's "B2" confirmed his place in the Hublot IRC 1 class by winning the only race sailed today. The Italian boat finished the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE winning seven out of ten races.

Gaastra IRC 52: "Quantum Racing"
"Quantum Racing" scored a second and a first result today in order to be declared winner of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in the Gaastra IRC 52 class. The boat skippered by Ed Baird, won six out of the 11 races sailed, finishing the regatta seven points ahead of Niklas Zennstrom's "Ran" (SWE).

G.H. Mumm ORC 1: "Rats on Fire"
"Rats on Fire" made it very clear he is the winner of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in the G.H. Mumm ORC 1 class winning the last race. Rafael Carbonell's boat track record this week of competition includes five out of ten possible victories, and a fifth as their worst result.

G.H. Mumm ORC 2: "Movistar"
Team "Movistar" has achieved its fifth title in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, sixth for its owner and skipper Pedro Campos.

Nespresso Soto 40: "Vamos Spain"
Luis Martin Cabiedes' "Vamos Spain", skippered by Pichu Torcida, has achieved an excellent overall victory after a very consistent week, and with a fifth as their worst result.

La Caixa X-35: "Margherita"
Roberto Mazzucato's "Margherita" defended its title from 2012 after a wonderful week where all his results were above third.

Mahou J80: "Turismo do Algarve"
The Mahou J80 Class had a main protagonist throughout the whole week: "Turismo do Algarve" skippered by Portuguese Hugo Rocha. The 2013 world champion won ten out of the 12 races sailed.

www.regatacopadelrey.com/principal/index_uk.php

* Winning six races from a full programme of 11 contests on the Bay of Palma, Quantum Racing win the 32nd Copa del Rey for the 52 SUPER SERIES for the first time.

The American team, which is skippered by Ed Baird, enjoyed the sparkling sea breeze which topped 20kts at times during the last race to deliver the final race victory, running out their third successive 52 SUPER SERIES regatta win after triumphs in Barcelona and Ibiza.

Niklas Zennstrom's Ran Racing started the week with three back-to-back wins before Quantum Racing really hit their straps, composing five race victories in succession and building a momentum that Ran Racing could not halt. Ran came close on Friday but Doug DeVos' team was the dominant team over Saturday the last day, finishing with a 2,1 flourish to ensure their overall margin is 9.5pts ahead of Zennstrom's world championship winners.

After 11 races with 1 discard
1 Quantum Racing (3,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,5,2,1) 15pts
2 Ran Racing, (1,1,1,5.5,3,2,3,2,2,5,2) 22pts
3 Azzurra, (2,4,3,7,2,7,2,5,1,6,3) 35pts
4 Rio, (6,3,5,3,7,3,7,4,3,7,5) 46pts
5 Provezza, (5,9,4.4,5,4,4,8,7,3,6) 50pts
6 Gladiator, (8,5,8,2,9,5,8,6,4,1,4) 52pts
7 Interlodge, (4,8,6.5,5.5,4,6,5,3,6,8,RDG) 54pts
8 Paprec, (9,6,6.5,9,8,8,6,9,8,4,DNF) 73.5pts
9 Aquila, (Aquila Sailing Team) (7,7,9,8,6,9,9,7,9,9,DNF) 80pts

www.52superseries.com

Ocean Safety Custom Lifejackets For Clipper Crews
Ocean Safety has supplied a custom made lifejacket to each crew member of all twelve yachts taking part in the Clipper Round the World Race.

The lifejackets have been especially built. They are based on the Ocean Safety Kru Professional model, which is designed for long and demanding periods at sea. Crew members could be wearing them for many hours at a time during their ocean challenge and the Kru is designed to be comfortable, while at the same time boasting some many features.

Kru has a custom made spray hood, a heavy duty cordura cover which matches the boats' corporate identity, and a bespoke crotch strap system, using metal buckles instead of plastic. It also features a fitting point for the personal Kannad R10 Survival Recovery System which locates a crew member using AIS, in the case of a man overboard incident.

The start of the Clipper Round the World Race is only 6 weeks away and the handover of safety equipment from Ocean Safety is a part of the important preparations which are underway as the twelve skippers and amateur crews prepare themselves for their adventure of a lifetime.

Clipper skippers have familiarised themselves with the lifejackets at an in-depth training session presented by Ocean Safety's Training Manager, Chris Waterman.

oceansafety.com

Avantime ORC European Championship
Photo by Malcolm Hanes / KSSS. Click on image for photo gallery.

Sandhamn, Sweden: An impressive fleet of 62 boats from 8 countries have converged on the picturesque island of Sandhamn in Sweden's outer Baltic Archipelago for the start of this week's Avantime ORCi European Offshore Championship, hosted by the Royal Swedish YC (KSSS). Racing will start tomorrow, Monday August 5th and continue through Saturday, August 10th.

The gorgeous sunny summer weather being enjoyed in northern Europe is forecast to continue, with the start of racing on Monday at 1300 local time predicted to be in a perfect 10-15 knot southwest seabreeze. Principal Race Officer Eckard Reinke and his race management team will start the event off with two windward-leeward races, with the intended format being a total of seven inshore and two offshore races through the week.

In an innovative departure from the usual two-class structure of ORC championships, KSSS has divided this fleet into three classes in order to provide closer racing on the water.

Class 1 will have the fastest 11 boats in the fleet from 4 countries that rate 550 sec/mi GPH or faster, while Class 2 has 20 boats from 6 countries that rate between 550 and 600 sec/mi GPH and Class 3 has the remaining 29 boats from 6 countries the rate between 600 and 655 sec/mi GPH. All classes will race in the same course area with sequential starts, but Class 1 and Class 2 may have an additional leg to the standard 2-lap windward-leeward course. -- Dobbs Davis

www.ksss.se

29er World Championship - French Rule The World
Photo by Robert Hajduk, www.shuttersail.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Aarhus, Denmark: Racing on Kalovig Bay was perfect today with sunny skies and 8-15 knots ISAF Youth World champions Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) can now add the title of 29er World Champions to their list of accolades.

Rual and Amoros put a little fear into their supporters as they began the day with a 32nd, but kicked it into gear and followed up with a 10-2 to win the title by 27 points over Markus Somerville and Jack Simpson of New Zealand. Spaniards Marti Llena and Oriol Mahiques also sailed two top finishing races to move them ahead of the Australians who had been holding down the top few positions throughout the week Ragna and Maia Agerup of Norway were the top finishing all female team and Rual and Amoros also were top youth team.

Winners of the silver fleet: Clementine Mindren and Elitte Ferroniere (FRA); Bronze fleet: Douglas Campbell and Cameron Seagreen (AUS) and Emerald fleet: Var Osborg and Eric Collet (NOR).

Sailing Aarhus and Kaløvig Sailing Club were excellent hosts throughout the week providing a fantastic venue for sailors and spectators alike Twenty-five nations representing all continents with 213 entries competed in this highly competitive fleet.

The 29er Class will now look toward Kingston, Ontario, Canada for the 2014 World Championship.

www.29erworlds.org

Seahorse September 2013
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Time is on our side
Groupama may not be returning to defend their Volvo Race title but skipper Frank Cammas tells Patrice Carpentier that with the switch to a new one design he is not ruling it out

On track for 2016
Rob Weiland’s calm persistence is paying off with a new TP52 build and three more on the way

Hard work pays
Quantum’s Dave Flynn looks at the out-of-the-box thinking applied to one of the latest IRC 52 rig configurations

Seahorse build table - A new generation
A ‘very’ one-off from Guillaume Verdier

Saving £16 / €25 / 24USD on the regular subscription price of Seahorse magazine. Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.

Seahorse Discount Voucher
Code EUROB122609

Claim your saving here:
www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

South Africans are the 2013 Mirror World Champions
Photo by Gerardine Wisdom. Click on image for photo gallery.

Today was the final day of 2013 Mirror World Sailing Championships on Lough Derg, Co. Tipperary and it was all still to play for. Two boats were still in with a shout and separated by just three points; Ryan & Michaela Robinson from South Africa and Ridgely Ballardes & Rommel Chavez from the Philippines with the Robinsons holding a few more aces due to better discards.

A nice bright breezy morning greeted the 182 sailors with 15-18 knots when boats launched but rain with plenty of wind shifts was forecast. The fleet got away eventually on the third start, not before about eight boats had fallen foul of black flag on general recall at the second start.

The first attempt at Race 2 was AP'd when a huge rain cloud descended and PRO Con Murphy held off starting for five minutes. The next attempt was a black flag and general recall with four numbers on the blackboard and a few boats heading for an early bath.

In to the finish it was neck and neck between Richards & Richards and Coady & Coady with the latter taking the win.

Then top Irish boat was Dougie Elmes & Scott Levie in 6th after a great series that included two race wins with Alfie Wisdom and Sam Warren in 10th making it two Irish boats in Top 10. -- Rachel Solon

Final top ten:

1. Ryan Robinson / Michaela Robinson, RSA, 43 points
2. Sarah Richards / George Richards, GBR, 51
3. Katie Davies / Gemma Keers, GBR, 66
4. Isabel Davies / Milly Moss, GBR, 72
5. Ridgely Balladares / Rommel Chavez, PHI, 74
6. Douglas Elmes / Scott Levie, IRL, 83
7. Joanna Kalderon / Imogen Bellfield, GBR, 103
8. Gabriel Fetizanan / Richly Magsanay, PHI, 104
9. Max Odell / Finley Boon, GBR, 110
10. Alfie Wisdom / Sam Warren, IRL, 114

www.mirrorworlds2013.com

Team Nzl Sails Against Artemis
Emirates Team, New Zealand went up against Artemis Racing today in some impromptu race practice on San Francisco Bay.

The teams had never before lined up together in their AC72s. Practice race starts had been arranged with Luna Rossa but the Italians returned to the dock before they could take place.

Dean Barker: "We were set up today to practice with Luna Rossa; we hadn't discussed sailing with Artemis." With Luna Rossa heading back to the dock and Artemis was practising time-on-distance nearby a shouted conversation across the water quickly arranged another training partner.

Barker was more than happy with the arrangement. " Artemis was keen to get into it ...it's always good to practice with another team. We learned a lot today from a different opponent. Artemis was aggressive in the pre-start and the five starts added another dimension to the team's development."

Artemis faces off against Luna Rossa in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series. The first race is on Tuesday (San Francisco time).

ETNZ will be back on the water tomorrow to continue preparations for the Louis Vuitton Cup final which starts on August 17. -- Warren Douglas

americascup.com
etnzblog.com

Medieval Boat Discovered On River Chet
Click on image to enlarge.

The remains of a boat which could be more than 600 years old has been discovered by a team excavating a new drainage dyke in Norfolk.

The oak timber remnants, dated circa 1400, were found near Loddon during work on the Broadland Flood Alleviation Project (BFAP) along the River Chet.

The BFAP is a long-term project to provide a range of flood defence improvements, maintenance and emergency response services within the tidal areas of the Rivers Yare, Bure, Waveney and their tributaries.

Paul Mitchelmore, from the Environment Agency, said the boat was the latest of "several interesting archaeological finds" encountered during the project.

"We think it dates between 1400 and 1600 AD and is very well preserved. It might have been used for carrying lighter good on the river."

"Some of the planks on the side of the boat are quite loosely in place so we'll be removing them separately to put into wet storage," said Ms Wallis.

"In the long term we hope it will go for conservation and end up in one of Norfolk's museums."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-23526192

British Airways Round Jersey Race
The Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club's annual British Airways Round Jersey Race is scheduled to take place next Sunday, 11th August. This will be the nineteenth year that BA has sponsored this very popular race that will see the racing fleet turning out in force for the forty-mile-or-so circumnavigation of the Island. Starting in St Aubin's Bay at eight a.m., the course takes boats eastwards to the Violet Channel buoy, lying some four miles southeast of the Island, thence northwards for an anticlockwise passage around Jersey providing a great opportunity to enjoy the Island's truly beautiful and ever-changing scenery.

Sailing in light to moderate northeasterly conditions, David Myatt's 8 Metre, Erica, won in class one last year with a time of seven and a half hours whilst Peter Crabb and Peter Williams' quarter tonner, Jackflash, won in class 2 having sailed for a little under eight hours. Adrian Jesson and Bruce Steedman, sailing the Hobie Tiger Hobie 68, won the sport-catamaran class in six hours twenty minutes, admittedly a far cry from the three hours six minutes record set in 2010 in much more boisterous conditions by Guernsey's Benn Garnham's Tiger Poker Face but surely no less skilful.

Boats in class one will be racing for the RCIYC's prestigious Jesse Boot trophy (presented to the Club in the '30s by Jesse Boot, founder of Boots the Chemist), boats in class 2 for the no less ancient Cabot Memorial trophy whilst sports-catamarans will compete for the British Airways Speedbird trophy.

The race is open to all keelboats with an IRC rating, non-IRC boats racing under the RYA's National Handicap for Cruisers scheme and to sport-catamarans.

The Notice of Race is available in the clubs and on www.rciycjersey.com

The entry list closes on Thursday, 8th August.

Featured Brokerage
2007 Corby 33. EUR 70,000. Located In Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.

Successful and manageable IRC race boat, with a full specification for inshore and offshore challenges. PRICED TO SELL this boat has been dry sailed, professionally maintained and comes with a great selection of sails. Ready to go this is a great opportunity to run a racing campaign with a winning start.

Brokerage through MGM Boats: www.yachtworld.com/mgmboats/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. -- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Perfect Start
Sandhamn, Sweden: The Avantime ORC European Championship got off to a perfect start today, with two of seven planned inshore races held in ideal 10-15 knot conditions. All 60 entries from 8 countries divided into three classes raced a 5-leg 9.5-mile windward-leeward course in Race 1, while Classes 1 and 2 raced an 8.0-mile 5-leg course in Race 2 and Class 3 races a 4-leg 6.4-mile course.

"Except for two general recalls and a black flag start to Race 1 for the 30 eager entries in Class 3, the fleet got off to a great start this week," said PRO Eckard Reinke. "The wind filled in faster than we thought, so there were no delays needed except for spacing the starts to minimize the traffic in the course area."

One way to avoid this traffic was to have the largest and fastest boat on the course, which no doubt helped Thomas Nilsson's Norwegian team on their TP52 Trucknor Wolfpack to take two first place finishes in Class 1. The team has been well-honed after years of racing together, but suffered a setback yesterday when their regular tactician had to rush home to Norway on a family emergency.

Leading Class 2 on consistent scores of 2-2 is Priit Tammemagi's Estonian X-41 Premium, but the competition is not far behind: Bengt Falkenberg's Swedish First 40 from Gothenburg Teknova/Albatross Racing is only one point back on 4-1, and Silva another 3 points behind the Swedes.

With 30 boats on the starting line, Class 3 will always be crowded this week, but the early favorites are already starting to rise to the top after two races.

Mikhel Kosk's Estonian NM38 Sugar has taken an early lead on scores of 4-1, but this only on a tie-break with Martin Nilsson's Swedish Salona 37 Feelgood, who has a 2-3 scoreline.

Tomorrow racing will not start until early afternoon as teams prepare for the offshore race, to be sailed in two parts: the first start will be 50-60 miles and is intended to be sailed overnight with a scoring gate. The race then continues for a length determined tomorrow by race managers as they evaluate the weather forecast and look at course and mark options available in the outer archipelago. The overall race length is intended to be about 24 hours in duration, so exact length will be dependent on weather, and the race managers may set a length which may appear long but will have the option to be shortened at any mark. -- Dobbs Davis

www.ksss.se
www.orc.org

Cowes Week
Click on image to enlarge.

The third day of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week dawned with unpromising weather forecasts - at one stage the Met Office's Inshore Waters forecast predicted winds up to Force 9 - although in the event the strongest gusts were below 25 knots and in line with the regatta's meteorologist Fiona Campbell's predictions.

The Redwing class is again one of the biggest and most competitive White Group fleets. A minute before the start, four boats were already positioned on the line and were soon joined by more. At the gun, three boats were the wrong side of the line, including one of the top two boats after the first couple of days of racing and last year's overall winner, John Raymond and Matt Alexander's Harlequin. Only one boat, George Greenwood's Rosetta, returned to restart.

James Axtell and Lucy Benham's Paroquet, and Roderick and Henry Thorpe's Redwitch initially looked well placed. However, as with earlier starts it was the two inshore boats - Bruce Huber's Quail and Rupert and Michael MacInnes' Avocet - that were first to get the benefit of the wind funnelling out of the Medina estuary and quickly pulled ahead into a useful early lead. Huber was also ahead at the finish, leading Caroline and Edmund Peel's Redstart ll and Andrew, Sabrina and Edward Eddy's Plover over the line.

At one stage it looked as though the day's second band of rain would hold off until late afternoon, but it started accelerating eastwards again, with heavy rain re-starting at around 1430. It eased considerably 40 minutes later, leaving very light airs behind. Over a period of 10 minutes the windspeed dropped from 22 knots to just 5 knots. At the same time the wind swung more than 60 degrees towards the west, before temporarily returning to the south.

In the Quarter Ton class Whiskers, skippered by Liz Rushall and Lincoln Redding, finished at 1450, to take their first win of the regatta, following second and third places on the first two days. Tony Hayward's Blackfun was next to cross the line, six minutes later, but was beaten into third place on corrected time by one of the lowest-rating boats in the fleet, Eric Reynolds' Magnum Evolution. -- Rupert Holmes

* Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is renowned for attracting some of the best sailors in the world and today, three of them joined an extreme kitesurfer to go head to head in the 'Volvo Sailing Speed Challenge' - a never before seen charity showdown.

Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image to enlarge.

In an unexpected twist, solo Round-the-World Yachtsman, Alex Thomson, who was the sailor least expected to win ahead of the race, nailed it taking the speed title and £1,000 for 'Sported' - the UK's leading sporting legacy charity of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

However it wasn't easy for Alex, as he fought off strong competition from Olympic windsurfing medallist, Nick Dempsey and the Moth, raced by Olympic gold medallist, Paul Goodison. Sam Lutman-Pauc, more comfortable in extreme kitesurfing conditions and long distance speed challenges struggled with the short racecourse and ripping tide.

The race was delayed due to the light wind, but the four guys finally got up and out at around 18.00. The conditions in the Solent were challenging and tricky, the wind varied from 10 to 15 [knots], with two to three [knots] of current and a strong tide that went in the same direction as the wind.

www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

Uncompromising, highly functional and extremely light weight; Tested and approved by many of the world's finest sailors.

Purchase the Extreme Sailing Series Collection by Marinepool directly from the official online store: www.extreme-sailing-series-store.com or contact us for your customized team wear.

www.marinepool.com

470 Worlds Open
A gusty breeze for the first say of the 5 race Qualification Stage at the 2013 470 World Championships in La Rochelle, France. No surprise to see the Olympic Champions Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie of New Zealand leading the 470 Women fleet, and Olympic Champion Mat Belcher with crew Will Ryan at the front of the 470 Men.

The breeze was around 14 knots, building to 18 knots by the end of the day, with rain greeting teams in the boat park this morning.

The men's and women's fleets were today seeded into fleets based on past performance, and will be re-seeded for tomorrow based on their overall leaderboard position today.

Australia's Mat Belcher and Will Ryan opened their Championship pursuit in first overall on the leaderboard, from a 1,1,2 scoreline. 2012 Olympic Gold medallist Belcher has won the 470 World Championships with Malcolm

The only team to beat the Australian's in the yellow fleet today were Greece's Panagotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis who took out the race 3 victory.

470 Men - Top 5 Overall
1. Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) - 2 pts
2. Pierre Leboucher/Nicolas Le Berre (FRA) - 7 pts
3. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox (NZL) - 9 pts
4. Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis (GRE) - 10 pts
5. Nicholas Rogers/Elliot Willis (GBR) - 10 pts

Olympic Champions Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie from New Zealand control the 470 Women leaderboard with a 2,1,1 scoreline in the blue fleet. France's Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron raced in the yellow fleet and sit just 3 points behind. The two teams will only come up against each other in the finals stage on Wednesday, and last met at the 470 European Championships in July. There the French pair won the European Championship title, with the New Zealanders finishing second in the Open European Championship.

470 Women - Top 5 Overall
1. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) - 2 pts
2. Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA) - 5 pts
3. Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu (CHN) - 6 pts
4. Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) - 9 pts
5. Afrodite Kyranakou/Anneloes van Veen (NED) 11 pts

Two races will be held for all fleets on Tuesday 6 August with a scheduled start time of 1400 hours.

worlds.470.org

Neil McDonald Joins Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing VOR Campaign
Photo by Ian Roman, www.ianroman.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Abu Dhabi, UAE: Highly decorated sailing veteran, British Olympian Neal McDonald, is to taking the helm as Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Performance Director in the team's second bid for Volvo Ocean Race glory next year. Emirati star, 24-year-old Adil Khalid, has re-signed as an Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew member under the leadership of skipper Ian Walker.

Six-time Volvo Ocean Race legend McDonald, from Brighton in the UK, has completed more than 200,000 nautical miles in the race over a nearly two decade long offshore career. Alongside Walker, he will lead Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's technical programmes, training camps and crew development to streamline the team's victory pursuit in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, starting next October in Alicante, Spain.

Meanwhile, Adil Khalid, who during the last race became the first Arab sailor to compete in and complete the global event, joins the team this week in the UK for his competitive Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing return, taking part in the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week's Big Boat Races (6-8th August) before crewing the team's defence of its Rolex Fastnet Race record next week (11-13th August).

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing will announce its full crew line-up in the first quarter of 2014, when it will also receive its new one-design Volvo 65 race yacht.Abu Dhabi city, the UAE capital, will host the third 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race stopover from mid-December 2014 until 3rd January 2015.

volvooceanraceabudhabi.com
volvooceanrace.com

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:

Matt Belcher (AUS)
'Two of the most remarkable sailors on the planet [with Francis Joyon] and I have to choose one...' - Martin Gravare voted for Belcher; 'His professionalism is only matched by his integrity and his humility' - Kaye Smith; 'Commitment!' - Michelle Creevy; 'A fellow Moth sailor, a top bloke and a funken awesome sailor' - James Mackenzie; 'A good man and now a total legend in terms of world 470 sailing' - Deni Pilipenko; 'Go Matt!' - Jane Belcher; 'Matthew is a great sailor and a good man' - Victor Kovalenko.

This month's nominees:

Yann Elies (FRA)
The 39-year-old French skipper survived a broken forestay and some tactical disasters on leg 3 to win his second consecutive Figaro race. Runs in the family, too, since his father Patrick won the event - then La Course de l'Aurore - back in 1979. In spite of his subsequent successes Eliès remains best known for his dramatic rescue after breaking his femur in the Southern Ocean in the 2008 Vendée Globe

Bruno Sroka (FRA)
It's quite rare for a top oceanic adventurer to also be a top competitor in the more refined echelons of racing but Sroka is an exception. The three-time kitesurf World Cup winner recently completed an epic 275-mile 'surf' from Brittany to Cork in Ireland, one of three major offshore feats he will attempt this summer. Interestingly, the 37-year-old French sailor did not take up kitesurfing until he was 23. The crossing took Sroka 17 hours...

Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Harken McLube, Dubarry & Musto. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at
seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month

Clipper Fleet With Race In Rolex Sydney Hobart
Photo by onEdition. Click on image to enlarge.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has announced that the 12-strong Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race fleet will compete in the 69th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which starts on 26 December 2013.

Having started the 40,000-mile Clipper Race on September 1, from London, the 12 new Clipper 70 yachts will arrive in Sydney from Albany, Western Australia, on the fourth of its eight legs in the race.

This will be a first Rolex Sydney Hobart for the Clipper Race fleet and its 12 matched Clipper 70 yachts, but not so for the race's originator, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who competed in the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart aboard Titania of Cowes.

Amongst the Clipper Race fleet will be a number of Australian crew members and two Australian skippers who have sailed the Rolex Sydney Hobart previously. Sydney-based Chris Hollis (33) has taken part twice.

Damian Parnham (48) is the other skipper, having sailed the Hobart aboard Brindabella, the 1991 Hobart line honours victor.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com
www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

Neilpryde UK Laser Nationals
With entries from several international associations, a strong Irish contingent and sailors from across the home countries this year's Nationals were always going to be keenly contested. The 220 competitors were divided into 53 Standard rigs, 127 Radials split into Yellow & Blue Groups for the first four day's racing and 40 Laser 4.7s, which have their own course and race team.

In a good SSW breeze of 20kts all three fleets completed their scheduled two races each. In the Standard fleet Portugal's Gustavo Lima won the first race ahead of Australian Luke Elliott before home sailor Jack Wetherell took the 2nd gun. In the Radial Fleet there were two wins for John Booth who leads overnight from Jon Emmett (2, 1) with Matthew Stephens (3, 2) in 3rd place. Irish helm Patrick Cahill was the unluckiest sailor of the day recording two premature starts under the black flag. (Oscar Wilde's quip comes to mind). In the Laser 4.7 fleet 16 year old Romas Ovcinnikov's trip from Lithuania has been very worthwhile so far as he won both his races ahead of Ross Banham.

Racing continues for the rest of the week until Friday. The championships are being sponsored by NeilPryde, Harken UK & Nutshellaw (Solicitors).

The full results can be found at www.laser.org.uk

Artemis Racing To Compete In Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals
Alameda, California, USA: Artemis Racing, representing the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, will make its Louis Vuitton Cup debut tomorrow. The team will face Luna Rossa in a best-of-seven Semi Final series scheduled to start at 1:15PM PST. The winner of this series will race against Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals beginning August 17th.

In the past two months, Artemis Racing's shore team has worked seven days a week preparing and testing the team's second AC72, "Big Blue", which was launched on July 22, 2013. A new wing was also completed to accompany the new boat.

Since its first sail on July 24th, the sailing team has been working on sailing and foiling techniques with their new boat.

In honor of fallen teammate Andrew "Bart" Simpson, a ribbon will be worn on the sleeve of the sailing team uniform and be displayed on the AC72 wing and support boats.

americascup.com

Featured Brokerage
2007 Nautor Club Swan 42. US$ 325,000. Located in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Morgan's Ghost Club Swan 42 (NYYC Swan 42) #5 is available for sale. This boat has had no expense spared in preparation for competition at the highest level. The electronics inventory was expertly done by Yachtsoft in New York. The system is well thought out and very user friendly. Morgan's Ghost is located in Bermuda and has seen little use and is ready to go. She is stored out of the water for the winter season.

Brokerage through Sparkman & Stephens LLC.:
www.yachtworld.com/sparkmanandstephens/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Time's fun when you're having flies. -- Kermit The Frog

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Luna Rossa Challenge Fends Off Artemis Racing
Photo by Sander van der Borch / Artemis Racing. Click on image for photo gallery.

San Francisco, California, USA: Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge overcame a spirited challenge from Artemis Racing and the threat of the film on its wing sail blowing out to win Semifinal Race 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America's Cup Challenger Series.

Skipper Max Sirena and the Luna Rossa crew won the 15.83-nautical-mile race by 2 minutes in winds that averaged 16 knots. But the crew had trouble before the start when the plastic film on the wing, known as Clysar, started peeling off the frames to which it is glued. Bowman Nick Hutton fixed the issue with some tape, but the team was wary of the situation all day.

"Obviously, we're happy to have the point, but I'm not happy with what happened to the wing because it's something we should avoid at this level," said Sirena. "But it's been a good day for us. I think we took some pressure off of us and for sure tomorrow we'll sail better than today. Touch wood, we'll have no problems."

Showing few signs of nerves, Artemis Racing helmsman Nathan Outteridge won the start of the race and led around the first mark, eliciting a loud round of applause from team supporters around San Francisco Bay.

"We're really, really pumped in Artemis Racing and super proud," said skipper Iain Percy. "To think that one week after launching we'd be sailing around the racecourse in 20 knots is beyond my wildest imagination. All the team support boats came over after the race and were cheering and clapping."

Soon after the mark rounding the Swedish team jibed to port and its lack of practice time showed. The team's AC72 came off its hydrofoils and slowed dramatically. Luna Rossa passed the Swedes' transom and jibed to port, staying on its foils.

On the second downwind leg the Italian AC72 was an average of 4 knots faster. Much of that speed advantage seemed to come from the Italians pulling off jibes where they didn't come off the hydrofoils.

Race 2 of the semifinal round is scheduled tomorrow at 1:15 pm PT.

americascup.com

Cowes Week
The fourth day of this year's Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week saw a change in the weather, with blazing sun but a long postponement while competitors waited in vain for a stable sea breeze to fill in.

An indefinite postponement was lifted at 1130, when the signals for a building south-westerly sea breeze were looking good. There was plenty of cloud building over the mainland and in the central Solent the overnight north-north-westerly airflow had already swung to the south, although there was just a few knots of wind speed at this stage. Close to the Island shore there was more breeze, but with a strong easterly component to the direction that was unlikely to last long before being replaced once the main afternoon sea breeze became established.

At 1330, with the fitful sea breeze still in the south-east along most of the south coast of the UK outside the Solent, race officials began making preparations to send fleets to the eastern Solent. However, with the west-going ebb tide now in full flow the and the mean wind speed frequently failing to climb above five knots, even in mid Solent, there was still not enough breeze for even the fastest White Group dayboats to make progress upwind against the tide on the start line. This was clearly illustrated by three J/70s that spent several minutes tacking back and forth in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron, without ever progressing towards the east against the tide.

With time running out to get the large number of starts away, it was with much regret that race officials had to make the disappointing, but unavoidable, decision to abandon racing for all classes at 1400, the latest feasible time to begin the start sequence.

www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

* SportsboatWorld.com wins the inaugural SB20 UK Grand Slam on day four of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. Jerry Hill, Craig 'Spike' Watson and Richard Lovering sailed an excellent series in a brand new SB20 which was only launched on Thursday 1st August.

Without completing the final two races of the event, just one discard was applied to the six results generated over the previous three race days. After the discard Jerry Hill and Joe Lewellyn were tied on 8 points, but Hill took the Grand Slam title and lifted the Sportsboat World Trophy on count back

The SB20 class now looks towards the 2013 World Championships, in early September in Hyeres, south of France. 100 boats are expected to compete in the Championship. -- Katie Jackson/SB20 Class

SB20class.com

Look out for the Marlow Van and come and talk to the guys.

www.marlowropes.com

French Le Berre Undefeated In Lysekil Women's Match
She hasn't raced at all since the Match Racing World Championships in Sweden last year, but the absence has obviously not affected her skills. After the first day of round-robin in Lysekil Women's Match, French skipper Anne-Claire Le Berre has won as many matches as sailed, four, and is on top of the score board.

Lucy Macgregor only lost the match against Johanna Larsson and is now just trailing leading Le Berre with a 4 - 1 record after day one of the regatta

Lysekil Women's Match continues Wednesday and Thursday with the double round-robin, going into the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Semi finals will be sailed Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and by Saturday afternoon time has come for the great finale. Not only the winner of Lysekil Women's Match will be crowned, but also the first champion of the inaugural Women's International Match Racing Series. A 100 000 dollar total prize purse will be distributed!

Standings in Lysekil Women's Match 2013 after one day of round-robin.

Skipper, nationality, won/lost matches:
1. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 4 - 0
2. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 4 - 1
3. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 2 - 1
4. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS, 3 - 2
5. Johanna Larsson, SWE, 2 - 2
5. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 2 - 2
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 2 - 2
8. Claire Leroy, FRA, 1 - 2
8. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 1 - 2
10. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 0 - 3
11. Anna Kjellgren, SWE, 0 - 4

www.lysekilwomensmatch.com

RS400 Championship Suffers A Setback
After the glorious first day, the second day sponsored by Forthcom, of the Volvo Noble Marine RS400 Nationals was a bit of a damp squid, with just one race completed before the wind died. No change for the leaders but Howard Farbrother and Dan Martin, with a second win, have opened the gap to nine points over Mark and Bec Barron who are tied on points with Stewart and Sarah Robertson.

Having looked at a nice breeze all morning the fleet launched into an 8 knot easterly. Of course we did not want to sail in a good breeze and the fleet decided we needed some serious starting practice so by the time we had 3 general recalls race 4 started in quite a soft 5 knots. Right was the way to go and Howard Farbrother/Dan Martin were a rocket ship somewhere over near Bass Rock and had a monster lead at the first mark.

The wind was fading on the first run and many crews struggled to keep the kites flying. This was of no concern to Wayne and Debbie Fletcher who flew down the run to pull through to second. The second beat soon became a light wind drift and the whole fleet was very happy when the race officer made the very sensible call to shorten course at the second windward mark. Farbrother/Martin won from the Fletchers. -- Gerald New in Sailweb

RS400 - National Championship, leading positions after 4 races

1. Howard Farbrother / Dan Martin, Queen Mary Sailing Club, 4 points
2. Mark Barron / Bec Barron Loch Tummel Sailing Club, 13
3. Stewart Robertson / Sarah Robertson Royal Forth Yacht Club, 13
4. Ben Robertson / Hannah Robertson Scaling Dam SC, 14
5. Roger Carter / Ian Robertson Wormit Boating Club, 16
6. Wayne Fletcher / Deb Fletcher Scaling Dam SC, 18
7. Keith Bedborough / Martin McCrew Dalgety Bay Sailing Club, 22
8. Andy Hatch / Daniel Hawkins Queen Mary SC, 23
9. Ian Robson / Harry O'Riordan Aldeburgh Yacht Club, 23
10. Stuart Urquhart / Richard Urquhart Royal Findhorn Yacht Club, 24

www.sailweb.co.uk

Ocean Race Around Australia Race To Go Ahead In 2014
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the 1988 Bi-Centenary Around Australia Race (08/08/1988), Ocean Events is pleased to announce that the inaugural 'Ocean Race Around Australia' will go ahead in 2014.

Ocean Events invites mono and multihull boats from Australia and around the world to join the inaugural 'Ocean Race Around Australia'.

The unique format for this ISAF Category 1 event includes four start/finish ports, making it easier for competitors entering what is expected to be the largest open-entry, fully crewed coastal ocean race in the world.

Competitors have the choice of the following start ports and times:

Fremantle, Western Australia - start early July, finish early October
Port Lincoln, South Australia - start mid-July, finish mid-October
Melbourne, Victoria - start, third week of July, finish late October
Sydney, NSW - start end of July, finish early November

The race, which will permit crew changes at its 10 stopover ports and is expected to take approximately 90 days, will also incorporate an existing east coast race and regattas in the Whitsunday Islands. And major prizes and trophies will be awarded in both monohull and multihull divisions.

To enter, and for further information on the Ocean Race Around Australia , please contact Bob Williams, email: admin@sailaroundaustralia.com.au, or telephone +61 (0) 413057559.

www.sailaroundaustralia.com.au

Tall Ship Picton Castle Responds To Mayday Call
Aitutaki, Cook Islands – It isn't every day that a cruising yacht with engine trouble and damaged rigging is assisted by a 170-foot square rigger that looks like something from another era, but that's just what happened when the 42' sailing yacht Gobo issued a distress call in the early hours of July 30.

Relayed by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ), the call for assistance went out to all vessels within a 300-nautical mile radius. At 180 nautical miles away, the three-masted sail training ship Picton Castle was determined to be the closest vessel outside of a few fishing boats, and the only ship offering the yacht's crew an alternative to abandoning their craft.

Sailing under the command of Capt. Michael Moreland, the Picton Castle was en route between Manihiki and Aitutaki when the call for assistance came in.

Arriving at daybreak August 31, the Picton Castle launched her rescue boat at 0730, dispatching the vessel's Chief Mate and Chief Engineer to assess the situation and assist as necessary.

Chief mate Paul Bracken replaced a parted section of the shroud while chief engineer Alex Marts made repairs to the raw water pump and installed an electric auxiliary bilge pump.

With these repairs, no towing was required, and the yacht was able to carry on with their planned passage.

Picton Castle also resumed her passage to Aitutaki, where she arrived August 5. She will then sail to Rarotonga, then on Sydney, Australia for the International Fleet Review this October.

www.scoop.co.nz

Seahorse September 2013
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Two in a row
Swedish skipper Bjorn Hansen successfully defends his Swedish Match Cup title and in dramatic style

Support structure
Tim Smyth and Paul Bieker talk to Ivor Wilkins about the remarkable challenge of building lift foils for the new AC72 fleet

Master teacher
Blue Robinson sits down with the coaching magician at Emirates TNZ... Glenn Ashby

Sailor of the Month
Two men who always go it alone...

Saving £16 / €25 / 24USD on the regular subscription price of Seahorse magazine. Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.

Seahorse Discount Voucher
Code EUROB122609

Claim your saving here:
www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

From The "This Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago" Files...
A tradition of restricted male only membership dating back almost 200 years has been swept aside by the Royal Yacht Squadron on the Isle of Wight after the membership voted to allow women in as full members.

A meeting on Sunday, attended by 150 of the 475 members, voted unanimously in favour of the motion to extend membership privileges to women. There was not a single vote in opposition though the decision still has to be ratified by the full membership.

Officials at the Squadron, which is housed in a grand castle in Cowes and billed as one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world, said they had been lobbying members on the issue of women's membership for four years before yesterday's ballot.

There was no announcement from the RYS which established their 'gentlemen only' membership in 1815 when the club was founded and the club declined to comment.

Even lady associate members, the wives of existing full members, who were not eligible to vote, were unaware of this dramatic change of policy.

The Queen is the club patron and Prince Philip, a regular at the annual Squadron Ball is admiral but Princess Anne, a keen sailor, is one of the favourites for consideration while Dame Ellen Macarthur, who lives minutes away, might also be in line for a letter.

The news was welcomed throughout the sailing and sporting communities. -- Kate Laven in The Telegraph

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/

Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy
Photo by Jurg Kaufmann / GYC. Click on image to enlarge.

The third edition of the Centenary Trophy, the only racing event that gathers the old ladies of the classic yachts circuit, 100 hundred years of more of age, is only two months away and the Gstaad Yacht Club are working non stop together with the organizers of the Voiles Saint-Tropez, hosting event of the regatta, to make sure that everything is ready to welcome the participants.

The first boat to formalize her participation is last year's winner: the fore and aft cutter Marigold owned by EnglishmanRichard Allan and dating back to 1892, when she was launched at the Camper and Nicholson shipyard in Gosport, UK.

Also expected to be on the starting line is Italy's Five tonner Bonafide (launched 1899) that will without question aim at repeating her victory in the 2011 opening edition.

The Centenary Trophy will take place on October 3rd, on the day that was traditionally devoted to the "defis", individual challenges between boats, and once again be raced with an especially created and constantly refined handicap system in a pursuit race, a format that has been proving extremely attractive not only for sailors but for the public alike, as easy to understand and follow.

The winner will be awarded with the exclusive trophy, created by Wakely and Wheeler of London in 1911.

The event is organized by The Gstaad Yacht Club in co-operation with the Societe Nautique de Saint-Tropez.

www.gstaadyachtclub.com

Featured Brokerage
2006 Cookson IRC 52. US$ 425,000. Located in Japan.

SLED is our next TP 52 for sale that represents outstanding value. She was built by the world renown Cooksons in New Zealand to a Boteen design that has proven time and time again that they are one of the very best, if not the best currently in the class. She started life as WARPATH and then was WINDQUEST, each and every owner has spared no expense. Available right away , can be shipped to any where in the world and will continue to keep on winning.

Brokerage through Thoroughbred Yacht Sales: www.yachtworld.com/thoroughbred/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
The difference between Heaven and Hell is which end of the pitchfork you're on. -- Rev. Sheldon DeWehr

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Qualifiers Give Tour Stars An Early Headache In Chicago
Photo by Walter Cooper, www.waltercooperphoto.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Chicago, USA:: If Flight 1 of the Chicago Match Cup is an indicator of things to come, there will be plenty of upsets in the coming days. Three out of four of the leading lights on the Alpari Match Racing World Tour lost their opening matches to the qualifier and Wild Card teams.

In a light and fluky start to Qualifying, local sailor and skipper from the Chicago Match Race Center, Don Wilson, beat last year's regatta winner and reigning Alpari Tour World Champion, Ian Williams' GAC Pindar. Australian qualifier, Jordan Reece and his Estate Master Sailing Team, pounced on an error by Adam Minoprio's Team Alpari FX to sail into the lead on the second beat and win their opening match. And even after being six years away from the Tour, Gavin Brady and Team Vesper also managed to overtake their opponents, Bjorn Hansen and the eWork Sailing Team, who will expect better after winning last month's Tour event, Stena Match Cup Sweden.

The only Tour card holder to come through round one unscathed was US Virgin Islander Taylor Canfield and USone, who snuck across the line after trailing the wild card from New Zealand, Will Tiller's Full Metal Jacket, for all but the final few boatlengths to the finish.

In Flight 2, the Tour card holders got their revenge, with Williams beating Brady and Hansen beating Wilson. Minoprio made amends from his Flight 1 defeat with a victory over Keith Swinton and Black Swan Racing. Canfield is currently the only sailor with two wins on the board after beating Johnie Berntsson and Stena Sailing Team.

Results After Flight 2

Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone 2-0
Jordan Reece (AUS) Estate Master Sailing Team 1-0
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX 1-1
Don Wilson (USA) Chicago Match Race Center 1-1
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar 1-1
Gavin Brady (USA) Team Vesper 1-1
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) eWork Sailing Team 1-1
Will Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket 0-1
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team 0-1
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 0-1
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 0-0
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 0-0

wmrt.com

Luna Rossa Makes It 2-0 Over Artemis
Photo by LUNA ROSSA/Studio Borlenghi-Borlengho/Butto. Click on image for photo gallery.

Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge helmsman Chris Draper said his team can sail "much, much better" than it did today, but it was still good enough to take a 2-0 lead in the semifinal round of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America's Cup Challenger Series.

Luna Rossa defeated Artemis Racing by 2 minutes and 6 seconds today in west/southwesterly winds that averaged 11 knots. Luna Rossa tactician Francesco Bruni said the conditions were probably the lightest the team has experienced in San Francisco, and the result was a slow race. Luna Rossa completed the 15.4-nautical-mile course in 54 minutes and 26 seconds at an average speed just under 22 knots, pedestrian for the AC72.

Today was just the second race and 10th day that Artemis Racing has spent sailing its second AC72. Yesterday the team lost by 2 minutes in a spirited performance.

Today, Artemis Racing helmsman Nathan Outteridge again won the start and led Luna Rossa towards the reach mark. But the Swedish team soon found the going tougher than yesterday.

Artemis Racing struggled in the lighter winds and couldn't get foil-borne as easily as Race 1. Luna Rossa popped up onto a foil at the first reach mark and rolled over the top of Artemis Racing and into the lead.

Thursday is an off day in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals and Luna Rossa has said it will spend the day doing maintenance while Artemis Racing has a plan to practice.

Race 3 of the semifinal round is scheduled for Friday at 1:15 pm PT.

The semi-finals are a best of seven series.

americascup.com

Seahorse September 2013
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Update
Terry Hutchinson is concerned about the opening deltas in the Louis Vuitton Cup, Dee Smith has been enjoying getting behind the science of San Francisco Bay, Andy Rice talks to Robert Scheidt and other Olympic luminaries about proposed changes for Rio 2016 and sailing bids its sad farewells to Ted Hood

World news
Frank Cammas grasps the Tour Voile, Yann Guichard considers going solo on ‘Banque Pop’, Manuard designs to the (Class40) fore, Kiwis’ race rethink, Alex Pella enjoys his first taste of the big multihulls and the ballast comes unravelled at the ORC worlds... Dobbs Davis, Blue Robinson, Carlos Pich, Ivor Wilkins, Patrice Carpentier

IRC column
Finding the right tools for the job. James Dadd

Design - Relentless
Introducing the Akilaria RC3 Class40 with Marc Lombard and Lionel Huetz

Saving £16 / €25 / 24USD on the regular subscription price of Seahorse magazine. Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.

Seahorse Discount Voucher
Code EUROB122609

Claim your saving here:
www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

Two Offshore Races Completed
Sandhamn, Sweden: After a day and night of offshore racing in the Baltic to complete a short and long offshore course, the three classes of the Avantime ORC European Championship have finished this morning and give some new team names to the event leaderboard.

The long 40-mile leg to the first scoring gate at Sanskobb was a near-fetch, with 15-20 knots of wind at 150° on a course heading of 180°, giving boats with strong upwind performance an edge in the results, which were scored with the same points weighting as an inshore race.

Accordingly, among the 10 boats in Class 1 Ole Martin Vordahl's Norwegian Cookson 50 Camilla with its canting keel got to the turning mark just 2 minutes behind the elapsed time leader, Thomas Nilsson's Norwegian TP 52 Trucknor Wolfpack, but corrected to just over 7 minutes ahead to take their first victory of the series.

In the 20 boats in Class 2 the results were much closer, with the big boats in the class having a slight advantage in the conditions. So, Rickard Bergkvist's Swedish IMX-40 FoxyLady was 18 minutes behind the first rounding boat, Ralf Lassig's German XP-44 Xenia, but won this race on corrected time by only 50 seconds.

But in Class 3 with its 30 boats it was a smaller boat, Patrik Frosgren's Swedish First 36.7 Team Arken Zoo, that managed to correct over the class inshore race leader, Mikhel Kosk's Estonian NM 38 Sugar 2 by an even smaller margin: 20 seconds.

The next phase of racing was to the finish line of the long offshore race, which combined the length of the short length plus some additional legs which varied for each class. Class 1 had another 113 miles to sail for a total length of 153 miles, while Class 2 sailed for another 58 miles for a total of 98 miles, and Class 3 raced for another 44 miles for a total of 44 miles. The long offshore race was worth 1.5 points, and cannot be discarded from any team's final scores in the event.

Winning this race in Class 1 was once again Camilla, by an impressive margin of 15 minutes over Trucknor, while in Class 2 it was Juss Ojala's Estonian team on their GS 42R Amserv that came back to win by only 47 seconds over Bengt Falkenberg's First 40 Teknova/Albatross. And in Class 3 Team Arken Zoo managed to not only stay ahead but extend their lead over Sugar 2 to an impressive margin of over 14 minutes in corrected time.

Racing resumes tomorrow in the Avantime ORC European Championship, with two inshore races planned, the first to start at 11:00 local time.

www.ksss.se
orc.org

IOC Presidential Candidate Ng Ser Miang: 'Quiet Diplomacy' At Work On Russian Anti Gay Law
The International Olympic Committee is engaged in "quiet diplomacy'' with Russian leaders to make sure the Winter Games in Sochi are not affected by the country's new anti-gay legislation, IOC presidential candidate Ng Ser Miang said Monday.

Ng, an IOC vice-president from Singapore, said Vladimir Putin's government has much at stake in the 2014 Olympics and won't want to do anything that jeopardizes the success of Russia's first Winter Games. "The IOC has made a very strong point that they will be against any action that would discriminate against participants at the Sochi Games, whether it's officials, media, visitors or the athletes,'' Ng said.

Russia recently introduced a law that bans so-called "propagandaof nontraditional sexual relations'' and imposes hefty fines on those holding gay pride rallies.

Ng said Jean-Claude Killy, chairman of the IOC's co-ordination commission for Sochi, has been in talks with the "highest authority in Russia'' to resolve the issue.

"I believe there will be a good solution to that,'' Ng told reporters in London.

"I believe that this issue will be resolved to the satisfaction of all.''

Russia's sports minister said last week that the law would be enforced during the Sochi Games, appearing to contradict assurances to the contrary from the IOC. -- Stephen Wilson, Associated Press

sportsillustrated.cnn.com

The New York Times Thinks It's A Bit Too Quiet...
It is entirely possible that any bobsledder or skier wearing a pin, patch or T-shirt in support of gay rights could be sent home from Sochi, not by Russian authorities, but by another group that suppresses expression: the International Olympic Committee.

Would the I.O.C. inflict such a public-relations disaster on itself? Perhaps not. But Olympic officials worldwide, including those in the United States, along with NBC and corporate sponsors, have put themselves and athletes in an awkward position by only tepidly opposing the Russian law that bans "homosexual propaganda."

Before the law was passed, the I.O.C. could have pressured Russian officials, saying it would not support the Sochi Games under such conditions. Instead, the Olympic Committee acquiesced.

In contrast to the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2012 London Games, there will be no Pride House in Sochi as a meeting point and informational hub for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender athletes.

And even if the propaganda law is not enforced during the Sochi Games, it will remain on the books after the Olympics end.

"There should have been early, alarmed communications by the I.O.C. in relation to the law," said Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives and an Olympics expert for Human Rights Watch. "As far as we know, there weren't."

The Olympic movement is again at risk, as it was previously over doping and corruption scandals, Worden said. "The Olympic charter talks about human dignity," she said. "How is it consistent with dignity to let this discrimination pass without anything more than mild condemnation?"

Boil your blood here: www.nytimes.com

And Now Back to IOC Politics and Internal Sniping...
Bach says doping scandal won't hurt his IOC hopes

Thomas Bach says revelations of a government-backed doping program in West Germany in the 1970s should not hurt his chances to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee.

He says he was personally behind the study that was published Monday. He adds that he has always advocated a "zero-tolerance" policy for doping offenders. A prominent former German athlete is questioning how much Bach knew about doping.

Bach, a gold medalist fencer in the 1970s, is an IOC vice president who leads Germany's national Olympic body.

Bach has been considered the favorite among the six candidates to succeed Rogge in the Sept. 10 election in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The other contenders are Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Denis Oswald of Switzerland, Ng Ser Miang of Singapore and C.K. Wu of Taiwan.

A prominent former German athlete questioned how much Bach had known about doping in his days as an athlete. Bach won a team foil gold medal in fencing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

"Thomas Bach must have known more than he's acknowledging now," former long jumper Heidi Schueller said in an interview with the Munich newspaper tz. "But if you want to be IOC president you'd better keep quiet." -- Associated Press

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/

* Ng Ser Miang is one of six candidates in the race to succeed Jacques Rogge, who steps down as IOC president next month after 12 years in office. The other candidates are Thomas Bach of Germany, Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Denis Oswald of Switzerland and C.K. Wu of Taiwan.

Bach, an IOC vice-president from Germany, has long been viewed as the front-runner. In what seemed like a dig at Bach, Ng went out of his way to cite the release of a report that claims West German athletes were systematically doped with government backing for years.

"It is mind boggling that any government would engage in systemic doping,'' Ng said. "We hope the report will come out as soon as possible and full action could be taken. The credibility of the Olympic movement is dependent on the integrity of sport.''

Editor: Ng Ser Miang is a former ISAF Vice President.

Industry News
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), organiser of the Rolex Fastnet Race, has selected Inmarsat, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, as its satellite communications partner for the 2013 race, which starts on Sunday 11th August.

Inmarsat's FleetBroadband service will be provided via RORC to eight boats in the Rolex Fastnet Race.

By using Inmarsat's global mobile satellite fleet, the eight yachts will be able to provide the RORC with an on-going flow of video, audio and social media content. This will make the challenging event accessible to journalists and sailing enthusiasts across the world. A ninth yacht will be using IsatPhone Pro, Inmarsat's global handheld satellite phone, for communication and media purposes.

Four of the yachts, amongst a record fleet of over 350 entries, will be fitted with FleetBroadband 150 terminals bundled with complimentary airtime. Four others, which already have either a FleetBroadband 500 or 250 installed for broadband communications and safety services, will be allocated complimentary airtime. These yachts will be able to provide footage to the RORC, allowing the media, sponsors and public to see what life is like aboard the yachts in this gruelling race. This will be possible using technology developed by Inmarsat and Livewire Digital for the Volvo Ocean Race that has been redesigned for the requirements of the Rolex Fastnet Race.

Yachts being supported as part of the partnership with the RORC include Artemis, a short-handed Imoca 60 (Open 60 Class) yacht and La Reponse, a First 40 boat (IRC class) skippered by RORC Admiral, Andrew McIrvine. Artemis, skippered by Brian Thompson, will be crewed by two members of the tri-service initiative 'Toe In The Water' (TITW), which aims to inspire the men and women who have sustained often traumatic injuries to move beyond their disability and become re-inspired by life. The team on Artemis will race on equal terms with their able bodied contemporaries.

Other yachts involved in this initiative include: Leopard, the Farr designed, 100ft Super-Maxi; Bella Mente, a JV72 Mini-Max; Pace, a TP52; Magnum, a Kerr 40; Momentum Ocean Racing, a Class 40; Oman Air- Muscadam, a MOD 70 and Rockfish, a Figaro.

fastnet.rorc.org

------------------------------------------------

UK Sailmakers International (UKI) has recently been acquired by a group of UK Sailmakers' loft owners. The company said in a statement that its "unique business model" will bring individual lofts more closely together since they are now partners.

Under the new ownership structure, UK Sailmakers International has been bought by UK Sailmakers Technology, AB in Sweden. "We are confident about the future of UK Sailmakers, knowing that 19 UK lofts owners working together can further strengthen the UK brand that we now own," said Lennart "Dallas" Dahlström in the statement.

Dahlström will serve as interim CEO to oversee working groups focused on developing new software and sail design as well as customer service, marketing, sailor education and other company projects.

Charles "Butch" Ulmer, who founded the company 38 years ago, will also be part of the new structure, serving as an advisor to the management group. He will continue to own and operate the City Island, New York, loft.

The company has more than 50 lofts around the world. The statement said it hopes to attract more lofts into the group as it expands.

IBI News: https://plus.ibinews.com

------------------------------------------------

Sailing hardware and accessories manufacturer, Harken, has signed up as an Official Event Supplier for September's International 2.4mR World Championships at The Poole Yacht Club. Harken will supply prizes for both competitors and volunteers over the course of the four days of racing while every participant will also receive a Harken document case.

Harken join Volvo Car UK, Powerboat Training UK, Mar-Key Group, Palmers Brewery, Sainsbury's and Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) amongst the event's leading sponsors, suppliers and partners while a host of national and local companies have come onboard as event supporters offering a range of services and goods.

The 2013 International 2.4mR World Championships start on Friday 6 September, with racing from Tuesday 10 September to Friday 13 September.

harken.com
24mworlds2013.co.uk

------------------------------------------------

British deck shoe brand, Chatham, announces it is sponsoring the inaugural Stokey Woodall's Atlantic Circuit (SWAC) sailing rally.

The exciting new yacht rally, setting sail in 2014, will cover one complete circumnavigation of the North Atlantic. Made up of two legs, the Westbound Atlantic passage travels from Madeira through Cape Verde and onto Barbados. The Eastbound Atlantic passage starting in St Augustine, Florida travels on to Bermuda, then the Azores and finishes in Cowes, Isle of Wight.

chatham.co.uk
atlanticcircuit.com

------------------------------------------------

METS organiser Amsterdam RAI has announced a call for entries for this year's DAME Award (Design Award METS).

Exhibitors are encouraged to enter their most innovative designs to be judged by an independent jury at the Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) in November. Those wishing to submit products should complete the online application by September 17, 2013.

Each year the DAME Award registration fee of €150 is donated to a charity. In 2013, the METS Exhibition Committee has decided to share the donation amongst Sailability, which gives disabled people the opportunity to independently enjoy sailing, and Freedom Waters, which offers boating opportunities and marine related activities for people with disabilities, life threatening illnesses, youth at risk, and others with special needs.

Last year €17,250 was raised for AMREF Flying Doctors, the designated charity of Amsterdam RAI.

METS 2013 will be held from November 19-21 at the Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre in the Netherlands.

IBI News: https://plus.ibinews.com

------------------------------------------------

The Offshore Racing Rule (ORR) recently announced the appointment of a new executive director, Bjorn Johnson of Newport, RI. Johnson served as Chief Inspector for the Newport Bermuda Race in 2006 and 2008, and Race Chairman in 2010, and he was the Race Director for the Charleston to Bermuda Yacht Race. Johnson is the Safety and Technical Chairman of the 2015 Trans-Atlantic Race.

Johnson's extensive background in management, strategic planning and partnership development, along with lifelong experience in the boating industry, were key factors in his selection, according to the ORR. Johnson has raced and cruised more than 80,000 nautical miles on boats ranging from dinghys to 100 footers.

offshoreracingrule.org

Featured Brokerage
2005 Elliott 50. NZ$ 825,000. Located in Auckland, New Zealand.

Elliott design built by Salthouse. An extremely fast state of the art racing yacht perfect for local and offshore racing. Showed impressive speed in her first race, winning the hotly contested RNZYS Night Race ot Kawau and has performed very well since. Would be ideal for 2 handed around NZ or Australia race.

Brokerage through All Boat Brokerage Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/allboat/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
I cannot comprehend fundamentalism. It's fundamentally wrong. -- John Lydon

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

IRC Form Guide - 300 Boats Fight For The Fastnet Challenge Cup
While the headline grabbing big boats may romp away come Sunday's start of the Rolex Fastnet Race, the world's largest offshore yacht race, a longer more intricate battle will play out between the 300 boats competing for the handicap prize, the Fastnet Challenge Cup, for the winner under IRC rating.

This year there is one obvious favourite. Niklas Zennstrom's Judel Vrolijk 72 Ran 2 is run with all the precision of an America's Cup team and the result has been her winning the last two Rolex Fastnet Races. The team is gunning to claim it a third time and if this pans out, Ran 2 will become the first boat to win three times in a row.

This time Ran 2 faces her stiffest competition. "It is getting tougher," acknowledges Ran 2's skipper, Tim Powell. "Obviously Bella Mente is a newer version of us. There are the VO70s which have proven to be good IRC boats. Plus with long offshore races like the Fastnet you always need an element of good fortune on your side in terms of the weather favouring your size of boat."

Journeying all the way from Australia to compete, Geoff Boettcher's Reichel Pugh 51 Secret Men's Business 3.5 is something of an unknown. Boettcher no doubt fondly remembers winning the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, when Ran 2 finished eighth overall.

And who's looking good in the smaller classes? French boats dominated in 2011 and look to do so again. Gery Trentesaux, this year campaigning the 34ft Courrier Vintage, believes this is because: "We prefer offshore and coastal races because we compete in so many Figaros and Tour de France la Voiles.

While the French first and second placed winners in IRC 1 return in the Grand Soleil 43, Codiam, and Laurent Gouy's Ker 39, Inis Mor, the Ker 46 Tonnerre de Breskens 3 of 83-year-old Dutchman Piet Vroon is favourite. Tonnerre de Breskens 3 was overall RORC champion in 2010 and 2011 and is on track to repeat this in 2013.

"If I was a betting man I'd put my money on the 72 footers, Ran 2/Bella Mente, but it depends on what the weather is going to do," says Vroon, who won the Rolex Fastnet Race overall in 2001 with his previous 52ft Tonnerre de Breskens 3.

fastnet.rorc.org

Denmark And Australia Through To Nations Cup Semi-Final
Click on image to enlarge.

Denmark's Nicolai Sehested and Australia's David Gilmour skippered their countries into the semi-final yesterday at the Nations Cup in Middelfart, Denmark.

Australia were unbeaten in all five matches to jump to the top of six-nation Group B. They finished the round-robin stage level on 8 points out of 10 with Brazil's Henrique Haddad, who won four races for the second consecutive day. But Gilmour qualified by virtue of having beaten Haddad on Thursday.

That victory in the second flight of the day was particularly satisfying for Gilmour as his new team began to gel and they were able to turn Haddad's aggression against him, laying a second, vital, penalty as the Brazilian came back. As he himself predicted Japan's Wataru Sakamoto, who won four of five on Wednesday in the Match28 boats, struggled in the larger DS37s and won only two of five on Thursday. But he will still qualify for the repechage with Australia's Ashlen Rooklyn. Canada's Peter Wickwire and America's Dustin Durant did not make the cut.

In the seven-nation Group A in the Match28s, local boy, Sehested, 23, is definitely through to the semi-finals with 10 wins from 11 races over the two days.

But the other two qualifiers from Group A are less clear. Sweden should take one but Denmark's other team, skippered by Rasmus Viltoft and France's Arthur Herreman, have a showdown for the final spot tomorrow morning.

Weather forecast: Westerly 8-10 knots

www.nationscup2013.dk

Leaderboard Shuffle
Some major changes in a shuffle of the leaderboard top 10, with a tricky day of racing delivering contrasting results for teams, as the wind shifted and the pressure continually changed. An incredibly hard to read race course, with inconsistency in results keeping the scoreline close with only a few points between teams on this first day of finals.

Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) briefly lost the lead to Great Britain's Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield after the day's opening race. The same story for Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA) in the 470 women, with Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie stepping up to the front after the first race, but by the end of the day, the scoreboard ended where it started with the Australians and French on top.

470 Men - Provisional Top 10 Overall

1. Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) - 10 points
2. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox (NZL) - 18
3. Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion (FRA) - 18
4. Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield (GBR) - 20
5. Pierre Leboucher/Nicolas Le Berre (FRA) - 23
6. Onan Barreiros/Juan Curbelo (ESP) - 24
7. Lucas Calabrese/Juan de la Fuente (ARG) - 30
8. Nicholas Rogers/Elliot Willis (GBR) - 37
9. David Bargehr/Lukas Mahr (AUT) - 38
10. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) - 43

470 Women - Top 10 Overall

1. Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron (FRA) - 16
2. Xiaoli Wang/Xufeng Huang (CHN) - 18
3. Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol (SLO) - 20
4. Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu (CHN) - 21
5. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Barbachan (BRA) - 28
6. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) - 28
7. Annika Bochmann/Elisabeth Panuschka (GER) - 29
8. Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) - 33
9. Afrodite Kyranakou/Anneloes van Veen (NED) - 33
10. Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar (AUT) - 36

www.470.org

Helena Lucas Wins Ladies Day Trophy
Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Helena Lucas, MBE, was awarded the Ladies Day Trophy at the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week Ladies Day ceremony earlier this evening.

Lucas was chosen as winner of this prestigious Ladies Day award from a strong line-up of nominees, but it was her sheer determination that has encouraged many other women to become involved in sailing that contributed to her being presented with the 2013 Ladies Day Trophy award.

Lucas, who was born with no thumbs and limited extension in her arms, made history claiming 2.4mR Paralympic gold medal at London 2012, becoming the first ever female winner of the male dominated Paralympic class and Britain's first ever Paralympic sailing gold medallist.

She is also in the unusual position of having completed both Olympic and Paralympic campaigns. Having sailed 470s since 1997, she moved into the Paralympic 2.4mR in 2003 before making her Paralympic Games debut at Beijing 2008, finishing seventh. Lucas is continuing on the road to Rio 2016 on a quest for her second gold medal.

This week Lucas is sailing an SB20 with her coach Ian Barker - Olympic Silver Medallist in Sydney 2000 in the 49er class, and Vicky Rawlinson - former 420 youth world champion and Olympic 470 trialist.

www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

Ocean Safety Supplies Toe In The Water For Fastnet Race
Ocean Safety has provided Kru Sport Pro lifejackets and Kannad R10 Survival Recovery Systems to each of the 16 crew of 'Team Endeavour' who are taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race aboard a Farr 52. But this is no ordinary crew. 'Team Endeavour' will have a number of military personnel on board who have suffered life changing injuries, despite which they are all still servicing members of the armed forces.

The campaign is being managed by tri-service charity Toe in the Water which has provided the yacht, generously donated to the charity by its former owners, that will be on the August 11th start line.

"Kru Sport Pro from Ocean Safety is the best choice for long distance racing in terms of comfort and compact design," says Ocean Safety's Charlie Mill. "We are pleased to be partnering with Toe in the Water for one of sailing's iconic races."

Each crew member is also equipped with the Kannad SRS R10 AIS man overboard recovery system which will hugely increase the chances of recovery in the event of a man overboard.

oceansafety.com

Williams Heads To Quarter Final
Photo by Brian Carlin / AWMRT, www.briancarlinphotography.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Chicago, USA: Ian Williams and his team GAC Pindar lead the field at the end of a long and intense second day at the Chicago Match Cup. Last year's winner at this event and the reigning World Champion of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour has already won Qualifying with 8 wins and 2 losses, with a final match against Keith Swinton still to come.

The Windy City was just that today, delivering an ideal 10-15 knot northeast breeze that kept the course area pinned right up against the east end of Navy Pier in perfect placement for the thousands of spectators that were on hand today to watch all the action.

The only team that could match Williams' 8 wins is the qualifying team from Australia, Jordan Reece and his Estate Master Sailing Team on 6 wins and 3 losses.

Canfield and USone along with Bjorn Hansen and eWork Sailing Team are also looking well placed, although no one has had it all their own way. The other Qualifier team, Don Wilson and his local team representing Chicago Match Race Center, have done a good job of taking some big scalps - Williams, Reece and Adam Minoprio among them - yet have lost out to some of the lower-placed crews.

Adam Minoprio's fishing adventure with race officer Peter 'Luigi' Reggio's committee boat looks to have cost him a guaranteed place in the Quarter Finals. Instead the 2009 Tour World Champion will have to battle it out with the rest of those who finished in the bottom eight of the 12 teams in Chicago in tomorrow's repechage.

Results after 15 out of 17 Qualifying
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar 8-2
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone 7-4
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) eWork Sailing Team 6-4
Jordan Reece (AUS) Estate Master Sailing Team powered by Etihad Airways 6-3
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Team Alpari FX 5-6
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team 5-4
Gavin Brady (USA) Team Vesper 5-6
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing 4-6
Don Wilson (USA) Chicago Match Race Center 4-7
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Stena Sailing Team 4-6
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing 4-5
Will Tiller (NZL) Full Metal Jacket 2-7

wmrt.com

Let's Do The Time Warp Again
ORACLE TEAM USA's AC45 yachts have withdrawn, retrospectively, from the last four AC World Series regattas.

This follows an internal investigation led by CEO Russell Coutts, which determined that prior to racing in the regattas the yachts were modified without the permission of the Measurement Committee. The withdrawal is in spite of the fact that the modifications had no impact on the performance of the boats.

The AC45s are a class of 45-foot training yachts used in previous world circuit regattas and have not raced since Naples in April 2013. They are distinct from the AC72 yachts (72-footers) being raced in this year's Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup.

The modifications were made over a year ago by a small number of team members involved in the AC45 circuit, without the knowledge of management or the skippers, and without having followed standard internal procedures.

"Our team is very disappointed by this turn of events, and I believe that voluntarily withdrawing from these past AC45 regattas is the appropriate corrective action," Coutts said. "Going forward we remain focused on our AC72 training in preparation for the upcoming America's Cup this September."

oracle-team-usa.americascup.com

A Sailing App To Log Your Voyage - Alert Friends, Coastguard
Now here's an App that could change the boating habits of a generation of sailors, but for now it's just for Ireland. An App which logs your voyage directly onto your Smartphone so that friends and the local coastguard can monitor your voyage.

The Irish Sailing Association has just announced the introduction of ISA SafeTrx. It's free, and it's certainly smart. Other Coastguard organisations take note.

This App is so revolutionary it might go a long way to taking the anguish away from friends and family worrying about sailors on voyages, and could be destined to save lives on the water by having a yacht logged and the information easily accessible throughout their voyage.

Developed in association with Irish Coast Guard and DeCare Systems Ireland, ISA SafeTrx allows boat and leisure craft owners to log their voyages directly from their Smartphone which can then be accessed and monitored by their chosen contacts as well as the Coast Guard.

Available for both Android & Apple iOS devices (iPhone, iPad), ISA SafeTrx logs position reports every kilometre (or every 5 minutes if stationary). Should the user fail to return on time their Emergency Contacts will be alerted via SMS and advised to initiate the appropriate action. How Smart is that!

For more information and to download the app for free go to www.sailing.ie/SafeTrx

www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=112830

Early Leaders Back On Top At Avantime ORC European Championship
Sandhamn, Sweden: After a long postponement awaiting wind to start, the third inshore race of the Avantime ORC European Championship finally got underway in the mid-afternoon today, with results that have placed the early series leaders back on top.

A light and shifty 6-7 knots gave race managers enough breeze to set a course and get the race started, and those that did well in Classes 1 and 3 did so by convincing margins, while Class 2 ended being quite close.

In Class 1 Thomas Nilsson's Norwegian team on their TP52 Trucknor Wolfpack used their speed advantage to get away from the pack and take the race by 1 minute 41 seconds in corrected time over local favorite Ralf Aspholm's Landmark 43 Datacom. The win has put Trucknor in the lead in the class by a 4.5-point margin over fellow Norwegian Ole Martin Vordahl's Cookson 50 Camilla, who rose through the rankings after their twin victories in yesterday's two offshore races.

Class 3 was also won by an even larger margin - 4 minutes 24 seconds - by Estonian Aivar Tuulberg and his Arcona 340 Katarina II, with the remaining finishers left to fight amongst themselves for the remaining 2-3 minutes in corrected time. The early class leader - Mihkel Kosk's Estonian team on his NM38 Sugar 2 - had their worst race of the series so far, losing 6th place by only 2 seconds, but their finish was still good enough to regain the class lead by only one point over Katarina. The top three entries in this class are currently within only 2.5 points.

But Class 2 was won by the closest margin, where Heinz-Peter Schmidt's green Evento 42 Silva-Hispaniola from Germany, 2011 ORC European Champion, defeated the early series leader, Priit Tammemägi's Estonian X-41 Premium, by only 36 seconds. But Premium's 2nd place was good enough to launch her back into the lead, though only by a 1-point margin over Bengt Falkenberg's Swedish First 40 Teknova/Albatross.

Two more inshore races are planned for tomorrow, with only one more is needed for a discard in scores that may further shuffle the results.

www.ksss.se

Nab Tower Make-Over
Photo by Barry Pickhall, www.pplmedia.com. Click on image to enlarge.

The Nab Tower is half way through reconstruction to extend the structure's life for a further 50 years.

The iconic tower has marked the eastern end of the Solent for close to a century, survived countless storms and the impact from several ships that have run into it.

So far, the top sections of the outer external steel tower, which had badly deteriorated, have been removed, in a plan to reduce the tower's overall height - and with it, maintenance costs.

The tower will be equipped with a fixed light with a 12 nautical mile range, together with AIS and RACON beacons. The work is scheduled to be completed in October.

Originally, the 10,000-ton Nab Tower was one of 12 planned to be floated out and sunk across the Varne Shoal in a line from Dungeness to Calais during World War 1 to form an effective wall to stop German U boats from entering the English Channel.

Construction began in 1918 in Shoreham Harbour, where they became known as the 'Mystery Towers', for though 5,000 people were employed on their construction, very few knew what the towers were destined for.

By the time the war ended in 1918, only two towers had been completed, and after much discussion the first was named the Nab Tower and floated out to act as a navigation mark off Selsey Bill. Her sister tower was demolished.

Featured Brokerage
1997 ILC 40. EUR 78,000. Located in Netherlands.

ILC 40 reset to original design and weight distribution 2008 by Standfast.

World champion, European champion in 1997 as Mean Machine
2009 winner of the Bloodhound cup in the RORC Fastnet-race
2010 Winner of the North Sea Race in ORC 1. 2nd in the North Sea Regatta

Brokerage through Bach Yachting International: www.yachtworld.com/bachyachting/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case. -- Ken Kesey

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Bunch Up In Poole Bay
Photo by Christophe Launay, www.sealaunay.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Off Cowes, the rain stopped and the sun came out for today's start of the world's largest offshore race, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial Rolex Fastnet Race. In the end, 335 boats set sail for Plymouth via the Fastnet Rock off south-west Ireland, with 292 racing for overall honours under IRC rating and a further 43 non-IRC boats.

As is tradition, the start was upwind into a West-South Westerly that for the first starts was around 10 knots, but slowly built to 15 as the sea breeze developed.

First away were the Multihulls, including the world's two fastest trimarans, Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard's 40m long, Spindrift 2, and Armel le Cleac'h's 31.5m, Banque Populaire, with the latter very late starting. Meanwhile the Sidney Gavignet-skippered, Oman Air-Musandam, was charging along up the mainland shore. Four hours in and Gavignet's team had managed to fend off the two larger trimarans as well as the new 80ft, Prince de Bretagne, trimaran campaigned by double Route du Rhum winner Lionel Lemonchois.

Among the IMOCA 60s it was fellow Vendee Globe winners Fran√ßois Gabart and Michel Desjoyeaux aboard the former's, MACIF, that nailed the start line to perfection.

The third group away were the Class40s and Figaros. The Spanish team on the brand new Marcellino Botin-designed Tales II, skippered by Botin brother Gonzalo, also benefitted from heading down the mainland shore of the Solent and at 1600 BST was neck and neck for the lead with the Anglo-American couple Dan Dytch and Emma Creighton on Momentum Ocean Racing, both boats just off Swanage.

The IRC classes set off from Cowes with the smallest first, the boats in IRC Four bunching up at the favoured mainland end of the line. At 1600 they too were in the middle of Poole Bay with the French JPK 10.10, Alkaid III, of Gerard Quenot leading the charge inshore, while another French JPK 10.10, Leon, of Jacques Pelletier was in front of the offshore group.

Having started 10 minutes after them, the IRC Three fleet was in the process of overtaking IRC Four. Ian Kirkpatrick's X-37, Fatjax, was ahead in the inshore group with the J/109 sisterships, Kevin Armstrong's Jazzy Jellyfish and Stephen Morris' Jambol, front-runners among those offshore.

Again in IRC Two, the bulk of the fleet was sticking to the shortest course further inshore.

The bigger boats in IRC One were also pulling ahead of the smaller, slower boats with overall Season Points Championship leader Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, out in front, also on the direct route, close to Swanage. In this class the in shore boats are clearly doing better than those offshore, where the Clipper 68, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, is ahead.

The IRC Zero boats have already overhauled the smaller boats and, as expected, the 72ft Mini Maxis American Hap Fauth's Bella Mente and Niklas Zennstrom's Ran 2 are locked in their own private match race, hugging the coast off Swanage. The Volvo Ocean 60, Team Heiner One, is on a flier offshore. Prior to leaving the Solent, there was disaster in IRC Zero for the brand new Botin 65, Caro, which went hard aground on Salt Mead Ledge.

Among the canting keel boats, the 100 footer Esimit Europa 2 is ahead, but not that far in front of Mike Slade's similarly long, but substantially heavier ICAP Leopard, both having just passed St Alban's Head. In the inter-Volvo 70 fight it is the Ian Walker-skippered Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing that is ahead of the (mostly) female crew on Team SCA.

This evening, the crews are expecting the wind to veer increasingly into the north-west putting them on to a starboard tack-favoured beat down the south coast of the UK.

fastnet.rorc.org

Tracking: fastnet.rorc.org/2013-fleet-tracking.html

Luna Rossa Challenge To Meet Emirates Team New Zealand In Louis Vuitton Cup Final
Luna Rossa wins semi finals. Photo by LUNA ROSSA / Studio Borlenghi / Borlenghi-Butto. Click on image for photo gallery.

San Francisco, California, USA: Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge booked a match against Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final when it completed a 4-0 sweep of Artemis Racing in the semifinal round of the America's Cup Challenger Series.

The Italian team, led by skipper Max Sirena and helmsman Chris Draper, has lifted its game since the start of racing and now gets to meet its one-time training partner in the 30th anniversary Louis Vuitton Cup.

"I'm hugely proud of our team, it's been a terrible period," said Artemis Racing skipper Iain Percy. "First and foremost at this moment, my thoughts go to my teammates and to 'Bart' and his family. He would've been so proud of us, considering this is something that none of us thought we'd be able to do two months ago when we lost him. We've enjoyed every second because we knew what an achievement it was just to be out here."

Facing elimination, Artemis Racing helmsman Nathan Outteridge took the action to Draper in the pre-start. Outteridge got a leeward hook on Draper and luffed him away into a tack. Draper tacked back to starboard with Outteridge still to his left.

Artemis Racing was penalized for a port-starboard incident when its starboard bow touched Luna Rossa's port hull, although it appeared that Outteridge had his helm all the way to port trying to maneuver away.

Artemis Racing received two more penalties during the race, both for crossing outside the course boundary, and Luna Rossa was never really threatened the rest of the race.

The Louis Vuitton Cup Final begins next Saturday, Aug. 17, with two races planned.

americascup.com

Canfield Wins Chicago Match Cup In Comeback Victory
Chicago, USA: Taylor Canfield and USone bounced back from 0-2 to take a last-gasp victory at the Chicago Match Cup today. Representing the US Virgin Islands but also a hometown favorite as race director of the Chicago Match Race Center, the crowd of spectators went silent with tension as Canfield and USone's Tom 28 keelboat rumbled towards the finish line of the final match, little more than a boatlength ahead of Keith Swinton and Black Swan Racing from Australia.

Then the crowd on Navy Pier erupted into whoops and cheers as USone took their third consecutive victory, and with it the winning paycheck of $25,000 from a total prize fund of $100,000, the biggest prize money in American sailing. Canfield offered the perfect riposte to his early exit from Stena Match Cup Sweden a month earlier, his victory in Chicago rocketing him up the leaderboard on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. Bjorn Hansen's eWork Sailing Team also won an important victory in taking the final match of the Petit Final against reigning Tour World Champion, Ian Williams and GAC Pindar.

The final match was less dramatic, with no torn sails or crashing dial-downs, just smooth execution by Canfield and his team to take the early lead and extend, bring it to 3-2 and the title win for the event.

The Petit Final was an intriguing hors d'oeuvre to the main action, and as in the Final, the Swedes managed to come back from behind to beat the Brits.

The Finals today was the closing act of a five-day celebration of sail that included Tall Ships Chicago, where 14 tall ships from around the US helped draw in even more crowds to the world-famous Navy Pier, Chicago's most popular tourist attraction.

To watch re-runs, visit:¬†www.new.livestream.com/worldmrt

Chicago Match Cup, Stage 4, Alpari World Match Racing Tour - Final Results

1. Taylor Canfield, USone, ISV
2. Keith Swinton, Black Swan Racing, AUS
3. Bjorn Hansen, eWork Sailing Team, SWE
4. Ian Williams, GAC Pindar, GBR
5. Pierre Antoine Morvan, Vannes Aggio, FRA
6. Phil Robertson, WAKA Racing, NZL
7. Adam Minoprio, Team Alpari FX, NZL
8. William Tiller, Full Metal Jacket, NZL
9. Johnie Berntsson, Stena Sailing Team, SWE
10. Gavin Brady, Team Vesper, USA
11. Don Wilson, Chicago Match Race, USA
12. Jordan Reece, Estate Master, AUS

www.ChicagoMatchRace.com
wmrt.com

Alegre 3 Looks Good with Ocean Safety Ultralite Liferafts
72ft mini-maxi racer Alegre 3, designed by Mark Mills, has just won Class 0 in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE as she conquers her way through the Mediterranean season.

Alegre 3, immaculate in every detail of preparation to achieve optimum performance,does not compromise to safety. Therefore its a natural choice for Alegre 3 to use the Ocean Safety Ultralite liferaft. In fact barely noticeable and yet right where you need them on deck are a pair of lo-profile carbon fibre cases containing two Ultralite liferafts.

Equipping with the Ultralites puts Alegre 3 in a club of pedigree racers along with the likes of Wild Oats which was carrying two of Ocean Safety's superlite liferafts when she stormed across the Sydney Hobart Race finish line to break the record in December.

She wasn't the only yacht carrying Ultralites at the front of the fleet. Mini-maxi Jethou, a close second in the event, also carries Ultralites.

The Ultralites are designed specifically for grand prix racing yachts. Shaving weight from every extra kilo saved can count when it comes to finish line position. The Ocean UltraLite Liferaft uses carbon composite technology to achieve an amazing 30% weight reduction compared to standard ISO liferafts.

oceansafety.com

Third Consecutive Lysekil Victory for Ulrikkeholm
By securing her third successive victory in Lysekil Women's Match, Camilla Ulrikkeholm will further strengthen her top position on the ISAF match racing world ranking. In the Lysekil finale the Dane beat Lucy Macgregor with a 3 - 1 score, but the British team still takes the Terry J Kohler Perpetual Trophy for the inaugural Women's International Match Racing Series.

Local sailor Anna Kjellberg defeated French Olympian Claire Leroy 2 - 1 in the petit finale, taking not only third place in Lysekil Women's Match, but also the WIMR Series' runner-up position.

Camilla Ulrikkeholm and her team of the Royal Danish Yacht Club in Skovshoved had an extremely joyful Saturday on the beautiful Swedish west coast, first defeating Claire Leroy 3 - 1 in their semi finals, then repeating the score after a couple of really exciting matches against Lucy Macgregor in the finale.

Results in the final of Lysekil Women's Match 2013:
Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN - Lucy Macgregor, GBR 3 - 1

Results in the petit final of Lysekil Women's Match 2013:
Claire Leroy, FRA - Anna Kjellberg, SWE 1 - 2

Results in the semi finals of Lysekil Women's Match 2013:
Claire Leroy, FRA - Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN 1 - 3
Anna Kjellberg, SWE - Lucy Macgregor, GBR 1 - 3

www.wimrs.com

Three New ORC Europeans Champions Crowned
Sandhamn, Sweden: After a long week that featured everything from near-drifting conditions on Thursday to the brisk breezes of yesterday and Tuesday night, three class winners have emerged from at the Avantime ORC European Championship, held at the Royal Swedish YC (KSSS). The fleet of 60 boats from 8 countries was the largest ORC European Championship fleet assembled in a decade.

The champion among the ten teams competing in Class 1 took the lead early and never let go, even amassing enough of a lead in points to not sail the last race and use the resulting 11 point DNS as their discard. This would seem like a remarkable result, given that this team only added their tactician to the crew on the morning of the first race, but Thomas Nilsson said the true value of their Norwegian TP52 Trucknor Wolfpack is their strong team work.

"We have been racing together as a team for many years, not only on this boat but on an X-41 as well," said Nilsson. When Eivind [Melleby] came on board he fit in very well, and I have to say it was the team that drove his decisions, not the other way around."

The Corinthian division winner for Class 1 was Toni Hellman's 7th-placed Finnish Farr 40 Mare Bos.

In Class 2 the fight was on throughout the event for the 20 teams entered in this class, and would likely have had a different result were it not for the eventual Silver medalist having had a disastrous DSQ penalty in yesterday's second race due to a rule infraction at a crowded mark rounding. This left the door open for Bengt Falkenberg's Swedish First 40 Teknova/Albatross Racing to take their Gold medal victory, but by only a 3-point margin due to being recalled in the start of the last race and getting back to only a discardable 15th place.

The Corinthian Trophy winner for Class 2 was 4th-placed Silva Hispaniola from Germany, an Evento 42 skippered by Dennis Gehrlein, and winner of three of the nine races in this class.

The largest class in this event, the 30 boats in Class 3, provided some of the closest and most exciting racing, with multiple general recalls and black flag starts, close boat-on-boat action at the marks, and corrected time results decided within seconds to create final podium results within only 2.5 points.

Mihkel Kosk's Estonian team on his NM38 Sugar 2 won their Gold medals based on an impressive scorecard going into today, earning all single-digit results up until today's final race. Even with a discardable 22nd place in this race it was still enough to keep them ahead of the Silver medalists, fellow Estonian Aivar Tuulberg's Arcona 340 Katarina II, by only 2 points.

The Corinthian Trophy winner in Class 3 was also awarded to Team Arken Zoo.

www.ksss.se
www.orc.org

Australia and Brazil Win Nations Cup in Denmark
Click on image to enlarge.

Brazil's women won a thrilling seventh edition of the ISAF Nations Cup final in Middelfart on Saturday an hour after Australia's men had also upset the form book and the home favourites by whitewashing Denmark.

In the Open event, Australia's men won 3-0 against the dominant Denmark team, who had only lost two matches all week and had looked unstoppable. It is the first time Australia has won the Nations Cup.

David Gilmour, the 22-year-old skipper, and his crew: Ed Powys, tactician; Luke Payne, pit, Pete Nicholas and Alistair Marchesi, bow, were unstoppable.

Middelfart, with the whole Triangle Region and Little Belt rallying behind it, has shown what a centre of excellence for match racing it is. It is one of a sequence of international events which have underlined how the sometimes opaque sport of sailing can be made fun and intelligible for sailors and spectators alike. During the event Sport Event Denmark reiterated that they are considering bidding for the 2018 ISAF World Championships.

"Denmark has a long-standing tradition for sailing and Danish clubs find it cool to stage all kinds of sailing races, including international events," Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark, said. "The many skilled volunteers in the clubs help to ensure that the major international sailing events in Denmark are well-planned and staged, both from a professional and a financial point of view. We, as the Danish national event organisation, are proud of the great events in the domestic sailing community and we are impressed by the skills and readiness to innovate. We are considering a Danish bid for ISAF Worlds 2018".

Full results: www.matchracingresults.com/2013/isaf-nations-cup

Neilpryde UK Laser Nationals
Jon Emmett, Radial Champion. Photo by Mike Rice, fotoboat.com. Click on image to enlarge.

This year's championships were held at Paignton S.C. between the 3rd & 9th August and were sponsored by NeilPryde, Harken UK & Nutshellaw (Solicitors). The regatta combined both the National (Home Countries only) & Open Titles. This year's international entries included three 2012 Olympians; Gustavo Lima (Portugal), Jee-min Ha (South Korea) and New Zealand's Susannah Pyatt as well as a strong contingent from Ireland.

In the Standard fleet the overall winner, Portugal's Gustavo Lima, was also the Open Champion. He won six of the 11 races sailed and it was only when he was black flagged in Race 10 did it seem there might be a slight wobble in his performance.

It was a similar situation in the Laser 4.7 fleet where Lithuania's 16 year old Romas Ovcinnikov was unstoppable reeling off seven wins and two 2nd places to secure the Open title with a day to spare. Behind him a group of 14 year olds fought for the National title. Ross Banham proved to just have the edge over George Ford & William Bedford.

With 127 entries the Radial fleet sailed a qualifying series in two groups for the first four days. The groups were re-assigned each day depending on their overall standings at the end of each day's racing. In the Yellow Group John Booth sailed extremely well to record five wins and a 3rd in his qualifying series. Equally impressive in the Blue Group Jon Emmett's scoreline was four wins and two 2nds. This meant that they ended the first four days tied on points and went into the final Gold series never having raced against each other.

Emmett edged Thursday's results (2, 1) against Booth's (1, 3) and so Friday's two races were critical. In the first Emmett sailed very well to take the gun whilst Booth finished 4th. In the final start sequence Emmett used match racing tactics to sail Booth into oblivion before escaping from the pack to win both the race and the title. Ireland's Patrick Cahill looked set to win the Silver fleet when he won both Thursday's races but poor mid-fleet results on Friday dropped him to 4th overall and the title went to Hugh Braidwood. -- Eddie Mays

www.laser.org.uk

Featured Brokerage
2007 Beneteau First 40.7. EUR 129,950. Located in Ireland.

Distinction version with grey hull. Excellent spec to include 2006 North 3DL sals, sprayhood, bimini, heating electric windlass, Raymarine navigation to include autopilot, furling forestay etc.

Very well maintained and ready to sail away. Contact us immediately to arrange a viewing.

Brokerage through BJ Marine: bjmarine.net

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
The cost of sanity in this society, is a certain level of alienation. -- Terence McKenna

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Spindrift 2 Takes Multihull Division Line Honours In 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race
Team SCA rounding the rock at 0330 this morning. Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, co-skippers of Spindrift 2, a VPLP 131 Trimaran racing in the Multihull Division, crossed the finish line of the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race at the Plymouth Breakwater at 02.53.58 BST on Tuesday 13th August after an elapsed time of 38hr 53m 58s.

Earlier report:

With the wind resolutely in the northwest, the leading monohulls are hard on the wind as they head out west across the Celtic Sea. The Jochen Schuemann-skippered Esimit Europa 2 continues to lead the on-the-water battle of the 100ft maxis from Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard, both boats soon to tack north. Given the wind direction, several boats have continued west while staying to the south of the Scillies. This includes the Baltic 78, Lupa of London, which remains ahead on handicap in IRC Canting Keel, followed by the two VO70s.

In this particular match race, the women's Volvo Ocean Race team on Team SCA has managed to stay ahead of the Ian Walker-skippered Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, since passing them at Start Point.

"It was a night full of tacks and sail changes," reported Team SCA's Sam Davies. "It has been physically hard work, but our training is paying off and we have done some nice manoeuvres." Directly upwind, Team SCA's ETA at the Fastnet Rock is not until 0400 BST tomorrow, as the gradient wind is getting lighter and with the wind from the northwest the Fastnet Rock is effectively in the lee of Ireland.

Davies reckoned that she had had one hour's sleep last night, although as navigator she is not part of the watch system. Unusually, as the VO70s are racing this year under IRC, the crew is not allowed to stack the sails and so there has been more emphasis on the crew sitting on the rail.

The Mini-Maxi competition in IRC Zero continues with both American Hap Fauth's Bella Mente and Niklas Zennstrom's Ran 2 both also heading west, waiting to tack north, but with Bella Mente now five miles ahead of her rival. Since this morning, the US Mini Maxi, with a crew that includes Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Mike Sanderson and Northern Irish navigator Ian Moore, has taken the lead in IRC Zero.

fastnet.rorc.org

470 World Championships
Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS) finish the Medal Race in 6th place to win the 470 World Championship gold, and Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie (NZL) win their Medal Race to secure victory. In a fitting anniversary for the newly crowned 2013 470 World Champions, it was exactly one year ago that Mat Belcher won Olympic Gold, with Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie achieving their gold medal glory shortly after on the Nothe Course in Weymouth. A fitting conclusion to the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the International 470 Class.

It was a tense medal deciding day, with the top 8 boats in the 470 Men and 470 Women events ready for the challenge of the short course 25 minute double-points scoring medal race to decide the Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists. From a very light breeze in the morning, the wind was around 10 knots for racing.

Belcher/Ryan did what they needed to and finished in sixth place, which was more than enough to crown them as the 2013 470 World Champions - a year to the day that Belcher became the 2012 Olympic Champion. Leboucher/le Berre secured silver and Mantis/Kagialis bronze, despite finishing last in the medal race.

Four back to back World Championship titles must certainly be an unprecedented achievement in the sport.

Sixteen World Championship gold medals are now the legacy of 470 teams coached by Victor Kovalenko. "It means too long a time in the class," smiled Kovalenko. "In my mind Mat, is the best 470 sailor ever in the history of the class. With four World Championship victories in a row and unbeaten over the past two years, that must make him the best sailor ever."

470 Men - Top Ten Final Results Overall
1. Mat Belcher/Will Ryan, AUS, 44 points
2. Pierre Leboucher/Nicolas Le Berre, FRA, 51
3. Panagiotis Mantis/Pavlos Kagialis, GRE, 55
4. Lucas Calabrese/Juan de la Fuente, ARG, 59
5. Luke Patience/Joe Glanfield, GBR, 62
6. Stu Mcnay/Dave Hughes, USA, 77
7. Paul Snow-Hansen/Daniel Willcox, NZL, 87
8. Sofian Bouvet/Jeremie Mion, FRA, 88

Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie have secured two previous 470 World Championship medals, a silver in 2010 and bronze in 2011, and today they completed their collection by winning the ultimate gold medal.

Achievements don't get much better than being crowned Olympic Champions and World Champions within one year, as Jo Aleh acknowledged, "It is pretty good. We were actually just talking about it on the way in and we are almost more excited today I think than the Olympics." Laughing she said, "I guess we've done five World Championships and we have stuffed up three of them in the past, and we really wanted to get it right. We have had a few medals, but never the gold."

470 Women - Top Ten Final Results Overall

1. Jo Aleh/Polly Powrie, NZL, 31 points
2. Lara Vadlau/Jola Ogar, AUT, 51
3. Xiaoli Wang/Xufeng Huang, CHN, 58
4. Camille Lecointre/Mathilde Geron, FRA, 59
5. Sophie Weguelin/Eilidh McIntyre, GBR, 61
6. Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu, CHN, 64
7. Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol, SLO, 66
8. Elise Rechichi/Sarah Cook, AUS, 93

worlds.470.org

Key West Registration Is Open!
Registration for Key West Race Week is live and the entries are coming in! Quantum Key West 2014 is the ideal winter escape for world-class competition, unique shoreside fun, and Florida's southernmost sunshine and dependable breeze.

Top tier programs from Europe and the US will compete in exciting one design and rated classes. The TP52's will be holding their second consecutive US Super Series; strong one-design classes include Melges 32, Melges 24, Swan 42, and J/70.The exciting High Performance class and mini-maxis will be back.

Enter now and let the world know you are planning to race in North America's premier winter regatta! January 19 - 24, 2014.

Entries and more: www.premiere-racing.com

Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week
The final day of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week dawned with very light airs that necessitated a postponement before a west-south-westerly breeze climbing to 10 knots kicked in. Although shifty at first it continued to build through the day, peaking with gusts of more than 20 knots.

The overall Sportsboat class result was one of those decided on the final day, with Julian Cook and Caroline Aisher's Viper 640 Oh No leading the fleet on 8 points, followed by Jon Powell's Hunter 707 Betty on 9 points and Charlie Esse's modified J/80 Darwin Property on 13 points at the beginning of the final race.

At the finish Oh No was first to cross the line, by an impressive margin of more than 12 minutes. However, she was not able to save her time on Betty, one of the lowest-rated boats in this fleet, who won today's race by three minutes on corrected time. Oh No's second place today leaves her tied on 10 points with Betty, with the count back resolved in the latter's favour thanks to her four race wins this week. Fourth place today for Darwin Property was sufficient for her to comfortably retain third place overall.

Five wins in the first six races gave the overall win in the Dragon class to Graham and Julia Bailey's Aimee with a day to spare.

The podium of the Flying 15 class was decided with a race to spare, with Rupert and John Mander's Men Behaving Badly counting only first places to take yet another class win. =

The Redwing class has seen a close fight for first place all week between last year's class and White Group overall winner, John Raymond and Matt Alexander's Harlequin and Bruce Huber's Quail, with the two boats separated by only one point at the start of the final race.

There was a large fleet on the start line, initially led in by Nick Wakefield's Bizarre and Toucan, with Harlequin hanging back mid line, clearly conscious that they could not afford another OCS. However, it was Caroline and Edmund Peel's Redstart ll and Fraser Morrison's Skua that accelerated away from the line fastest. Redstart ll won today's race, ahead of Goose and Harlequin, but the top five overall places remained unchanged.

In the Sonar class Andy Cassell and Ken Newman's Jenny won today's race, finishing eight seconds ahead of Alistair Barter and Ed Suckling's Bertie. This cemented Cassell's position as overall class leader, winning the event four points ahead of Bertie. David Peerless' Miscreant took third overall.

In the Swallow class, Oliver Sloper's Marengo won today's race, ahead of Sir Malcolm Green's Archon and Anthony Lunch and Andrew Reid's Solitude. However, again the overall finishing order was unchanged after today's race, with Fiona Hampshire, Arthur Henderson and Honor Fell's Curlew taking first overall with 16 points, Paul Ward's Cockersootie second on 18 and Solitude third on 20 points.

Full report of all classes at www.aamcowesweek.com

Sills Crowned Eurosaf Youth European Champion
RS:X windsurfer Imogen Sills was crowned European Champion on Friday after a windless final day of the 2013 EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championships in Tavira, Portugal (9 August).

The RYA RS:X UK Youth Squad sailor emulated the success of her twin sister Saskia Sills at the 2012 event in Aarhus, Denmark last year by dominating proceedings from start to finish. The 17-year-old from Launceston, Cornwall, opened her European account with a bang taking nothing but races wins from the first two days of competition to cement her position at the top of the leaderboard from the outset.

Continuing her fine form, the Tavistock College school student entered the final day of racing on Friday with eight race wins under her belt from the 12 race series and an eight point cushion over her nearest rival Maelle Guilbaud from France. However, with as little as one knot of wind at the designated start time and the breeze not materialising throughout the day, the race committee had no option but to cancel racing with the final standings being those at the end of the 12 fleet races.

The EUROSAF regatta is the only event in the Youth Racing calendar which holds a stadium-style medal race which would have been Sills' first taste of a final double points race, which she admitted to being a little disappointed from missing out on.

For the full list of results from the 2013 EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championships visit the event website: tavirasailing.org

For further information regarding the RYA Racing programme please visit the RYA Website. www.rya.org.uk/racing/youthjunior/

Marlow Excel Dinghy Series Upgrades
The upgrades to the Excel Dinghy Series launched at the beginning of the year prove successful for new breed of high performance Olympic classes. The higher performance 49er rigs, the 49erfx and Nacra 17 all demand higher performance than ever from their ropes.

Excel Elite 90

Excel Elite 90 utilises the super high strength Dyneema SK90 yarn which is 15% stronger than the Marlow standard SK78 equivalent. The cover features a highly durable blend of Technora and polyester which improves abrasion resistance 300% compared to a full polyester cover.

Excel Racing GP 78

Compared to Excel Racing 78, the cover features a highly durable blend of Technora and polyester which improves both abrasion resistance and also grip in wet hands.

British sailing team member and 49er European champion Dylan Fletcher explains "Performance and reliability are key factors, the members of Team GBR are upgrading some high load lines such as spinnaker halyards to Excel Elite 90. The added abrasion resistance and improvement in strength can only benefit our performance and decrease needless retirements due to gear failure."

www.marlowropes.com

ISAF World Rankings
The ISAF World Sailing Rankings for 12 August 2013 have been released.

- Belcher still dominant in Men's 470 after 17th straight victory and fourth world title in a row
- Paine (USA) shifts Casey (AUS) off Finn top spot
- Croatians become 49er World #1 for first time
- Six British sailors in top three

Top ranked sailors:

470 Men: Matthew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS
470 Women: Lara Vadlau / (two different crew) Anneloes Van veen / Jolanta Ogar, AUT
49er: Pavle Kostov / Peter Cupac, CRO
49er FX: Alexandra Maloney / Molly Meech, NZL
Laser: Tom Burton, AUS
Laser Radial: Tatiana Drozdovskaya, BLR
Finn: Caleb Paine, USA
Nacra 17: Thomas Zajac / Tanja Chiara Frank, AUT
RS:X Men: Ivan Pastor Lafuente, ESP
RS:X Women: Bryony Shaw, GBR

Full rankings and reports: www.sailing.org/rankings

Mini-Transat
The Transgascogne was a last opportunity for some competitors to qualify for the Mini Transat. For instance Stan Maslard (Sefico Group), who needed foremost to finish the race to ensure he had the number of miles required to obtain the right to start on 13 October in Douarnenez. The race has also helped to strengthen the ambitions of many competitors who were keen to gain an advantage over their competition before the big crossing.

The strong wind, no wind, tactical game, and the round trip crossing of the Bay of Biscay, which marks the route of the Transgascogne, has offered a wide variety of conditions where everyone has had the opportunity to show their strengths. More importantly, this last race before the great confrontation has shown how extremely well matched the fleet for this 2013 edition is.

It is difficult today not to consider Gwenole Gahinet as the favorite of the 2013 edition of the Mini Transat. The Trinidadian navigator has dominated the pre-season racing with only the Trophy Marie Agnes Peron eluding him in favour of Giancarlo Pedote.

But the game is far from over. The opposition is getting stronger. We have already seen the potential of Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian), who was absent from the Transgascogne, but other candidates are pushing themselves forward. Bertrand Delesne (Teamwork) has lost none of his bite while Julien Pulve (Chasseur de Primes) had managed to get on the podium in the Transgascogne for his second race of the season. These four guys will also be looking out for Stan Maslard and some serious outsiders such as Louis Segre and Benoit Marie, who are never far from the forefront.

To date, 82 have been awarded places of the 84 available. The two remaining seats are normally allocated to prototypes built in the year of the race. With no prototype currently under construction, August 25, the deadline for qualifying for the Mini Transat 2013, should see these two places being reallocated to the first two competitors on the waiting list. There are currently 12 skippers on the waiting list of the 94 enrolled.

The Mini Transat course: returns to its origins
Leg 1 - Douarnenez to Arrecife (Lanzarote): 1200 miles.
Leg 2 - Arrecife to Pointe a Pitre: 2800 miles.

Dates
Prologue October 6, 2013.
Start from Douarnenez October 13, 2013 at 13h. Arrival in the Canary Islands between 23 and 26 October 2013.
Start from Canary Islands November 9, 2013. Arrival in Guadeloupe between 23 and 30 November 2013.

www.minitransat.fr

Shark Cam!!!
Marine researchers have attached a video camera to the dorsal fin of a basking shark off Donegal in what's described as a "world's first".

RTe News reports that the footage captured by the team from the Irish Basking Shark Project, who affixed their camera to the giant six-metre shark off Malin Head last month.

Team spokesperson Emmett Johnston remarked on the basking shark bonanza off Donegal at present, commenting that the research "haven't seen sharks in such good numbers since 2010".

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the gathering of beasts was a surprise for an angling kayaker who posted his own video of being 'stalked' by a basking shark off the Inishowen Peninsula.

But he was never in any real danger as despite their fearsome appearance, the gentle giants live on a diet of plankton.

afloat.ie

www.rte.ie/news/

An Eventful Start To A New Career
An historic racing yacht restored on the Suffolk coast had an eventful and challenging start to her new career as a sail training boat.

The 42ft long Leila, skippered by Southwold sailing instructor David Beavan, has been competing in Tall Ships races in the Baltic Sea. Adventures afloat have included a blown-up engine, seasickness and a brush with the law in Poland.

The engine on the 121-year-old gaff-rigged cutter blew up before the first competition off Copenhagen - sparking a race against time to get her back in the hunt. The crew - all youngsters from the region who had raised funds to crew on the yacht - were transferred to another boat.

With the help of a team of mechanics Mr Beaven, who oversaw the four-year £170,000 restoration of the Leila at a Southwold boatyard, found a replacement engine in just three days, allowing them to head off to Helsinki to catch up with the rest of the fleet.

The drama continued as the Leila arrived at the Polish town of Szczecin on the Odor River, when a police boat tried to stop the yacht by cutting across its bows, only for her bowsprit to damage the officers' blue flashing light.

The Leila - built in 1892 and the fifth oldest sailing yacht in the country - is due to return to her home port of Lowestoft on August 20. Four days later she will head to the Ipswich Maritime Festival before racing to the Solent. -- Craig Robinson

See www.leila2C.org for more details.

www.eadt.co.uk

Featured Brokerage
1996 Custom Cruise / Race. US$ 695,000. Located in Marina Del Rey, CA, USA.

Christine handles beautifully... in choppy waters, high wind and lazy breezes. The boat performs completely balanced with outstanding control. Should the wind gods fail to smile on her, the reliable turbo-charged Cummings power plant propels her to her destination. The owner built this yacht over a period of seven years with the help of a collection of dedicated and highly skilled crafts men, guided by Peter Ebbutt, a well known Naval Architect and Structural Engineer, who kept the project on the proper path. The result of that effort has exceeded his highest and very ambitious expectations.

Brokerage through Cabrillo Yacht Sales: www.yachtworld.com/cabrilloyachts/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years. -- Sam Kinison

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

NOTE TO MY READERS: Eurobutt will take a short hiatus starting Friday. Your humble narrator will be travelling, visiting family and friends and taking a bit of vacation time. Scuttlebutt Europe will not have a Friday issue this week, nor likely to have any issues next week. Normal schedule to resume for the Monday 26 August issue.

Rolex Fastnet Race
Team SCA at the Needles. Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com Now downwind, homeward bound back from the Fastnet Rock, the overall IRC leadership has shifted in favour of the bigger boats. With this, there is some excitement sparking up around the Rolex Fastnet Race Village at Plymouth Yacht Haven with the women's Volvo Ocean Race team, Team SCA, moving into first position. This morning the pink VO70 had edged ahead in the IRC Canting Keel class, and this afternoon they have taken the overall lead.

However they are being seriously threatened by the all-male crew led by Ian Walker on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, currently just over a mile astern of Team SCA. While there are three male coaches sailing on board Team SCA, including Kiwi veteran and multiple Volvo Ocean Race winner Brad Jackson, the rest of the crew is female.

Former Olympian, multiple Laser Radial and Europe World Champion and Volvo Ocean Race sailor, Carolijn Brouwer, is on board, along with British Vendée Globe sailor Sam Davies and Olympic match racer Annie Lush.

Brouwer, originally from the Netherlands, who was helming Team SCA at the start, said that although the Rolex Fastnet Race was the team's first official race, for the crew it represented another step in their training for next year's round the world race.

"We are in 9-10 knots of breeze and conditions are very, very tricky," Brouwer continued. "We have been doing a lot of manoeuvres and a fair few changes - we are just focusing on keeping them clean and tidy." They have used being in contact with the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing VO70 to compare their performance. "Conditions are extremely tricky and it will only get trickier the closer we get to Plymouth. We just need to keep focused and keep chugging along, like we have over the last couple of days and hopefully it will all turn out okay."

At 1600 BST, Team SCA had 120 miles to go and was 27 miles from Bishop Rock to the west of the Scilly Isles.

* Esimit Europa 2, the 100-ft Maxi skippered by Jochen Schumann, is set to claim monohull line honours at the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race.

At 17:00 BST she was 85-nm from the finish line in Plymouth, with the crew reporting an ETA of 01:00 BST Wednesday morning. In the prevailing light conditions, Esimit Europa 2 has a natural advantage over her nearest rival, Mike Slade's heavier ICAP Leopard (GBR) and consequently throughout the day has been able to build what looks like an insurmountable lead. It currently stands at 20-nm.

Volvo 70 Team SCA (SWE) is making good progress on the heels of ICAP Leopard currently finding itself in a strong position with the IRC rating system taken into account. "Since the Fastnet Rock we have been pushing into this lighter stuff," reported Team SCA's Brad Jackson. "The boats behind us keep coming at us but we eventually hit some breeze and keep getting away. We'll keep trying to do that for a while."

* The MOD70 Edmond de Rothschild crossed the finish line in the Rolex Fastnet Race this Tuesday at 1108 GMT. Sébastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier, who had opted to race double-handed in preparation for their participation in the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre, completed the 610-mile course between Cowes and Plymouth, via the Fastnet, in 48 hours and 8 minutes. More important than the race time or ranking - Gitana XV secured 4th place in elapsed time - the men of Gitana Team's main aim was to qualify for the transatlantic race between Le Havre and Itajaï.

On his arrival in Plymouth, after 48 hours at sea, the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild ran through the race scenario: "We're tired but happy to have completed this race and qualified for the Jacques Vabre. The weather conditions pretty much echoed the forecasts with a really physical start to the race... We exited the Solent close-hauled in a building breeze - an average of 12 to 15 knots - and those few miles were intense with a great many tack changes to be performed. During these manoeuvring sequences, we clearly lacked muscle power to drive the boat in the way we're used to doing in crewed configuration. Fortunately the 150 miles between exiting the Solent and Lizard Point were easier to handle, because the minute you have some open water it's less of a strain on a physical level.

In the Celtic Sea, we had more breeze than forecast with an average of 17 knots, which peaked at 25 knots. There were short and fairly choppy seas, which weren't very comfortable. As planned though, as soon as we rounded the Fastnet, we switched to a run. It was a great night in this configuration. This morning, the wind totally died away with just 10 miles to go till the finish. We were virtually at a standstill for 4 hours and we had to be patient as we waited for the south-westerly breeze to kick back in and steer us towards the entrance to Plymouth Sound, where the finish line was set."

fastnet.rorc.org

ORACLE Sailing Crew Implicated In AC45 Measurement Bust
A previously confidential report by the Chairman of the Measurement Committee reveals that according to an internal inquiry by Oracle Team USA, one member of their sailing crew was involved along with three members of the team Shore crew in the AC45 Measurement incident which broke late last week.

A previously confidential report by the Chairman of the Measurement Committee reveals that according to an internal inquiry by Oracle Team USA, one member of their sailing crew was involved along with three members of the team Shore crew in the AC45 Measurement incident which broke late last week.

The incident relates to the finding on July 26, that a builder supplied part of three AC45's managed by America's Cup Defenders Oracle Team USA, had been tampered with, and had over 2kgs of ballast added to it.

The discovery was made by boatbuilders working for America's Cup Regatta Management (ACRM).

The amount of additional weight added is miniscule, and it is equally hard to understand why it would be located forward in the boat, however the point is that it was a breech of the class rules for the AC45 - which is a one design manufacturer supplied class.

The flipside of that situation is the time taken to clear off what should have been a very simple matter of the team identifying the people involved, the circumstances, and providing the Measurer with an explanation - all within 24 hours. Maybe they could have avoided the ignomy of withdrawing from the last four events of the America's cup World Series, of which Oracle team USA had won three and finished second in the other.

Instead what should have been a minor error, has dragged on for over two weeks and now the investigatory phase of a Rule 69 Hearing has got underway involving a substantial number of the team members, at a time when they should be preparing for the Defence of the America's Cup. -- Excerpt from Richard Gladwell's article in Sail-World.com

www.sail-world.com

Uncompromising, highly functional and extremely light weight; Tested and approved by many of the world's finest sailors.

Purchase the Extreme Sailing Series Collection by Marinepool directly from the official online store: www.extreme-sailing-series-store.com or contact us for your customized team wear.

www.marinepool.com

On to the Louis Vuitton Cup Final
Luna Rossa practicing. Photo by LUNA ROSSA/Carlo Borlenghi. Click on image for photo gallery.

The biggest question in every sport is who is going to win the contest? On paper, Emirates Team New Zealand looks like an easy victor against Italy's Luna Rossa in the Louis Vuitton Cup, America's Cup Challenger Series. In July New Zealand defeated Luna Rossa in every head-to-head race by over one mile. Last week, however, the Italian crew improved each day against Artemis Racing in the semifinal match. Did the competition help Luna Rossa enough to where they could possibly defeat the powerful Kiwis?

Before addressing Italy's chances, there are some important points to note about the upcoming regatta. The first two races will be on Saturday, August 17. The winner is the first boat to win 7 races. It could be a long series. The first race each day is scheduled for 1:10 local time. The race should last about 30 minutes. After a 30-minute break the boats will start again for Race Two at 2:10. Over the past month we have seen the wind here in San Francisco build later in the afternoon. There is a 21-knot wind strength limit in August and this limit is adjusted for the current. If there is a flood tide of 1.5 knots the wind limit increases to 22.5 knots. Conversely if the tide is ebbing at 1.5 knots (flowing out of the bay) the race committee will reduce the wind limit to 19.5 knots.

Adding to the equation each team is allowed - for one time only in the series, no questions asked - to postpone the second race of the day. This allows for a breakdown or some other problem. Like any sport "time outs" are generally held until the end of the game. We might learn that one boat is faster in lighter winds, and so that team may use their time-out to avoid racing when the wind is heavy in the afternoon. -- Gary Jobson

www.americascup.com

ISAF Invites Bids to Host the 2017 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship
ISAF is now inviting all Member National Authorities to bid for the 2017 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship.

The ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship is ISAFs longest running event, having taken place every year since the first championships hosted by Sweden in 1971.

The event has been held in 26 countries over the past 43 years. The 43rd edition took place from 13-20 July in Limassol, Cyprus before the flag was passed over by Cypriot sailors to the Portuguese team, host team of the 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds that will take place in Tavira. Langkawi, Malaysia will host the 2015 ISAF Youth Worlds before it heads to Al Musannah Sports City, Oman in 2016.

In advance of the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference in Oman, ISAF is inviting bids to host the 2017 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship.

A new addition to the Bid Manual for the 2017 ISAF Youth Worlds includes investing in the legacy of the Youth Worlds. On the importance of a long lasting legacy ISAF Youth Worlds Technical Delegate Antonio Gonzalez de la Madrid said, "It is vital that MNAs think about the lasting legacy hosting an event of the ISAF Youth Worlds stature can have on sailing within their nation."

MNAs interested in bidding should contact the ISAF Secretariat here to receive the bid manual. The deadline for bids is 15 October 2013. Bids will be reviewed by the Youth World Championship Sub-Committee during its meeting on 10 November 2013 at the ISAF Annual Conference in Oman.

www.isafyouthworlds.com

Celebrating 30 Years: 2013 J/22 World Championship
Newport, Rhode Island, USAP: Sixty-five teams from the U.S, Canada, England, South Africa and the Cayman Islands have already signed up to be a part of history at the 30th Anniversary J/22 World Championship presented by Fidelity Investments® scheduled for October 1-5, 2013 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Hosted by Sail Newport, many special events are planned in honor of the World Championship and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the boat. Along with Presenting Sponsor Fidelity Investments®, other sponsors have joined including Waterline Systems, J Boats, Coral Reef Sailing Apparel, Gosling's Dark and Stormy® and the Rhode Island State Yachting Committee.

A Legends Regatta on Monday afternoon, September 30 will reunite past champions as well as noteworthy J/22 sailors who have been members of the Class during its long history. After racing, the Legends sailors will join the opening ceremony on Monday evening to launch the World Championship week.

Registration is open until September 15, but the early deadline is August 14.

www.j22worlds.com

Kiteracing Oceanic Championships Are Coming To Western Australia
Two years on from Perth 2011, an international level competition course racing event is coming to Western Australia's Indian Ocean shores; the Kiteracing Oceanic Championships.

Kiteboarding has become one of the fastest growing water sports worldwide, founding a loyal community of enthusiasts at every beachside suburb with regular breeze. Western Australia's peerless beaches and ocean breezes attract thousands of colourful kites down to the gustiest spots most afternoons along the coastline.

The International Kiteboarding Association is the ISAF sanctioned governing body for kiteboarding, overseeing the course racing on Leighton Beach in December. Ranking points from this competition to roll towards the world championships with this event joining the IKA's annual racing calendar, adding further reason for competitors from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Spain, Germany and further abroad to race.

This event is building to become the most anticipated races on the international circuit and together with The Fremantle Doctor, conditions are bound to bring us an exceptionally fast race to watch.

The longest kiterace in Australia, the Lighthouse to Leighton is slated for Saturday December 14th. This 19km race launches from Rottnest Island to speed across the Gage Roads pass back to mainland shores. In 2010 Alex Caizergues set a record time of 23.34 to finish this now world renown race.

The inaugural Kiteracing Oceanic Championships will take place on Leighton Beach in North Fremantle from December 10-15, 2013.

www.kiteoceanics.com

Cork Dry Gin Calves Week
With a good sailing breeze, from the north west, forecast for the last day of sailing in the 2013 Cork Dry Gin Calves Week 2013, Race Officer Neil Prendiville took the opportunity to send the fleets in an unusual triangular course. A beat from north of the Calf Islands to Goat Island 3 nautical miles west of Schull Harbour, a fast spinnaker run down the smooth channel inside Goat and Long Islands and a broad reach out and around the Middle and Calf Islands was the set for some challenging and enjoyable sailing.

The wind, which was light onshore, built to a 17 to 18 knot breeze outside Copper Point, with gusts up to 25 knots, added interest to the spinnaker legs in particular. Classes 0/1 and 2/3, and the larger Whitesail boats, completed the circuit twice, with the smaller boats finishing after the run around the Calves.

Many boats struggled however to hold their spinnakers in the gusts with a few generous broaches to add to the excitement, which may explain why in the final shakeup Fool's Gold were ahead of Rockabill V on corrected time in IRC. Both however were behind Kieran Twomey who completed a clean sweep in Class 0/1 IRC for the week.

Overall results:

Class 0&1 IRC Gloves Off Kieran Twomey (RCYC)
Class 0&1 Echo Freya Conor Doyle (KYC)
Class 2&3 IRC Big Deal Derek Dillon (FYC)
Class 2&3 Echo Amazing Grace Brian O'Sullivan (TBSC)
Class 4 Shelly D Michael Murphy (SHSC)
Class 4 Echo Seven Whistler Rene Wubben (WHSC)
Whitesail 1 IRC Fizz Ciaran Geoghegan (DSC)
Whitesail 1 Echo Act 2 Roche/O'Leary/Andrews (RIYC)
Whitesail 2 La Perle Noire James and Deborah Crowley (SHSC)

www.shsc.ie

Schooner Astor at Dun Laoghaire
Schooner 'Astor' built by the famous Wm. Fife & Sons of Scotland in 1923. Teak planks over English oak frames. Originally commissioned for Dr McCormick of Sydney, Australia, Her homeport since 1987 is Newport, California, USA.

Although used mainly for cruising these days, this historic boat won the America Schooner Cup Race five times consecutively and has just finished up at the Fife Regatta 2013 where she was placed second in Class 1.

She is now in Dun Laoghaire Marina to allow the owners and crew to sample the delights of Dublin City, before she continues on her way with next stop, the Mediterranean.

Afloat magazine: afloat.ie

Royals 'Sink' Abramovic Yacht
The Emirati royal family has dethroned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in the race to own the world's biggest mega-yacht, Yachts France magazine has reported.

The 180-metre (590-foot) "Azzam" built for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, has ousted Abramovich's 163.5-metre (536-foot) "Eclipse" from the top of the yacht league table, the magazine said in its annual survey of the world's 100 biggest yachts.

After holding the top spot for three years, the "Eclipse" was pushed into second place by the "Azzam" after its delivery this year by German builder Lurssen Yachts.

The floating palace features six bridges and a 550-square-metre (6,000-square-foot) lounge decorated in the opulent turn-of-the-century Empire style, the magazine reported.

Despite its size, the behemoth can also move at a top speed of 31.5 knots (58 kilometres per hour/36 miles per hour), making it the third-fastest yacht among the top 100.

business.iafrica.com/worldnews/875067.html

Featured Brokerage
2000 90' MAG Maxi Open One Design "ALYE PARUSA". EUR 300,000. Located In Falmouth, United Kingdom.

The perfect boat for single handed or short crew handed record attempt. She is also in very good condition and ready to go.

Brokerage through Bernard Gallay Yacht Brokerage: www.yachtworld.com/bernard-gallay/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at
uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Every empire tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate. -- Edward Said

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

NOTE TO MY READERS: Eurobutt will take a short hiatus starting Friday. Your humble narrator will be travelling, visiting family and friends, and taking a bit of vacation time. Scuttlebutt Europe will not have a Friday issue this week, nor likely to have any issues next week. Normal schedule to resume for the Monday 26 August issue.

Maxi-Monohull Match Races Play Out
The biggest monohulls have spent the last days travelling two by two around the Rolex Fastnet Race course.

Between the pair of 100ft long Maxis - Esimit Europa 2 and Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard - it was the more nimble European maxi that led around the course to claim monohull line honours, finishing at 02:17:49 BST, with an elapsed time of 2 days 12 hours 27 minutes and 49 seconds.

Weighing in at a svelte 27 tonnes, compared to ICAP Leopard's 50, Esimit Europa 2 was the pre-race favourite for monohull line honours win and, after being forced to retire from the 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race in her previous incarnation as Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, this time she didn't disappoint. According to skipper, Jochen Schumann, the Esimit Europa 2 crew was concerned sailing down the Channel, because the moderate to strong upwind conditions favoured ICAP Leopard. In fact the closest ICAP Leopard got to them was around a mile.

The race was relatively simple in terms of crew work - there was only one jib change outbound to the Rock on board Esimit Europa 2, and downwind on the way back the conditions never exceeded 12 knots. But after all the hard work around the course, the outcome was only decided in the last moments when, like so many night time arrivals, Esimit Europa 2, was becalmed on the approach to the finish, as the boats behind approached, bringing the wind in with them.

Much to the chagrin of the ICAP Leopard crew, they were once again beaten by the Ian Walker-skippered team on the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing VO70, which pipped them to the post crossing the line at 07:25:03, just four and a half minutes ahead of them.

The match race between the two Judel Vrolijk 72 Mini Maxis took a dramatic turn further back up the course. American Hap Fauth's newer and more powerful Bella Mente had led and extended over Niklas Zennstrom's 2009 and 2011 overall Rolex Fastnet Race winner, Ran 2, on the way to the Fastnet Rock.

After looking to be in good shape, Bella Mente suffered late yesterday afternoon when they fell into a patch of light wind short of the Bishop Rock.

While Ran 2 succeeded in beating Bella Mente under IRC, she has been knocked into second place in IRC Zero by Johnny Vincent's TP52, Pace. Overall she holds third place under IRC and sadly is no longer in with a chance of entering the history books by securing her third consecutive overall win in the Rolex Fastnet Race.

With the smaller boats returning from the Fastnet Rock in better conditions, they are becoming increasingly favoured for the overall win of the Rolex Fastnet Race under IRC. Andrew Pearce's Ker 40, Magnum 3, was ahead first thing this morning, but has since been overtaken by Inis Mor, the Ker 39 of Frenchman Laurent Gouy. It could be at least another 48 hours before a winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2013 is finally decided.

fastnet.rorc.org

Fastnet Race Village Open
Plymouth Yacht Haven and the Rolex Fastnet Race Village is all set to host the public and welcome a fleet of boats and crews.

As the wind picks up offshore for the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race fleet, the Race Village in the Plymouth Yacht Haven at Mount Batten is bracing itself for the arrival of thousands of sailors from all over the world.

Members of the public are warmly invited to come down to the free-to-enter Race Village to join in the celebrations, watch live TV coverage on the big screen and hear regular reports and interviews with the sailors on Fastnet Radio broadcasting on 87.9fm. Fastnet Radio will also be available on line at: fastnet.rorc.org

Race Village at Plymouth Yacht Haven:
Plymouth Yacht Haven, Shaw Way, Mount Batten, Plymouth, Devon PL9 9XH

www.yachthavens.com/plymouth.aspx

Magic Marine Melges 24 European Championship
Medemblik, Netherlands: Melges 24 teams from across Europe are gathering at the International Sailing Centre Medemblik this week in preparation for the Magic Marine Melges 24 European Championship 2013. Registration opens on Thursday and 72 teams are expected to compete in an extremely closely fought competition for the right to claim the title of Melges 24 European Champion.

Without doubt one of the most engaging challenges of the Magic Marine Melges 24 European Championship will be the fight for the Corinthian title. 42 teams, more than half of the total entries, will be racing in the all amateur division and it is also important is to underline that the entry list includes 13 nations.

Now that Peder Jahre's Storm Capital Sail Racing has opted to sail only in the open division after a great series of Corinthian successes, the best know Corinthian is Lenny. Owned by two-time Olympic medalist Tonu Toniste (silver in Seoul 1988 and bronze in Barcelona 1992 in the 470 class), this Estonian crew has achieved a good number of brilliant results. It won the Worlds in Hyeres 2006 and the Europeans in Neaustadt 2007 and Aarhus 2011.

They are the reigning champions, but they will have to guard against attack from their fellow countrymen aboard Rock City, owned by Tiit Vihul, another long-time owner in the International Melges 24 Class Association.

Another interesting crew could be Marrakech Express. Representing Fraglia Vela Riva, this Italian crew is coming from the northern side of Lake Garda and will be led by Augusto Poropat, one of the youngest sailors of the fleet at 23 years of age. This already strong team have been sailing extremely well this season.

The Magic Marine Melges 24 European Championship will officially open on August 15. The races are scheduled between Saturday 17 and Thursday 22, when there will be no starting sequence after 14.30. The notice of race provides for a maximum of ten races, with a discard after the end of the sixth race. -- Fiona Brown

melges24europeans13.com

Excel Elite 90

Excel Racing GP 78

Compared to Excel Racing 78, the cover features a highly durable blend of Technora and polyester which improves both abrasion resistance and also grip in wet hands.

www.marlowropes.com

Dalton Ups The Ante
Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton has accused America's Cup holders Oracle of "cheating" during the recent world series.

Dalton upped the ante on last week's revelations that members of Sir Russell Coutts' Oracle syndicate had illegally altered three boats that were used in the America's Cup World Series over the last two years.

Oracle are under investigation by the international jury after measurement issues on the smaller 45-foot catamarans used in the series. It's a major embarrassment coming on the eve of the America's Cup final in San Francisco next month that will be sailed in the bigger AC72s.

"You can't actually get to any other point than the fact they were cheating," Dalton told the San Francisco Chronicle today.

"It's really serious."

Dalton dismissed Oracle's claims that the measurement infringements didn't affect performance and had been made without the knowledge of management.

"Why would you actually do it, if it didn't make a difference?" Dalton asked.

"Properly placed extra weight does improve the performance of the boat. Because of the design, you like the weight forward. You put one guy really far forward to keep the bow in the water.

"It's inconceivable that a shore crew member woke up one morning and decided it was a good idea - that management would think it was a good idea - that to make the boat faster you would put some weight in the boat, and then you'd come in to work one day and do it."

Dalton stopped short of accusing Coutts personally.

"I can only say that there's a management failure," he told the newspaper.

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/boating/

Henri Lloyd To Take Part In The Clipper Round The World Race 13-14
Henri Lloyd is proud to announce they will be the title sponsor of a team in the Clipper 13-14 Round the World Race which starts from St Katherine's Dock in London on the 1st September this year. The official naming of the Clipper 70 will take place on Saturday 31st August before the fleet set sail on the first leg of the epic challenge.

The naming ceremony will take place at St Katherine's Dock, London E1W just a stone's throw from Henri Lloyd's new concession at Nauticalia within St Katharine Docks. The Dock area is open to the public so visitors will be able to view the naming event from the quayside.

The Henri Lloyd Clipper 70 racing yacht will be named by legendary yachtsman and round the world sailor, Sir Robin Knox -Johnston who is the driving force behind The Clipper Round the World Race, with Mr Paul Strzelecki, CEO of Henri Lloyd.

Team Henri Lloyd will be skippered by Canadian Yachtsman Eric Holden. Eric is a meteorologist and was also selected as the Official Weather Forecaster for the Canadian Sailing Team during London 2012 Summer Olympics.

www.henrilloyd.com
www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Russians Celebrate Douarnenez
The Gazprom International Gold Cup, to be held in Douarnenez from August 16 to August 24, is sponsored by Gazprom International. In 2006, when the Gold Cup also took place in Douarnenez, another Russian corporation, Petronord, supported the event. It's a testimony to the long lasting relationship between our bay and the Russian Dragon sailors, who have been coming to race here for more than 10 years.

On the Treboul harbour, the 80 volunteers are getting ready to greet 80 Dragons in a few days. About 20 countries will be represented. The event is a major one, both from a sporting and an economical aspect, and the impact that such a fleet will have on local tourism is considerable.

The Russians will come in force , with 13 boats already entered, among them several contenders for the top spot like Dmitry Samokhin or Vassily Senatorov. However the Russian Dragon crews will face some strong opponents. They will come from Ukraine (Markus Wieser and Evgeniy Braslavets), England (Gavia Wilkinson-Cox and Laurie Smith), Portugal (Jose Matoso), Germany (Thomas Muller), Denmark (Lars Hendricksen and Jorgen Schoner) and France (Remy Arnaud and Luc Pillot), picking from the best crews according to the IDA (International Dragon Association) ranking, among them some multiple Gold Cup winners. Crews from Hong-Kong, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Belgium, Norway, the UAE, Finland and Holland will add to this global and prestigious fleet.

www.dragongoldcup2013.com

Red Bull Youth America's Cup
The 10 teams entered in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup received their AC45s today, marking the official beginning of the series created to give youth sailors a pathway to be an America's Cup sailor.

The Red Bull Youth America's Cup is scheduled Sept. 1-4 on San Francisco Bay, just off the America's Cup Village, at Marina Green. The 10 teams of national sailors, aged 19-24, represent eight countries: Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, United States. New Zealand and the U.S. have two teams each. Each AC45 has been branded with the familiar Red Bull logo and flags of the representative nations.

The international teams were selected from two sets of trials in February, and the two U.S. teams were selected at trials last November.

The two American teams are led by skippers Charlie Buckingham and Ian Andrewes.

The American teams will have their hands full. The international teams include some highly successful sailors, such as Peter Burling of the New Zealand Sailing Team and Bernardo Freitas of the ROFF/Cascais Sailing Team. Burling was the silver medalist in the 49er at last summer's Olympics and Freitas placed 8th.

Switzerland's Team Tilt has spent 150 days practicing since last November

americascup.com

Invitational Cup: The British Are Coming
Later this summer, three British yacht club teams will travel to Newport, R.I., to compete in the 2013 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. Representing the Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal Southern Yacht Club and Royal Thames Yacht Club, each 10-member crew will race against 17 other international teams aboard identically matched Swan 42s on Narragansett Bay from September 7-14, 2013. Royal Southern Yacht Club is making its first appearance in the regatta, while it will be the second and third appearances, respectively, for Royal Thames and the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Glynn Williams will helm the Royal Yacht Squadron entry for the second consecutive time at the 2013 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex

RYS, located on the Isle of Wight, and NYYC have a long history of collaborating on events, highlighted by the Transatlantic Race - the start of which is hosted by NYYC in Newport, with the finish festivities hosted by RYS.

The team representing Royal Southern Yacht Club (RSYC) will also include two younger members, each of whom is a veteran of The Academy, the RSYC's program for 18 to 25 year olds, which offers opportunities for its members to gain knowledge of the racing rules and race management in addition to racing keelboats.

The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) has also made including younger members in the makeup of their team a major focus. In fact, with an average age of 35, six of the 10-member team are veterans of the RTYC Sailing Academy which provides a focus and tangible support for younger members in building their sailing skill and experience.

John Greenland will helm the Royal Thames Yacht Club entry

www.nyyc.org/yachting/invitational-cup

Cork County Council IFDS World Sailing Championships
With only 12 days to go until the start of the Cork County Council IFDS (International Association for Disabled Sailing) World Championships, Kinsale is buzzing with excitement as teams from 18 nations arrive to practice in the venue for the three Paralympic classes Sonar, Skud 18 and 2.4mR classes. This is the first Paralympic event since the London 2012 Games and is one of only three World Championships leading up to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This is the first time that the IFDS World Championships will be hosted in Ireland.

75 boats with 120 competitors, 50 coaches and over 300 hundred family and friends are expected to gather in Kinsale for the event which will run from 25 August until 30 August. The opening ceremony will be held in the James O'Neill building in Kinsale at 6pm on Sunday 25 August before parading to Kinsale Yacht Club to present their nation's flags. Racing will commence on Monday 26 August with two races scheduled daily.

Irish eyes will be watching the Sonar class where 10-time Paralympian and member of the 'Providence Team IRL for Rio 2016' John Twomey, who is also current President of the International Association of Disabled Sailing, will be keen to perform well in his home waters.

John Twomey and his crew of Ian Costello and Anthony Hegarty will also face local competition as Ireland yields two further entries in the Sonar class. Paul McCarthy, Brian O'Mahoney and Paul Ryan will make up the second boat while a third entry will consist of Tralee's Jacqui Browne, Amy Kelehan and Austin O'Carroll.

In the 2.4mR class Helena Lucas (UK) who was the Gold medal at London 2012 will be the one to watch while in the two-handed Skud 18 focus will also be on Team GBR and the London 2012 bronze medallists Niki Birrell and Alexandra Rickham.

The IFDS Worlds 2013 is proudly sponsored by Cork County Council, Irish Sports Council, The Gathering, Lilly, Irish Sailing Association and Kinsale Yacht Club.

www.ifdsworlds2013.com

The America's Cup? Fine. The Mark Foy Trophy? New Zealand Wants That, Too.
Both stand to be available to the Kiwis Sept. 7-15 when San Francisco Bay hosts eight New Zealand teams among those competing in the Nespresso 18' International Skiff Regatta for the Mark Foy Trophy, while sharing the waterfront race course on race days with America's Cup defender Oracle Team USA and, most likely, Emirates Team New Zealand---for now the dominant challenger in its promising quest for the Auld Mug.

St. Francis Yacht Club manages the skiff event, independent of the AC competition.

After a practice day Saturday, racing starts Sunday, Sept. 8, followed by Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. After the two 72-foot America's Cup finalists match-race at mid-day and head back to harbor, up to 20 of the skiffs one-fourth their size will pick up the building breeze at 1:45 p.m. Pacific time.

The skiffs are aiming for 10 races overall, including the traditional 5.3-nautical mile Ronstan Bridge to Bridge race late Thursday afternoon.

Alex Vallings, whose New Zealand team won the skiff regatta last year, said this week, "Can't wait to get there and get sailing. The C-Tech team has been to S.F. for three years now and it is always a great regatta with excellent breeze, close racing and well organized.

As it is, they'll be launching their skiffs from the Marina Green spectator area deeper into the bay instead of from Crissy Field west of St. Francis.

Their 12th annual skirmish in San Francisco marks a step up in stature with the addition of the Mark Foy Trophy, a prize inspired by the vision of the Australian department store owner who in the late 19th century successfully introduced sailboat racing to a spectator audience, featuring the overpowered 18-footers.

While the JJ Giltinan regatta run annually in Sydney since 1938 is regarded as the class's world championship, the Mark Foy has gained global status entering its fifth year of spreading the skiff spirit to various world locations.

Notably, Vallings followed up last year's win at San Francisco with another in the 2012 Mark Foy on his home waters in Auckland. With Chris Kitchen and Joshua McCormack as crew, he returns to San Francisco with seven other Maersk Line NZ teams, joined by other current entries from Denmark, Germany and Great Britain.

Their competition also will include USA veteran Howie Hamlin of Long Beach, Calif. who was second to Vallings in both of the above events---by two points in the Mark Foy after winning four of the nine races. Hamlin will have regulars Matt Noble and Paul Allen as crew.

Hamlin, twice a Giltinan winner, also has won world titles in the 505 and International 14 classes and has been a key organizer in bringing global talent to this event, which he has won six times. -- Rich Roberts

18skiff.com

Inter-Counties Sailing Championship 2013 Cancelled
Dublin, Ireland: Regrettably the Inter-Counties Sailing Championship will not be going ahead as scheduled on the 7th & 8th of September. Problems with finding enough funding support and issues shoreside have made it difficult to make the event a success. Waterways Racing would very much like to thank Waterways Ireland for the support they did put forward and also thank you to everyone who has shown such great enthusiasm for the event, it has been very much appreciated. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Paul O Riain, Event Director, Waterways Racing

www.waterwaysracing.net

Featured Brokerage
1989 Open 60. US$ 99,000. Located In Venezuela.

This Open 60' has an excellent history. She won the Vendee Globe round-the-world single-handed yacht race in '89/'90, '90 Route du Rhum, '03 Newport - Bermuda Race, and took a 3rd in the '97 Vendee Globe.

She has been upgraded with lots of new gear and work, including complete electrical re-wiring, new electronics, new mainsail, and more.

Brokerage through Lager Yacht Brokerage Corporation: www.yachtworld.com/lagerytsny/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at
uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
The ant is knowing and wise, but he doesn't know enough to take a vacation. -- Clarence Day

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Emirates Team New Zealand Wins Louis Vuitton Cup, 7-1
Photo by Chris Cameron, www.chriscameron.co.nz. Click on image for photo gallery.

Emirates Team New Zealand won the 30th anniversary Louis Vuitton Cup with a 3:20 victory over Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge in the eighth and deciding race. The Kiwis, who beat Luna Rossa in the previous Louis Vuitton Cup in 2007, won the series 7-1.

The victory makes Emirates Team New Zealand the official challenger to ORACLE TEAM USA for the 34th America's Cup in the "September Showdown" beginning Sept. 7. It's the fifth time in the past six America's Cup Matches that the Kiwis will be a contestant in the match.

Emirates Team New Zealand led by 16 seconds at Mark 1, 1:31 at Mark 2, 2:58 at Mark 3, and 3:18 at Mark 4.

Race 8 Performance Data

Course: 5 Legs/10.26 nautical miles
Elapsed Time: ETNZ - 33:49, LR - 37:09
Delta: ETNZ +3:20
Total distance sailed: ETNZ - 11.9 NM , LR - 12.3 NM
Average Speed: ETNZ - 21.27 knots (24 mph), LR - 20.04 knots (23 mph)
Top Speed: ETNZ - 41.19 knots (47 mph), LR - 38.73 knots (44 mph)

Emirates Team New Zealand Crew List
Skipper/helmsman: Dean Barker (14), Tactician: Ray Davies (10), Wing Trimmer: Glenn Ashby (3), Trimmer: James Dagg (9), Bow: Adam Beashel (2), Pit: Jeremy Lomas (8), Pedestal 1: Chris Ward (7), Pedestal 2: Rob Waddell (11), Pedestal 3: Winston MacFarlane (3), Pedestal 4: Chris McAsey (5), Float/Grinder: Derek Saward (12)

Luna Rossa Challenge Crew List
Skipper/pit: Max Sirena (4), Helmsman: Chris Draper (11), Tactician: Francesco Bruni (9), Wing trim: Xabi Fernandez (4), Wing grinder: Lele Marino (13), Trimmer: Pierluigi de Felice (10), Pit/grinder: Freddie Carr (23), Bow: Nick Hutton (2), Primary grinder: Wade Morgan (88), Strategist/Grinder: Giles Scott (41), Freestyle: Marco Montis (51)

americascup.com

Switzerland and Oman Tied On Points Ahead of Cardiff Final Showdown
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

As the public descended on Cardiff Bay in their thousands to watch the eight international Extreme 40 teams in action at the Extreme Sailing Series Cardiff presented by Land Rover, the intensity on the Extreme 40 playground couldn't have been fiercer as longstanding 2013 Series rivals Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat head into tomorrow's final showdown tied on points.

However victory is far from a forgone conclusion for either, with the Danish duo on SAP Extreme Sailing Team firing on all cylinders with the Swiss and Omani teams locked in their sights just two points adrift. And no one could rule out the Austrian double Olympic gold medallists on Red Bull Sailing Team who have had a return to their winning form in Cardiff, wrapping up proceedings on the penultimate day with a race win giving them a big psychological boost ahead of tomorrow's battle of the Bay.

The tight Cardiff Bay racecourse continued to test the teams with big gusts sweeping across the course from the surrounding buildings and very little room to manouvre.

In a fleet that includes Olympic heroes, America's Cup winners and world champions, it is no mean feat for a new team to step in and mix it up with the big players. But today, the three new teams competing in Cardiff proved they could do just that.

The final battle of the Bay will play out tomorrow from 1400 local time hosted by the Cardiff Harbour Festival with the final Act deciding races including the all-important double-pointer streamed live from 1600-1700 BST.

Position / Team / Points

1. Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 166 points
2. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi, 166
3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Kostner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Rossberg, Nicolai Sehested, 164
4. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Simon Cooke, Graeme Spence, 157
5. Realteam (SUI) Jerome Clerc, Bruno Barbarin, Tanguy Cariou, Cedric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem, 130
6. ChinaSpirit (CHN) Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, William Wu, James Williamson, Nick Catley, 115
7. GAC Pindar (NZL) Brad Farrand, Ian Williams, Thomas Hedegaard, Thomas Bentham, Tom Blampied, 98
8. Team Wales Land Rover (GBR) Dave Evans, Chris Grube, Bleddyn Mon, Tudur Owen, Trystan Seal, 89

extremesailingseries.com

Gazprom International Dragon Gold Cup
Photo by Jacques Vapillon / Sea&Co, seaandco.net. Click on image to enlarge.

After six days of racing triumph at the Gazprom International Dragon Gold Cup for Ukrainian Markus Wiezer and his team (UKR 7) - a victory pieced together one day at a time with true consistency and spirit. The racing finished beautifully on the Bay of Douarnenez and proved to be much more invigorating than on previous days. The virtuoso of the day was Marcus Brennecke (GER 11) who won the last race of the Gold Cup with apparent ease, by leading

Not one faux pas for Bunker Queen on their road to victory, in fact their performance in this year's Gold Cup has been magnificent; finishing in the top ten boats throughout the week, with the exception of today's race where they crossed the line in 28th position. At some time or other during the week all the favourites have stumbled and seen their victory slip from their hands. Unable to withdraw a race from the rankings the Gazprom International Dragon Gold Cup allows no margin for error.

A careful Markus Wieser crossed the line in the middle of the fleet. Despite a clear 36 points advantage over Bunker Boys (UKR 8), the Bunker Queen boss (UKR 7) was not intending to take even the slightest risks, "I'm happy. I'm not going to put myself under any pressure but I'm well aware that the Gold Cup is far from finished," he claimed this morning before heading out to the start area.

His direct pursuer in the overall classification Yevgen Braslavets, seemed determined to snatch as many points of possible from them, passing the windward mark up with the first ten, whilst Markus Wieser was back in 25th position. It was Marcus Brennecke's (GER 11) Dragon that set the pace from the first mark rounding and maintained the pressure as each mile passed, followed by Jose Matoso (POR 55) who sailed a fabulous race. Likewise Thomas Muller (GER 1133) made a spectacular come back of 10 positions and in just a few miles sailed into his third-place and podium position.

Final top five:

1. Markus Wieser, UKR7, 54 points
2. Yevgen Braslavets, UKR8, 74
3. Pieter Heerema, NED412, 75
4. Thomas Muller, GER1133, 83
5. Anatoly Loginov, RUS27, 86

www.dragongoldcup2013.com

Complete results (PDF)

Paralympic World Sailing Championships
Glorious sunshine and 10-12 knot winds welcomed the 120 sailors from 19 nations to Kinsale for the practice race in advance of the start of the Cork County IFDS World Championships.

In the Sonar class, London 2012 Bronze medallist Norway's Aleksander Wang-Hansen did not compete in the practice race however the London 2012 Gold medallist Udo Hessels started and finished mid-fleet. Corkman Paul McCarthy on IRL697 had a good race finishing in second place but the race was won by USA's Rick Doerr and his crew. Irish Paralympian John Twomey, Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costello on Providence Team IRL finished in 7th place.

On Course B, in the singlehanded 2.4mR class, 39 of the 46 competitors took part in today's practice race with Germany's Heiko Kroeger, who won silver at London 2012, getting the bullet. He was followed by Damien Seguin from France and Italian Antonio Squizzato in third. Helena Lucas from the UK who won Gold in Weymouth did not participate in today's race.

Also on Course B the nine Skud 18 sailors completed their race with John McRoberts from Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Canada taking line honours. The Netherlands' Vera Voorbach was second and Italy's Marco Gualandris third.

The championships will get underway Monday at 12 noon with two races planned daily until Friday. As predicted the wind died off this afternoon to around 4 knots with just 2-3 knots expected for tomorrow's racing.

www.ifdsworlds2013.com

J24 Worlds
Photo by David Branigan, www.oceansport.ie. Click on image for photo gallery.

The BMW J24 World Championship, which has attracted 40 entries form 10 countries, gets underway in earnest at Howth Yacht Club tomorrow (Monday 26th) with the first two races in the week-long event.

A practice race today on the water's between Lambay Island and Ireland's Eye in light northerly/north-westerly winds saw half the fleet fail to complete the course, as is customary, while former Irish Champion JP McCaldin from Lough Erne took line honours ahead of Japanese entry Koji Matsumoto and G. Bonanno of Italy.

Among the favourites for the World title are defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz (Brazil), Ian Southworth (GB), Tim Healy (USA) and Luis Olcese (Peru). Eleven Irish crews qualified for the event, with the young Howth U-25 crew on 'Euro Car Parks Killcullen', the new Irish champions, heading the local challenge.

www.hyc.ie/J24worldChampionship2013/

End of an Era
Today we bid farewell to the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, an event that helped establish so many reputations, careers, and friendships. And though I mourn the end of a great era, what a relief it will be if "women's sailing" can just be "sailing" going forward.

Many of us who made "the Rolex" (as it was known to the sailing world after its former title sponsor) a biennial fixture in our sailing calendars can barely remember a world with only one women's Olympic class, no women's keelboat sailing, and no women's match racing—which is where we stood in 1985, when regatta founder Helen Ingerson brought female sailors from around the world together for a new event in Newport, RI. Sailed in J/24s by teams of six (and, in some cases, seven) women, the classic conditions of Newport in September called us back every other year, between babies and sometimes husbands, to catch up with old friends, make a few new ones, and test ourselves on the international stage.

The regatta aged well for its first few decades, moving into J/22s for three rounds in Annapolis (where in 2003 the fleet topped sixty boats). Then it moved again, to Houston in 2007, and then on to Rochester, NY for the most recent events. Many of us kept showing up, partly out of habit and partly to renew acquaintances from around the country and the world. But entry numbers were declining, and in 2011 only two international teams showed up.

This year's regatta (scheduled to take place in a few weeks, out of Marblehead's Eastern Yacht Club) was cancelled "due to lower than expected registration numbers," which at last count were a dozen or so. The press release goes on to say "We are looking ahead to the 2015 event," though no location (or boat) is specified yet. -- Carol Cronin in boats.com

blog.boats.com

Finn Gold Cup
The Finn Gold Cup opening ceremony took the sailors to the fascinating Seaplane Harbour. One of the highlights of the evening was Gus Miller receiving the badge of honour by Estonian Yachting Union to celebrate his contribution to Estonian Finn sailing during the last 35 years.

Estonia holds a special place in the hearts of Finn sailors and the opening of the 58th Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn this Sunday, 25 August, will be a momentous occasion for many reasons, and for many people.

It has been 19 years since the Finn Gold Cup was last, and first, held in Estonia. In 1994 it was sailed at Pärnu, but next week it heads to the country's capital to be raced from the Tallinn Olympic Yachting Centre at Pirita, which was originally built for the 1980 Olympics. Estonia has only ever hosted four Olympic discipline world championships, and two of those will have been in the Finn.

The large pre-entry list includes 97 sailors from 30 nations and is the first time that virtually all the top Finn sailors have raced together this year. With last year's winner Ben Ainslie (GBR) leaving the class and the 2011 world champion Giles Scott (GBR) sailing on Luna Rossa in San Francisco, the only former world champion competing this week is the 2010 winner Ed Wright (GBR), who is on top form after picking up the silver at the European Championships last month.

Wright leads a strong British team that have won all the major European events in the early part of the year and includes Mark Andrews (GBR) and Andrew Mills (GBR), as well as the young Peter McCoy (GBR) who will be looking to capitalise on his recent Junior European title win. However he will now have to reckon with Jorge Zarif (BRA), who won the Finn Junior world title in July.

www.finngoldcup.org

Bramble Bank Cricket Match
'Quintessentially English madness on a beautiful summer's evening', in the words of Royal Southern Yacht Club team captain Mark 'Tommo' Tomson, is as good a description of the Bramble Bank cricket match as you'll find.

Played this year in conditions most generously described as 'moist', the Hamble club emerged triumphant over arch rivals the Cowes-based Island Sailing Club - it being their turn to win the annual mid-Solent encounter under the even-handed umpiring of Philip Gage.

It was one also enjoyed by hundreds of spectators who gathered at the Bank to share the Royal Southern YC's team victory in 2013

'We went out there and assessed the wicket,' said Tommo, a 15-year veteran of the match, seven as captain. 'We won the toss so put the opposition in to bat and we bowled very well. We got a bit of reverse swing with all the moisture in the air - they found that tricky and really didn't score many runs.

'My men went in to bat and batted with true gusto and spirit, a bit like the Australians at The Oval today. There were a couple of half centuries by Hugo (Morgan Harris) and Mike (Ewart-Smith) and then we had knight of the realm Sir Robin (Knox-Johnston) coming in at the tail end, and we really hammered them - a bit like the Ashes series this summer; just gave them a proper thrashing, 318 runs to their paltry 60.'

The instigation of the eccentric event is credited to legendary Cowes yacht designer Uffa Fox, though precise historical details are thin on the ground. Suffice to say the Royal Southern took up the cudgels over 30 years ago in an event which is now a summer fixture.

www.royal-southern.co.uk

Updated America's Cup World Series Standings
America's Cup Race Management has released revised scoring for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 America's Cup World Series championships.

This follows ORACLE TEAM USA, JP Morgan BAR and HS Racing retiring from World Series events from the Newport regatta onwards.

With ORACLE TEAM USA Spithill renouncing points earned in the Newport event, which was the final regatta of the 2011-12 season, Emirates Team New Zealand now becomes the winner of the inaugural America's Cup World Series season championship.

ORACLE TEAM USA Spithill/Slingsby, JP Morgan BAR and ORACLE TEAM USA Coutts also retired from all three events in the 2012-13 season while HS Racing retired from the only event it sailed, the final regatta in Naples.

The revised 2012-13 standings see Luna Rossa Piranha at the top of the combined season championship table, followed by Artemis Racing White and Emirates Team New Zealand.

americascup.com

ISAF Athletes' Commission Confirmed
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) is pleased to announce the sailors who will serve on the ISAF Athletes' Commission for 2013-2016.

Five sailors have been elected to join three who remain on the Commission to complete their second term.

The three members who remain on the Commission are: Ben Barger (USA) Men's Windsurfer competitor in 2008; Malcolm Page (AUS), Men's Two Person Dinghy gold medallist 2008 and 2012; and Marcelien de Koning (NED) Women's Two Person Dinghy silver medallist, 2008 and Women's Match Racing competitor in 2012.

Joining them are Fernanda Oliveira (BRA), Sarah Gosling (GBR), Lijia Xu (CHN), Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) and Yann Rocherieux (FRA).

Between them, the members of the Athletes' Commission hold eight Olympic medals, five of them gold and 11 World Championship titles.

At the Athletes' Commissions first meeting which will be towards the end of September or early October their first task will be to elect a Chairman for a four year term.

The role of the ISAF Athletes' Commission is to act as the link between active Olympic sailors and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

The Athletes Commission will be able to elect members to sit on Events, Equipment and Race Officials Committees as well as receiving invites to Working Parties considering Olympic sailing matters, and selection of ISAF World Championships venues.

The members of the Athletes' Commission are expected to represent the interests of Olympic sailors to ISAF, and to encourage open communication and feedback from the sailors.

sailing.org

Featured Brokerage
2007 Transpac TP 52. EUR 425,000. Located In Cowes, United Kingdom.

For sale - TP52 Transpac 'Weapon of Choice' which is a 2007 JV TP52 built by King Marine. Benefitting from recent upgrades to being fully compliant 2010 TP52 rule. She is in excellent condition and is VAT paid. She is based on the south coast of the UK and viewable by appointment.

Brokerage through Ancasta International Boat Sales: www.yachtworld.com/ancasta/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Dictatorships foster oppression, dictatorships foster servitude, dictatorships foster cruelty; more abominable is the fact that they foster idiocy. -- Jorge Luis Borges

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Light Winds Mix Fleet at Finn Gold Cup
Photo by Robert Deaves. Click on image for photo gallery.

The opening day of racing at the 2013 Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn, Estonia started slowly with light winds and a delayed start. After two races Andrew Mills (GBR) leads from Ed Wright (GBR) and Matt Coutts (NZL). Race wins went to Oliver Tweddell (AUS) and Jorge Zarif (BRA).

Racing was postponed for two hours Monday morning to wait for the wind, which when it did arrive was still only 5-7 knots. Race 1 got away after one general recall, with the wind increasing to 7-8 knots by the finish.

The second race got under way fairly promptly, though took three attempts to get it away with three boats black flagged.

In the light winds today the fleet was really compressed for most of the race with very busy mark roundings and tight upwind legs making for some exciting if mentally exhausting racing. The high scores already after just two races perhaps hints at the kind of week this is going to be, and consistency is going to be a key element. Lots of the favourites had difficult days and picked up one or two high scores.

Racing continues at 12.00 on Tuesday. The opening series of ten races will be followed by the medal race for the top ten and the final race for the rest on Saturday, 31 August. It can be followed in a number of different ways including the live video stream from ERR, GPS tracking from Trac Trac and Twitter updates on @Finn_Class. All the links can be found at www.finngoldcup.org/2013

Top ten after two races:

1. Andrew Mills, GBR, 9 points
2. Edward Wright, GBR, 10
3. Matt Coutts, NZL, 11
4. Michal Jodlowski, POL, 20
5. Oliver Tweddell, AUS, 23
6. Jonathan Lobert, FRA, 23
7. Michele Paoletti, ITA, 23
8. Deniss Karpak, EST, 25
9. Alican Basegmez, TUR, 26
10. Zsombor Berecz, HUN, 30

Full results: www.finngoldcup.org/2013/data/pre-res-race2.pdf

www.finngoldcup.org/2013

Farr 40 Worlds
It's time to deliver. After two days of racing at the pre-worlds, fifteen crews from eight countries are ready to fight for the coveted title of Rolex Farr 40 World Champions. The venue is spectacular and historic, the boats are the thoroughbred of world-class one-design racing and the competition is top-notch.

The 16th edition Rolex Farr 40 World Championship is hosted by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) at Harbour Court in Newport, RI. Racing starts tomorrow, August 27, and runs through Friday August 30, with a maximum of 10 windward/leeward races.

Entries:
Yacht - Owner/Tactician - Country

1. Asterisk-Uno, Hasip Gencer/Ross Mc Donald, TUR
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson/Terry Hutchinson, USA
3. Charisma, Nico Poons/Morgan Reeser, MON
4. Endorphin, Erik Wulff/Max Skelley, USA
5. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi/Vasco Vascotto, ITA
6. Flash Gordon 6/Bill Hardesty, Helmut Jahn, USA
7. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernardo Minkow-Julian Fernandez/Matt Ciesicki, MEX
8. Groovederci, John Demourkas/Cameron Appleton, USA
9. Nanoq, HRH Crown Prince Frederik/Jens Christiansen, DEN
10. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil/Andy Horton, USA
11. Oakcliff Racing, Oakcliff Sailing/Max Vos, USA
12. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers/Chris Larson, USA
13. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer/Peter Holmberg, GER
14. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis/Gavin Brady, AUS
15. White Knight, Zoltan Katinszky/Erik Shampain, USA

Results of the Pre-Worlds

1. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 12.0
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 17.0
3. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 18.0
4. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 30.0
5. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 33.0
6. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 35.0
7. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 39.0
8. Asterisk-Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 42.0
9. Nanoq, HRH Crown Prince Frederik Prince, DEN, 43.0
10. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 48.0
11. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 51.0
12. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernardo Minkow / Julian Fernandez, MEX, 57.0
13. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 60.0
14. Oakcliff Racing, Oakcliff Sailing, USA, 61.0
15. White Knight, Zoltan Katinszky, USA, 65.0

farr40worlds.com
farr40.org

Hearings Put Heat On Team Oracle
It might be high irony but on August 27 (NZT) Oracle Team USA could suffer a significant blow to their defence of the America's Cup over cheating allegations - because of a rule put in place to rein in free-speaking Emirates Team NZ CEO, Grant Dalton.

The rule, unofficially dubbed "the Dalton clause", was put in place last year and could see OTUSA cop what might be the biggest penalty ever given to an America's Cup defender. The Dalton clause could allow a team penalty to be added to any given to individuals.

The smart money in this regatta is going on the expulsion of between one to three OTUSA team members, possibly members of the shore crew. The jury could also decide to censure OTUSA - with their options ranging from a metaphorical smack on the hand to a fine, docking points in the America's Cup match or disqualifying them from a race or races.

This all stems from the contention that illegal lead weights were found in all or two of the three OTUSA AC45s used in the lead-up event, the America's Cup World Series sailed in 2012-2013. The jury have been holding an investigation into that - and their announcement yesterday is essentially a signal that they feel there is enough of a case to answer to require two hearings.

One is to hear allegations of gross misconduct against an individual or individuals under Rule 69; the other under Article 60 to see if OTUSA has breached the Dalton clause, concerned with protecting the reputation of the Cup.

The jury's deliberations are held in camera and are protected by a confidentiality order. However, the feeling among many sailors and America's Cup observers is that the jury will also move to penalise OTUSA as a team.

If they dock points or disqualify them from a race or races, that will hand a lead to the challenger - most likely ETNZ - even before the racing starts, a unique twist in America's Cup history. -- Paul Lewis in the New Zealand Herald

www.nzherald.co.nz/sport

Enter now and let the world know you are planning to race in North America's premier winter regatta! January 19 - 24, 2014.

Entries and more: www.premiere-racing.com

The Wave, Muscat Clinch Victory In Cardiff
Photo by Mark Lloyd, www.lloydimages.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

In excess of 120,000 people, the biggest crowds the Extreme Sailing Series has ever witnessed in its seven-year history, crammed around Cardiff Bay over the four days of the Extreme Sailing Series Act 6, Cardiff presented by Land Rover to witness the battle of the Bay first hand. Leigh McMillan's team were unflappable on the final day, winning three of the seven races and the Omani team will walk away from Wales as champions - and with it regaining an advantage on the overall Series leaderboard. However, despite winning on Welsh waters, McMillan is preparing for the battle for the 2013 Series championship to go all the way to the end of the line: "We're not any more confident after this win, we've got a lot of work on our hands. It's going to be a huge fight all the way to Brazil."

Leigh McMillan and his crew of Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi, Pete Greenhalgh and Ed Smyth came flawlessly out of the blocks today, enabling them to get out of the clutches of their competitors and sail their own race in punishingly light winds. The team kept it consistent and delivered 11 race wins over the course of the event.

While the crowds basked in the sunshine of a beautiful bank holiday Monday, out on the race track shifting winds that got lighter as the day went on saw tactics become trickier. In the challenging conditions - perhaps the most challenging the fleet have faced all year - mistakes were punished hard, something Morgan Larson and the Swiss team found out. Failure to get off the start line in the second race and a penalty in the fifth race for hitting a mark ultimately proved costly, allowing McMillan to extend his lead.

Next stop for the Extreme 40 fleet is Nice, on the French Riviera for the final European stop of 2013 and Host Venue for the penultimate Act of the year, 3-6th October.

Extreme Sailing Series 2013 Act 6, Cardiff

1. The Wave, Muscat, OMA, Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi, 239 points
2. Alinghi, SUI, Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 225
3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team, DEN, Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Røssberg, Nicolai Sehested, 223
4. Red Bull Sailing Team, AUT, Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Simon Cooke, Graeme Spence, 212
5. Realteam, SUI, Jérôme Clerc, Bruno Barbarin, Tanguy Cariou, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem, 180
6. ChinaSpirit, CHN, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, William Wu, James Williamson, Nick Catley, 162
7. GAC Pindar, NZL, Brad Farrand, Ian Williams, Thomas Hedegaard, Thomas Bentham, Tom Blampied, 135
8. Team Wales Land Rover, GBR, Dave Evans, Chris Grube, Bleddyn Mon, Tudur Owen, Trystan Seal, 125

Extreme Sailing Series 2013 overall standings after Act 6, Cardiff presented by Land Rover

Position / Team / Points

1. The Wave, Muscat, OMA, 46 points
2. Alinghi, SUI, 45
3. Red Bull Sailing Team, AUT, 37
4. SAP Extreme Sailing Team, DEN, 35
5. Realteam, SUI, 28
6. GAC Pindar, NZL, 26
7. Team X Invitational 21
8. Team Korea, KOR, 16

extremesailingseries.com

Is This The Oldest Yacht In The World?
Model of Peggy. Photo by WM Nixon. Click on image to enlarge.

Serenely she sits, with all the heightened elegance of a still beautiful grand dame who, despite a hectic youth, has lived long and well to take her place in a position of respect, verging on reverence, within the community But then anyone, whatever the life they may have led, would be deserving of some sort of special appreciation if they'd managed to reach the age of 224 still in reasonably good order, still looking much as they did more than two centuries ago. Yet that is the case with the 26ft schooner yacht Peggy. When you attend upon her in her home in Castletown in the Isle of Man, it's as if time has stood still since the 1790s.

We sailed over to the Isle of Man recently for the Peel Traditional Boat Weekend. As it had been expanded to include the final Irish Sea gathering for the Old Gaffers Association Golden Jubilee, it was felt that the least we could do, before the revels began, was to pay our respects to the ultimate old gaffer of them all, across at her home port on the south coast of the island. And if the Peggy of Castletown isn't the oldest yacht in the world in more or less intact order, then we'll be fascinated to hear of any vessel having a better claim. For by any standards, the Peggy is extraordinary.

Today, in the boat cellar at Bridge House, you can see the Peggy and all the features which made her such an able flyer. She still has the slots through which George Quayle lowered his primitive centreboards, and on racks on the wall are the original spars she carried when in her racing prime. This indeed was and is a formidable racing machine, and it's no exaggeration to assert that, in her miniature style, she was an early example of the type which reached its supreme development with the schooner America.

And she has survived through a fortuitous miracle of preservation. -- WM Nixon in Afloat Magazine

afloat.ie

Excel Elite 90

Excel Racing GP 78

Compared to Excel Racing 78, the cover features a highly durable blend of Technora and polyester which improves both abrasion resistance and also grip in wet hands.

www.marlowropes.com

31st Knickerbocker Cup
The 31st Knickerbocker Cup (KCup), an international match race event, will take place on Manhasset Bay from August 29 - September 1. The winner of the KCup will go on to race in the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda, a World Match Race Tour event.

The KCup brings a field of top-notch sailors and umpires from around the globe to Manhasset Bay Yacht Club (MBYC) in Port Washington. Ranked #2 in the world, Taylor Canfield, Team USOne, US Virgin Islands, is a veteran competitor in the KCup, but the championship has remained elusive for him - 2013 may be his year. Challenging Canfield will be #12 ranked Nicolai Sehested, Tre-For Match Racing, a young Dane who is also a veteran of this event; and #14 ranked Eric Monnin, Okalys-Corum Team, Switzerland, who is new to Manhasset Bay.

Rounding out the international contingent are David Gilmour, Team Gilmour, Australia, ranked #24; Mark Lees, Team Echo Sail Racing, Great Britain, ranked #33; Stratis Andreadis, Atalanti Racing, Greece, ranked #43; and Ashlen Rooklyn, Ballyhoo Racing, Australia, ranked #46.

The U.S. is represented by three teams: Dustin Durant, Long Beach Match Racing, from California, ranked #26; Chris Poole, Riptide Racing, from Maine, ranked #40, and Stephanie Roble, from Chicago, ranked #7, in the Women's Rankings and #86 in the Open Rankings.

Each team has five or six crew members, sailing Swedish Match 40 sailboats on loan from Oakcliff Sailing, in Oyster Bay. Racing begins Thursday morning and continues through Sunday afternoon. -- Talbot Wilson

www.knickerbockercup.org
www.manhassetbayyc.org

NACRA 17 European Championship
After a very exciting Medal Race the Duch team Mandy Mulder & Coen de Koning wins the 1st Nacra 17 European Championship 2013. After some postponement because lack of wind the final Medal race with the top-10 teams could start in the afternoon round 02.30 PM. The top-4 after 12 races with at that moment 1st the French team Francois Morvan & Marie Riou (41 points), 2nd the Suisse team Matias Buhler & Nathalie Brugger (41 points), 3rd the French team Moana Valreaux & Manon Audinet (43 points), 4th the Dutch team Mandy Mulder & Coen de Koning (46 points) was very close together and the results (counting double) of the Medal-race should make the final results.

In a light and shifty wind the Austrian team Thomas Zajac & Tanja Frank won the medal race, with 2nd the Dutch team Mandy Mulder & Coen de Koning and 3rd the French team Franck Cammas & Sophie de Turckheim. This changed the overall final results completely:

1st NED 46 Mandy Mulder & Coen de koning (50 points)
2nd FRA 65 Moana Valreaux & Manon Audinet (53 points)
3rd FRA 43 Francois Morvan & Marie Riou (55 points)

For all results and images see:
www.nacra17class.com
www.centroveladervio.it

'Huntress' Wins Grand Prize at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week
Photo by Andrea Francolini, www.afrancolini.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Sydney/Hamilton Island, Australia: A motor mechanic with a knack for consistency behind the wheel and his Sydney crew, who capitalised on the water in this year's light air Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, have taken out a major prize at the award-winning regatta, an Audi A6 allroad vehicle ($117,900 mlp), for one year.

Philip Grove's Huntress, a Sydney 39Cr representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Balmain Sailing Club and contesting its first Race Week, narrowly claimed top honours in Performance Racing Division 1.

This winning result was combined with the layday Audi Final Drive Challenge at Hamilton Island airport when more than 100 people were pitted against the clock by Audi's Chief Instructor and Australian Top Gear presenter, Steve Pizatti.

All yachts were invited to send a crew member to get behind the wheel of Audi's mighty Audi R8 V10 plus model. It is the fastest car produced by the luxury carmaker, and is powered by a hand-built 5.2-litre V10 engine that demolishes 100km/h in just 3.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 250 km/h.

After his two timed laps around the track, Grove's mastman, Marco Bergamuncha, had secretly recorded the most consistent times. When coupled with Huntress' final score at the end of their seven-race series, a one point divisional win over Matt Allen's defending Farr 400 Ichi Ban, Philip Grove was declared the winner of the major prize from Race Week's principal sponsor, Audi.

The 30th edition of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, held from 18 - 24 August, was open to a wide spectrum of sailboats - from sport boats to cruising yachts, cruiser-racers and grand prix level keelboats, plus a new multihull and MC38 division and the creation of First Fleet division for the four originals from the 1984 starter's list.

The fleet of 157 yachts tackled a week of light winds with the addition of several playful baby whales and their watchful parents.

Twelve divisions battled it out on the stunning Whitsunday Islands courses while ashore the social calendar offered exquisite lunches, dinners and fashion.

Division winners:

IRC Racing, Hooligan (TP52, RPAYC), skippered by Marcus Blackmore
IRC Passage Division 1, Storage King Wallop (Sydney 41, LMYC/RMYC ), skippered by Peter Hewson
IRC Passage Division 2, L'Altra Donna (Summit 35, CYCA), skippered by Andy Kearnan

Performance Racing Division 1, Huntress (Sydney 39Cr, BSC/RSYS), skippered by Philip Grove
Performance Racing Division 2, Jump (SB20, CYCHI), skippered by Greg Hyde

Cruising Division 1, Circe (Beneteau Sense 55, SYC), skippered by Ross Johnston
Cruising Division 2, Next Light (X35, RPAYC), skippered by Chris Ryan
Cruising Division 3, Starkers (Catalina 350, TCYC), skippered by Alan Stark

Non-spinnaker Division 1, Smart Choice (Hunter 50ac, RYCT), skippered by Rodney Smart
Non-spinnaker Division 2, Christina Jay (Beneteau 343 Oceanis, SCYC), skippered by Stuart Pascoe

MC38 OD Division, Vino (MC38, MHYC), skippered by Chris Hancock

Multihull Division, Box Office (Box 8.5m, RQYS), skippered by Matt Johns

First Fleet, Hitchhiker (Frers, RPYC), skippered by Peter Briggs

www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au

Featured Brokerage
1987 Jeanneau Attalia, EUR 31,800. Located In Limassol, Cyprus.

This Yacht has been restored and has a reconditioned engine, wood work has been freshly varnished etc. Hull has been treated with International epoxy primer and covered with fresh antifouling.

Brokerage through Golden Comet Marine Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/goldencometcy/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Forgiveness is the best charity. It is easy to give the poor money and goods when one has plenty, but to forgive is hard; but it is the best thing if one can do it. -- Meher Baba

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Flawless First Day
While the weather was a mix of contrasts for the opening day of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, hosted from the Harbour Court club house of New York Yacht Club in Newport, R.I., the results on the water were anything but. With light wind predicted, race organizers delayed the start an hour which allowed the rain to move out of the area while leaving behind dramatic clouds and patches of blue.

Once racing was underway, Dutch-born Nico Poons sailed three flawless races on Charisma - leading the fleet around the course at all but the first two mark roundings. In fact, Poons went from strength to strength as the fleet followed in hot pursuit, evidenced by all 15 boats crossing the finish line of race two in under three minutes. In the third race of the day, Poons rounded the windward mark 15 seconds ahead of defending champion Helmut Jahn of Chicago, at the helm of Flash Gordon 6, and by the finish had increased the spread to 30 seconds.

Racing resumes Wednesday, August 27, at noon and continues through Friday, August 30.

Place, Yacht Name, Owner/Skipper, Country, Results; Total Points
1. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1; 3
2. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2; 11
3. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3; 13
4. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6; 13
5. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8; 18
6. Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7; 19
7. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4; 20
8. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12; 24
9. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11; 26
10. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5; 28
11. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9; 29
12. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10; 37
13. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14; 38
14. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13; 40
15. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julia Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15; 41

www.farr40worlds.com

Andrew Mills Extends Finn Gold Cup Lead
Photo by Robert Deaves. Click on image for photo gallery.

Andrew Mills (GBR) has extended his lead on the second day of the 2013 Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn, Estonia after winning the second race of the day. Zsombor Berecz (HUN) moves up to second with Michele Palette (ITA) now in third. The first race of the day was won by Pieter-Jan Postma (NED).

In conditions very similar to Monday's races the fleet was again held on shore for two hours for the wind to build. The wind turned up again, but was still not more than 7-8 knots at any time and still very unpredictable, causing a string of high scores throughout the fleet. The results make for interesting reading with a huge number of different names near the top, with many of the favourites struggling down to mid-fleet.

Racing continues at 12.00 on Wednesday. The opening series of ten races will be followed by the medal race for the top ten and the final race for the rest on Saturday, 31 August.

Top ten after 4 races (1 discard after five races)

1. Andrew Mills, GBR, 25 points
2. Zsombor Berecz, HUN, 42
3. Michele Palette, ITA, 42
4. Milan Vujasinovic, CRO, 47
5. Jonathan Lobert, FRA, 52
6. Giorgio Poggi, ITA, 58
7. Edward Wright, GBR, 59
8. Deniss Karpak, EST, 59
9. Oliver Tweddell, AUS, 65
10. Jorge Zarif, BRA, 72

www.finngoldcup.org/2013

BMW J/24 Worlds
Lack of wind and strong tides played havoc on day two of the BMW J24 World Championship at Howth Yacht Club, leaving Principal Race Officer David Lovegrove with no alternative but to abandon racing.

A 6-knot north-westerly breeze allowed the third race of the series to be started eventually but once the boats rounded the windward mark, the wind dropped away and a north-flowing flood tide meant the entire fleet was left motionless, with no chance of a finish.

After a delay of almost three hours, continued windless conditions forced abandonment for the day.

With the two races sailed on the first day the only ones to count so far, Keith Whittemore from Seattle still heads the overall rankings by two points from defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz of Brazil.

Overall top ten after two races:

1. Keith Whittemorem, USA, 4.0 points
2. Mauricio Santa Cruz, BRA, 6.0
3. Ian Southworth, GBR, 11.0
4. Travis Odenbach, USA, 14.0
5. I Bonanno, ITA, 15.0
6. Ian Ilsley, MON, 17.0
7. Joersfelder Segel CLub, GER, 17.0
8. Murphy/Darrer, IRL, 18.0
9. Blankeneser Segel Club, GER, 19.0
10. Tim Healy, USA, 19.0

www.hyc.ie/J24worldChampionship2013/

Gottifredi Maffioli Regatta Support At Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
Starting from August 29 th to September 8th, Gottifredi Maffioli Tech Service Van will be in Porto Cervo to fully assist your boat. During the regatta we will have full access to the event with our professional rigging service to help you with any breakdowns that you may have. We will be there to provide a complete repair, replacement and technical upgrade you may need. Ivan and Piero from Tecnosailing together with Jack Bolina and Project Rig will be the Gottifredi Maffioli shore team on the dock.

They will be at your fully disposal every day ready to jump on your boat before and after the races to set your running rigging at the best.

For any technical suggestion and running rigging improvement you can talk with them directly at the Gottifredi Maffioli's Van or you can give them a call at the following mobile numbers:

Tecnosailing:
Ivan Bertoldo +39 335 6347175
Piero Rolandi +39 340 5783131

Project Rig:
Paolo Torre +39 335 5740807

Jack Bolina:
Davide Patuelli +39 335 5351728

www.gottifredimaffioli.com/eng/index.php

More Questions...
A new report released by the International Jury has revealed that there has been further tampering with the measured parts, on the two AC45 catamarans sailed and managed by America's Cup Defenders, Oracle Team USA.

To recap, what should have been a minor measurement incident has escalated into the most serious form of disciplinary Hearing in the sport.

It relates to the finding on July 26, that a builder supplied part, a kingpost, of three AC45's managed by America's Cup Defenders Oracle Team USA, had been tampered with, by having additional weight added to them.

The latest report shows that the kingposts from both the Oracle boats are different in measurements from the standard part - now in terms of length - as well as weight.

Further, the kingposts on all other AC45's were also measured. Six of these had been repaired and all were in conformity with the ACRM standard supplied Part.

The Measurement Committee says in the latest report: 'The carbon tubes forming the primary component of the main kingpost was found on both OTUSA 4 and OTUSA 5 to be longer than every other main kingpost measured.

The latest report from the Measurement Committee would appear to indicate a greater degree of tampering with a measured boat than had previously made public. The extent of the tampering probably removes the charitable excuse that the use of overweight kingposts were an oversight by the shore team, or people acting in isolation, without full knowledge of the consequences of their actions. -- Richard Gladwell, a must read in Sail-World.com

www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=113661

The full report from the committee (PDF)

HPR U.S. National Championship at Rolex Big Boat Series
Interest is building for the 2013 HPR National Championship being held as part of the 2013 Rolex Big Boat Series, hosted by the St Francis YC. Four days of inshore racing will be held over September 26-29th in San Francisco Bay, one of the world's great sailing venues. Winner of the HPR Class will not only win the National title, but a Rolex timepiece as part of the main event.

Entries to the HPR class may be any offshore-capable, high-performance monohull that conforms to the HPR rule, available at www.hprsailing.org

These include modern high-speed designs such as Carkeek HPR 40's, Botin 40's, MC 38's and Farr 400's, as well as older high-performance boats, such as last year's HPR Class winner, Peter Krueger's J/125 Double Trouble. Other older HPR-compatible high-performance boats that have expressed interest include 1D35's, Farr 36 OD's, and Santa Cruz 37's.

HPR ratings are single-number, time-on-time time correction factors, and older designs get rating credits for their age and pre-HPR typeform features. The HPR V4f1 calculator will be used to determine ratings, and is available at www.hprsailing.com/technical/what-do-i-rate.

Boats with fully-measured ORR and ORCi certificates can get an HPR certificate with only a few additional measurements, and boats with IRC Endorsed certificates will need a few more measurements for HPR. Boats with only PHRF certificates should contact Dan Nowlan at DanNowlan@ussailing.org for measurement options.

HPR Class entries can get more information on the event and entry forms at www.rolexbigboatseries.com, and US Sailing must have measurement data submitted for HPR ratings by September 18th.

For more information on obtaining an HPR rating, consult the new HPR Measurement Guide available at hprsailing.com/technical/hpr-measurement-guide. -- Dobbs Davis

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and Dual Scoring
In July the four clubs in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland jointly hosted the biennial Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta for a large fleet including around 120 IRC boats. Emma Smith and Jenny Howells attended the event on behalf of the RORC Rating Office and were able to provide on-site IRC assistance to the organisers, meet owners and crews, and watch some of the racing on the water. It was also interesting to see dual-scoring with ECHO (the Irish national handicap system) in action.

ECHO is a progressive handicapping system, so the ECHO TCC changes after every race to reflect actual performance; this system allows everyone to race together but ensures that the keen racers don't win under both systems. For instance, at this event, the IRC class 2 and overall IRC winner "Checkmate XV" saw her ECHO TCC increase from 1.012 to 1.121 over six races, leaving her 7th overall in ECHO 2. There are clear advantages to club racing of dual scoring between Spinlock IRC and a national or local handicap system which you can read about on the RORC Rating website:

www.rorcrating.com

Calling All Captains and Crew PSP Captains' Cocktails on Friday 20 September 2013, 4 to 6pm
You are invited to join us at our legendary Orange Rooms' cocktails and nibbles to celebrate 15 years in business, our sixth year as title sponsor of the PSP Southampton Boat Show and our first entry in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in the PSP Lounge, Mayflower Complex at the show.

To confirm attendance please register at www.psp-logistics.com/captainscocktails. Includes complimentary entry to the PSP Southampton Boat Show on request.

Please note: Pre-registration is required for attendance by midnight on Sunday 15 September 2013. Entry to the Captains' Cocktails is exclusively for captains and crew working on board commercial and private yachts, including professional race teams.

For all your logistics requirements please contact Alex Dixie at sales@psp-logistics.com +44 (0) 1489 565 577

BOAT TRANSPORTATION - RACE LOGISTICS - FREIGHT - PACKING - EXPRESS - MARINE SPARES - WATERJET

www.psp-logistics.com

Gilmour Wins The 2013 Detroit Cup
David Gilmour and his Team Gilmour crew of Luke Payne and Peter Nicholas have won the 2013 Detroit Cup, the second stop on the ISAF Grade 2 US Grand Slam series. The West Australia-based team made a blitzkrieg run through the field of 12 teams from three countries, losing only two matches throughout the four days of competition at the host venue of Bayview YC.

Team Gilmour is breaking up to race on other boats for the next event in the Grand Slam series, but is reconvening for the final event at Oakcliff. Winner of the Grand Slam series receives an invitation to the Grade 1 2014 Congressional Cup in Long Beach, as well as an invitation to the only US event on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, the Chicago Match Cup.

Leading the Grand Slam series after two stops is Chris Steele with a runner-up finish in both Chicago and now Detroit.

For more information about the US Grand Slam series, and interviews with teams entered in the series, visit www.usamatchracing.com

www.detroitcup.com

Cork County Council IFDS World Championships
Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland: Racing got underway today in Kinsale for the Cork County Council IFDS World Sailing Championships in glorious sunshine after yesterday's sailing was postponed due to light winds. Conditions were initially looking poor this morning and the competitors were held ashore. However after an hour of waiting the Race Committee lowered the postponement flag and the sailors headed out to the race course.

The three Irish boats finished in 11th Paul McCarthy (Kinsale), 12th John Twomey Providence Team IRL and 18th Jacqui Browne (Tralee).

Meanwhile on the 2.4mR and Skud 18 class courses, two races were completed when the wind eventually filled in. In the nine boat Skud 18 fleet it was a second and a first for Italian Marco Gualandris who is now the overnight leader followed by London 2012 bronze medallist Alexandra Rickham (UK) and John McRoberts from Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Canada.

On the 2.4mR course it was not a good day for London 2012 Gold medallist Helena Lucas (UK) who finished down the fleet in 13th overall with 6th and 20th. Heiko Kroger from Germany was the silver medallist in Kinsale while the overnight leader in the 2.4mR is Bijlard (The Netherlands).

www.ifdsworlds2013.com

Countdown is on to the Red Bull Youth America's Cup
The Red Bull Youth America's Cup starts in less than a week and the 10 national youth teams are into their final preparations on San Francisco Bay.

The event runs from September 1-4, with four days of fleet racing off the America's Cup Village at Marina Green.

On Saturday, August 31, there is a final day of practice with Speed Trials incorporated in the final training session - a spectator favourite.

"If I had to sum up the situation, I would say that this is a fantastic race course, with great boats and that our rivals are going to be tough," said Antoine Lauriot-Prevost, the helmsman for the French entry, Next World Energy. "But we have a wonderful team here and everyone is focused."

The teams have been training under the watchful eyes of Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher, double Olympic gold medalists who also serve as the Sports Directors of the Red Bull Youth America's Cup.

The Red Bull Youth America's Cup features 10 national teams, from 8 countries, composed of sailing aged 19-24. They race on the same AC45 wing sail catamarans used by the America's Cup teams in the AC World Series from 2011-2013.

americascup.com

International Fleet Bound For Malta
Start of the 33rd Rolex Middle Sea Race from the Upper Barrakka Gardens. Photo by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo. Click on image to enlarge.

The 34th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, starting and finishing in Malta, is once again attracting yachts from all over the world to the Royal Malta Yacht Club. Less than two months before the start, yachts from 16 nations have already entered including; Cayman Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States of America.

Igor Simcic's powerful Canting Keel Maxi, Esimit Europa 2, will be back to defend last year's Line Honours win and will be hoping to be the first yacht to cross the line at the Royal Malta Yacht Club for an unprecedented fourth time in succession.

The entry for the Rolex Middle Sea Race already boasts a number of high profile performance yachts, including Alex Thompson's IMOCA 60, Hugo Boss and Andre Soriano's new British Mini Maxi, Alegre. Andres Soriano's previous yacht, also called Alegre, has won both Line Honours and the race overall.

Eight Swans are already entered, racing in a variety of classes, and also aspiring to win the Swan Challenge trophy, designed by Royal silversmith, Asprey. Once again, the Russian Sailing Federation is supporting the race and ten Russian yachts have already entered; the largest fleet from any single nation.

The Rolex Middle Sea Race starts in Malta's Grand Harbour on 19th October 2013. -- Louay Habib

www.rolexmiddlesearace.com

Featured Brokerage
1999 Sydney 40. 75,000 GBP. Located in Southampton, United Kingdom.

This Sydney 40 is a semi custom Race boat that has recently completed the Fast Net. This yacht is a heavily modified and tuned racing yacht based on a very fast hull. Designed at the outset as a state-of-the-art grand prix racing yacht, the result is an exciting, high-performance, versatile boat This particular boat is in very good condition and has new IRC keel(2012) and modified rudder(2013). These two additions make this boat a very competitive racer. The keel achieves max righting moment for the hull structures and makes the boat 5-10 seconds faster per mile than other Sydney 40. Recently, the rig and rigging has been completely overhauled & the mast and boom repainted. A new bowsprit has been added. In addition a new set of sails was added at the start of 2013. She is currently lying Southampton.

Brokerage through Aspire Boat Sales Ltd.: www.yachtworld.com/aspireboatsales/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
The same things happen in different guises. -- Nico

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Coming Out Of The Fog A Winner
When light air and fog delayed the start of racing for day two of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, the race committee took the 15-strong fleet up Narragansett Bay in search of wind. Their patience was rewarded with sunshine and good breeze -- for race one of the day -- before the fog caught up to the racers and things got complicated.

"The conditions for the first race were great; we did a really good job, had a great start and led to the top mark," said Jim Richardson (USA), who, in 1998 in Miami, won the first-ever Farr 40 World Championship title -- the first of his three class world titles ('98, '04, '09).

Richardson's Barking Mad wound up between Nightshift and Enfant Terrible. "We were in the middle and eventually had to decide which side we wanted to lose to. We ended up beating Enfant across the line, but Nightshift won the race. Second race we made a tactical error and started too far down the line and everyone to the right of us was ahead. We did a good job fighting back and gained boats around the course and then the fog rolled in and made things intense – where the buoys were, where the competition was, and where the wind was coming from." With finishes of 2-6 today, Richardson's Barking Mad moved from fourth to second in the overall standings.

2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Results

Place, Yacht Name, Owner/Skipper, Country, Results; Total Points
1. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3-1-2; 16
2. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6-2-6; 21
3. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8-3-1; 22
4. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1-11-9; 23
5. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2-9-8; 28
6. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4-4-4; 28
7. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5-5-3; 36
8. Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7-14-7; 40
9. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12-13-5; 42
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11-7-11; 44
11. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9-12-13; 54
12. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14-10-10; 58
13. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13-8-12; 60
14. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15-6-14; 61
15. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10-15-15; 67

farr40worlds.com
farr40.org

"I Have A Dream"
Photo by Erik Simonson, www.pressure-drop.us. Click on image for photo gallery.

That's the thoughts and hopes of the 76 youth sailors involved in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. There's a lot lot riding on this, or not. To quote David Liebenberg in a recent Sailing World interview:

The regatta is portraying as this "stepping-stone" into the America's Cup, and it's not that easy. It's a good step, but it's only one step in a long series to get to where any professional sailor wants to be: whether that's winning the America's Cup, doing a Volvo or going to the Olympics. No one knows how to perceive this regatta because it's never happened before, and I've sort of gone back and forth about it in my mind saying, "This is a huge deal," and "This doesn't mean anything." And only time will tell, how it's actually perceived. But, it being probably the most exciting thing to happen in this America's Cup will hopefully help it become important in people's minds.

If one thing is for sure, The Red Bull Youth America's Cup has already mimicked it's bigger, more established contests, the AC, Volvo and Olympics. Yes there has been international competition, between Nations, and youth striving to achieve the highest level in there field. There has also been politics, infighting, member swapping, injuries, parties, love, hate, joy, frustration, jubilance, anger and all emotions in between. Toss in a late night roll over accident which could have killed 3 team members, and that's just on one team.

It's an uphill row to hoe, and a long one at that. Most of the teams formed some 18 to 19 months ago. Some came equipped via an already established sailing organization with a sturdy foundation and funding behind it. Other teams have been more self reliant and have struggled with making ends meet. Taking time off from paying jobs, from school, from the creature comforts of home for the chance to compete on the highest level on million dollar state of the art catamarans on the legendary San Francisco Bay. -- Erik Simonson

www.pressure-drop.us

ISAF Match Race Rankings
Taylor Canfield (ISV) has taken over as World #1 in the Open Rankings, ending Ian Williams' run at the top that started on 11 January 2012. Lucy Macgregor (GBR) has moved to the top of the Women's Rankings pushing Camilla Ulrikkeholm (DEN) to World #2.

Open

Taylor Canfield (ISV) has ended Ian Williams' (GBR) run at the top of the Open Rankings following two big victories at the Chicago Match Cup, the fourth stop of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, and at the ISAF Grade 2 US Grand Slam also in Chicago, USA.

The U.S. Virgin Islands match racer is in strong contention for the ISAF World Match Racing World Championship with two Tour events to go and trails now World #2 Williams by nine points on the 2013 leader board.

This month's biggest climber is another Steele defeater, Ryan Davidson (USA), who overcame the Kiwi at the Kintec Summer Invitational Match Racing Regatta in Vancouver, Canada. The victory moves the American a staggering 84 places up to World #66.

Women's Rankings

Lucy Macgregor (GBR) reclaimed the World #1 spot in the Women's Rankings after she finished second at both the New York Women's Invitational in Oyster Bay, USA and the Lysekil Women's Match in Sweden.

Macgregor's performances on the Inaugural Women's Match Race Series were consistent and culminated in her taking the first title, sealing it with her runners up spot in Lysekil. Her steady run of results also ensured a return to the top of the Women's Rankings for the first time since 6 July 2011 having played second fiddle to Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) all throughout 2012 and early 2013.

Sweden's Anna Kjellberg took the New York honours to climb from World #8 to World #5, a best ranking to date for the Swede.

Top ten match racing - Open - Wednesday 28 August 2013

1. Taylor Canfield, ISV
2. Ian Williams, GBR
3. Keith Swinton, AUS
4. Bjorn Hansen, SWE
5. Pierre-Antoine Morvan, FRA
6. William Tiller, NZL
7. Mathieu Richard, FRA
8. Johnie Berntsson, SWE
9. Philip Robertson, NZL
10. Simone Ferrarese, ITA

Top ten match racing - Women - Wednesday 28 August 2013

1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR
2. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN
3. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS
4. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN
5. Anna Kjellberg, SWE
6. Stephanie Roble, USA
7. Claire Leroy, FRA
8. Julie Bossard, FRA
9. Tamara Echegoyen, ESP
10. Alexa Bezel, SUI

Full rankings: www.sailing.org/mrorankings

The 2014 Quantum Key West Scratch Sheet Is Growing!
From mini-maxis to J/70s there will be something for everyone at Key West Race Week. It's too early to predict the final scratch sheet, but there will certainly be top-notch competition and plenty of grand-prix boats from all points of the compass.

The exciting High Performance boats, mini-maxis, and TP52s will be back. Strong one design fleets including Melges 32s, Melges 24s, Swan 42s and the J/70s will fill the ranks. Enter now and plan your ideal winter escape for world-class racing, unique shoreside fun, and Florida's southernmost sunshine and dependable breeze. January 19 – 24, 2014.

Entries and more: www.premiere-racing.com

Perini Navi Cup Set To Start
Porto Cervo, Italy: The fifth edition of the Perini Navi Cup, a fleet regatta for sailing yachts from the renowned Italian shipyard, will take place from 28th August, through 31st August. The event, organized in collaboration with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, will see three days of intense racing around the spectacular coastal courses of the La Maddalena Archipelago accompanied by an exclusive social programme.

Among the 15 sailing yachts that have confirmed their presence is the first-time participant P2, a 38-metre sloop and the first example of the shipyard's Racing Line, the majestic 88-metre clipper The Maltese Falcon, winner of the previous edition of the Cup, will also be present together with Seahawk, Perini Navi's most recent creation and the first of a new series of 60-metre hulls.

Sailing greats taking part in the competition include veteran America's Cup sailor Dawn Riley aboard the 50-metre Silencio while Volvo Ocean Race sailor Justin Clougher and Mike Toppa are aboard the 56-metre ketch Zenji.

The first race is scheduled for Thursday 29th August and will be followed by a cocktail competition between boats organized by Vhernier during which Mrs. Perini and Carlo Traglio, President of Vhernier, will present a specially designed gift to each participating yacht. The Vhernier After Race Cocktail Party at Bar Aqua will round off the evening. After the second day's racing on 30th August a gala dinner will be held for owners at the YCCS Clubhouse. The event concludes on 31st August with the third and final race, the prize giving ceremony and the closing Party in Piazza Azzurra.

www.yccs.com

Hard Work Pays
A number of existing TP52s have been modified to race under the IRC handicapping rule; but Austin Fragomen of Newport, RI, who purchased a 52 project started by the late Dick Oland of Canada, decided to see what could be done if the optimisation process began before the boat was launched. As it turns out, the TP52 known as Interlodge 3 has proved to be extremely successful on the IRC circuit.

Dr Robert Ranzenbach, a consultant working with Quantum Sails on the project, says the only initial constraint was the use of an existing female mould designed by Botín Partners from which a pair of TP52s had already been produced. 'This would ultimately prove an excellent starting point as one of these original TP52s, Quantum Racing, would later go on to win the 2011 Audi MedCup Series,' notes Ranzenbach.

Exploring options According to David Flynn of Quantum Sails, hull shapes in the TP52 fleet had become optimised to the point where there was only limited further potential. 'So rather than focusing on optimising hull shape, Botín Partners proposed a study to identify an alternative mainsail planform that might offer upwind performance advantages under the IRC rule,' says Flynn.

Full article in the September Seahorse: www.seahorsemagazine.com

Tornado Open and Mixed World Championships
Photo by Martina Bartenova. Click on image to enlarge.

It's now just one month until the Tornado Class sailors will be hitting Ibiza for the annual Tornado Open and Mixed World Championships.

The event is being held in the village of Santa Eulària des Riu on the Eastern side of the island, between the 28th September and 5th October with a full weeks schedule. Already there are 34 boats registered and the Tornado Class are expecting between 40 and 45 entrants in total.

There's bound to be a fight at the front of the fleet with many teams already dominating in Europe over the summer and that's without mentioning the teams traveling in from Australia and other areas of the World for the event.

Ullman Sails Pablo Soldano will also be available for the first few days to provide coaching sessions to those sailors who are using the new One Design Sails which were voted in at the beginning of the year.

It's not too late to enter if you're interested in attending, there's a 20% discount on the Baleria Ferry from Barcelona and registration is open until the event starts.

www.tornado-class.org

Old Pulteney Sails For Scotland
Scotland's only entry into the world's longest round the world sailing challenge was officially revealed today (Wednesday 28th August) as an international crew from the Clipper Round the World Race were piped on board the 70ft 'Old Pulteney' yacht at St Katharine Docks in London.

Led by their skipper Patrick van der Zijden - known as the 'flying Dutchman' but today wearing a traditional Highland kilt in honour of sponsor and 'maritime malt' Old Pulteney single malt Scotch whisky - the boat was then christened by Clipper founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Old Pulteney Senior Brand Manager Margaret Mary Clarke.

The Old Pulteney is one of a fleet of 12 super yachts which will depart London this Sunday (1st September) on a year long voyage around the world, stopping in the northern French Port of Brest before a tour that will take in Rio, Cape Town, Australia, Singapore, Qingdao, San Francisco, Panama, Jamaica, New York and Londonderry - concluded by a homecoming in London in July 2014.

The crew is made up of men and women from all walks of life - from retired engineers to taxi drivers to housewives - who give up their normal lives to train and take on the adventure of a lifetime. Scots, Adam Nunn from Dundee and Charles Slater, who originates from Orkney are amongst them, along with people from twelve different countries - the UK, the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Spain.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

IRC - Shared Values and Advantages
If your club uses the IRC rating system to provide competitive racing for your fleet, you will already be aware of the advantages of running a club series and/or open events under this International Rule.

As a simple, straightforward rating rule that is recognised by competitors to produce fair and equitable racing, IRC allows both local and visiting boats to compete with their existing rating – no need for upsetting owners with local handicapping – while initiatives such as the Limited Validity IRC TCC encourage entries from more casual competitors. From a race organiser's point of view, IRC racing is easy to administer and results can be calculated using any of the main scoring programmes, or even a simple spreadsheet!

I believe that Clubs and IRC share the same values of getting boats on the water sailing, well run events and the provision of fun and fair racing, and I am keen that these shared values be continued well into the future. To this end, and as part of RORC's efforts to promote IRC, I am contacting regatta organisers to suggest that when writing or signing off press releases and regatta reports that you mention that your event will be, is being, or was raced under IRC in the main body of the press release.

Why are we suggesting this? Plainly, it will be good PR for IRC, but just as importantly it will be good PR for your event now, and in the future; owners are more likely to want to enter your event if they know that it is raced under IRC. Do please help to promote it.

It's good for IRC and therefore good for your regatta!

If we can help you or your competitors in any way with your event, please get in touch with the RORC Rating Office by telephone on 01590 677030, or email info@rorcrating.com.

Our PR consultant, Peta Stuart-Hunt | PR Works www.prworksuk.com can be contacted at: peta@prworksuk.com -- Mike Urwin, Technical Director, RORC Rating Office

www.rorcrating.com

Gold To Israel, Italy and Ukraine
A tense final day waiting game at the 420 and 470 Junior Europeans in Pwllheli, Great Britain as teams waited for the forecast 9 knot breeze to fill in. But local knowledge, which had predicted no breeze this morning, unfortunately won through, with the Race Committee waiting until the last possible timeframe before abandoning racing at 1530 hours. As the time limit expired, three teams were left celebrating their first major Championship victories, whilst the rest of the leaderboard lamented the chance they never got to improve their positions.

Ninety-six teams competed in the 420 Junior European Championships contesting 10 races, with a qualification and final series.

420 Ladies Junior European Championship, Final Top 5

1. Ilaria Paternoster / Benedetta Di Salle , ITA, Female, 68 points
2. Marie Soler / Laura Pebrier, FRA, Female, 86
3. Silvia Mas / Nuria Miro, ESP, Female, 94
4. Annabel Cattermole / Bryony Bennet-Lloyd, GBR, Female, 106
5. Ewa Romaniuk / Katarzyna, POL, 111

420 Open Junior European Championships, Final Top 5

1. Ilaria Paternoster / Benedetta Di Salle, ITA, Female, 68
2. Bart Lambriex / Philip Meijer, NED, 77
3. Marie Soler / Laura Pebrier, FRA, Female, 86
4. Diogo Pereira / Pedro Cruz, POR, 88
5. Tim Riley / Luke Burywood, GBR, 93

Forty Teams Competed In The 10 Race 470 Junior European Championships.

470 Men, Overall Top 5
1. Gal Cohen / Dan Froyliche, ISR, 35
2. Mike Wood / Hugh Brayshaw, GBR, 38
3. Julian Autenrieth / Adrian Hoesch, GER, 40
4. Jordi Xammar / Joan Herp, ESP, 50
5. Sacha Pelisson / Mathieu Bouchet, FRA, 50

470 Women, Overall Top 5
1. Anna Kyselova / Anastasiya Krasko, UKR, 24
2. Joanna Freeman / Katie Tomsett, GBR, 33
3. Bàrbara Cornudella Ravetllat / Sara Lopez Ravetllat, ESP, 38
4. Noya Bar-Am / Danielle Maman, ISR, 42
5. Annabel Vose / Kirstie Urwin, GBR, 44

www.470.org
www.420sailing.org

Featured Brokerage
2004 Beneteau Oceanis 423 Clipper. EUR 149,000. Located in Crosshaven, Cork, Ireland.

This Beneteau Oceanis 423 Clipper is in really good condition and has been kept on a swinging mooring, hence no scuff marks on the hull. One owner from new she comes with owners cabin forward with en-suite, large main saloon, twin aft cabins and second heads. Her inventory includes a 56HP Yanmar, H & C water, shore power, 2 mainsails, 2 furling genoas, lazy bag, electric primary winches, electric windlass, teak decks and more!

Brokerage through Crosshaven Boatyard: www.yachtworld.com/crosshavenboatyard/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you. -- Robert Anton Wilson

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

Big Breeze, Big Action
The action on Rhode Island Sound was fast and furious on the penultimate day of the 2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in Newport, R.I., as the 15 teams contesting the 16th edition of this championship were challenged by three races sailed under a low cloud ceiling. The first race started in 12 knots of steady breeze from the north-northeast, which increased over the three races to 17 knots.

"We did a lot of back and forth before the start to get our rig tuned properly and we think that helped us a lot," said Kevin McNeil (USA) who stands first overall with his team on Nightshift after finishes of 2-5-3 today for 26 cumulative points with two races to go in the series. "We got pinned a little when the Italians [Enfant Terrible] came over and tacked on us and pushed us out. Strategically it was the right thing to do as they pushed us back a little bit and got another boat in front of us. We hung in there. We'll just continue doing what we're doing. Everybody is tuned in and doing their job, and they're doing a great job. I'm just the jockey; they [the crew] really pull it off. We had good clean starts today, which were helpful. The boat was going really well. We went fast upwind and downwind. We had a couple of little mistakes, but all in all it turned out pretty well. So we're very happy, but we're cautiously optimistic."

2013 Rolex Farr 40 World Championship Results
Place, Yacht Name, Owner/Skipper, Country, Results; Total Points

1. Nightshift, Kevin McNeil, USA, 2-8-3-1-2-2-5-3; 26 points
2. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi, ITA, 5-5-8-3-1-1-2-5; 30
3. Barking Mad, James Richardson, USA, 4-3-6-2-6-9-1-1; 32
4. Charisma, Nico Poons, MON, 1-1-1-11-9-16/DSQ-4-2; 45
5. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut Jahn, USA, 7-2-2-9-8-6-13-4; 51
6. Asterisk Uno, Hasip Gencer, TUR, 9-7-4-4-4-5-14-9; 56
7. Nanoq, HRH Prince Frederik, DEN, 6-6-7-14-7-4-9-6; 59
8. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, GER, 13-10-5-5-3-13-7-8; 64
9. PLENTY, Alexander Roepers, USA, 3-9-12-13-5-11-3-11; 67
10. Transfusion, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, AUS, 11-4-11-7-11-10-6-7; 67
11. Endorphin, Erik Wulff, USA, 8-12-9-12-13-7-11-10; 82
12. Groovederci, John Demourkas, USA, 12-15-13-8-12-3-8-12; 83
13. Flojito y Cooperando, Bernard Minkow/Julian Fernandez, MEX, 15-11-15-6-14-12-10-13; 96
14. White Knight, Zoltan Katinsky, USA, 10-14-14-10-10-14-12-14; 98
15. Oakcliff Racing, Seth Cooley, USA, 14-13-10-15-15-8-15-15; 105

farr40worlds.com

Mark Foy Trophy Regatta Lands In Sf For 1st Time
The Mark Foy Trophy heads to San Francisco for the 1st time, beginning September 7th and running through September 8th. The event is the official Traveling Championship of the International 18' Skiff fleet, which originated in Sydney Australia and has gained popularity world wide in past decades and has strong holds in Europe, New Zealand and San Francisco.

The International 18's (aka Aussie 18's) will celebrate 12 consecutive years on San Francisco Bay this summer, all due to the efforts and drive of Howie Hamlin who gambled on the events success back in 2002, and has seen great returns and many satisfied customers in the 12 years since. The images accompanying this piece from the original 2002 event, to present some perspective.

The 2013 event will be the largest event in 18' Skiff's on SF Bay history with currently 19 boats registered and 1 or two more expected to register before the start. In that group will be 8 Kiwi teams, which will be the biggest turn out for New Zealand at the Mark Foy for an event not held in Zew Zealand in some time. -- Erik Simonson in Pressure Drop

www.pressure-drop.us

Americans Dominate on Fourth Day of BMW J24 Worlds
Photo by David Branigan, www.oceansport.ie. Click on image for photo gallery.

It was very much a case of North American domination on the fourth day of competition at the BMW J24 Worlds at Howth Yacht Club, with Tim Healy of Newport winning the first and third races of the day while compatriot Travis Odenbach's win in the second one has taken the crew from Rochester, NY, into the overall lead going into the final day.

Conversely, it was not such a good day for the South Americans from Brazil as defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz had his worst results of the series, highlighted by an 18th in the second race, which drops him to third overall. It proved a very good day, however, for Mossy Shanahan of the host club who scored a 6th, 3rd and 4th, each finish being the best local result in the series to date.

Two more races are scheduled for the final day (Friday 30th) to complete the 10-race programme, with all eyes on the two US crews and Santa Cruz as the main contenders for the title.

Provisional Top Ten Overall Standings (With One Discard)

1. Travis Odenbach, USA, 23 points
2. Tim Healy, USA, 29
3. Mauricio Santa Cruz, BRA, 30
4. Ian Southworth, GBR, 46
5. Rotoman, GER, 55
6. I. Bonanno, ITA, 65
7. Keith Whittemore, USA, 68
8. Bob Turner, GBR, 70
9. Sullberg, GER, 88
10 Tony Parker, USA, 90

www.hyc.ie/J24WorldChampionship2013/

Marinepool Supports Youth Teams In San Francisco
Marinepool is partner of some of the fastest racing yachts on the planet. Maxi Tri Spindrift 2 and the MOD70 yachts Oman Air-Musandam and Spindrift are among them. And so are two teams in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup where Marinepool is proud supplier of the French (Next World Energy) and Portuguese (ROFF Cascais) teams.

They all trust in Marinepool performance sailing clothing, life jackets and team gear. And for a good reason.

With more than 22 years experience and design expertise, highly functional sailing clothing is one of the core competencies of Marinepool.

Before and during production, no detail is omitted and only the best materials and state of the art production technologies are utilized to ensure every product is optimized before it reaches the market.

In addition Marinepool focuses also on post-production services and particularly on customized team wear. Post-production branding is paramount for professional teams and the ambitious amateur crew alike. Marinepool provides branding services on both, performance sailing clothing - always maintaining its technical qualities - but also on technical fashion and casual lifestyle clothing.

As the official clothing supplier of world-class teams and events in sailing and powerboating Marinepool has vast experience and offers top notch quality for branded gear. Performance where it counts, durable in all wind and weather conditions.

Yet another strength of the brand are special productions for events, event series and teams where Marinepool - due to a vertically integrated organization from design to production and distribution - is able to offer a service second to none. Specially developed collections for the Extreme Sailing Series ( www.extremesailingseries.com ) or the Sailing Team Germany fan collection launched at 2013 Kiel Week ( www.stg-store.de ) are just a few examples.

Turn to Marinepool for your team or event wear!

www.marinepool.com

6th Half Ton Classics Cup
Boulogne-sur-Mer, France: In a fleet of 29 boats at the Port of Boulogne, for the first time ever, the Half Ton Classics Cup was won by a boat not based in the country where the biennial regatta was held.

9 races were sailed off Boulogne, with the ever-present sun and light winds, under the Cote d'Opale skyline. Apart from one team which was really outstanding, the remainder of the fleet enjoyed pretty close fleet racing with ever altering podium places. The race committee set out quite perfect courses, highly appreciated by the participating teams from France, Belgium, England, Ireland, Scotland and Finland.

Nigel Biggs and his team from the Royal St. George Yacht Club came to Boulogne with their latest halftonner 'Checkmate XV' (IRL), a 1985 MGHS built by Marine Glass Boats in Scotland to the design by Rob Humphreys. She is the production version of 'Flash', the boat which took 2nd place in the Half Ton Cup 1984 in the hands of Barrie Bullen and Lawrie Smith. The boat has been heavily re-fitted last winter at Corby Yachts, under supervision by Mr. Mills. She has a new rig with masthead spinnakers, a new rudder and a keel without a bulb, which was moved more aft.

Checkmate's results were 1, 1, 4, 1, 1, 4, 1, 1, 1. (8 points after 2 discards.) These results are almost a carbon copy of the results achieved by the same team in 'Harmony', another Humphreys designed boat in the Half Ton Classics Cup in Dun Laoghaire in 2007.

The rest of the top 10:

2. Collector, FRA, 26 points
3. General Tapioca, BEL, 46
4. Chimp, GBR, 47
5. Sibelius, FRA, 50
6. Red Cloud, BEL, 59
7. Misjif, SCO*, 61 and first production boat
8. A+, BEL, 66
9. Waverider, BEL, 66
10. Superhero, FIN, 68

* Scotland!

One of the pre-race favourites, David Cullen's King One from Ireland, did not make it into the top-10 after an unlucky DNF in the undiscardable offshore race.

At the final prizegiving the Half Ton Class Europe unveiled plans for next year's regatta in France's Northern Brittany for the 7th edition of the Half Ton Classics Cup. In 2015 the half ton-fleet will gather again in Nieuwpoort (Belgium).

Full results at www.ffvoile.fr/ffv/

Audi Sailing Series M20 European Championship
Photo by Studio Borlenghi / Andrea Pisapia / BPSE. Click on image for photo gallery.

Porto Rotondo, Italy - The 2013 Audi Melges 20 European Championship kicked off today with three races and at the close, American Michael Kiss on Bacio managed to finish one point ahead of Giancarlo Capolino on Legionario. Kiss and Capolino rumbled on the Sardinian waters just off of Porto Rotondo, Italy to finish the day more than 10 points ahead of the rest of the fleet.

Marco Francini's Mezza Luna is currently seated in third and tied in points with fourth place overall Renato Vallivero on Audi Ultra Fratelli Giacomel. Another American, Marc Hollerbach on Fu completes the top five.

More than thirty boats have gathered in Porto Rotondo for the grande finale 2013 Audi Sailing Series event, in which three more days of racing are yet to come. Ten races will be seen to completion with a daily maximum of four and a discard coming into play after race six.

As for the current overall series leader, Alessandro Rombelli aboard STIG finished up the day in eighth, Guido Miani on Monaco Racing Fleet is ninth, and Achille Onorato on Mascalzone Latino, Jr. had a tough day unable to finish above thirteenth.

Top Ten Results (After Three Races)

1. Michael Kiss, Bacio; 1-7-1 = 9 points
2. Giancarlo Capolino, Legionario; 3-5-2 = 10
3. Marco Francini, Mezza Luna; 4-4-13 = 21
4. Renato Vallivero, Audi Ultra Fratelli Giacomel; 7-8-6 = 21
5. Marc Hollerbach, Fu; 10-3-9 = 22
6. Russ Lucas, Shimmer; 13-6-4 = 23
7. Claudio Dutto, Asante Sana; 5-11-7 = 23
8. Alessandro Rombelli, STIG; 8-12-5 = 25
9. Guido Miani, Monaco Racing Fleet; 16-2-10 = 28
10. Jan Kuchar, Aloha; 20-1-8 = 29

www.melges20.com

Final Day of GJW Direct Sailfest
Mike Radford in a Byte won the Raymarine Long Distance Pursuit Race, final event of the SailFest Regatta at WPNSA over the holiday weekend. Radford kept his head to finish in front of the rapidly approaching International 14 (who pipped the RS300 of Steve Bolland) and win the race.

The Overall title for the inaugural GJW Direct SailFest WPNSA Handicap Regatta went to Sam Pascoe and Alex Knight in an International 14 with an impressive scoreline including 3 seconds and 3 firsts. -- Brenda Hoult

Raymarine Long Distance Pursuit Race Results:

1. Mike Radford - Byte
2. Sam Pascoe & Alex Knight - International 14
3. Steve Bolland - RS300
4. Tom Gillard & Tim Hartley - Fireball
5. Russell Ward - Finn
6. Andrew Wilde - Phantom
7. Ian Morgan - Laser
8. Sam Barker - Musto Skiff

GJW Direct SailFest WPNSA Handicap Regatta, Overall Results:

1. Sam Pascoe & Alex Knight - International 14
2. Matt Burge and Richard Wagstff - Fireball
3. Tom Gillard & Tim Hartley - Fireball
4. Ian Dobson & Ben Ainsworth - Fireball
5. David Hall & Paul Constable - Fireball
6. Tim Rush & Dan Ellis - Fireball
7. Anthony & James Willcocks - Fireball
8. Will Gulliver - Phantom
9. Steve Bolland - RS300
10. Hannah Showell & Barry Smith - Fireball

www.sailweb.co.uk

Sea Gives Up A Portrait Of Ancient Rome
For 2000 years the ancient and decomposing hulk lay buried in deep, muddy waters, off the Italian coast.

Everybody knew it was down there because for more than 80 years local fishermen had been collecting bits of Roman artefacts and pots in their nets.

Finds of this nature are not unusual in Italian waters, which are littered with treasures going back thousands of years... They uncovered a 2000-year-old Roman vessel buried 70-100 metres deep and encased in layers of mud that promises to reveal secrets about the way of life in the 1st century AD, not only in Rome but in other regions that traded with the empire.

The discovery of the food transport vessel, with an estimated 200 clay amphorae on board - and with caps of pine and pitch intact - sent ripples of excitement through archaeological communities partly because the ship and its contents are remarkably well preserved.

''It is a relic of great value,'' Lieutenant-Colonel Schilardi, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica. It goes back, he said, to the Roman republican and imperial age, when Rome traded with the Mediterranean countries, primarily Spain, and when the Ligurian Sea and the nerve centre, or the crossroads of Roman marketing and trade at the time.

www.theage.com.au

The Wind Deserts Tallinn
For the second consecutive day no racing was possible at the Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn, Estonia. Only four races have been sailed over four days and the prospect of further racing is not that encouraging. Andrew Mills (GBR) still holds a 17 point lead over Zsombor Berecz (HUN) and Michele Palette (ITA). There are just two days left to conclude the championship.

The fleet was held on shore in the morning but a developing sea breeze prompted the race officer to drop the AP at 14.00 and send the fleet afloat. However as soon as the boats arrived the wind started to disappear, with some large heavy clouds forming along the coast. The breeze returned gain, but was never more than 5 knots. Finally at 17.00 AP over H was hoisted to send the fleet back to wait ashore. The sea was glassy and the chance of racing was extremely slim. And so, 30 minutes later racing was abandoned for the day.

Racing on Friday has been brought forward to 10.00 to try and make the best of any wind available. Three races are planned to try and get back somewhere near the schedule. One more race needs to be sailed before a medal race cane be sailed on Saturday. After one more race, the discard also comes into play, which could change the leader board somewhat. However, whatever happens on the next two days the necessary four races have been completed to constitute a valid championship.

www.finngoldcup.org/2013

John Bertrand Named Swimming Australia President
Yachting Australia would like to congratulate John Bertrand AM on being appointed as the new President of Swimming Australia.

John Bertrand AM will take on the role immediately having just returned from a visit to the 34th America's Cup, and a reunion of the Australia II crew, in San Francisco.

Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones said that John has been a long-time supporter of Australian sailing and will remain involved into the future.

"On behalf of the sailing community I would like to congratulate John on his appointment to the role of Swimming Australia President," said Mr Jones. "I'm sure that his wealth of knowledge and experience will be incredibly valuable to Swimming Australia in the coming years."

"John is known around the world for his role as skipper of Australia II in the famous America's Cup victory 30 years ago but he has been heavily involved behind the scenes for many years, most recently with the Australian Sailing Team in the lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games," he said. "We're very happy that John will continue to be involved with our High Performance Advisory Group into the future."

With the 30th anniversary of Australia II winning the America's Cup just around the corner John and the crew will be attending a special celebration in Sydney on Thursday, 26 September.

www.hurricaneevents.com/ac30years

Featured Brokerage
1988 Southern Ocean Shipyards Ocean 80. 595,000 GBP. Located in Hamble, United Kingdom.

Ocean Leopard is for sale. Well known and universally respected as a fine cruising yacht, Ocean Leopard has been hugely successful since her launch in 1988 as a charter and private yacht. She is a fast and is easy to handle yacht with her cutter rig and fully battened mainsail.

During her sailing life she has cruised extensively in the Mediterranean and Caribbean as well as in the South Pacific visiting French Polynesia, Tonga, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. She has an easily driven hull.

Brokerage through Ancasta Yachts: www.yachtworld.com/ancastayachts/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com

The Last Word
Travelling is almost like talking with those of other centuries. -- Rene Descartes

Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html