In This Issue
Bouwmeester and Burling the big winners at inaugural World Sailing Awards | The 21st North Sails Golf Day raises over £6,000 for the John Merricks Sailing Trust | Marlow Excels with NEW R8 Product Launching at METS 30th Edition 2017 | ORC Congress Concludes Successful 2017 and Looks Ahead To 2018 | Draycote Dash | Life on deck just got (a lot) easier | Clipper Race Invites Expressions Of Interest From Host Ports To 2022 | Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Competition | First Federal Seeking to Sponsor a Race to Alaska Team | Featured Brokerage
Brought to you by Seahorse magazine, 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
Bouwmeester and Burling the big winners at inaugural World Sailing Awards
Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and Peter Burling (NZL) were the big winners at the inaugural World Sailing Awards in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as they were announced male and female 2017 Rolex World Sailor of the Year.
The 2017 World Sailing Awards also saw the presentation of the Beppe Croce Trophy and the President's Development Award.
The Beppe Croce Trophy is awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport of sailing. Carlo Croce, President of World Sailing from 2013 - 2016 received the trophy.
Stan Honey was the recipient the President's Trophy, an award that recognises an individual for their work in developing sailing.
After claiming gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and then a well-earned victory at the 2016 World Cup Series Final in Melbourne, Australia, Marit Bouwmeester (NED) was overcome with repetitive injuries.
The Dutch racer was unable to race at major regattas throughout the early part of the 2017 but had targeted returning to the sport at her home Laser Radial World Championship in Medemblik, the Netherlands.
Bouwmeester made an outstanding comeback and stormed her way through to claim an emphatic third world title. Just two months later, she claimed the European Championship title ensuring she holds all the current major titles - Olympic, Worlds and European.
In attendance in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Bouwmeester was voted the female Rolex World Sailor of the Year by the public, World Sailing's Member National Authorities and guests voting on the night.
New Zealand's Peter Burling continues to thrill and excite those who watch him sail and compete. Cool under pressure, calm and collected on the water, at just 26-years old, Burling has achieved success that many aspire to, but very few achieve.
Burling personified cool, calm and collectedness at the 35th America's Cup at the helm Emirates Team New Zealand.
With the weight of an expectant nation on his shoulders, Burling never once looked deterred throughout the Challenger Series and America's Cup Match. Even a dramatic capsize, that could have jeopardised the whole campaign, didn't put him off his stride.
Burling was unable to join delegates at the 2017 World Sailing Awards as he is currently competing in the Volvo Ocean Race on-board Team Brunel.
The Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, sponsored by Rolex since 2001, are the most prestigious awards of recognition in the dynamic sport of sailing.
The 21st North Sails Golf Day raises over £6,000 for the John Merricks Sailing Trust
Photo by Richard Langdon/Ocean Images, www.oceanimages.co.uk. Click on image for photo gallery.
A fantastic day was had by all at the North Sails Golf Day on 3rd November at Cams Hall Estate Golf Club, with 92 golfers enjoying the glorious autumn sunshine, helping to raise over £6,000 for the John Merricks Sailing Trust.
John 'Jonny' Merricks worked at North Sails and the first Golf Day, organised as it is today with the help of the Seahorse Golf Society, was set up to raise money for a Trust to be started in John's name. Since its inception 20 years ago the Golf Day has raised almost £200,000 for the John Merricks Sailing Trust (JMST).
Former colleagues and friends of John's, as well as many top professional sailors; marine industry figures and Olympic sailors, all turned out to play a round of golf whilst also remembering John and supporting the charity in his name.
Winner of Day: Paul Hobson - 42 Stableford points
2nd - Oliver Surman - 41 Stableford points
3rd - Brad Butterworth - 39 Stableford points
1st Lady - Ali Essex
Contender Longest Drive: Carl Raynes - winning an Alinghi / North Sails sailing jacket - donated by Brad Butterworth
Peters & May Nearest the Pin: David Boardman - winning a super hamper of gin, rum and plenty of Fever Tree tonic, along with some Peters & May caps and belts.
The Best Team won the Bainbridge Trophy and 4 x Craftinsure Slam Jackets: Carl Raynes, Paul Roberts, Dan Parry, Mike Henning
Bandit Trophy - Paul Hobson for his score of 42 from a handicap of 28!
Ian Walker, JMST Trustee, commented, "What a fantastic day! Everything was perfect apart from my golf. It was lovely to see so many of John's old friends and I can't thank everybody enough for their support. It is amazing to think that this was the 21st North Sails JMST Golf Day."
Olympic Sailors, Stuart Bithell and Luke Patience performed a marvelous job as auctioneers; encouraging the audience to bid on items including a photo print on canvas of the Land Rover BAR team racing in Bermuda donated by Grapefruit Graphics and signed by Ben Ainslie.
Neil Mackley from North Sails thanked all the many companies who generously sponsored the event or donated prizes, as well as all the players, who enjoyed a round of golf on a fabulously warm and sunny day.
Richard Langdon and Alistair Hyde-Tetley / Ocean Images generously gave up their time to photograph and video the event - a selection of images is available on the JMST Facebook page: www.facebook.com/jmst.uk
Huge thanks go to North Sails for managing the event and to all the Hole Sponsors: Contender UK; Peters & May; Future Fibres; TT Rigging; R F Composites Dimension Polyant; Soluxion Ltd; Osmotech; Grapefruit Graphics Ltd; Craftinsure; Toolkit Websites; & Ocean Images, as well as all the companies who donated raffle prizes and auction items. -- Suzy Hamel
Marlow Excels with NEW R8 Product Launching at METS 30th Edition 2017
This November, Marlow is once again delighted to be exhibiting at METS, Amsterdam, at the 30th edition of the Marine Equipment event. Marlow shares this anniversary, as one of METS' longest running exhibitors since the Show started in 1987.
Marlow's technical team have worked hard to ensure that for 2017 they will be launching the Excel R8, a new line in the highly regarded Excel Dinghy range tested by both the British and US Sailing Teams. This new product compliments the existing family of products, using a Dyneema® SK78 core with an 8 plait cover blended from Technora® and polyester. It is available in 4mm and 5mm, ideal as a halyard working well in cleats, as well as 7 and 8mm where it can be tapered and works as a high-performance sheet operating well in ratchet blocks.
Global Leisure Marine Sales Director, Paul Honess comments: "We are pleased to once again be exhibiting at the METS Trade Show in Amsterdam. It is by far one of the most important shows we attend every year for communicating with our global distribution network. We are looking forward to seeing everyone."
Marlow are pleased to be showcasing new Accessories including the new, comprehensive Splicing Guide, extremely durable Dyneema® covered Shock-cord and a Mini-Spool Counter Dispenser.
As the year draws to a close, Marlow are looking forward to an exciting 2018 and beyond with a growing team in the UK and US, an expansion of their UK Head office and developments across their leading product ranges.
To find out more about Marlow's unparalleled performance as the market-leading Leisure Marine brand and to pick up your copy of the new 2018 Definitive Rope Guide, visit them at their METS stand, 3.301.
ORC Congress Concludes Successful 2017 and Looks Ahead To 2018
Puerto Vallarta, MEX -- As part of the World Sailing Annual Conference, the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) has today concluded 6 days of meetings of its Committees and Congress to report on a successful 2017 as well as looking forward to 2018. The Congress has approved new rules and initiatives for next year that will help the ORC system further improve its rating services to offshore sailors in 45 countries around the world.
The numbers of boats issued ORC Club, ORC International or ORC SuperYacht certificates in the first 10 months of 2017 rose to over 9000, a new record for the ORC system, with certificates once again reaching over 10,000. The countries with the greatest growth in ORC Club certificates were Bulgaria, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Saint Maarten, and in ORCi certificates were Netherlands, Portugal and the USA.
"This shows our system remains both popular for our current users and also attractive to new users," said Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC. "Our greatest growth is in new nations, where the ease of use, flexibility and fairness of our system is attractive to them in establishing new fleets."
On the technical side, the ORC Velocity Prediction Program (VPP), the core engine of the ORC system, has been upgraded for 2018 by the International Technical Committee, chaired by Alessandro Nazareth. With research work done by top designers such as Jason Ker, who worked this year with CFD tools on the ORC aero model, coupled with an analysis of performance data from 6 boat types, next year's ratings for the ORC fleet will shift slightly in order to be more accurate and therefore have the potential to produce even closer racing in the next season.
The ORC SuperYacht system, developed by a dedicated team within the ORC Staff, supported nine events in 2017 as well as made continued improvements and revisions to the system to deal with this extremely diverse range of yachts.
scuttlebutteurope.com/articles/orc-congress
Draycote Dash
Entries are filling up fast for the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash which takes place on the weekend of 18 & 19 November. The opening event of the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series attracts some of the big names in UK dinghy racing and it's looking like another good spread of talents and classes at this year's event on the picturesque reservoir near Rugby.
There is no entry on the day for the Draycote Dash, so make sure you get your entry in before online entry closes this Sunday 12 November.
Enter at: www.SailjuiceSeries.com
The Draycote Dash is offering all competitors, as part of their entrance fee, 20% off all Fernhurst Books titles purchased at the event. With 130 titles to choose from, covering most watersports (sailing, swimming, diving, fishing, canoeing and surfing) there is something for anyone who likes being in, on or under the water! So do your shopping early for Christmas.
Among the more unusual entries listed so far is a Norfolk Punt which will be raced by Colin and Oly Murray from Ullswater Yacht Club. John Tippett and Kathy Boulton will be competing for the host club, Draycote Sailing Club, in a Miracle dinghy. Another doublehander rarely seen on the handicap circuit is the Laser II, but Girton Sailing Club's Steven Bishop and Amie King will be racing theirs, while Adrian and Tracie Padro are coming from Shustoke Sailing Club to compete in their Comet Trio.
It will be great to see the two Hadron H2s going head to head, with fellow Midland Sailing Club members Richard Adams and Chris Gould in their personal match race.
Rutland's fleet of Challengers are out in force, with Series regular Val Millward competing alongside Jack Alderdice and Graham Hall. At the faster end of the fleet are some strong Fireball teams, not least former Olympic representative Penny Clark crewed by husband Russell. This Stokes Bay team won the final event of last winter when they sailed their RS400 to victory at the Oxford Blue, but the Clarks have switched over to the Fireball in preparation for an assault on the major championships next summer.
That's why so many competitors come back winter after winter to compete in the Series, because it makes sure they're race sharp for the start of the open meeting season. The chance to hone your skills over the winter is some of the best training you can do. The Saturday's racing consists of three back-to-back handicap races, and then there's the Sunday finale of a Pursuit Race.
Life on deck just got (a lot) easier
UBI Maior Italia have been doing that exquisite engineering thing again...
Jiber and Jiber TX Once the preserve of cruisers and oceanic racers, the headsail furler is now a common sight on yachts of every size and type and increasingly for sails of every size and type. From the Mini 6.50s to the Class40s, from the Imoca 60s of the Vendee Globe to the latest 30m super maxi with their somewhat larger all-pro crews, furler use has also expanded from being deployed merely on headsails and staysails to use with asymmetric spinnakers, Code 0s and the like.
Regardless of which sail is being furled, all furling devices have a tough job to do. In exchange for the convenience of not going to the foredeck to douse the sail, these mechanisms must be able to perform perfectly while under loads from the halyard, the sheet and the wind itself. They need to be durable enough to operate reliably in all conditions without breakage, corrosion, chafe or excessive friction so that crews can be assured that their safety - and race result - will not be compromised by a malfunction.
This is particularly true for structural furlers, whose strength and integrity quite literally keep the spar aloft, or any furler type where a shorthanded crew may not be in position to troubleshoot problems in harsh weather and rough seas.
Full article in the December issue of Seahorse: www.seahorsemagazine.com
Clipper Race Invites Expressions Of Interest From Host Ports To 2022
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, the biggest and toughest ocean endurance challenge to circle the planet, has today invited expressions of interest from Host Ports in the next two editions of this unique biennial event through to 2022.
The announcement coincided with the release of very positive economic impact figures for Liverpool, UK, the host of the start of this year's global race in August 2017, of £7.5 million GBP, which reinforces the power of the Clipper Race as an impactful and highly inspirational global mass participation sports event for everyday people from all walks of life.
Returning to the city bigger and better than ever for the first time in a decade, after hosting by other UK cities including London and Southampton, the Clipper Race drew some 220,000 visitors to Liverpool during the week-long schedule of festivities at Albert Dock.
Early research commissioned by Culture Liverpool, and conducted by North West Research and Strategy, suggests that the event has already left behind a substantial economic boost to Liverpool and has been responsible for a £7,510,000 boost and a further million pounds of visitor spending retention in the city.
In addition to economic benefits, as a worldwide event the Clipper Race Start in Liverpool has further cemented the position of the city's waterfront as a world class event stage.
The Clipper Race fleet, including the Liverpool 2018 team entry is currently racing across the Southern Ocean to Fremantle, Western Australia having already stopped in Punta del Este, Uruguay and Cape Town, South Africa.
The Clipper Race teams will return to Liverpool next summer on 28 July 2018 once they have also completed the 2017-18 edition of the race calling in Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, Whitsundays (Australia), Sanya and Qingdao in China, Seattle and New York in USA, and Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland.
Destinations interested in the opportunity to host the Clipper Race can access initial information online at clipperroundtheworld.com/hostports and submit their preliminary interest via email to hostports@clipper-ventures.com
Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Competition
Tonight's featured bar, a favoured one for Eurobutt readers for many years:
Clarke Cooke House, Bannister's Wharf, Newport, RI
Here's what makes it so great...
The clientele, the staff, the different experiences to be found on each of the different floors (sky bar & 12m room, candy store, bistro bar, midway bar, boom boom room)...
Clarke Cooke House bar the Candy Store is one of the most legendary bars that exist, from their amazing menu of food to their awesome bartenders. This place cannot be beat.
And here's a Vodka twist to a Brazilian classic:
Caipiroska
1 lime, cut into 6 wedges
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup Wight Vodka
Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, lightly crush lime and sugar in a 16-oz. mixing glass or a cocktail shaker to release juice (press limes just firmly enough to release juice but not bitter oil from the peel). Stir until sugar dissolves. Add vodka.
Fill an Old Fashioned glass halfway with cracked ice. Pour vodka mixture over ice, then pour entire mixture, including ice, back into mixing glass to gently mix drink. Return to Old Fashioned glass.
Send us your bar favorites, drink favorites:
scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars
First Federal Seeking to Sponsor a Race to Alaska Team
November 9, 2017 Port Townsend, WA- First Federal Bank believes in the Race to Alaska and will sponsor a team in the 2018 race. They have joined with race officials to offer a video contest to identify a great team to partner with in 2018. "Any team that has applied and been accepted is eligible to enter the contest," says Race Boss Daniel Evans. "All they have to do is create a video and send it in to enter."
Sponsorship includes race registration and promotional activities, including featured placement in two exclusive videos, one of which will be a Clip of the Day during the race. "We have valued our continued relationship with the Northwest Maritime Center and are enthused by this opportunity to deepen our support of the R2AK. We have sponsored this race since the very beginning, which is a true Pacific Northwest experience for both spectators and participants," said Derek Brown, Senior Vice President at First Federal.
"We believe there are racers out there who are perfect for this event and whose participation would add to the excitement of the journey for everyone, but who may need some support to get them into the race and up to Ketchikan." When asked for video submission requirements, Derek said, "Just be amazing. We suspect that you're incredible, so show us."
The contest will run until March 1 with the final team selected March 15. For more information or to submit a video go to r2ak.com/first-federal-video-contest/
Featured Brokerage
2012 Swan 60 Racer Cruiser. Price on application. Located in Spain.
New to the brokerage market, this Swan 60 has been optimized for competitive racing and is offered as a turn-key regatta program including sails, rigging, equipment and storage/shipping cradle. Contact our office in Monaco for additional information about pricing and location
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Nautor's Swan Brokerage
brokerage@nautorswan.com
Tel. +377 97 97 95 07
nautorswanbrokerage.com
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2006 GP42 - Wan Ma Rang. 200000 USD. Located in Thailand.
"Wan Ma Rang" is a well optimised and cared for GP42 design, that offers huge potential under IRC and ORC racing, through a wide range of wind conditions. Continually upgraded throughout her life.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
sampearson@ancasta.com
+44 2380 016582
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2008 Landmark 43 - Min IDE H. 220000 EUR. Located in Nyborg, Denmark.
One of the most competitive ORC boats on the market today, with a sister ship having recently won the 2016 World Champs. Get in touch to learn more and be on the podium in Poland 2017!
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
sampearson@ancasta.com
+44 2380 016582
+64 2277733717
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a human being? -- Carl Sagan
Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html
It is truly a case of little and large in the run up to the annual presentation of the Yachting Journalists' Association's prestigious Yachtsman of the Year and Young Sailor of the Year Awards with Laser Radial Girls Champion 16-year-old schoolgirl Matilda Nicholls from Durley, near Southampton among the shortlisted candidates for the Young Sailor Award, while Solo Round the World Sailor Alex Thompson is one of three competing nominees for the prestigious Yachtsman of the Year Trophy.
Last month's winner:
Thomas Coville (FRA)
Francois Gabart (FRA)
SEAir has announced construction of its first flying 40ft (12m) monohull will begin in 2018 with a late 2018/early 2019 launch.
