In This Issue
The Fully Foiling America's Cup Ac75 Yacht Revealed | TWO | Element: Harken For People Who Don't Need Harken | 18ft Skiffs Spring Championship, Race 7 (Final) | ARC 2017 Sets Sail from Gran Canaria | Jamie McWilliam wins Turkish Airlines Around the Island Race in Hong Kong | Letters to the Editor | 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
The Fully Foiling America's Cup AC75 Yacht Revealed
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An exciting new era in America's Cup racing has been unveiled today as the concept for the AC75, the class of boat to be sailed in the 36th America's Cup is released illustrating a bold and modern vision for high performance fully foiling monohull racing yachts.
The Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa design teams have spent the last four months evaluating a wide range of monohull concepts. Their goals have been to design a class that will be challenging and demanding to sail, rewarding the top level of skill for the crews; this concept could become the future of racing and even cruising monohulls beyond the America's Cup.
The AC75 combines extremely high-performance sailing and great match racing with the safety of a boat that can right itself in the event of a capsize. The ground-breaking concept is achieved through the use of twin canting T-foils, ballasted to provide righting-moment when sailing, and roll stability at low speed.
The normal sailing mode sees the leeward foil lowered to provide lift and enable foiling, with the windward foil raised out of the water to maximise the lever-arm of the ballast and reduce drag. In pre-starts and through manoeuvres, both foils can be lowered to provide extra lift and roll control, also useful in rougher sea conditions and providing a wider window for racing.
Although racing performance has been the cornerstone of the design, consideration has had to be focused on the more practical aspects of the boat in the shed and at the dock, where both foils are canted right under the hull in order to provide natural roll stability and to allow the yacht to fit into a standard marina berth.
An underlying principle has been to provide affordable and sustainable technology 'trickle down' to other sailing classes and yachts. Whilst recent America's Cup multihulls have benefitted from the power and control of rigid wing sails, there has been no transfer of this technology to the rigs of other sailing classes. In tandem with the innovations of the foiling system, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa are investigating a number of possible innovations for the AC75's rig, with the requirement that the rig need not be craned in and out each day. This research work is ongoing as different concepts are evaluated, and details will be released with the AC75 Class Rule before March 31st, 2018.
The America's Cup is a match race and creating a class that will provide challenging match racing has been the goal from the start. The AC75 will foil-tack and foil-gybe with only small manoeuvring losses, and given the speed and the ease at which the boats can turn the classic pre-starts of the America's Cup are set to make an exciting comeback. Sail handling will also become important, with cross-overs to code zero sails in light wind conditions.
A huge number of ideas have been considered in the quest to define a class that will be extremely exciting to sail and provide great match racing, but the final decision was an easy one: the concept being announced was a clear winner, and both teams are eager to be introducing the AC75 for the 36th America's Cup in 2021.
The AC75 class rule will be published by March 31st 2018.
Mini Transat
Erwan Le Draoulec (Emile Henry) crossed the finish line in the second stage of the Mini Transat La Boulangère on Thursday, November 16th at 2h50'15 '' (French time); His race time on this 2nd stage is 14 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes, 15 seconds at an average speed of 8.43 knots.
There has been a flood of finishers over the past few days, the top ten finishing times in the Proto and Series fleets for the second leg from Las Palms to Le Marin:
Proto:
1. Ian Lipinski
2. Jorg Riechers
3. Simon Koster
4. Andrea Fornaro
5. Keni Piperol
6. Quentin Vlamynck
7. Camille Taque
8. Aurelien Poisson
9. Arthur Leopold Leger
10. Frederic Guerin
Series:
1. Erwan Le Draoulec
2. Clarisse Cremer
3. Benoit Sineau
4. Tanquy Bouroullec
5. Thomas Dolan
6. Pierre Chedeville
7. Valentin Gautier
8. Germain Kerleveo
9. Yannick Le Clech
10. Cedric Faron
Element: Harken For People Who Don't Need Harken
You're not a racer. But you are a sailor. That's good, because at Harken, we make products for sailors.
Consider our new Element blocks, Harken quality, durability, and engineering expertise at an affordable price. Everything that doesn't contribute to durability and strength has been removed.
Element combines compound-curved sideplates of forged aluminum for strength, with the amount of metal essential to protect the sheave. Add a proven bearing system. The result? The most wallet-efficient Harken blocks ever.
Element will be available in early 2018 in singles, doubles, triples, fiddles, and footblocks in 45, 60, and 80 millimeter sizes.
Learn more at: www.harken.com/element/
18ft Skiffs Spring Championship, Race 7 (Final)
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Sydney Harbour: The Triple M team won today's race on Sydney Harbour, but it was the Panasonic Lumix team who took out the inaugural Australian 18 Footers League Spring Championship.
Triple M (James Ward, Adam Gillson, Huon Oliver) won today's race by 42s to become the only 2-race winner in the 7-race championship after another good performance by the crew.
Victory overall came to Panasonic Lumix (Jordan Girdis, Lachlan Doyle, Nathan Edwards) only on the final lap of today's course when the team finished strongly to take third place and an overall victory by just one point.
It was bad luck on both the race and the overall result for Finport Trade Finance (Keagan York, Adam Minter, Greg Dixon) which finished second today and second overall in the championship
The final overall pointscore showed Panasonic Lumix on 23 points, followed by Finport Trade Finance on 24, The Kitchen Maker (Scott Babbage) on 32, Triple M 36, Rag & Famish Hotel (Bryce Edwards) 36 and Smeg (Lee Knapton on 39.
The championship proved an outstanding success with six different winners coming from the seven races.
Once agin, the fleet today faced a 10-12knot Easterly breeze which also turned ESE throughout the race.
Race 1 of the NSW Championship will be sailed next Sunday, 26 November. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League
ARC 2017 Sets Sail from Gran Canaria
An international fleet of yachts taking part in the 32nd edition of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) set sail from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, beginning an amazing transatlantic journey to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia.
It is a particularly diverse fleet this year with boats from 30ft to 95ft setting off on the same transatlantic course, including 156 monohulls, 28 catamarans and 2 trimarans. The sailors themselves are just as varied, aged from 3 years old to over 80.
While the ARC is a cruising rally, there is a start and finish line, and the boats are split into divisions according to size, type and competition. The first start today was for the Multihull Division, led over the line by American flagged Lagoon 42-4 Libelula, followed by Seawind 1160 X86 and the fleet's largest trimaran, Rapido, living up to her name coming over the line third before storming off down the Gran Canarian coast.
Following on, 27 boats in the ARC Racing Division were equally eager to stretch their sea legs and sail out into the Atlantic. Regular ARC Skipper and Class winner Ross Applebey brought through Scarlet Island Girl hot on her heels swiftly followed by Valerio Bardi's Swan 46 Mk II Milanto.
The first boats to cross the line in the Cruising Division were Norwegian Arcona 400 Tiffin, Swedish Najad 460 Ellen and British Grand Soleil 56 Mad Monkey.
Of the 186 boats sailing on the ARC direct route, 4 are still in Las Palmas with technical problems delaying their departure.
All ARC boats are fitted with YB Tracking satellite trackers, allowing family, friends and fans to follow the fleet from the comfort of home online at worldcruising.com/arc/eventfleetviewer.aspx or via the YB Races app.
The majority of boats will take 18-21 days to make the 2700 nautical mile Atlantic crossing, arriving in Rodney Bay Marina, Saint Lucia.
https://www.worldcruising.com/arc/event.aspx
Jamie McWilliam wins Turkish Airlines Around the Island Race in Hong Kong
It was a day of varied conditions for the 2017 Turkish Airlines Around the Island Race with everything from 2 to 28kts of easterly breeze being reported across the race track. Approximately 1,400 people on 230 boats and even two lifejacket-- clad dogs took part in this year's 26nm circumnavigation.
The big winners of the day were Jamie McWilliam with his crew Simon Macdonald and Peter Austin onboard the EtchellsShrub, they crossed the finish line at 14h 19m 07s to take the overall win with a corrected time of 4h 59m 02s.
It took two start lines located off of Causeway Bay and Hung Hom and 22 consecutive starts to get the fleet away. There were boat breaking conditions right off of the start with the first casualty of the day headed back to the club by 0830hrs due to a broken mast and boom. The fleet tacked their way up the starboard side of the Hong Kong Harbour course, avoiding exclusion zones and Hong Kong's busy marine traffic and through Lei Yue Mun gap.
Once the fleet reached Shek O rock they met with big swells of 2 to 3m, which proved difficult for some of the smaller fleets. Persevering on was the first Para athlete to compete in the Around the Island Race; Foo Yuen-Wai representing Sailability Hong Kong on board a 2.4mR, the smallest boat in the fleet The Kaplan, not only is Foo the first Para athlete to compete, he is also the first one to sail single- handed. Foo completed the race and sailed across the line at 16h 11m 24s.
Another first was Sean Law on board S M Kwan and Thomas Wong's Sunfast 3600 Ding Dong Sean who is just 77 days old did his first Around the Island Race with mother and father Sally and Dominick.
Kites were hoisted after the fleet rounded D'Aguilar point with gusts up to 28kts. There were a few exciting broaches and resulting in a few more retirements. However, with the large swell running along the Sheung Sze Mun channel, some boats were fully launched and able to surf in on the run towards Stanley Gate.
The swell tapered off as did the breeze, as the fleet approached Round Island. A park up ensued off the Cyberport Gate, where supporting sponsors St. James's Place were waiting to greet the fleet on a spectator yacht. Once the fleet rounded Green Island the breeze increased a little but there were still a few holes along the harbor. First to make the circumnavigation was Bruce Anson and Wei Jie's Discover Sail Asia an RC44 with an elapsed time of 4h 19m 21s.
www.icarus-sports.com
www.rhkyc.org.hk
HUGO BOSS backs Alex Thomson Racing for Vendee Globe 2020
Today we're pleased to announce that our long-term sponsor, HUGO BOSS, has extended its partnership with the team for a further four years, in a deal that will take us through to the end of 2021.
HUGO BOSS has sponsored the team since 2003 in what is one of the longest and most coveted partnerships in sailing.
Looking forward to 2020,and with his sights set firmly on the bringing home the gold, Thomson said; "I am looking forward to another successful cycle, with the focus on building the best team, boat and campaign for the Vendee Globe in 2020. As our main sponsor, HUGO BOSS have supported the team and enabled us to push boundaries and innovate both in our approach to sailing and the ways in which we share our sport with our audience. I very much look forward to building on the successes we have achieved and working together over the next four years."
This is going to leave a mark...
International Sunfish Class Association President Laurence H. Mass Response to Laser Performance
I had hoped to send a President's letter out after the 2017 World Sailing Conference, however, certain events had forced me to change the letter and release it sooner. As you may have seen or heard, Laser Performance (LP), has announced that they are starting their own Sunfish Class, the International Sunfish Class Organization. Over the last two years ISCA has tried unsuccessfully, to negotiate to a support and trademark agreement with LP. For two successive years, 4 weeks before the World Championships LP has threatened to withhold the containers of World Championship boats unless we signed their agreement. LP stopped supporting the class with charter boats and financially in 2011. When asked about this, LP response was "sign the Trademark agreement and you will see we will support the class." ISCA and LP signed a support outline but, never a support agreement. At LP's insistence these two agreements were to be independent of each other.
The World Council was prepared to sign a trademark agreement until LP required that the ISCA initials and the name International Sunfish Class Association name were to be signed over to LP as well. This was a deal breaker for the World Council. LP has long wanted to control ISCA. LP's new sunfish class has blatantly copied ISCA's Class Rules, Constitution, calendar, and website. LP has even copied the same NSCA and regional USSCA Representatives. Most Representatives are likely unaware of this. LP is trying to imply that LP's class has replaced ISCA. IT HAS NOT. We remain united and independent from the builder. This just goes to further illustrate that their intentions were control the class. World Sailing currently only recognizes ISCA. No other International Class can run World Championships for the Sunfish Class Boat.
In August 2017, the World Council decided that we would not sign the restrictive trademark agreement and changed ISCA class rules to allow non-builder supplied, class approved spars, masts, goosenecks, sails and parts. World Sailing should approve this class rule change this week in Mexico. This rule change has been proposed many times before and has been a long time coming. This rule change was important because it allows the flow of parts from several suppliers vs. one builder. The builder cannot unilaterally decide to change parts in a one-design class as they have done several times without the class's knowledge or input. This ultimately undermines the integrity of the Sunfish one-design class. We as a one-design class cannot allow this to happen anymore.
Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From Brent Isaacson:
The AC75 Yacht has T-foils which will need active control to maintain ride height. How will this be managed? Will the power come from hamsters, battery or an engine? Will ride height be manually controlled or automated?
How much weight will need to be in the foils to provide a self-righting ability in a boat with a mast that is well over 80ft high? How about batteries in the foils to kill two birds with one stone?
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