In This Issue
Philippe Peche gets head start from Les Sables d’Olonne
Marlow Supports Susie Goodall in Golden Globe Race
Team Brunel win final In Port Race
Fast Pace to the Fastnet as Volvo Round Ireland Race Heats Up
Class40 Eärendil competing at the AAR Bermuda Hamburg
Day of the Franks concludes the GC32 Lagos Cup
Best of the best
Ran VII wins HYS FAST40+ National Championship
Entries Remain Open While Initial 36Th America's Cup Entry Period Passes
Snipe World Master Champions
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Norman Mailer
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
Philippe Peche gets head start from Les Sables d’Olonne
Les Sables d'Olonne France: They have 30,000 miles to sail over the next 9-10 months, but judging from the start today of the 2018 Golden Globe solo non-stop around the world yacht race from Les Sables d’Olonne, the leaders will be fighting over every mile.
First to cross the line at Noon (CEST) was the fiercely competitive Frenchman Philippe Peche aboard his Rustler 36 PRB. He has ensured that she is one of the lightest in the 18-strong fleet, and carrying a huge lightweight genoa, Peche pulled out a 100 metre lead within minutes of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, winner of the first GGR 50 years before, had fired the canon from the deck of his historic yacht Suhaili.
Behind him, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, who has five previous circumnavigations to his credit and at 73, is the oldest skipper in this Race, appeared to tangle with Tapio Lehtinen’s Finnish yacht Asteria, and one hour after the start were still locked in a 3-way tie with Dutchman Mark Slats (Ohpen Maverick) for third place. Their regatta style tactics allowed Russia’s Igor Zaretskiy to sail his Endurance 35 Esmeralda quietly into second place.
Another in the mix was Are Wiig’s 32ft Norwegian double-ender Olleanna along with Indian Navy pilot Abhilash Tomy sailing a wooden replica of Sir Robin’s Suhaili.
By contrast, Britain’s Susie Goodall, who raised by far the biggest send-off from the dock, kept her Rustler 36 DHL Starlight well clear of other yachts and made a good mid fleet start in line with Istvan Kopar’s American yacht Puffin, fellow British entrant Ertan Bescardes (Lazy Otter) and Antoine Cousot’s French Biscay 36 Metier Interim.
Trailing these boats last night was a third group led by Ireland’s Gregor McGuckin sailing the Biscay 36 Hanley Energy Endurance just ahead of Frenchman Loïc Lepage (Laaland) and the two Australian entrants, Kevin Farebrother’s Tradewind 35 Sagarmatha, and Mark Sinclair’s Lello 34 Coconut.
The dark horse within the fleet appears to be Nabil Amra’s Palestinian flagged Biscay 36 Liberty II, which was one of the last boats across the line but last night was flying through the fleet at 4.6knots as apposed to 4.2 for the leaders. Like Igor Zaretskiy, he is taking a more southerly route towards Cape Finistere while others were heading well out into the Bay of Biscay in the hope of finding stronger winds.
One skipper, Italy’s Francesco Cappelletti, remains in port preparing his Endurance 35 007. The yacht has still to pass safety inspection and Cappelletti has yet to complete 3 days of solo sailing trials. He has until Noon next Saturday to beat the deadline to join the race.
The leading yachts are expected to reach the first ‘gate’ set off Lanzarote in the Canaries around 11th July to hand across film and letters. The Race is expected to take 9-10 months with the leaders taking between 240-250 days to complete the voyage unaided.
Today, technical partner Boatshed.com announced that they would provide a £5,000 cash prize the for the fastest skipper around the world – the same amount that the Sunday Times newspaper posted for its race 50 years ago.
Live Tracker: goldengloberace.com/livetracker/
Marlow Supports Susie Goodall in Golden Globe Race
As the Sunday Times Golden Globe Yacht Race begins, Marlow Ropes caught up with their supported skipper Susie Goodall as she prepared to set sail, to see how she’s rigging her boat and getting acquainted with Marlow’s Doublebraid lines.
“I have Marlow Doublebraid for all my sheets and halyards on board. As well as the low stretch core, having a tough cover makes wear and tear easier to deal with which is essential on a voyage the length of the GGR – having Doublebraid will prolong the life of all my ropes. My halyards and sheets are also all colour coordinated for each sail to keep it simple and much easier when trying to navigate the boat in the dark.” Susie Goodall
The Sunday Times Golden Globe Yacht Race is a sailing race like no other, 18 sailors will race 30,000 miles around the globe non-stop, alone and with no outside assistance. It is an incredible feat of endurance and Marlow are delighted to be supporting Susie as the youngest skipper and the only female sailor to compete.
This edition of the Race is to celebrate Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s historic 1968/9 world first solo non-stop circumnavigation in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Yacht Race. The sailors will be departing from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France on July 1st, 2018 and sail solo, non-stop around the world, via the five Great Capes and return to Les Sables-d’Olonne. The entrants are limited to sailing similar yachts and equipment to what was available to Sir Robin in that first race which means sailing without modern technology or the benefit of satellite based navigation aids.
Susie Goodall’s Rustler 36 boat, ‘Starlight’, has been entirely rigged by Marlow using Doublebraid - using the same materials as those used by the winner of the first Golden Globe Race, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, in 1968.
Paul Honess, Leisure Marine Sales Director, of Marlow Ropes said: “Marlow Ropes has been used many, many times on boats circumnavigating the globe, including the current Clipper Round The World Race, The Vendee Globe, Velux 5 Oceans and previous editions of the Volvo Ocean Race so has a pedigree in this area. Circumnavigating the globe solo and non-stop using the same equipment that was available in 1968 is an immense challenge and we wish Susie a safe and speedy voyage.“
Throughout the duration of the Golden Globe Yacht Race Marlow will be tracking Susie's progress and cheering her on for a safe and successful Race.
Team Brunel win final In Port Race
On Saturday afternoon Team Brunel took the win in the Brunel In Port Race. Hometown hero Bouwe Bekking and his Team Brunel had a perfect start and led the race from start till finish. With the win Team Brunel takes the overall third position in the In Port Race series.
With Peter Burling at the helm, Team Brunel had an excellent start. The Dutch boat immediately took the lead. At the first gate Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag came alongside, but they did not get past the Dutch boat. Team Brunel quickly gained a lead. The lead on pursuers Dongfeng Race Team and Team AkzoNobel was quickly one minute.
Bouwe Bekking: “With Peter Burling on the helm we had an excellent start. This allowed us to immediately take the lead. I’m proud that we have been able to show this for so many supporters. I want to thank everyone who came to The Hague in the past few days! The support that we, and all other teams, got here was really the icing on the cake. "
The win, combined with a third place finish by team AkzoNobel, means that the two Dutch skippers finished tied for third in the In-Port Race Series, with Team Brunel taking the tie-break for the final podium spot by virtue of a better finishing position in the final race.
Result Brunel In-Port Race The Hague
1. Team Brunel
2. Dongfeng Race Team
3. team AkzoNobel
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic
5. MAPFRE
6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing
7. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
Overall standings Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race
1. MAPFRE - 64 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team - 56 points
3. Team Brunel - 50 points
4. team AkzoNobel - 50 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing - 35 points
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic - 25 points
7. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag - 25 points
Fast Pace to the Fastnet as Volvo Round Ireland Race Heats Up
Photo by David Branigan/Oceansport. Click on image to enlarge.
In near record-setting pace at least as far as the stage to the Fastnet Rock goes, the 56-strong fleet in the Volvo Round Ireland Race enjoyed ideal sailing conditions after starting the 705-mile race from Wicklow Harbour on Saturday afternoon.
Most of the fleet have now (Sunday night) passed the iconic lighthouse off the south-west corner of Ireland but are now starting to experience strong headwinds on the Atlantic stage of the race.
As far as the race for line honours goes, four boats are vying for contention with Volvo 60 footer Libertalia Team Jolokia ahead of Open 40 footer Hydra taking the more seaward route along the south-west coast while Classe 40 footer Corum duels with Ker 43 Baraka Gp close to the Dingle peninsula.
However, under IRC handicap that decides the overall victory, the race currently favours smaller entries but as these had still to encounter the full force of the Atlantic and the fresh to strong northerly winds, the race standings will only become clearer once the whole fleet is on the West coast.
In spite of the relatively benign conditions over the first 24 hours, three boats have now retired from the race.
Cookson 50-footer Riff Raff experienced engine problems and retired into Crosshaven while the sole trimaran in the race, Trilogic experienced big seas and 45-knot gusts off the Kerry coastline and blew out a key sail. Classe 40 footer Sensation has also retired to Castletownbere in West Cork. -- John O'Connor
Live tracking is available on www.roundireland.ie
Class40 Eärendil competing at the AAR Bermuda Hamburg
The Class40 Division of the Atlantic Anniversary Regatta, organized in the 150th anniversary of Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, is coming. The latest entry of the AAR Bermuda-Hamburg Race is Eärendil with Skipper Catharine Pourre. The Class40 Division now includes 4 competitors.
Catherine is the first female Class40 Skipper in this division. Besides the German Melanie Aalburg, Skipper of the SKWB youth team :Bank von Bremen", Catherine is the second female skipper in this race.
The French skipper has won the Class40 division for the RORC Caribbean 600, setting a new record for the 600-mile race around 11 Caribbean islands.
Eärendil took line honours for the eight-strong Class40 Division in an elapsed time of 2 days 13 hours and 15 seconds and has won the first leg of the Atlantic Cup to New York.
"Eärendil" will compete at the AAR against Arnt and Soenke Bruhn's "ISKAREEN", Mathias Müller von Blumencrohn's "Red" and the US team "toothface".
With 17 yachts confirmed the AAR Entry List heats up again. Who's next ?
AUDIO interview dockside with Catherine Pourre by RORC Race ReporterLouay Habib
Day of the Franks concludes the GC32 Lagos Cup
With one race lost yesterday, six were held on the final day of the GC32 Lagos Cup, event two of the 2018 GC32 Racing Tour. This saw the full schedule of 20 races completed, but two races short of this Franck Cammas and his NORAUTO powered by Team France already had the regatta sewn up.
Over the last four days, Cammas, who last year skippered his French team in the America’s Cup and whose giant sailing CV includes wins in the Volvo Ocean Race, Solitaire du Figaro, Route du Rhum, ORMA 60 Championship, C-Class and many others, showed similar form to when he won the GC32 Racing Tour in 2016. Across the eight boat fleet competing off Portugal’s Algarve, Cammas never finished a race lower than fifth and today claimed his seventh bullet of the series. NORAUTO ended the GC32 Lagos Cup 17 points ahead of Erik Maris’ second placed Zoulou.
Overall results
1 NORAUTO, 49
2 Zoulou, 66
3 INEOS TEAM UK, 85
4 Realteam, 85
5 Frank Racing, 87
6 Argo, 91
7 .film Racing, 106
8 Codigo Rojo Racing, 159
Best of the best
In a very few years the Star Sailors League is well on its way to being the pre-eminent forum for identifying who is the ‘best’ sailor of them all...
Annually The Star Sailors League seeks to determine who is the most talented sailor in the world. Is it an Olympic legend like Robert Scheidt or Torben Grael? Or a contemporary Olympian like Ben Saxton or Šime Fantela? Is it an America’s Cup legend like Paul Cayard? A Volvo Ocean Race/Route du Rhum winner like Franck Cammas? Or the Moth world champion?
The question has been answered in December each year since 2013 at the Star Sailors League Finals. In 2017 it was turn of British Beijing 2008 Olympic Laser gold medallist and reigning Moth world champion Paul Goodison to come out on top, sailing with German former Olympic Star crew Frithjof ‘Frida’ Kleen.
Of course the major hurdle in determining the world’s best sailor is that sailing is one of the most diverse of all sports, requiring a wide array of fundamentally differing skills, whether it’s the Vendee Globe, the America’s Cup or the Laser class at the Olympic Games. For example, it is unlikely Goodison- Kleen would have won last year if the Star Sailors League Finals had been held in 60ft trimarans. Our money would have been on Franck Cammas or Loick Peyron.
Full article in the July issue of Seahorse
Ran VII wins HYS FAST40+ National Championship
Despite fun and games on the water, a lack of wind prevented any racing on the last day of the HYS FAST40+ National Championship. Niklas Zennstrom’s Swedish Carkeek designed Ran VII was awarded the FAST40+ National Trophy after topping the table after five races sailed. Bas Voogd’s Dutch Carkeek MkIII Hitchhiker was runner up, and Filip Engelbert’s Swedish Ker40+ Elvis was third.
Ran's Steve Hayle's commented. “Niklas and all the professionals on board are really loving the FAST40+ Class. The racing is very well managed and Phil Hagen and his team did a great job in difficult conditions. The youngsters in our team have considerable improved their boat handling over the last three events. The light airs made the racing incredibly competitive, we know we have a quick boat but it was only in the last two races, when the breeze got up a touch that we could really use that edge. Team Ran has been really welcomed to the class and whilst the racing is competitive, and the boats are really great, there is a great atmosphere after racing.”
Entries Remain Open While Initial 36Th America's Cup Entry Period Passes
The 30th of June 2018 marks the end of the initial challenging period for the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada, which commenced on the 1st of January 2018.
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron confirms three Challenges have been received and accepted within the terms of the Protocol of the 36th America’s Cup. The entries are in accordance with the America’s Cup Deed of Gift to challenge the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and its representative team, Emirates Team New Zealand.
The confirmed entries in order of receipt are as follows:
- Circolo della vela Sicilia (Italy), represented by Luna Rossa Challenge, the Challenger of Record
- New York Yacht Club (USA), represented by American Magic
- Royal Yacht Squadron Racing (UK), represented by INEOS TEAM UK
Interest continues from other potential challengers around the world who have until 30 November 2018 to enter, as per the Late Entry period defined in the Protocol.
“We are thrilled to have three very high quality challengers confirmed for the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland. It is going to be a fantastic spectacle with this calibre of teams and the cutting edge yachts that the world has never seen. We welcome any further challengers from the teams that we are currently in talks with,” said Steve Mair, Commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
“It is a great honour to welcome the best teams in the world to challenge for the Prada Cup. To win the America’s Cup, one will first need to win the Prada Cup,” said Laurent Esquier, CEO of COR 36, the organisers of the America’s Cup World Series, Christmas Race and Challenger Selection Series.
Snipe World Master Champions
Vilamoura, Portugal: Damian Borras Camps with Jordi Triay Pons are the 2018 Snipe World Master Champions in Vilamoura, Portugal.
A five bullets series, with the fifth one today on the final race, left no doubt that the duo from Minorca was the best of this incredible week that started out with 4 straight wins in a line! The silver medal goes to Fernando Rita and Juan Magro (ESP), and bronze to Manu Hens and Maj Kristin Hansen Borgen (BEL).
A seven races Championship organized by the Associação Naval de Lisboa and Federação Portuguesa de Vela in co-operation with the Snipe Class International Racing Association, that started last Monday, June the 25th, with the Opening Ceremony, then two regattas per day - with one lay day at half week - until today, when the last race was sailed by the 78 boats from 15 Nations fleet. Similar conditions over the week for wind direction, as for intensity it was more on the strong side at the beginning of the week and then went lighter, yesterday it was probably the lightest it has been.
A great fight on the water and lots of fun on the dockside, with some excellent hospitality shown by the Portuguese host, as former Snipe World Champion Augie Diaz, sixth this year, says: “A lot of good people here, with a very strong level. Damian and Jordi did a fantastic job dominating this until the very last race, Fernando Rita also did a very nice job, they both outclasses the rest of the fleet. Villamoura is a spectacular place to sail, I really recommend coming here for a regatta, for the conditions, the people here, I am really pleased that I came!”
Next Snipe World Championship is the one dedicated to women, the Women's Snipe World Championship, that will take place mid August in Newport, Rhode Island, and then off to Finland for the Open & Junior Europeans at the end of August.
www.snipeworlds.org/index.php/masters-championship/
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From 1999 this Farr 65 example is currently coded to MCA CAT 2 but the yacht can also be coded to comply to Cat O. Professionally managed with all systems regularly maintained the yacht is very much a going concern
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"Bengal 7" (ex-Oystercatcher XXVII) is from the drawing board of Tom Humphreys and built with no-expense-spared by Hakes Marine, NZ Grand-prix in the specification throughout, however more rugged and offshore orientated than the likes of the TP In addition the lift keel.
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The Last Word
Democracy is a grace. It's something essentially splendid because it's not at all routine or automatic. Fascism goes back to our infancy and childhood, where we were always told how to live. We were told, Yes, you may do this; no, you may not do that. So the secret of fascism is that it has this appeal to people whose later lives are not satisfactory. -- Norman Mailer
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