In This Issue
Dowling's Baraka Gp wins line honours in Volvo Round Ireland Race
French On A Flyer At WMRT Season Opener
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
America's Cup: Amended AC75 class rule released
Clipper Race 12 Day 8: Scoring Gate Gamble
Industry News
Capt. Henry E. Marx
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Christopher Walken
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
Dowling's Baraka Gp wins line honours in Volvo Round Ireland Race
Baraka Gp crew. Photo by Dave Branagan / Oceansport. Click on image to enlarge.
With a break in the weather that delivered a direct route to the Wicklow finishing-line, Niall Dowling and his ten-strong crew on Baraka Gp won line honours as first boat home in the Volvo Round Ireland Race this afternoon (Wednesday 4th July 2018).
The remaining 46 boats still at sea are facing light winds raising the prospect of Dowling's team winning the overall race that is decided on IRC handicap.
The next finisher is expected to be Libertalia Team Jolokia skippered by Jean-francois Levasseur about 12 hours behind Baraka Gp and expected in the early hours of Thursday morning.
"The Volvo Round Ireland is a really, really hard race; it's like Mount Kilimanjaro - it's one of the biggest, one of the hardest mountains to climb," commented Ian Moore, navigator on Baraka Gp who previously won this race in 2004. "It's a little bit longer than the other races, it's a little more difficult, the conditions are a little more unpredcitable… it's in there with the great classics."
While Baraka Gp will depart tomorrow to compete in the Round the Island Race in Cowes, several competitors in the Volvo Round Ireland Race may yet be at sea a week after starting out from Wicklow.
The overall race win hangs by a thread, currently favouring Baraka Gp thanks to the overnight breeze on the Irish Sea but remains open to several contenders before victory can be declared.
Chris Power Smith's Aurelia from Dun Laoghaire has over 100 nautical miles to sail and is the main challenger - at present - to the line honours winner but an overnight finish will be needed to dislodge Dowling.
"I think we're fighting against the clock given that we're a large(r) boat and this is going to be a small boat race," Dowling said ashore at Wicklow Sailing Club. "It's been ten years since I did the race and I won't leave it as long next time!"
However, this race is far from over and past form means plenty of upsets to the standings remain in the form of weather vagaries and tidal gates on the final miles to the finishing-line.
French On A Flyer At WMRT Season Opener
Marstrand, Sweden: Reigning Match Racing World Champion Torvar Mirsky laid his mark on the opening round of the 2018 season as he won two from two to kick start his title defence, beginning at GKSS Match Cup Sweden 2018.
Mirsky Racing Team sees two new faces since the win in China last year. Kinley Fowler, from Torvar's original monohull campaigns, is back along with fellow Aussie Luke Payne. Both bring America's Cup experience from Oracle Team USA and Softbank Team Japan respectively, which was certainly shown on the race course.
As the qualification stage continued, Yann Guichard's all-French outfit stepped up to the plate to deliver a fifth-place followed by there back-to-back bullets in the building afternoon breeze, one of which was a crowd-pleasing photo finish.
Spindrift Racing has been steadily improving, proven with a bronze medal at the last event, the 2017 Match Racing World Championship. With this ongoing momentum and a strong start to GKSS Match Cup Sweden, the French could be looking at their first Championship Level event win, following a win at a qualifier in Alicante as part of the Volvo Ocean Race collaboration.
Sweden's West Coast has been enjoying a fantastic summer and this week it looks to continue delivering superb sailing conditions. A morning wind from the sea-breeze South West continued to build through the day from 5 up to around 10 knots. As ever when sailing in the shadows of Marstrand's rock face, light airs will provide a "tacticians day where picking the shifts is the key", as Essiq Racing Team's tactician Jakob Wilson happily pointed out.
Both the Women's Class and the Open Class will take to the water tomorrow morning to complete the Qualifying Stage. Amongst those still to complete their full sailing program is six-time Match Racing World Champion and 2011 Match Cup Sweden winner Ian Williams with his team, GAC Pindar. Also taking to the water again will be local Nicklas Dackhammar, rookie Tour Card Holder Harry Price, Sam Gilmour and Joachim Aschenbrenner, whilst Yann Guichard also sailing will attempt to extend his lead at the top.
Racing will commence at 10:00 local time with the Open Class competition and the intention is to get through the full Repechage Stage by the close of day, leaving the competition with the final eight for the Quarter Finals. In the Women's class, qualifying will conclude and proceed with the Sail-Off to eliminate one team from the competition heading, the final four heading to the Semi Final Stage.
Open Class Qualifying Standings (after 10 races)
1. Yann Guichard (FRA), Spindrift Racing
2. Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team
3. Sam Gilmour (AUS), Neptune Racing
4. Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Berntsson Sailing Team
5. Ian Williams (GBR), GAC Pindar
6. Harry Price (AUS), Down Under Racing
7. Markus Edegran (USA), Team Torrent
8. Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE), Essiq Racing Team
9. Taylor Canfield (USA), US One
10. Mans Holmberg (SWE), Holmberg Racing Team
11. Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN), ART Sailing
12. Jonas Warrer (DEN), Warrer Racing
Women's Class Qualifying Standings (after 4 races)
1. Renee Groeneveld (NED), Dutch Match Racing Team
2. Anna \Ostling (SWE), Team Anna
3. Olivia Mackay (NZL), Sailing Team NZL
4. Clare Costanzo (AUS), Fusion Racing
5. Mariana Lobato (POR), Mirpuri Foundation Team
Seahorse July 2018
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
The game of drones
Emirates Team New Zealand's magic ingredient. Nick Bowers and Rob Kothe
A busy year
1983 and at the new San Diego design 'office' of Reichel/Pugh life is about to change. Jim Pugh and Dobbs Davis
A foot in both camps
When not fettling their fleet of classic boats one famous New Zealand yard is restoring Whitbread maxis and building superyachts. Ivor Wilkins
Update
Tricky (Cup) details, another (eventually) happy customer, very strange decisions arrived at very strangely. Gary Jobson, Joe Lacey, Dobbs Davis, Dave Hughes, Steve Benjamin, Jack Griffin, Don Street
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America's Cup: Amended AC75 class rule released
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Circolo della Vela Sicilia, together with their respective teams Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger of Record - Luna Rossa, have published an updated AC75 Class Rule for the 36th America's Cup Friday (NZT).
The AC75 Class Rule defines the parameters within which teams can design a yacht eligible to compete in the 36th America's Cup.
While a schedule of changes has not been provided, the changes in several key areas appear to lower the potential cost of AC75's, specify some key changes and make the class rule more well defined and elegant with less need to refer to the Measurement Committee for interpretation.
A change that does not appear to have been made is the allowance of modification of both AC75 hull's built by a team - which was flagged in the first version as an option being considered by the Challenger of Record and Defender (COR/D).
Currently, only one AC75 hull surface can be altered by up to 25% of its original surface area, once the boat has been launched and measured. That limits the team to either modifying their first launched AC75 to get the hull shape etc right, and then designing a second AC75 based on that experience. Or not altering the first launched and the using the second AC75 as the "Lego" boat. Most would probably run the former model. However, allowing the modification of only one hull does make the regatta more even for the teams which have built only one hull.
Full article by Richard Gladwell in Sail-World.com:
www.sail-world.com/news/207123/A-new-version-of-the-AC75-class-rule-is-out
Clipper Race 12 Day 8: Scoring Gate Gamble
The Clipper Race fleet are still racing in two fairly tight packs. Five teams went for the Scoring Gate but with only points on offer for the first three to cross, the competition was closely fought.
Unicef is back in first place and according to the Race Viewer it looks like the team's decision to go for the Scoring Gate paid dividends (the official results are being checked and will be confirmed by the Race Office later today). Speaking on his birthday, Unicef's Additionally Qualified Person on board, Guy Waites, said "together we celebrated the day in style, we've gybed more times than there were candles on the cake (slight exaggeration) and just in time to pip Visit Seattle to the scoring gate."
Nikki Henderson and her Visit Seattle team have their sights clearly on Unicef as they are just over one nautical mile behind the bright blue boat. They too went for the Scoring Gate and being in Stealth Mode meant their sneaky progress was a surprise for their follow gate chasers. Again, official results are to be confirmed but two bonus points will be very important to Henderson's team who currently third on the Overall Race Leaderboard.
The weather has changed for the Scoring Gate pack. Rob Graham, Skipper of third placed Nasdaq says: "We're now heading north-ish through some very tricky weather - big wind shifts, rain and limited visibility." But Clipper Race Meteorologist Simon Rowell has predicted low-pressure driven wind by the end of today and looking ahead towards the end of this Race 12: LegenDerry Race, there is a strong chance of light winds. With six days to go until the Derry-Londonderry arrival window - the race is still wide open for teams to scoop victory.
Race 12: The LegenDerry Race is expected to take up to 19 days, with the Clipper Race fleet estimated to arrive in Derry-Londonderry between 10-14 July - just in time for the Foyle Maritime Festival. The award-winning festival will run from Saturday 14 July until the fleet departs for Liverpool on Sunday 22 July. For more information about Foyle Maritime Festival, see the Derry-Londonderry Stopover page on the Clipper Race website.
www.clipperroundtheworld.com/race/standings
Industry News
With around 100 superyachts expected to attend the 36th America's Cup race series in Auckland during 202, the city has plans to construct an additional 60 superyacht berths to make a total of 92 available. It is reported that half all the berths have already been booked by superyachts planning to visit for the America's Cup.
With the previous America's Cups, Auckland is already well supplied with superyacht berths. The Silo marina can accommodate superyachts of 100m (328ft) or more. Also taking account of the long journey the yachts will have to make to reach Auckland, the city has recently announced a new repair and refit facility to be developed at what is know as Site 18 within the Wynyard Quarter. This will further enhance the already such facilities available within the Quarter or close by.
Under a jointly-agreed plan between the New Zealand Government, the NZ Marine Industry Association and the Emirates New Zealand Team, the layout of Auckland's Wynyard Quarter has been organised to provide the necessary team bases and as much berthage as possible for superyachts. -- David Robinson, IBI News
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The Mirabaud Sailing Video Award announces the composition of its international jury:
Shirley Robertson, double Olympic champion and presenter of CNN's Mainsail
Daniel Smith (UK), Communication & Digital Manager at World Sailing
Nicolas Mirabaud (SUI), Limited Partner and member of the Executive Committee of Mirabaud & Cie SA
Alessandra Ghezzi, media specialist and Communications Director of 11th Hour Racing
Dee Caffari (UK), skipper of the boat Turn the Tide on Plastic team involved in the Volvo Ocean Race
Georgie Corlett-Pitt, editor-in-chief of Yachts & Yachting magazine
The Mirabaud Sailing Video Award is the only event of its kind, designed to celebrate the best sailing videos produced each year and their authors. It is an annual competition for professional cameramen, directors, editors, TV production companies, as well as professional sailors who film their achievements during regattas.
The winners of the second edition of the Mirabaud Sailing Video Award will be celebrated at the Yacht Racing Forum (Lorient (FRA), 22-23 October 2018) in front of the sports' leading personalities from all over the world: race organisers, class representatives, yacht clubs, teams, sponsors, etc.
Submission of the videos:
The contest is officially open and videos can be submitted at any time, until September 24, 2018 at midnight GMT. The videos must have been filmed between November 1, 2017 and September 24, 2018. Parallel to the votes of the jury, the public will be called upon to vote from 28 September to 15 October 2018.
http://www.mirabaudsailingvideoaward.com
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Lesley Robinson has been appointed CEO of British Marine, taking up the position on July 16.
Lesley has held many high-level positions in public, non-marine and leisure marine sectors.
She is a qualified accountant with financial, commercial and general management roles to her credit.
Lesley has formerly worked with start-ups, turnarounds and organic and in the field of acquisition-driven diversification.
Former BM CEO Howard Pridding left the organisation earlier this summer to seek new opportunities.
http://www.boatingbusiness.com
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The leading UK marina business, Premier Marinas, has reported a stronger financial performance in the 12 months to October 1, 2017 compared to the previous 18 months up to October 2, 2016.
In the filing of the results with the UK's Companies House, it stated that: "The directors are satisfied with the performance of the company for the period and with its financial position at the end of the period. The directors do not anticipate any significant changes to the level of business activity in the coming period."
A division of the Wellcome Trust, the key performance indicators for Premier Marinas show that in the year to October 1, 2017, the turnover was £8,706,000 and the EBITDA was £3,005,000. This compares with a turnover of £12,006,000 and an EBITDA of £3,284,000 in the previous 18 months to October 2, 2016.
In terms of profit in the 2017 fiscal period, the profit after taxation was £5,088,000 as against £2,097,000 for the 18-month fiscal period ending October 2, 2016. For the 2017 period gift aid of £5,000,000 was paid compared with £121,000 in the previous 18 months. In the 2017 fiscal period the value of the net assets/shareholder funds of the Premier Marinas group rose from £131,506,000 in October 2016 to £133,094,000 in October 2017.
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Oyster Yachts, the UK sailing yacht builder that was acquired by entrepreneur Richard Hadida in March, has confirmed its new board members.
Hadida has taken the role of CEO, while acting CFO Becky Bridgen is now performing her role on a permanent basis. She previously worked for Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) as part of the deals team, providing financial advice to FTSE 100 companies and private businesses - including many associated with the marine industry.
The rest of the Oyster board is comprised of non-executives Ashley Highfield as senior independent director, motoracing expert Eddie Jordan, investment banker Ivan Ritossa, and yacht designer Rob Humphreys.
Non-executive director Eddie Jordan is a long-time Oyster owner who has circumnavigated the world on his own Oyster 885 Lush. He has decades of experience in motor racing and Formula 1 - in particular his role as founder and CEO of Jordan Grand Prix and through TV coverage over the past 10 years with the BBC and Channel 4, as well as the BBC's Top Gear.
Jordan is also a highly experienced non-executive director, with roles at Clareville Capital Partners and Citibank Private Bank, as well as serving as an advisor to Lloyds Development Capital and Aspinall Capital Advisers.
Ivan Ritossa has worked for over 30 years in investment banking and has been successful in building numerous diverse and global businesses over this period. At Barclays Capital, he was an executive committee member, managing director and head of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa across all units of the investment bank.
Ritossa has held a number of board seats in the UK, Africa and the Middle East including a non-executive director of ABSA Group, EBS Group, Barclays Saudi Arabia Board and was on the NY Federal Reserve Foreign Exchange Committee, The Bank of England Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee and the Singapore Foreign Exchange Markets Committee.
Capt. Henry E. Marx
Capt. Henry E. Marx, Master Mariner and founder of Landfall Navigation, passed away from pneumonia on June 28, 2018 in Greenwich, CT. He was 77 years.
He had a corporate career with Pitney Bowes, Combustion Engineering and the American Gas & Chemical Company before returning to his first love - the sea - acquiring Landfall Navigation, the Marine Navigation and Safety Equipment chandlery in 1982.
Capt. Marx, a life-long mariner, saw service in the U.S. diesel submarine Navy and the Norwegian merchant marine - as well as a 20+ year career delivering and cruising yachts along the East and West Coasts. Capt. Marx was a fixture in the area of marine safety and anyone that attended a Safety at Sea seminar will remember his colorful lectures.
He authored a well-respected navigation video Loran C: A Navigator's Approach, was a well-respected Navigation and Marine Safety Instructor, served on the Marine Board Nautical Chart Committee, was a member of the Storm Trysail Club and was an advisor to the U.S. Sailing Safety at Sea Committee.
Over the last year Capt. Marx received numerous honors for his contributions to the local and national sailing community.
In November of 2017, he was awarded the prestigious Owen C. Torrey Memorial Trophy by the Storm Trysail Club Board of Directors for his contribution to recreational boating, the Club and the Marine industry - especially with the U.S. Sailing sponsored Safety at Sea Seminar programs.
SoundWaters, the leading environmental education organization on Long Island Sound, honored Capt. Marx this Spring for his past service and as a founding member of the Young Mariners Foundation, creating The Henry Marx Cup, which will be awarded annually to the winner of the final Young Mariners Academy race series.
And finally, he was awarded the Commodore's Award by the Cruising Club of America for his contributions both as a long-time member as well as his work as a safety educator and advocate.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:
The Stamford Sailing Foundation, 97 West Ocean Drive, Stamford, CT 06902
The Gettysburg Foundation, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 18325
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The Last Word
I think that weddings have probably been crashed since the beginning of time. Cavemen crashed them. You go to meet girls. It makes sense. -- Christopher Walken
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