In This Issue
Momo and Beau Geste Win Coastal Challenge
It Will Be A Beast Of A Boat
UBS 20th Jersey Regatta
Sailing World Championships set for dream start in Denmark
Shouldn't We Be Calling for a Ban on Bow Stickers at All Sailing Events?
MUSTO at Lendy Cowes Week
Onboard the trimaran IDEC SPORT
St Helier Yacht Club's 2018 Race to Biscay
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Antoine de Saint Exupery
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
Momo and Beau Geste Win Coastal Challenge
Palma, Spain: The traditional coastal race at 37 Copa del Rey MAPFRE is a break from the usual diet of windward-leeward races. In today's light sea breeze conditions and sweltering summer temperatures it may have felt longer than the actual miles sailed - especially for the smaller boats - but the headlands and consequent transition zones made for an interesting challenge. Even so, starting and the first windward legs were key to success in Mallorca Sotheby's IRC 0 and 1 where Momo and Beau Geste both triumphed.
The Mallorca Sotheby's IRC Classes and the BMW ORC 2 and 3 were set courses out to the east of Cabo Blanco where the breeze was actually lighter. In fact as the record sized fleet today reached its full magnitude as the Melges 40 fleet and the GC32 flying catamarans started their regatta, it was the classes racing in the Bay which had the best winds, as the thermal seabreeze accelerates into and across the bay, wrapping round the cape to the east.
Dieter Schoen's Vrolijk designed Maxi72 Momo may have faltered at the start, letting both Cannonball and Proteus away on the 2.5 miles first beat, but Momo found a vein of pressure and shift to their right and were able to lead around the first mark by a couple of boat lengths. With their win today Momo are now three points clear as the regatta reaches its midpoint today.
An early lead worked out for Team Beau Geste which won Mallorca Sotheby's IRC 1 class handsomely to lead the highly competitive fleet by six points now. But tactician Gavin Brady cautions, "It is always interesting when the discard comes into play after eight races, that can be quite a game changer."
But Karl Kwok's Beau Geste crew relished the challenge today, Brady adding, "It was a really fun, dynamic course, so there are little passing lanes in under the cliffs. You want to sail the shortest distance but then there is more wind offshore, there is a lot changing. It is fun to do the coastal race in the middle of all this windward-leeward stuff."
The ClubSwan 50 fleet is rich with talent all the way through the fleet but right now the top two German flagged boats Sonke Meier's NiRaMo and Hendrik Brandis' Earlybird are clear of the pack, rekindling a long time rivalry between Denmark's three times Soling Olympic medallist, Elvstrom Sails' Jesper Bank guiding NiRaMo and Germany's four times Olympic medallist Jochen Schumann.
In the 6 Metre classes, Bribon leads as the only boat in the regatta to have won all four races.
Overall Results. Day 3
(Position/Boat/Country/Skipper/Results/Points)
Mallorca Sotheby´s IRC 0
1. Momo (IVB), Dieter Schoen, 1+1+2+1+1=6
2. Cannonball (ITA), Darío Ferrari, 2+2+1+2+2=9
3. Proteus (USA), George Sakellaris, 3+3+3+3+3=15
Mallorca Sotheby´s IRC 1
1. Team Beau Geste (HKG), Karl Kwok, 1+1+6+2+1=11
2. Paprec Recyclage (FRA), Stephane Neve, 2+5+2+3+5=17
3. The Phoenix (POL), Kristina Plattner, 3+2+8+1+4=18
... up to 13 entries.
ClubSwan 50
1. Niramo (GER), Sonke Meier Sawatzki, 1+1+2+4+3+2=13
2. Earlybird (GER), Hendrik Brandis, 3+2+1+5+4+3=18
3. Aifos 500 (ESP), S.M. el Rey Felipe VI, 2+4+8+3+7+4=28
... up to 10 entries.
MRW Swan 45
1. Elena Nova (GER), Christian Plump, 1+4+1+2+3+2=13
2. K-Force (NED), Jan de Kraker, 4+2+4+3+1+1=15
3. Porrón IX (ESP), Luis Senís, 2+1+2+4+2+5=16
... up to 5 entries.
ClubSwan 42
1. Selene (ITA), Massimo de Campo, 2+3+2+2+1+5=15
2. Nadir (ESP), Pedro Vaquer, 7+2+1+3+2+1=16
3. Pez de abril (ESP), Jose María Meseguer, 5+1+4+1+4+3=18
... up to 11 entries.
GC32
1. Ineos Team UK (GBR), Ben Ainslie, 3+2+1+1+2=9
2. Norauto (FRA), Franck Cammas, 1+1+2+2+5=11
3. Real Team (SUI), Jerome Clerc, 5+5+5+3+3=21
... up to 8 entries.
Melges 40
1. Sikon (JPN), Yukihidiro Ishida, 5+1+1=7
2. Stig (ITA), Alessandro Rombelli, 1+4+2=7
3. Vitamina-Cetilar (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 2+2+4=8
... up to 5 entries.
BMW ORC 1
1. Estrella Damm (ESP), Luis Martínez Doreste, 1+1+1+5+1+1=10
2. Rats on fire (ESP), Rayco Tabares, 2+2+2+1+5+2=14
3. BMW Sail Racing Academy (ITA), 3+4+4+3+3+8=25
... up to 23 entries.
BMW ORC 2
1. Antonio Banderas Design (ESP), Dani Cuevas, 6+1+2+4+1=14
2. El Carmen – Elite Sails (ESP), 1+5+1+5+2=14
3. Modul (SUI), Ignacio Camino, 2+2+5+1+5=15
... up to 12 entries.
BMW ORC 3
1. L'immens – Laplaza Assessors (ESP), Carles Rodríguez, 1+1+4+1+1=8
2. Tanit IV – Medilevel (ESP), Ignacio Campos, 3+2+1+2+4=12
3. Katarina II (EST), Aivar Tuulberg, 5+4+12+3+3=27
... up to 30 entries.
Herbalife Nutrition J80
1. Bribon Movistar (ESP), Marc de Antonio, 1+3+1+5+1+1=12
2. New Territories (ESP), Alexei Semenov, 2+4+2+1+2+4=15
3. Ibo.es (ESP), Javier Chacartegui, 4+7+5+3+4+2=25
... up to 19 entries.
6M Clasicos
1. Bribon (ESP), Pedro Campos, 1+1+1+1=4
2. Titia (ESP), Alicia Freire, 2+2+2+2=8
3. Aida (ESP), Francisco Botas, 3+4+3+3=13
6M Modernos
1. Sophie Racing (SUI), Hugo Stenbeck, 1+1+2+4=8
2. Saryba (ESP), Jaime Yllera, 4+3+3+1=11
3. Nivola (SUI), Reinhard Suhner, 3+2+5+2=12
It Will Be A Beast Of A Boat
America's Cup great Jimmy Spithill has broke his silence on Emirates Team New Zealand's innovative AC75 boat design predicting the monohulls to take the race to another level.
Spithill jumped ship earlier this year to rejoin Italian syndicate Luna Rossa after both winning and losing the Auld Mug with Oracle Team USA.
The Australian sailor, who famously destroyed one of Oracle's AC72s in a capsize ahead of the 2013 regatta, has remained unusually tight-lipped since the yacht designs were revealed.
But offering some thoughts to CNN's MainSail programme, Spithill has described the boats to be used in Auckland as "beasts".
"The speeds we could have... it'll be a beast of a boat. It's out there," Spithill said.
"This one will be another level."
"Will it work? That's the question. The America's Cup has always been at the leading edge of boats. Look at what's happened over the last decade. The AC72 kind of reminds me of this boat in that it is very, very powerful and never been done before."
"It's extreme, it's expensive, from first take, and what we are seeing, it's unstable, and it's going to be very, very physical."
UBS 20th Jersey Regatta
Scheduled for 14th to 16th September and sponsored for the sixth year running by UBS AG Jersey, this year sees the 20th edition of the combined clubs' Jersey Regatta, the Island's 'flagship' sailing event.
The Regatta schedule provides racing for sportsboat, IRC and NHC cruiser/racer, Quarter Ton, dayboat, dinghy, sport catamaran and windsurfer classes, a veritable 'catch-all for both local and visiting sailors alike. In this special year, the fifth Spinlock IRC Channel Islands Regional Championships for IRC-rated Classes 1 & 2 cruiser/racers will be a major feature of the programme.
The event opens on the Thursday evening with a welcoming reception followed by a distance race for the sportsboat and cruiser/racer classes on Friday morning. Saturday and Sunday sees these classes racing in and off St Aubin's Bay over round-the-cans and Olympic-type courses. The 'small boat' classes race over Olympic-type courses entirely within this beautiful Bay.
As ever, Jersey Marinas will be providing complimentary berthing for competitors during the lead-up to the Regatta whilst Condor Ferries is offering discounted fares for those competitors wishing to ship their boats to the Island to join in the event.
The Regatta is an open event to which visiting boats are assured of a very warm welcome.
The Notice of Race is available on the website, www.jerseyregatta.com. Enticingly low entry fees are made even more attractive with an 'early bird' fee for those entering no later than 6th August. The definitive closing date is 7th September.
For further information, e-mail info@jerseyregatta.com.
Sailing World Championships set for dream start in Denmark
Aarhus, city of sails and 1,400 dreams. The countdown is almost over and after four years of preparation the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 will begin on Thursday in the Bay of Aarhus in a building wind beneath an unending sun.
With 1,400 sailors from 85 nations in close to 1,000 boats in 10 Olympic classes studded with stars old and new, the competition (August 2-12) promises to be ferocious, with epic head-to-heads in every fleet. More than 1,100 volunteers will make sure everything goes smoothly.
There is even more than medals at stake as these Sailing World Championships are the first and largest qualification regatta for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and Enoshima (sailing), with 40% of the places being decided. We could have our first Olympic qualifiers from the Finn, or 470s - the three classes to launch on Thursday - decided by Saturday. The individual sailors cannot qualify for the Olympics through the World Championships but the nations can claim their spot.
The only Olympic champions from Rio missing are Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (New Zealand, 49er) and Giles Scott (Great Britain, Finn). Sime Fantela (Croatia, Men's 470) has switched to the 49er. But the rest are here along with those who chased them onto the podium, the rising stars and those from their own countries seeking to seize the one national Olympic spot.
The plots and sub-plots will twist and turn with each race, starting with the Finn and 470s. In the Finn, the Rio 2016 bronze medallist, Caleb Paine (USA), is back on form after taking 2017 out. Jorge Zarif (BRA), who just missed out in Rio, is the form man.
Previous Worlds medallists, Edward Wright (GBR) and Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) will also be competing in Aarhus, but it will be hard not to keep an eye on Australia's Tom Slingsby, the Laser gold medallist at the London 2012 Olympics. After not quite getting an Australian America's Cup bid to fly, he has switched to the Finn after six years out of dinghy sailing. He is lighter on pounds and practice than he would like in this class of the giants, but he sprinkles the kind of stardust evident throughout the fleet.
There is more America's Cup experience in the shape of New Zealand's Josh Junior and Andy Maloney (both Finn), winners with Team NZ in Bermuda in 2017.
In the women's 470, three Olympic medallists - Hannah Mills (GBR), who took gold in Rio 2016 after silver at London 2012 - Camille Lecointre (FRA) and Fernanda Oliveira (BRA), will all be sailing with new crews. Mills, who has a new partnership with Eilidh McIntyre, picked out the Japanese and Spanish crews as particular threats. Her words also echoed those of the other champions through the boat parks.
Results will be available when race commences here - /aarhus2018.sailing.org/results
Shouldn't We Be Calling for a Ban on Bow Stickers at All Sailing Events?
Martin Byrne writes to Afloat magazine:
Cork Week organisers were supportive of the generic message that is "Turn the Tide on Plastic". This was demonstrated practically by their very obvious "hydration stations" around the Cork Week village where sailors could refill their water containers during the day and especially before going sailing, and also their decision not to print and distribute paper SI's. This was a clear and laudable message for which they should be applauded.
Nevertheless, it was clear that many of the plastic bow stickers applied to the yachts that started Cork Week ahead of us (the Dragons only started racing on Thursday) were already lost into Cork Harbour and the surrounding waters. And indeed as it transpired most of those applied to the Dragons were lost in the same way after just day one.
Surely World Sailing or indeed even our own Irish Sailing should now consider a ban on these bow stickers for obvious reasons? There are other more sustainable ways for our very valuable sponsors to get their logo displayed at the event sites. Indeed logos can even be photoshopped onto event photos of the yachts sailing as required for publicity purposes.
Scuttlebutt follows up:
If you've ever raced in a NOOD regatta or other sponsored event, someone on your team was likely tasked with applying the bow sticker which provided exposure for the organizers and supporters. Awkwardly applying a large decal is no simple task, and if the hull is polished, not always a successful one either.
If the sticker endures the regatta, it is wisely peeled off at the end and tossed in the trash, but there is a less favorable result if the ocean peels it off. Either way, is the sponsor sticker consistent with the current theme of environmental awareness?
MUSTO at Lendy Cowes Week
Musto is once again proud to be the Official Clothing Supplier to Lendy Cowes Week 2018 and will be in Cowes from the 4th to 11th August with a number of exclusive benefits on offer at the UK's largest sailing regatta.
Musto Customer Care Centre
When something's made well, you only need to purchase one. This reduces waste and is the best example of Musto's unique level of commitment to you. At the brand's discretion, if your product develops a fault during its reasonable working life, Musto will repair or replace the item.
Musto is once again bringing its Customer Care Centre to Cowes Week. Bring your damaged kit along with you to the Musto Official Merchandise Store in Cowes Yacht Haven to be repaired. If a product cannot be repaired or you would prefer to trade in your old garment, you will be offered 20% off when you spend over £250 on replacement kit.
Competition: Win an MPX GORE-TEX Pro Coastal Jacket
Superior protection in the most extreme weather conditions and freedom of movement when you need it most. To celebrate Musto's partnership with Lendy Cowes Week 2018, you now have the chance to win Musto's latest MPX Coastal Jacket.
Visit the Musto Store on Cowes High Street or the Official Merchandise Store in Cowes Yacht Haven to enter*.
Official Merchandise Collection
Support the event. The Official Lendy Cowes Week 2018 collection has been designed exclusively by Musto. Available in Musto high street store, the Official Merchandise Store in Cowes Yacht Haven, and online.
Shop the official collection here.
/www.musto.com/en_GB/cowes-week-official-collection/
*Terms and conditions apply
Onboard the trimaran IDEC SPORT
Photo by Christophe Launay, www.sealaunay.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
It was a busy, fruitful spring for Francis Joyon and his team, who are preparing for the big event of the year, the Route du Rhum, destination Guadeloupe, the fortieth edition of which starts from St. Malo on 4th November. The skipper of IDEC SPORT told us he has "filled his notebook with pages and pages of observations," about the thousands of little improvements that can be made to his boat, which already holds the Jules Verne Trophy, but which will help make her ideally prepared for solo sailing.
Francis will be doing a lot of sailing this summer with daily trips, aimed at finding the right settings and fully understanding the new foils, in particular in stronger winds thukan those they encountered in the Mediterranean. It will then be time for more advanced solo sailing. Since his successful, yet brief Atlantic crossing record in July 2017, Francis Joyon has felt perfectly at ease aboard his impressive boat. In Nice he was given the go ahead by the French Sailing Federation to use the famous bicycle out on the deck, which works the winches using leg power.
While the main part of the work that is being done to prepare the boat for the Route du Rhum involves getting to grips with the new foils added last winter to the IDEC SPORT boat, which already performed exceptionally well and safely, there is now a long list of minor improvements that Francis Joyon would like to see to offer more comfort and ease when sailing his boat single-handedly. "Over the past few weeks we learnt a lot about how to make the most of the foils," explained Francis Joyon, "understanding the angle to apply depending on wind conditions. We still need to see what happens in stronger winds. There are a lot of tiny details to work on with the crew during the summer before I set off alone."
Pleased with the enhanced performance of the boat that has come with the new shape of foil and the T-shaped rudders, Francis is looking ahead to getting the boat in solo mode for the Route du Rhum and preparing her for stronger winds. "I need to sail in winds of twenty knots or more to identify the angles and settings for those conditions. The extra work on the autopilots will be done alongside these studies."
Francis Joyon is quietly preparing for his seventh Route du Rhum in Southern Brittany. He has never won this sailing classic, but did finish second in 2010. Facing ever stronger competition with more advanced machines, the holder of the Jules Verne Trophy surprises everyone by remaining relaxed and enthusiastic. "I'll be doing my utmost to have a great race between St. Malo and Pointe à Pitre. For my seventh attempt, it would be nice to succeed for once..."
St Helier Yacht Club's 2018 Race to Biscay
'Challenging', 'frustrating' and 'painful' - just three of the many adjectives used to describe St Helier Yacht Club's recent International Yacht Race to Biscay - but ultimately fun and rewarding.
Held every two years, 18 yachts set off from Jersey on Saturday 21 July, their crews looking forward to exciting and competitive sailing as they headed for Concarneau in Southern Brittany.
The reality, alas, was somewhat different. Clear blue skies, high temperatures and glassy seas may have been perfect for beach-goers but for the sailors from Jersey, Guernsey and France the light and variable breezes made for desperately slow progress for much of the race, the longest on the club's calendar.
This was especially the case during the early sections that took them north to the Banc Desormes buoy, midway between Jersey and Sark, and then south-west along the North Brittany coast.
At times skippers found that although their yacht was sailing well the opposing tidal current was matching their efforts knot for knot and the chart plotter revealed they were actually standing still or going backwards. When the wind died many skippers were forced to anchor, in one case at a depth of some 85 metres.
Once around the north-west tip of Brittany conditions improved slightly for the fleet, the change of direction offering fine spinnaker runs for many, but again the weather gods proved unfriendly and very light and variable breezes forced some skippers to retire.
In the end it was Jeff Speller's trimaran Aquafly that crossed the line first, some 63 hours, 22 minutes and 10 seconds after the start gun, very close ahead of the first monohull, Zanzibar, skippered by Alan Stevens. The race sponsor on Chez Moi was hot on his heels - a very close finish after 250 miles.
In all seven yachts either retired or failed to finish before the cut-off time, with the last official finisher being Peter Funk's Morrina lV, some five hours, 16 minutes and 45 seconds after Aquafly.
Overall Results (yacht/helm/corrected time):
1, Paper Tiger (Peter Crabb) 69.25.42
2, Wandering Star (Michael Foreman) 71.12.09
3, Knight Star (Arthur Manning) 73.43.33
4, Mystique of Jersey (Chris Fritot) 76.26.07
5, Abracadabra (Rhys Perkins) 77.22.27
6, Chez Moi (Julian Barber) 79.24.08
7, Arctic Tern (Phillip Burton) 81.14.26
8, Zanzibar (Alan Stevens) 81.15.33
9, Grace (Bob Milner) 81.33.03)
10, Morrina lV (Peter Funk) 81.5.11
11, Aquafly (Jeff Speller) 87.24.22
Ere Hud, Minstrel 2, Fille de Feu Vl, Chevalier, Mr Scarecrow, Leapfrog and Ocean Star did not finish. -- Philip Jeune
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2008 Swan 90-703 'B5'. 4,500,000 EUR. Located in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
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brokerage@nautorswan.com
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2016 Club Swan 50-003 'Cuordileone'. 1,100,000 EUR. Located in Newport, RI, USA.
ClubSwan50: A yacht that is a small revolution in performance and pure sailing pleasure.
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2011 Custom Stephens Waring Design - "Isobel". 1,500,000 USD. Located in Boston.
ISOBEL has exceeded expectations. She is relatively light for her length, and can be well sailed and handled by two. Visually ISOBEL is a unique blend of traditional and contemporary design, which is functionally complemented with outstanding performance and exceptional comfort.
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The Last Word
If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. -- Antoine de Saint Exupery
Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
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