In This Issue
Simon Wins 49Th La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro
Estonian Teams Are New 2018 ORC European Champions
Rolex Swan Cup Draws To A Close
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Zeke Horowitz Collects 2018 J/22 World Championship
AC Hall of Fame Induction at Royal Yacht Squadron
Tina Symmans To Chair America's Cup Event Ltd
The Storm Trysail Foundation's Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta Needs Your Support!
Star Vintage Gold Cup
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Benjamin Disraeli
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 [AT] scuttlebutteurope [DOT] com
Simon Wins 49th La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro
Crossing the finish line in 14th place Sebastien Simon (Bretagne CMB Performance) 28 years old from Les Sables d'Olonne wins the 49th edition of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro. Simon won Stages 2 and 3 and was fourth on Stage 1. He was in a starting collision yesterday evening and was unable to recover above the the 14th place around a 160 miles course which offered no major passing opportunities. Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2014) takes second to add to his third in 2014, and seconds in 2015 and 2016 and third last year. Anthony Marchand (Groupe Royer-Secours Populaire) finishes third.
Through the intense final 165 nautical miles 24 hour stage Sebastien Simon, sailing Bretagne CMB Performance, stayed typically cool and focused after a start line collision seemed to jeopardise his overall title hopes. Although he lost 19 minutes and 37 seconds of the 35 minutes and 46 seconds lead and crossed the finish line of the final leg in 13th place, the 28-year-old solo skipper from Les Sables d'Olonne wins the 49th edition of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro by a relatively comfortable 16 minutes
At each mark of the showdown circuit, raced off his native Vendee coast between the Ile de Re at La Rochelle and the Ile de Yeu, northeast of the start and finish port of Saint Gilles Croie de Vie, Simon took his rivals times and made sure that he still held enough margin to secure his first ever La Solitaire overall win on his fifth attempt at the famous French multi stage solo offshore race.
Simon laid the foundations of his overall triumph with back-to-back stage wins across the Bay of Biscay employing precise, patient strategic calls aligned to superior raw speed. He won into Galicia's Ria Muros-Noia on a predominantly fast downwind sprint across the Bay of Biscay. He then prevailed again on Biscay but in light, tricky airs which continued throughout an unusually long four nights at sea marathon back to Saint-Gilles-Croie-de-Vie.
Final top ten
1. Simon Sebastien / Bretagne Cmb Performance
2. Marchand Anthony / Groupe Royer - Secours Populaire
3. Dalin Charlie / Skipper MACIF 2015
4. Chabagny Thierry / Gedimat
5. Dutreux Benjamin / Sateco - Team Vendee Formation
6. Quiroga Pierre / Skipper Espoir Cem - CS
7. Le Pape Martin / Skipper MACIF 2017
8. Douguet Corentin / NF Habitat
9. Macaire Xavier / Groupe SNEF
10. Cardrin Thomas / Team Vendee Formation
Full results: www.lasolitaire-urgo.com/en/rankings
Estonian Teams Are New 2018 ORC European Champions
Limassol, Cyprus: Another brilliant sunny day in Cyprus produced the highest winds of the week for the eighth and last race of the 2018 ORC European Championship, with the final podium positions at stake in each of two competing classes. The two teams from Estonia - Mati Sepp's modified X-41 Technonicol in Class AB and Aivar Tuulberg's Cossutti 37 Katariina II in Class C - both sailed extremely well all week and were assured of overall victory, so the fight today was for Silver and Bronze medals in each class.
Sepp and his crew of Vladimir Nikidin, Ilya Brilliantov, Raul Grigorjev, Martin Muur, Rene Jreyfield, Andrus Luht, Martin Tepp, Rino Koost, and Tanel Tamm raced incredibly well all week, amassing an impressive scoreline of 1-1-1-2-2-1-3, with a DNC in the last race as a discard. This left the opportunity for another race winner in this class, who today was Tomas Dolezal and Radim Parizek's blue Swan 42 Daring Sisters - this was a nice comeback from having to use their DNF discard yesterday due to an injured crew member in Race 7. This race win allowed the Czech team to displace Mikhail Kadetov's Skif 42 St Anna from Russia for the Silver medal position after their mediocre sixth place showing in this race.
The overall all-amateur Corinthian division winner in Class AB was Oleg Stashkevych's Ukrainian team on the XP 44 Maestro, scoring an impressive second place today following their win yesterday in Race 7 and earning 5th place overall.
The Class C winners on Katariina II did not have to sail today but came out to compete anyway, and with a sixth first-place score in this race they made it clear to everyone they have earned and deserve their new European Champion Gold medals. Aivar Tuulberg, August Luure, Kevin Grass, Jaan Akerman, Henri Lepik, Peter Saraskin, Karl-Hannes Tagu and Marco Bodini showed incredible skill and consistency all week.
In the Silver medal position was Rudolf Vrestal's Czech team on his Italia 9.98 Giulia, and was the closest rival to Katariina all week so their slightly mediocre score today did not hurt them to secure this position. But the fight for Bronze was keen today between two very different boats, both from Greece: the smaller and lighter modified Farr 30 Tamumm-Marineshop skippered by Antonis Katigiannakis and the larger heavier Bavaria Match 35 Blue Line owned and skippered by George Drakopoulos. Blue Line's second place to Katariina was their best result of the week, but they needed the race win or for Tamumm to finish worse than fourth to win Bronze for the week.
The Tamumm team had to hike hard at the corners, but got around the track well enough to stay ahead by one point to earn Bronze in the overall scores and the top Corinthian prize in Class C
Being confirmed as an all-amateur team, Tamumm also wins the Corinthian trophy for Class C as well.
Rolex Swan Cup Draws To A Close
Porto Cervo, Italy: The final day of the 20th edition of the Rolex Swan Cup decreed the winners in each of the six categories that the fleet of 110 boats from 17 nations was divided into. The winners were: Plis-Play in the Maxi Class, Solte in the Grand Prix division and Six Jaguar in the Sparkman & Stephens Class. The ClubSwan 50 world champion is OneGroup while the world championship title in the Swan 45 Class went to Porron IX. The ClubSwan 42 Mela won the class European championship.
A light wind from the east of just 6 knots increased to 9 over the course of the day and allowed the One Design classes to complete two windward-leeward races on schedule. The remaining class had to wait until 1 p.m. to get their starts in on a coastal route of approximately 12.6 miles. After the weather mark, the fleet headed south to round the islands of Mortorio and Soffi clockwise before returning to the finish line off Porto Cervo.
In the 18-boat Maxi class the Swan 80 Plis-Play was victorious in the Rolex Swan Cup ahead of two Swan 601s, Stephen Cucchiaro's Flow and Gerard Logel's Arobas. The winner of the day was the Swan 62FD Biancospino owned by Bembo-Ruffini, with Pietro D'Alì on tactics, followed by Arobas and Plis-Play.
The first ever world championship for the ClubSwan 50 class went to OneGroup, who had dominated throughout the week. OneGroup's lead, however, was worn down over the last few days of the regatta by Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone, with tactician Ken Read, just one point behind in second place in a thrilling photo finish.
Winner of the Rolex Swan Cup and second-time world champion of the Swan 45 Class is Spanish boat Porron IX, owned by Luis Senis and with Hugo Rocha on tactics.
The ClubSwan 42 Mela, owned by Andrea Rossi and with Enrico Zennaro calling tactics, won the Rolex Swan Cup and the European championship title ahead of Natalia, which posted two brilliant wins today, and Selene Alifax.
With a second place today in the 22-boat Grand Prix class, the Swan 53 Solte triumphed by two points over sister ship Crilia. For both their worst result over the entire week was a third place, with the two boats generally splitting the wins and second-place finishes among them, leaving few opportunities for their opponents.
The Sparkman & Stephens Class, the most numerous with 26 yachts on the water, fields a podium populated exclusively by Swan 65s - a legendary model, ten examples of which were racing in Porto Cervo. With a scoreline composed entirely of top-three finishes, Anthony Ball's Six Jaguar won the Rolex Swan Cup, followed by Italy's Shirlaf, owned by Giuseppe Puttini, which placed first today, and by the Spanish Libelula.
This year sees the introduction of a new trophy from the newly formed association of Swan Classics by Frers. It was claimed by the Swan 651 Lunz Am Meer owned by Marietta Strasoldo. The award in memory of Vittorio Codecasa, YCCS member and past president of the Swan 45 Class, went to Leonardo Ferragamo as the top-placed YCCS member.
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:
Carolijn Brouwer (NED)
'Carolijn exceeded my expectations in Dongfeng, she was more than just a crew, a mentor, a role model, I am so happy she was in our team!' - Bruno Dubois; 'The best sailor and the sweetest human being I know' - Marie Cerbelle; 'She is the best, in Moths to Maxis' - Stacey Jackson; 'The most incredibly goal-focused woman in sailing' - Esther Kruijver; 'I am in awe of Carolijn!' - Karyn Gojnich; 'There's no one quite like Carolijn!' - Jeroen van Catz; 'Big respect for mother Carolijn!' - Hans Klippus; 'Correction! Carolijn sailed every leg except the motor delivery to China!!!' - Darren Bundock .
This month's nominees:
Karl Kwok (HKG)
Victory at the offshore worlds in The Hague was one of numerous successes for one of the most enthusiastic yacht racers on the planet. Kwok has supported many sailors through their careers and he has also been quick to back a new designer he feels worthy of support. Many established names in the yacht racing industry owe this quiet Hong Kong businessman a great deal. And straight after winning the worlds he rushed to Palma to win IRC1 at Copa del Rey. Irrepressible
Lucy Macgregor (GBR)
Racing in Russia with Annie Lush, Nicky Walsh and her younger sister Kate Macgregor, Lucy Macgregor won her second women's match race world title in a row to add to her first championship win in 2009. And topping up this year's tally was getting through to the final four at the Argo Gold Cup in Bermuda - becoming the first woman skipper ever to do so. Being knocked out in the end by open world champion Torvar Mirsky isn't so bad...
Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Henri Lloyd, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!
Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month
View past winners of Sailor of the Month
Zeke Horowitz Collects 2018 J/22 World Championship
Annapolis, MD, USA Zeke Horowitz's Uncle Fluffy accomplished what none of the other 63 teams at the J/22 World Championship could—avoiding a high-number finish in the nine-race series hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club in Maryland. Now he and crew Jackson Benvenutti, Jo Ann Fisher and Emmy Stuart are J/22 World Champions. Horowitz came into Thursday a nine-point underdog to Allan Terhune's Thunder Chicken, however Terhune faced a U-flag penalty in the day's first race, paving the way for someone to make a move. Uncle Fluffy did just that, nailing a 2,3,3 on the day, which, added to his previous scores of 6,1,6,(11),5,6, gave the Annapolis-based helmsman the title with 32 net points. Terhune never gave up, getting bullets in races eight and nine, but couldn't catch the Horowitz team. Thunder Chicken ended with 35 points for the silver position. Coming in third, and making it an all-Annapolis top three, was Jeffrey Todd's Hot Toddy. They finished strong with a pair of fours to edge out Michael Marshall's Bad News on a tie-breaker at 80 points.
Top five:
1. Uncle Fluffy, Zeke Horowitz, USA, 32
2. Thunder Chicken, Allan Terhune, USA, 35
3. Hot Toddy, Jeffrey Todd, USA, 80
4. Bad News, Mike Marshall, USA, 80
5. US, Chris Wientjes, USA, 86
Sixty-four teams represented Canada, The Netherlands, South Africa and the USA.
Full results: www.annapolisyc.com/racing/2018j22worlds
AC Hall of Fame Induction at Royal Yacht Squadron
On Friday 31 August we celebrated four new inductees into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Each new inductee was introduced by a skipper of the current America's Cup teams. AC Hall of Fame Selection Committee Chairman Steve Tsuchiya presented each inductee with a half hull of RELIANCE, Nathanael Greene Herreshoff's 1903 masterpiece.
Ben Ainslie introduced Ken McAlpine. Ken has measured yachts for the America's Cup going back to the 12 metre days. Ken's reputation for legendary discretion was demonstrated when Alan Bond's syndicate showed him plans for the winged keel many months before the racing began. He will measure the AC75's in the current Cup cycle.
Brenton Fischer accepted the award on behalf of his 91 year old grandfather, Syd Fischer. Luna Rossa's Max Sirena, left talked about Syd Fischer's five challenges - the same number as Sir Thomas Lipton, and only one less than Patrizio Bertelli.
American Magic's Terry Hutchinson introduced John Marshall. Over nine editions of the America's Cup, John was a trimmer, sail maker, designer, and campaign head. He was with Dennis Conner for the 1987 catamaran defense and then led the team that wrote the rule for the International America's Cup Class, used in five cycles from 1992 to 2007.
Peter Burling described the late Doug Peterson's achievements, including leading the design of NZL32, which dominated the 1995 cycle in San Diego and brought the Cup to New Zealand for the first time. Doug's daughters Laura Jane, Julia and Jamie accepted the award. -- Jack Griffin
Tina Symmans To Chair America's Cup Event Ltd
Emirates Team New Zealand has formed a separate company to run the Americas Cup in Auckland in 2021. Tina Symmans, who has been a director of Emirates Team New Zealand is to be Chair of Americas Cup Event Ltd (ACE). Greg Horton who has also been on the Emirates Team New Zealand Board will also now join the Board of ACE, both effectively resigning from their team related directorships.
Tina Symmans joined the board of Emirates Team New Zealand three years before the successful challenge in Bermuda
ACE has engaged Mayo and Calder as the Event Directors who have expertise and experience in designing managing and running sailing events having managed the Volvo stopovers in Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Auckland.
Tina has over 25 years' experience in advising companies, most particularly in the fields of strategic communications and corporate and government relations. Tina operates her own practice and has had significant experience and connectivity with the corporate sector and government. In addition to the Emirates Team New Zealand and now America's Cup Events Ltd directorships Tina is an independent Director of Forsyth Barr, is a member of The Takeovers Panel, Chair of private company Williams Warn, and has previously been a director of PSIS (Co-operative Bank) and Turners & Growers.
Prior to 2012, Tina was a member of the senior management team at Telecom as Director of Corporate Relations and was on the team that ran the successful demerger program forming Telecom and Chorus. Tina has had senior management team roles in large New Zealand corporates.
emirates-team-new-zealand.americascup.com
The Storm Trysail Foundation's Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta Needs Your Support!
One of the core missions of the Storm Trysail Foundation is to give younger sailors the opportunity to get involved in big boat racing. If you're always looking for younger, stronger and more experienced crew, supporting the upcoming Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta is one of the best ways to grow the next generation of sailors.
The IOR has been run by Storm Trysail Foundation in conjunction with the Larchmont Yacht Club since 2004. The event has grown every year and last year we were able to accommodate almost 400 college sailors. Thanks to our very high quality list of sponsors, some private donations, and the generosity of participating boat owners, Storm Trysail Foundation and Larchmont Yacht Club are able to run this regatta at no cost to the schools' sailing teams. Look at the list below to see if your school is represented.
We are looking for additional sponsors to help us expand the IOR and to continue the high quality of the event. There are three categories of sponsorship. If you think your company could be a possible sponsor we would appreciate hearing from you. We also established a new category of support for the event, the IOR Partner Supporter.
Sponsorship is available at the three levels:
Gold Sponsor $7500
Company Name and Logo on Storm Trysail Foundation website and IOR page with link
Full page color ad in the event program- back cover
Name on Official T-Shirt
Company Logo on all printed material
Banner on display during event
Promotional material inserted in over 400 participant packets
Silver Sponsor $2,500
Company name on STC/Intercollegiate page with link
Full page color ad in event program
Name on official T-shirt
Company Logo on all printed matter
Banner on display during regatta
IOR Partner Supporter $500.00
Your Name will be listed in the IOR program as a IOR Partner
IOR event polo shirt
2 tickets to the IOR Cocktail Party on Saturday, October 6
2 tickets on the spectator boat. (TBD)
The Storm Trysail Foundation would appreciate any support that you can give towards this event. If you have any questions or want to be a sponsor contact Marcy Trenholm email mbtrenholm [AT] gmail [DOT] com or by phone 914-834-2645.
Star Vintage Gold Cup
Richland, Michigan: No wind for two days then 3 races yesterday made up the second annual Vintage Gold Cup. GEM IX belonged to a mentor of mine, Sir Durward Knowles, when he won gold in the '64 Olympics. GEM IX is now part of the Cayard family and It was extra special to share this year with my third generation Star sailor son. Winning made it that much more special.
Gull Lake Country club has both sailing and golf. Golf was heavily subscribed on Thursday and Friday.
Don Parfet and Jon Vandermolon continue to grow this classic Star event with the addition of 9 boats making a fleet of 21 for this years Vintage Gold Cup. The Star class is over 100 years old and Vintage Gold Cup is for wooden Stars that are 50+ years old. A big thanks to those two men for their passion and efforts!
The Vintage Gold Cup-Honoring the past! -- Paul Cayard
cayardsailing.com
vintagegoldcup.com
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The Last Word
Ignorance never settles a question. -- Benjamin Disraeli
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