Brought to you by boats.com Europe, 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
Magazine Seeking Funding For German Youth Team
German magazine SegelReporter is raising funds from its readers to send the German Youth Sailing Team to the Red Bull Youth America's Cup in San Francisco, at the request of its readers, it claims!
English and German versions of the story on SailRaceWin:
From the English translation:
"This long Pentecost weekend was marked for SR in terms of long telephone calls Red Bull Youth America's Cup. The German Youth Team has decided to go ahead on their own and we want to help.
Many readers have bombarded us to publish an account, donations can be deposited on the. But this process must be secured so serious. Therefore, we have advice from the friendly notary Dr. Sönke Peters sought to accompany also the way of SR.
Peter sailed on the Farr 40 by Wolfgang Schaefer, among others, Andrew Simpson helmsman Iain Percy. He opened to us the way of deposits over a notary account. But for every donor must send a signed form by mail. We were together for too cumbersome.
The path through current crowdfunding websites should be possible. Part of the sailors currently makes smart about the options. The boys are advised by sailing supporters with legal or economic background. In the coming weeks, a new platform to be built, on the expiry of the communication about the project. Regardless of this, we now want to quickly create a way for SR to collect money."
Anne Hinton notes: " The AC's Stephen Barclay is supporting this news, so clearly Germany has not officially withdrawn its team and this can go ahead if the funds are raised."
Tornado European Championship
With light winds early in the morning the postponement flag went up for the Tornado Class and the sailors remained on shore watching the A Class' float out to their racing area. Around 1 hour later the race officer removed the postponement and the sailors got ready and went out onto the water.
It was Roland and Nahid Gaebler who held the lead going into the last day and they were hoping there would be no racing because the Greek team of Iordanis and Kostas could discard a 5th if there was further racing in the championship.
Soon after there were 32 Tornado's drifting toward the start boat waiting for the race officers instructions, it didn't look good with the postponement flag on the front of the committee boat struggling to fly in the light airs.
One hour later the wind had disappeared and two hoots were what the sailors were waiting for after a challenging series of racing. It was time to head home and pack up ready for the road home.
Roland and Nahid Gaebler are the new Tornado European Champions, knocking the Greek Red Bull sailors off the podium they have held since 2008. Roland's last European Championships victory came in the 1990's.
Full results at www.tornadochampionships.com
Back In The Game
"We want to win the European 52 Super Series."
That is the stark, keynote objective for the coming months, as stated by Ed Reynolds (USA) director of the Quantum Racing 52 programme, and as the American flagged team complete their final days of training off Barcelona this week in preparation for Thursday's start to the Trofeo de Vela Conde de Godo, it is clear the highly motivated crew are ready to rise to this challenge.
Two significant changes bolster the team line up. Terry Hutchinson (USA), who skippered Quantum Racing to win the MedCup title in 2008 and lead the crew through until 2011, returns to the line up, this time in the role of tactician.
He will be joined by 1992 Barcelona Olympic gold medallist and America's Cup winner Jordi Calafat (ESP) who sails as Quantum Racing's strategist.
Even as experienced and honoured as they both are, integrating the two new afterguard members has been one of the primary goals of the pre-regatta training period. Although of course Baird (USA) and Calafat sailed together as America's Cup winners with Alinghi, Hutchinson and Baird are new to each other and so have been putting in some racing hours to optimise their partnership.
In mid April Baird and Hutchinson sailed together at the Congressional Cup off Long Beach finishing second. In fact that was Ed Baird's first monohull match racing event since July 3rd 2007 when he drove Alinghi to win the 32rd America's Cup against Emirates Team New Zealand on which Hutchinson was tactician.
Racing starts for the 52 Super Series in Barcelona from Thursday 23rd May and runs through to Sunday 26th. Follow the racing with live tracking, commentary and comment on www.52superseries.com
Marinepool Perce Jacket and Trousers - Ultra Light Weight Technology
Perce jacket and trousers are the the latest Marinepool sailing clothing novelties. They combine highest functionality with outstanding design and comfort; indeed, both jacket and trousers are made of ultra light weight 3-layer fabrics that guarantee excellent freedom of movement. Of course the Perce's high quality rip stop fabric is fully waterproof, highly breathable and durable water repellent.
Special features of the Perce jackets are the 3D performance cut on elbows supporting ergonomics, top of the range materials, Marinepool´s remarkable 3-layer technology as well as welded water-resistant zippers with Polyurethane frame.
Perce Jacket is available in a male and female cut and in a selection of various colors. While the male style is offered in ocean blue, navy and black, the more waisted style for women is available in white, ocean blue and black.
Similar to the jacket, Perce Trousers are exceptionally functional and smartly designed. Fully taped seams, reflex prints at the lower leg and pre-shaped knees together with reinforcements on seat panel and knee make these trousers real all rounders. Moreover, adjustable stretch shoulder straps, elastic waist inserts as well as fully adjustable ankle fasteners allow a comfortable and uncompromising fit.
Learn more about Marinepool´s performance sailing clothing range on: www.marinepool.com
120 Entries for RORC Myth of Malham
Andrew Pearce's Ker 40, Magnum III at at the start of the 2012 Myth of Malham. Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com. Click on image to enlarge.
The RORC Season's Points Championship continues over the May Bank Holiday weekend with one of the longest races of the season. Fresh from victory in the North Sea Race, Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3, is the scratch boat in IRC One but will surely be under tremendous pressure from three Ker 40s: Harmen de Graaf's Baraka GP, Edward Broadway's Hooligan VII and Andrew Pearce's Magnum III. Mike Greville's Ker 39, Erivale III, is a former winner of the race and no doubt the RORC Commodore will enjoy the competition with Anthony O'Leary's Irish Ker 39, Antix, which will also have Olympic helmsman, Peter O'Leary on board.
120 yachts have entered the Myth of Malham Race and no doubt many teams see the race as a dress rehearsal for the first part of the Rolex Fastnet Race. However, the race from Cowes, around The Eddystone Lighthouse and back to the Solent, can be extremely tough, as the competitors in last year's race can testify.
Two-Handed racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been going from strength to strength and 17 teams will take part in the Myth of Malham with just two crew on board. Robin Elsey is just 20 years of age and won his first ever RORC Two-Handed race last month, racing Figaro II Artemis 21 in the Cervantes Trophy Race with Sam Matson.
Line Honours favourite for the race will be Andrew Budgen's Volvo 70, Monster Project. "This is the first time we have entered this race and dependent on the weather it could be quite hard but it is much shorter than the Fastnet Race and there is no Celtic Sea to worry about. The start mirrors the Fastnet but the weather at this time of year will be very different but saying that, the tide areas will be very similar. The crew is mostly friends that have previously sailed on our Volvo 60, all good amateur sailors. As always, the race will be a test of mental as well as physical strength." -- Louay Habib
GKSS Spring Cup
The GKSS Spring Cup will be sailed this weekend in Gothenburg and the event serves as a qualifier for Stena Match Cup Sweden, the third stage of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. Both the best international team and the best Swedish team will win an entry ticket to the World Tour event, and the line-up in the regatta features both top ranked skippers and young Swedish talents hoping to make it to the international stage.
Ten teams have been invited to the GKSS Spring Cup, four Swedish and six international. One the top ranked skippers in the race is Reuben Corbett (NZL) who won the event last year, qualified for Stena Match Cup 2013 where his team made it to the quarterfinals.
One qualifying spot is reserved for the best Swedish team and the competition is going to be fierce between the four home teams. Viktor Ogeman and Jakob Klitte both skipper teams competing for the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club and they are going o be put against Niclas Düring and Charlie Ekberg of the Swedish Youth America's Cup Team. Viktor Ogeman's and his Team Accure moved up from 40th to 28th spot on the latest ISAF ranking. In 2012 they received a wild card to Stena Match Cup Sweden where they managed to beat Ian Williams in the Round Robin and now they're hoping to get back to Marstrand in this years event through the Spring Cup.
GKSS Spring Cup is organized by the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club takes place in Langedrag, Gothenburg on May 25-26. The event is sailed in DS37 race yachts and features a full round robin followed by semifinals and a final in best-of-five matches.
Line-up GKSS Spring Cup 2013
Reuben Corbett (NZL) - ISAF Rank 12
Nicolai Sehested (DEN) - ISAF Rank 14
Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) - ISAF Rank 17
Staffan Lindberg (FIN) - ISAF Rank 21
Viktor Ogeman (SWE) - ISAF Rank 28
Rasmus Viltoft (DEN) - ISAF Rank 29
Mark Lees (GBR) - ISAF Rank 35
Jakob Klitte (SWE) - ISAF Rank 69
Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE) - ISAF Rank 341
Charlie Ekberg/Niclas During (SWE) - Swedish Youth Team America's Cup
Eastern Adventure
For those who despair about the lack of new and interesting events, or who are tired of racing in the same stale venues year after year, there is an event on the eastern horizon that should have strong appeal to those interested in both competitive sailing and an opportunity to race in one of the world's outstanding centres for culture and history... all lying literally on the doorstep of Asia.
In 2013 the American Express Bosphorus Cup in Istanbul will be enjoying its 12th edition, and between 30 May and 2 June it will offer four days of inshore course racing among the Princes Islands and the Straits of Bosphorus, with competitors often sailing within a few metres of some of the world's most famous and celebrated architectural and cultural icons.
More than 90 boats ranging between 20ft and 60ft are expected this summer, with the event growing steadily in popularity among not only Greek and Turkish sailors, but also in recent years attracting more widespread international interest as well.
With a strong international race management team organised by the Turkish Offshore Racing Club (TAYK), the Bosphorus Cup is managed by Orhan Gorbon and his team at ORG Sports Marketing. An active offshore racer himself, with roots that go back two decades to high-level IMS and before that IOR programmes in both UK and US waters, Gorbon is applying his knowledge and experience to help build and promote an event that today features all of the best elements of modern inshore racing. -- Dobbs Davis in Seahorse
Normandy Sailing Week Act 8
100 yachts are expected in Le Havre from 3 to 9 June for the eighth running of Normandy Sailing Week. Around ten series will be racing during the week-long competition in Baie de Seine, North-East France. A number of events will be run within the context of Normandy Sailing Week, including the French J80 Cup, the European J111 Championship, the first leg of the French Elite Championship for crewed offshore M34 racing and the UNCL Trophee Manche and Normandie for the IRC category.
The French J80 Cup is making its comeback in Le Havre this year. As such, over 25 J80s will be on the race zone with a sizeable local delegation. Le Havre's Societe des Regates (Racing Society) has helped to boost this move with the purchase of five boats from the J Composites yard.
This Norman sailing event will begin with action from the M34s, the craft used in the Tour de France à la Voile. Around a dozen 34-feet Archambaults will enter the fray from the morning of Tuesday 4 June, when they take the start of a 230-mile race. All the Class' powerhouses will be there. Daniel Souben "Courrier Dunkerque 3", Nicolas Troussel "Credit Mutuel - Bretagne", Cedric Pouligny "Team Oman", Corentin Douguet "Nantes / Saint-Nazaire" will be doing battle with some of the series' 'newcomers', including "Groupama 34" skippered by Franck Cammas, the recent winner of the Grand Prix Guyader and the Volvo Ocean Race, as well as Thomas Coville aboard "Sodebo".
They will be joined by the J111 racer-cruiser fleet, which will see no less than 14 boats competing for the European J111 Champion title. This prize will be awarded on Sunday as Normandy Sailing Week draws to a close.
On the second race zone, the IRCs will take centre stage from 7 June, with four separate rankings deciding between the IRC 1, IRC 2, IRC 3 and IRC 4 categories.
Finally, on the third and final race zone, the sportsboats (which include the Seascape 18s), will put on a show that will include the presence of some new J70s. The stakes will be especially high for the First 7.5s, who will also be competing here in a challenge specific to the Ligue de Voile de Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy Sailing League). -- Translated by Kate Jennings
The Gathering Ireland at the Scottish Series
The Gathering Ireland will participate at the Scottish Series from 24th - 27th May 2013. The Galway Bay Sailing Club team, which is led by former Round Ireland race winner Aodhan Fitzgerald, will use a well proven Reflex 38 racing yacht which previously won the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2011.
The team is sponsored by The Gathering Ireland, a tourism initiative to invite people to visit Ireland during 2013.
In this spirit, the team is issuing an invitation to all Scottish sailors to participate in The Gathering Cruise which will take place this summer from Dun Laoghaire, Dublin on the 17th of July to Dingle, Kerry on the 1st of August.
The cruise will give sailors from different countries the opportunity to discover Ireland's South Eastern and South Western coastline, renowned for its beauty and hospitality. The highlight of the cruise will be The Gathering Cruise Festival Party in Kinsale on the 24th of July, which will be held in the newly renovated Actons Hotel beside the marina. The evening will be hosted by Irish offshore sailor Damian Foxall and will include Irish artisan foods, music and an awards ceremony.
Full details of the cruise are available on www.thegatheringcruise.ie
Mauritius Regatta
Click on image to enlarge.
For the third racing day in the Mauritius Regatta, the Northern Islands of Mauritius were the background to a fierce battle.
Michel Desjoyeaux onboard Champagnes Nicolas Feuillatte crossed the start line moored in front of Hotel 20° Sud first. He proved once again his great racing experience by leading at the first mark in Grand Baie.
The second mark moored by the Grand Baie Yacht Club was the start of a long tack offshore to round Île Plate and Coin de Mire. The skippers were able to tackle the waves of the Indian Ocean. On the way back, the deed seemed done but once again, Vendee Globe double-winner, Michel Desjoyeaux, then in second place crossed the coral reef by using a tricky channel. His brilliant manoeuvre allowed him to steal first place from Francois Gabart followed by the rest of the fleet.
The girls' team showed great energy today and tenacity as they encountered a few technical problems. Provisional overall ranking
1. Champagnes Nicolas Feuillatte - Michel Desjoyeaux
2. Sol's - Francois Gabart
3. La Balise Marina / Investec - Romain Attanasio
4. Fondeole - Franck-Yves Escoffier
5. Yacht Management - Harry Spedding
6. MTPA (Bateau Feminin) - Dee Caffari
Pete Langman Outsails His Dad In CYCA Winter Series
Nineteen year old Pete Langman today defeated his record-holding ocean racing father Sean in Race 4 of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Winter Series sailed on Sydney Harbour.
Sailing three modernised Thunderbirds, individually skippered by Pete, his father Sean and a workmate, Shaun McKnight, the three were gearing up for another showdown in Division H. Peter Langman (Noakes White), gave dad, Sean (Noakes Red), and Pete's Noakes boss McKnight (Noakes Blue), what is proverbially known in sailing as a 'pasting'.
Sean Langman, who this year sailed his 60 foot trimaran to a passage speed record between Sydney and Hobart and is a Rolex Sydney Hobart regular, leads Division H by one point from Pete. Having won the opening two races of the annual series, Sean admitted, "Yeh, he thrashed us," after Pete sailed to 10 minute corrected win over his two foes.
McKnight, whose best effort to-date is a second in Race 2, finished seventh today (for seventh overall in the series), one place behind Sean, after the two battled it out to the end, to finish four seconds apart on corrected time.
Although the breeze faded slightly, it still amounted to the best breeze yet since the onset of the series on this warm and sunny day, as Principal Race Officer Robyn Morton let the112 boat fleet loose to sail the full course in a west-south-westerly shifty breeze.
Other winners today were: Swish (Steven Proud) Division A2; Kerisma (Grant Dawson/Brent Lawson) Division B; Assassin (Clare Crawford); Division C, Reve (Kevin Whelan); Division D, Scarlett O'Hara (Robert Skol); Division F; L'Eau Co. (Grant Pollock); Division G, Out of Sight (Matt Wilkinson); Division J1 Europa (David Mason) Division J2, L'Attitude (Jon Short); Division K, Jublilee (Ian Arthy); Sydney 38, Hidden Agenda (Graham Gibson). -- Di Pearson
Full CYCA Winter Series results: www.cyca.com.au
Rare Starling Burgess Drawings To Auction
Somewhere in-between making seaplanes and introducing Olin Stephens to creating J-Class yachts, prolific America's Cup yacht designer and all-around genius W. Starling Burgess collaborated with R. Buckminster Fuller to design the ultra-modern Dymaxion automobile prototype in the 1930s. The car never made it into production, only one original survives, but a replica was recently commissioned by British architect Sir Norman Foster. A rare set of blueprints for the Dymaxion have been discovered, apparently forgotten in a Connecticut attic for the last 80 years, and will make their way to auction on June 6. -- From Cup Info
More information in Hemmings Motor News:
Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
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* From David Pelly: Lots of people equate the AC 72s to 'Sailing's version of Formula 1 cars'. OK - the America's Cup has always been a competition for the leading edge in design but the current boats are like F1 cars of the 1960s when drivers died every season because the cars were appallingly dangerous. Today, drivers walk away from horrific crashes thanks to the many safety features that have been introduced over the years. This is what America's Cup has to do in a hurry, and Bertelli's 'demands' seem quite reasonable as a starting point.
Many years ago, when campaigning the hydrofoil catamaran Icarus, we found that you do not need 30 knots of wind to sail at 30 knots. With an efficient boat, 20 is plenty. How's that for a catch phrase?
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