In This Issue
Dackhammar Takes His First WMRT Title in Portugal
Ecstasy & Agony On Day Two Of Farr 40 World Championship
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Golden Globe: Jean-Luc Van Den Heede passes through Hobart film gate
Youth Olympic Games
Second win in a row for Tilly XV at the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy
Royal Thames YC Wins Global Team Race Regatta
Replacement for Swan 42 debuts on Narragansett Bay
Rytov's Illustrious Russian Bogatyrs Wins 2018 Melges 20 Russian Open
Letters to the Editor
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Buckminster Fuller
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
Dackhammar Takes His First WMRT Title in Portugal
Lisbon, Portugal: Nicklas Dackhammar and his all-Swedish Essiq Racing Team wrote their name in the history books today as they became the first name to be scratched on to the WMRT Regata de Portugal Trophy, a great moment for the team to take their first win at a Championship level event.
Today began with the Semi Final Stage, Ian Williams up against Harry Price and Nicklas Dackhammar looking to reverse history and take down Yann Guichard.
Dackhammar's all-Swedish setup with brother Pontus onboard, as well as Jakob Wilson and Fredrik Aurell is a change from his 2017 campaign and the shift to bring more experienced hands onboard has produced a mature team who can be consistent at the top level, epitomised by today's results. In the Semi Final Stage he bested Yann Guichard of France in two straight matches to settle a score from Marstrand where the two also met in the Semi Final Stage.
The breeze kept fading and puffing in different spots so we stayed out for an extra hour hoping to setup a course but nothing stabilised said PRO Mattias Dahlstrom.
With the score at one-a-piece in both the Final and Petit Final matches, the race committee had to turn to the rulebook to dictate a winner. Dackhammar and Price took their matches respectively because of their win in the last race, leaving Williams and Guichard waiting for China to stake their dominance again.
The World Match Racing Tour now turns its attention to next month's season finale in China where the Match Racing World Championship will be held, November 8-12th. With some new faces at the top end of the WMRT leaderboard heading to the Final, all bets are off as to who could claim the World Championship in 2018.
Final Standings
1. Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE) Essiq Racing Team
2. Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar
3. Harry Price (AUS) Down Under Racing
4. Yann Guichard (FRA) Spindrift Racing
5. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
6. Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
7. Mans Holmberg (SWE) Holmberg Racing Team
8. Markus Edegran (USA) Team Torrent
9. Anna Ostling (SWE) Team Anna
10. Hugo Rocha (POR) Team Portugal
11. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) Sailing Team NL
12. Bernardo Freitas (POR) Adamastor Racing
Ecstasy & Agony On Day Two Of Farr 40 World Championship
Chicago IL, USA: The point spread grew at the top of the Farr 40 World Championship leaderboard on Day Two with Enfant Terrible finishing at the front of the fleet for while Plenty fell to third. Three races were run in a confused sea state of 4-6 foot waves with wind decreasing throughout the day from 16 down to 11 knots.
Hailing from Australia, Gordon Ketelbey's ZEN had never raced in Chicago prior to this year's Worlds. "So far it's been cold, wet, rainy and very windy," said Ketelbey. "I was downstairs when we left the harbor today and I felt the bump-bounce-bump-bounce. I said to myself, 'Here we go another day in Chicago.'"
At the top of the leaderboard, Alberto Rossi's Enfant Terrible now holds a four-point lead on Struntje light and eight-points on Plenty going into Day Three, despite losing their footing in the third race.
Leading the Corinthian Fleet, Norboy gave Enfant Terrible a run for their money in the first race of the day with a downwind dogfight to the finish. "It was a great moment to be surfing downwind with the leader of the regatta," said owner Marcus Thymian. "Between match race tactics and pumping the sails to surf the waves, it all came down to who was able to get their boat going faster." Enfant Terrible narrowly accelerated ahead of Norboy to finish just a half a boat-length ahead of Sigmond and Thymian.
Norboy is now watching their back as they stand currently tied with ZEN at 35 points.*
*Since press time, Norboy was penalized 2-points in the second race moving them to sixth place.
2018 Farr 40 World Championship Standings Day 2
1. Enfant Terrible, Alberto Rossi - 14 points
2. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer - 18
3. Plenty, Alex Roepers - 22
4. Flash Gordon 6, Helmut & Evan Jahn - 25
5. ZEN, Gordon Ketelbey - 35
6. Norboy, Marcus Thymian & Leif Sigmond - 37
7. Edake, Jeff Carter - 47
8. Eagles Wings, John Gottwald - 47
9. Hot Lips, Christopher Whitford - 49
10. Asterisk, Hasip Gencer - 57
11. Blade 2, Mick Shlens - 59
12. Inferno, Philip Dowd - 65
13. Taipan, Lloyd Karzen - 75
14. Hooligan, Joel Carroll - 82
Seahorse October 2018
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Gone with a whoosh.
Ingrid Abery Not bad
Topsy-turvy in Cascais. Rob Weiland Mouthwatering
The possibilities are endless but whatever the details it won't be boring. We asked our former editor to dig into the 'Volvo' race's nuptials with Imoca. Marcus Hutchinson, Johan Salen and Antoine Mermod Bespoke
And in all sizes... At the same time as making ever bigger inroads into the sharp end of the superyacht and grand prix fleets, Doyle One Design continue to knock it out the park in classes like the J/70 and Etchells The bare facts
Veteran America's Cup technical director Andy Claughton strips away the froth...
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Golden Globe: Jean-Luc Van Den Heede passes through Hobart film gate
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede reached the BoatShed.com Hobart film gate at 07:30 local time on Saturday (21:30 UTC Friday) to drop film and letters before heading out of Storm Bay tro resume his lead in the Golden Globe Race.
The 73-year old Matmut skipper was in good spirits and sighted the lengthy preparation work for his 1,600 mile lead. "The boat is good, the self steering works well and I have only minor problems like a leaking window to deal with."
Jean-Luc remained at anchor for 3 1/2 hours completing media interviews before making most of the the calm conditions to check his mast and rigging. He also tried to catch some sleep, but after 15 minutes returned on deck complaining that the conditions were "too calm to sleep!" He then set off to cross the South Pacific Ocean and round Cape Horn predicting that he would complete this solo circumnavigation back in Les Sables d'Olonne during the first week of February within 210 days
Dutchman Mark Slats, the second placed skipper, trails Van Den Heede by 1,600 miles and is not expected to reach Hobart for another 10 days.
To view interviews with Jean-Luc in English and French go to: www.facebook.com/goldengloberace/
Youth Olympic Games
In light winds, Italian and Greek windsurfers took an early advantage on the first day of racing at the Youth Olympic Sailing Competition being held out of Club Nautico San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Girl's and Boy's Windsurfing fleets were first up at the Games, starting one day ahead of Boy's and Girl's Kiteboarding and the Mixed Nacra 15 fleet, all of which begin competing tomorrow.
But initial light winds across the racing area meant that the opening races of the competition were delayed, before Day 1 wrapped up early with only two out of three races sailed.
The Girl's fleet were first to compete – their opening race began at 14:38 rather than 12:00 as scheduled – and the status quo was quickly established, with the same athletes finishing amongst the top three in both races.
Youth Sailing World Championships bronze medallist Giorgia Speciale (ITA) took an early lead with two wins out of two, and the Italian is keen to avoid complacency over the next week.
Racing continues at 12:00 local time on Monday 8 October, with Kiteboarding and the Nacra 15s sailing their first races of the competition.
Second win in a row for Tilly XV at the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy
Click on image to enlarge.
On Thursday some of the most handsome boats from the classic yachting circuit gathered again on the waters of Saint Tropez to fight for the 8th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy, the only sailing trophy reserved to one hundred years or older boats. A record edition for many different reasons: the highest number of entrants, the tough conditions on the race course, and the first boat to conquer the Trophy for the second time in a row in the history of the regatta.
Sunny and blue skies but rough conditions indeed for such old beauties: 20 to 25 knots of wind and a swell of more than three metres. So much that only 9 brave crews out of the twenty-two entrants succeeded in finishing the 9 miles long coastal race. And if last year it was a question of a handful of seconds, this year German-flagged Tilly XV crossed the line with an advantage of several minutes, conquering her second victory in a row. Silver went to a newcomer to the event, the gaff cutter Kismet, celebrating her 120th anniversary in style, whilst 7 Metre I.R. Mignon from 1912 got to the third step of the podium.
Tilly XV was built in 1912 in Germany for Prince Heinrich Von Preussen, the brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and is the fifteenth of a series of boats that all carry the same name. She is a Sonderklass racer, with a particularly contemporary design, that won the Kiel Week in the very same year she was launched.
Past winners of the Centenary Trophy 2011: Bonafide (1899) 2012: Marigold (1892) 2013: due to adverse weather conditions the title was not awarded 2014: Olympian (1913) 2015: Oriole (1905) 2016: Spartan (1913) 2017: Tilly XV (1912)
www.gstaadyachtclub.com/centenary-trophy/
Royal Thames YC Wins Global Team Race Regatta
Newport, R.I., USA: With steady sailing across a full range of conditions and against a fleet of determined opponents, the Royal Thames Yacht Club (London, U.K.) claimed the championship at the inaugural Global Team Race Regatta, a two-on-two keelboat team race hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, in Newport, R.I., October 5 to 7. The octet of sailors from the historic London yacht club won 18 of 21 races over the course of three days. The team representing the host New York Yacht Club finished second with a 16 wins and five losses. St Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco) was third at 15-6 and Reale Circolo Canottieri Tevere Remo (Rome, Italy) fourth with a 14-7 record.
A dozen teams from 10 countries, including Japan, Argentina and Australia, traveled to Newport for a frenetic weekend of sailing at the very end of the northeast sailing season. They were rewarded with wind from 5 to 20 knots, a matched fleet of 22 Sonar keelboats, an efficient race committee that cranked out 126 races and the unparalleled hospitality of the New York Yacht Club. Proponents of team racing, including New York Yacht Club Commodore Phil Lotz, who threw his full support behind the event, hope the Global Team Race Regatta will spur team racing's ascendancy to the pinnacle of competitive small-boat sailing, the Olympic Games. Of course, one successful team race isn't going to sufficiently charm the International Olympic Committee, but there was nonetheless a lot riding on this event.
Gold Fleet:
1. Royal Thames Yacht Club (England), 18-3
2. New York Yacht Club (New York), 16-5
3. St. Francis Yacht Club (St. Francisco), 15-6
4. Reale Circolo Canottieri Tevere Remo (Italy) 14-7
5. Dutch Match & Team Racing Association (The Netherlands) 9-12
6. Bayerischer Yacht Club (Germany), 6-15
Silver Fleet:
1. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (Italy), 11-10
2. Japan Sailing Federation (Japan), 10-11
3. Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club (Scotland), 10-11
4. Royal Cork Yacht Club (Ireland), 8-13
5. Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club (Australia); 7-14
6. Yacht Club Argentino (Argentina), 2-19
Replacement for Swan 42 debuts on Narragansett Bay
After a summer of sea trials, a maiden fleet of IC37s gathered in Narragansett Bay for two days of one-design racing, the first time the 37-footers ever raced one another.
The three boats, numbered 001, 002 and 003, were commissioned by the New York Yacht Club. Seventeen more yachts are underway at marinas in California and Great Britain. They are expected to be ready in the spring to compete in the inaugural season for the Melges IC37 Class Association. Most notably, the class will replace the Swan 42 as the official boat of the club's invitational cup for Corinthian sailors.
While the fleet was small during its coming-out party, it was nonetheless a revelation to see the slick 37-footer in its natural environment, racing boat-for-boat with full amateur crews.
"We have something special here," said Chris Culver, rear commodore of the yacht club. "It will be a rewarding sight when we have 20 of these racing thoroughbreds."
After the first 20 yachts owned by the New York Yacht Club are delivered to the Harbour Court clubhouse in Newport, the builders will start fulfilling private orders for sailors on both sides of the Atlantic. Although the cost of an IC37 has not been made public, Sailing Magazine estimated the price to be $295,000.
Rytov's Illustrious Russian Bogatyrs Wins 2018 Melges 20 Russian Open
Cagliari, Italy: The last two days have been dedicated to the 2018 Melges 20 Russian Open, a Melges World League event on the international circuit, and the last competitive meeting of the fleet before the commencement of the World Championship on Wednesday.
With four races completed, Igor Rytov's RUSSIAN BOGATYRS won the 2018 Russian Open. They are a team that has already collected several major titles including that of 2017 European Champion, and overall 2017 Melges World League Champion. Rytov, and his crew seemed at ease on the Cagliari race course, balancing out their success achieved a few weeks ago at the last event on the Melges World League, Euro circuit.
Rytov can now unequivocally consider himself the virtual pole sitter for the Worlds, taking place on the same race field hosted by Yacht Club Cagliari.
Veteran Melges 20 Class member and owner Dario Levi at the helm of FREMITO D'ARJA, and Alexander Ezhkov's PIROGOVO finished second and third respectively.
Marco Giannini's SIDERVAL landed atop the Corinthian Division podium.
The World Championship officially starts Wednesday, October 10 and winds down on Saturday, October 13.
Top Five Results (Final - After Four Races)
1. Igor Rytov, RUSSIAN BOGATYRS; 14-2-4-2 = 22
2. Dario Levi, FREMITO D'ARJA; 6-3-5-9 = 23
3. Alexander Ezhkov, PIROGOVO; 2-15-1-8 = 26
4. Michael Cooper, EXPORT TOO; 1-6-19-3 = 29
5. Vladimir Prosikhin, NIKA; 12-19-2-1 = 34
Official Yachtscoring Event Website
yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=6026
Letters To The Editor - editor [AT] scuttlebutteurope [DOT] com
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From Paul Wells:
It's now the fifth day since the emperor was shown to be scantily clad and every day I expected some reaction in the letters section of your distinguished missive. Has the sailing world been collectively stunned by the revelation that the WS is apparently haemorrhaging money? Or has WS become so distant from the grass roots that no one actually cares?
As a member of the RYA since 1974 when I joined to get my free sail numbers for the international moth I'd just built it seems MNAs and the IYRU aka ISAF aka WS have become more and more corporate.
How did we allow this to happen, perhaps it's time for a major rethink and back to the basics of sailing and racing for pleasure.
It's difficult to turn the clock back but surely there is a middle ground, losses of the magnitude mentioned by Joe Bainton should be a wake up call that something is very wrong with the existing setup or am I the one that has got it all wrong. I'm sure someone in your illustrious readership will put me right.
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The Last Word
You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. -- Buckminster Fuller
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