--------------------------------------------------------------------
Tenth Annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar competition is OPEN. Supported by Latitude Kinsale and Seahorse Magazine.
Tell us about your favourite bar!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In This Issue
UPDATE: Francis Joyon wins the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe
Extraordinary finish to the Gabart-Joyon match race
Monaco Sportsboat Winter series off to a good start
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede given 18 hour time penalty
Southern Spars at METS Trade Show
Investor exits after pumping millions into Match Racing Tour
It's the Battle of Oz in the Beneteaus
Ropes Reinvented on Marlow Stand 03:301 at METS 2018
First Wave Away! ARC+ 2018 Departs Gran Canaria
2018 Melges 40 Grand Prix Season Closes with Stig, Sikon and Inga on the Podium
Letters to the Editor
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Charles de Gaulle
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
UPDATE: Francis Joyon wins the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe
Francis Joyon wins the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in new record time
Francis Joyon of France today took line honours and set a new record time for the 3,542-nautical mile Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe solo transatlantic race from Saint Malo in Brittany to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.
At the helm of the maxi-trimaran IDEC Sport, Joyon completed the singlehanded race in seven days, 14 hours and 21 minutes, beating the existing course record by just 46 minutes and 45 seconds.
The 62 year old Frenchman also won the ULTIME class which features giant trimarans.
In a thrilling head-to-head match race to the line, the closest finish since the first race in 1978, Joyon held off his younger compatriot Francois Gabart to win by only seven minutes and eight seconds.
Times and speeds: 7d 14h 21mn 47sec at 19.42 knots on the theoretical course of 3,542 miles
Actual distance traveled: 4,367 miles at 23.95 knots
Extraordinary finish to the Gabart-Joyon match race
Francois Gabart on MACIF has seen his lead over Francis Joyon disappear completely as the two French skippers have crept around the west side of Basse-Terre island in windless conditions in the final miles of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.
At one point in the mid-Atlantic Gabart was 160 miles in front of his fellow countryman on IDEC Sport, but Joyon has whittled his lead down and taken full advantage of the damage to MACIF which has lost one rudder and one foil.
But it has been the lack of wind that has dogged Gabart more than Joyon in the run-in. When Gabart reached the Tete a l'Anglais mark north of Basse Terre he was 20 miles ahead but as he drifted around the western side - the leeward coast - of the island Joyon has been able to come up from behind. Now the two boats are almost level with 28 miles still to sail in darkness to the finish line.
In an earlier message today Gabart said that he was concerned about the finish and how it would play out, but this is turning into a real battle for him as he tries to follow his victory in the IMOCA class in this race four years ago with a similar feat in the ULTIME division.
Class 40 update with Figaro favourite Troussel out
The retirement from the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe of one of the Class40 pre-race favourites, Nicolas Troussel, has been confirmed. The two-time winner of La Solitaire du Figaro had brought his newly-launched Corum into Cascais in Portugal on Friday with multiple small problems.
With his main target to win or finish on the podium of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe no longer possible, he has withdrawn. Troussel, who only launched his new boat in May, lost his wind instruments, damaged a key headsail, suffered an electrical charging problem and has a badly infected hand.
It is one of Troussel's La Solitaire du Figaro counterparts, Yoann Richomme on Veedol-AIC, who leads the Class40 division with 24 of the 53 starters actively racing on the course and with five more still on technical stops.
Richomme has suffered no significant problems with his brand new boat which was only launched in June. He leads by 77 nautical miles from Phil Sharp (IMERYS CLEAN ENERGY) who is now a good 65 miles ahead of third-placed Aymeric Chapellier (Aina Enfance Et Avenir).
IMOCA
With the final outcome being decided in the Ultime category tonight, the leading IMOCAs are about to cross the halfway point in the Route du Rhum. Alex Thomson, Paul Meilhat, Vincent Riou and Yann Elies may finish in Pointe-a-Pitre before next weekend. The battle is raging and while the British sailor will be difficult to beat, everything is still to play for. With Fabrice Amedeo setting sail again after his pit stop, there are now twelve IMOCAs on their way towards Guadeloupe. However, Isabelle Joschke has unfortunately officially announced her retirement.
Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series off to a good start
Photo by Martin Messmer. Click on image for photo gallery.
They arrived on mass for Act 1 (8-11 November) of the 6th Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, with 40 boats in three classes (Melges 20, Smeralda 888, J/70). Organised by the Yacht Club de Monaco in collaboration with technical clothing supplier SLAM from October to April, this first meeting served up some lovely conditions to get six races in.
Victory in the J/70 went to YCM member and winner of the previous season on a Melges 20, Ludovico Fassitelli, who returns to his first love, his J/70 Junda. The Italian sailor pocketed two race wins, ahead of Russian Mikhail Nechvolodov (Jeannette) and another Monegasque boat, Cesare Gabasio's TinnJ70 to win. It was an excellent result for Monaco J/70 Class President, Michel Boussard, delighted to see his fleet out in force preparing for the J/70 World Championship in Monaco in 2021.
Conditions proved tricky for newcomers discovering the particularities of the Monaco race area. In the Corinthians, two Swiss teams bagged a one-two on the podium, led by Bruno Zeltner's crew (Quater2eleven), the most consistent with a win and four 2nd places, ahead of Emanuel Muller (Attaque).
In the Melges 20, Leonid Altukhov (Pirogovo) clinched 1st place by winning three races, ahead of compatriot Alexander Mikhaylik (Alex Team) and Yuri Makhshin (Synergy).
In the Smeralda 888, a young crew on Black Star led by Nicolo Stimamiglio pocketed their first victory of the season ahead of Valter Pizzoli's Ange Transparent, also making his return and affirming his determination to make it to the top of the leader board.
Next meetings:
Act II: 6-9 December 2018
Act III: 17-20 January 2019
Act IV: 7-10 February 2019 during the Primo Cup - Trophee Credit Suisse which celebrates 35 years
Act V: 14-17 March 2019
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede given 18 hour time penalty
On Nov.6th at 0200hrs French solo yachtsman Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, the current Golden Globe Race leader, rang GGR organisers to advise that his yacht Matmut had sustained mast damage, that all was OK, and that he intended to sail for Chile when conditions improved. Race Officials advised this would mean moving to the Chichester Class on arrival. J-L VDH said he would make a decision on his final intention in the weeks ahead, after making his landing and repair.
Subsequently GGR organisers became aware that J-L VDH may have made a call on the GGR satellite phone. At 1035hrs Nov. 6th GGR made contact with his team manager to clarify that J-L VDH should not make any Satphone calls and should only use his radio for advice about his mast. If calls had been made on the Satphone he would be moved to the Chichester class and could apply for a time penalty, but only as long as no material assistance or advice was given during these phone calls, and only if no further calls were made.
At 1900hrs on Nov. 8th, GGR received a call from J-L VDH advising that he had changed his mind and now intended to continue in the Race and not head to Chile, and confirmed that he had rung his wife in the hours after the mast problem. GGR advised that he would be moved to the Chichester Class. J-L VDH requested that he be considered for a time penalty instead of being relegated to the Chichester Class for his Satphone use, since no support was provided by the phone use and his HAM radio comms were good and providing all advice and assistance.
Findings
It is confirmed that J-L VDH did use his Satphone in the first hours after the mast damage. This action breeched NOR 3.1.4 Telephone Contact. It is confirmed that no material assistance was provided by the use of the phone and no further phone use was made during subsequent days.
Penalty
In the spirit of the Golden Globe Race and noting the fact that J-L VDH received no material assistance through the use of his GGR Satphone, GGR Organisers have applied an 18-hour time penalty to J-L VDH to be served in the GGR Penalty Box. -- Don McIntyre, Golden Globe Race
Southern Spars at METS Trade Show
Southern Spars will once again be exhibiting at METS Trade Show this week, together with Future Fibres.
This year, at stand 01.112 you can find sales director Mark Hauser, superyacht sales manager, Paul MacDonald, Future Fibres' sales managers Erik Bernstrom and Miles Amin, RigPro director of service, Stefano Scarpa, and many more of our expert staff. You can also be sure to find cold beers at the stand every day.
Southern Spars is the industry leader in the design, construction, installation and servicing of world's finest bespoke carbon fibre masts, booms and rigging. Together with Future Fibres the company has many new superyacht and grand-prix racing projects currently in build and in the pipeline.
Join the team to discover how our latest innovations in rig and rigging are pushing the boundaries of performance.
www.southernspars.com
www.futurefibres.com
Investor exits after pumping millions into Match Racing Tour
Swedish businessman and passionate sailor Hakan Svensson had a long pedigree of supporting professional sailing when he bought the World Match Racing Tour in 2015.
Now after spending three years and tens of millions of dollars transforming the event almost beyond recognition he is in the process of selling it. Justin Chisholm of YachtRacing.Life sat down with Svensson to find out why.
"In 2013 and 2014 we started the Aston Harald Composite business and we had bought the rights to build the M32 catamaran from Marström Composite.
We ran the M32 Cup - that later turned into the current M32 Series - in Scandinavia. We thought this was a good way of getting our newly started company known to the world.
We decided we needed a better platform to market the business so in 2015 we agreed to buy the World Match Racing Tour.
Excerpt from Sail-world.com: www.sail-world.com/news/212033/?source=rss
...When I look at how we built the World Match Racing Tour from around 50 competitors to upwards of 300 now by removing the 55,000 USD cost of a Tour Card and replacing that with licencing clinics, I think we have done well.
Even our insurer saw how seriously we took the safety aspect and how we worked around that to create a good safe platform for fast boats in match racing.
Was it too much money spent? Yes!
But did we have fun doing it? Yes!
And did it help us to gain a better understanding of what our customers were trying to do with our products? Yes!
Full article: www.yachtracing.life/money-where-my-mouth-is/
It's the Battle of Oz in the Beneteaus
Shenzhen, ChinaL Ray Roberts gets better every day and has now manoeuvred BoomEgg - JoyOurs Team to just two points off the lead in the hotly contested Beneteau 40.7 at the China Cup International Regatta in Shenzhen. The Australian veteran of many Rolex Sydney Hobart Races scored 2,1 in some beautiful, windy, wavy conditions in Daya Bay, and now sits just two points behind the leader, Wanhang Longcheer. The Longcheer crew notched up the reverse numbers today, a 1,2 for the crew helmed by another Australian veteran, Steve McConaghy.
It's a fascinating scenario for these two teams, with both Aussie skippers having won the China Cup in the past. Roberts won the very first China Cup 11 years ago and then took a few years out. McConaghy has won the event multiple times including a run of four victories from 2013 to 2016, before just missing out a year ago to Yiihua-Pocket Emirates Team New Zealand. The Kiwis aren't quite so close to the front of the action this year, perhaps due to not having the kind of America's Cup-winning experience they had on board for 2017, the year the actual trophy also visited the China Cup Race Village. The New Zealand crew sits in fifth place overall but still with a realistic shot at the podium on the final day on Monday.
Further down the fleet in 21st place is Wendy Tuck, the Australian skipper of Team The Way who won the Clipper Round the World Race earlier this year. Sailing with an all-female crew, many of them new to sailing and speaking only Chinese, Tuck faces many challenges, particularly when the wind is up like today.
In IRC A, Shawn Kang's Lighthorse Alpha+ has started to find her winning ways and has now drawn level on points with Standard Insurance Centennial Sailing Team from the Philippines. The final day could see a match race between these two, although Ark323 Noahs Sailing Club is still in the hunt just three points back in third place. -- Andy Rice
www.chncup.com
www.facebook.com/chncup
Ropes Reinvented on Marlow Stand 03:301 at METS 2018
This year at METS, Marlow will be launching new and improved products across their world-leading Leisure Marine range. Here is a little taste of what you might expect to see from a visit to Marlow's stand this November:
More Eco-Conscious: Marlow's new Blue Ocean Dockline has been engineered from 100% waste plastic bottles- come and see how this has been made possible.
More Strength: The Oceanus Superyacht line has been re-engineered from the core up to give a lighter rope with increased strength capabilities.
More Endurance- The Pro Drive torsional furling cable has been given a number of enhanced upgrades, including a black Dyneema cover, for increased rigidity and durability.
More Style - Marlow's best-selling top-end Racing line (D2 Racing and Excel Racing) have been given a style upgrade with extra colour choices - come & see the new look for yourselves.
Join us METS stand 03:301, to pick up your copy of the new Leisure Marine brochure (Issue 6) and we look forward to working you through the incredible range of market leading products.
First Wave Away! ARC+ 2018 Departs Gran Canaria
The docks of Muelle Deportivo in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria were a hive of activity this morning as crews of ARC+ 2018 prepared to lead the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers across the Atlantic. As so many boats now want to sail in the ARC, the traditional route of the rally has now grown into three waves of boats; the first of which set sail today bound for Mindelo, Cape Verde, then onto the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia.
Start Day is the culmination of years of planning and the excitement was intense as final preparations were made, the last stores put away and crews made ready to slip their lines.
This year there are boats registered from 22 countries around the globe including Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America. Crew on board represent 24 different nationalities and are aged from 3 to 78 years old.
Gentle breezes from the NE, so typical of an ARC start, helped push the boats out to sea and on towards their first stop in Mindelo, a passage of 850 nautical miles. The starts were streamed live on the ARC Facebook page from on board the Alonautica Highfield RIB, giving the crews an opportunity to wave to friends and family watching online.
The Multihull Division, comprising of sixteen catamarans, and one trimaran were first to take the start, led over the line by British-flagged Nautitech Open 46 Offbeat, and closely followed by Passat II from Germany and LaDiala from Switzerland. It was then the turn of the fifty-five boats in the Cruising Division. Crews prepared spinnakers and Parasailors just as the sun emerged from the overcast sky and the clouds began to part. Leading the charge, Norwegian Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42i named Thilde crossed the line first.
Light winds at the start will help settle the crews into life at sea. Forecast winds are expected to build, freshening to 20+ knots so it should be a fast sail to Cape Verde. ARC+ Rally Control expect to be welcoming the first arrivals in four days' time and the smaller boats should all arrive in good time to enjoy a few days of exploration and relaxation before tackling the longer Atlantic stage to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean.
The latest YB Tracking Satellite trackers have been fitted on board each boat, allowing family and friends to follow the fleet from the comfort of their own home via the online Fleet Viewer and YB Races app. Boats can also send blogs and photos, posted on to the rally website to share life on board.
2018 Melges 40 Grand Prix Season Closes with Stig, Sikon and Inga on the Podium
Lanzarote, Canary Islands/Spain: The Lanzarote edition of the Melges 40 Grand Prix season has officially come to a close, as the tenth race has been run and the results are finalized for the 2018 ranking.
Despite winning the Lanzarote Grand Prix yesterday and successfully, automatically defending his Grand Prix Championship title for a second time, Alessandro Rombelli's STIG (Francesco Bruni, tactician) won the final heat today soaking up a sweet victory in the Melges 40 Class.
As for the remaining podium positions, they have been officially decided. Taking an 'all or nothing' approach, Yukihiro Ishida at the helm of SIKON (Manu Weiller, tactician) gave a stellar performance to confirm his second place position on the ranking podium.
That podium is completed with Richard Goransson's INGA (Cameron Appleton, tactician) seated in third, who up until August proved to be the strongest, and indeed unbeatable.
2018 Grand Prix Ranking Results (Final - After Four Events)
1. (ITA) Alessandro Rombelli/Francesco Bruni, STIG; 8 pts.
2. (JPN) Yukihiro Ishida/Manu Weiller, SIKON; 10 pts.
3. (SWE) Richard Goransson/Cameron Appleton, INGA; 12 pts.
4. (MON) Valentin Zavadnikov/Michele Ivaldi, DYNAMIQ SYNERGY; 15 pts.
5. (ITA) Andrea Lacorte/Gabriele Benussi, VITAMINA CETILAR; 15 pts.
LANZAROTE RESULTS (FINAL - After Ten Races, One Discard)
1. (ITA) Alessandro Rombelli/Francesco Bruni, STIG; 2-1-2-1-1-[3]-3-3-2-1 = 16
2. (JPN) Yukihiro Ishida/Manu Weiller, SIKON; [5]-2-4-3-5-2-2-1-1-2 = 22
3. (ITA) Andrea Lacorte/Gabriele Benussi, VITAMINA CETILAR; 1-3-3-2-3-[5]-4-5-3-4 = 28
4. (MON) Valentin Zavadnikov/Michele Ivaldi, DYNAMIQ SYNERGY; 4-4-1-5-2-1-5-4-4-[6/DNS] = 30
5. (SWE) Richard Goransson/Cameron Appleton, INGA; 3-[5]-5-4-4-4-1-2-5-3 = 31
Full Results Official Event Website
www.melges40.com/melges40grandprix/
Featured Brokerage
2009 Tripp 75 Racer/Cruiser. 995,000 USD. Located in Rhode Island, United States.
SEARGENT RECKLESS is a beautifully built Tripp design that was originally known as BELLA PITA. Three very nice cabins, huge main salon, large galley and states of the art Navigation area. On deck, large rig with roller furling for cruising or put her in full race mode with the race sails.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
William Jenkins
Thoroughbred Yacht Sales
410 267 9419
410 353 7862
bill [AT] tysonline [DOT] com
-----------------------------------------
2003 Vismara Marine / Marten Yachts V65 Fast Cruiser. 1,280,000 EUR. Located in La Spezia, Italy.
Vismara Design, Farr Yacht Design, Marten Marine and Southern Spars join forces to create a unique ‘Fast Ocean Cruiser’ with Maxi performance, but effortless handling and supreme safety at sea. Extensively updated over recent seasons.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
GRABAU INTERNATIONAL
Lead Broker - Alex Grabau
Tel: +44 (0)1590 673715
Email: alex [AT] grabauinternational [DOT] com
-----------------------------------------
Marten 49. 265000 EUR.
**PRICE DROP** This example is the most competitively priced boat on the market and incorporates an upgraded 3-spreader mast configuration from Southern Spars, which makes her a real bandit on the rating game, as well as unrivalled performance cruiser.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+64 277733717
+442380 016582
sampearson [AT] ancasta [DOT] com
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. -- Charles de Gaulle
Editorial and letter submissions to editor [AT] scuttlebutteurope [DOT] com
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb [AT] beesonstone [DOT] com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html