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Tenth Annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar competition is OPEN. Supported by Latitude Kinsale and Seahorse Magazine.
Tell us about your favourite bar!
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In This Issue
Arkema capsize on the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar - now with Prizes for Submissions
Zhik Sale: It's here - for a short time only
Plymouth to host the 2019 Rolex Fastnet Race
Iain Percy Joins The Star Sailors League Finals
RYA Performance Operations Manager
Irish Seafarers Memorial Service Dublin - Sunday 18th November
Three boats within two points of lead going into RC44 Cascais finale
The foiling revolution arrives in the Caribbean at Martinique Flying Regatta
Stuart Walker, 1923-2018
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Calvin & Hobbes
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
Arkema capsize on the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe
The ninth day at sea in the 2018 Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe solo transatlantic race saw the second capsize in this 11th edition of the four-yearly classic when a 50ft trimaran flipped over about 1,000 nautical miles east of Guadeloupe.
The first capsize came at the end of day two of the 3,452-nautical mile race a week ago when one of the biggest yachts in the 123-strong fleet, Banque Populaire IX, turned over after a major structural failure in a gale midway between the coast of Spain and the Azores. The boat's skipper, Frenchman Armel Le Cleac'h, was quickly rescued by a Spanish fishing boat.
This time the yacht going upside down is the Multi50 class trimaran Arkema skippered by Lalou Roucayrol, another French sailor who is based near Bordeaux. Roucayrol is one of the most experienced solo offshore racers in big multihulls and was competing in his fourth Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.
In an initial message to his shore team he said the boat became over-powered by a sudden and violent spike in the easterly trade wind as he ran downwind towards the finish at Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe. He did not have time to stop his yacht tipping over but was able to keep safe within the main hull.
Giving further details today, the Team Arkema spokeswoman, Marie-Astrid Parendeau, said Roucayrol spent about four hours cutting the rig away from the boat and had spent time in the water doing this. The hull has not been damaged by the mast and Roucayrol has managed to salvage one of his sails. He is now safely back on board and has enough food for three or four days and water supplies for 10 days.
Ms Parendeau said a cargo ship has been diverted to his position but Roucayrol has made it clear he does not want to be rescued and is staying with his boat until a tug chartered by the team from Martinque reaches him in four days time.
Roucayrol was racing in fourth place at the time of the capsize and was about 400 miles behind the class leader, Armel Tripon on Reaute Chocolat. Tripon on his brown trimaran is now just over 500 miles from the finish and is expected at the line at around mid-day Universal Time tomorrow.
Current Standings
Top three skippers in each category at 1530CET on Wednesday, November 14.
ULTIME
1. Francis Joyon (IDEC Sport) - FINISHED
2. Francois Gabart (MACIF) - FINISHED
3. Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim') 2,637.38 nautical miles (NM) to the finish
MULTI50
1. Armel Tripon (Reaute Chocolat) 497.54NM to the finish
2. Erwan Le Roux (Fenetrea-Mix Buffet) +295.53NM
3. Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires En Peloton-ARSEP) +354.70NM
IMOCA
1. Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) 651.67NM to the finish
2. Paul Meilhat (SMA) +188.43NM
3. Vincent Riou (PRB) +219.93NM
Class 40
1. Yoann Richomme (Veedol AIC) 1,510.73NM to the finish
2. Aymeric Chappelier (AINA Enfance Avenir) +98.50
3. Phil Sharp (Imerys Clean Energy) +105.44
Rhum Multi
1. Pierre Antoine (OLMIX) 1,356.46NM to the finish
2. Jean-Francois Lilti (Ecole Diagonale Pour Citoyens du Monde) +545.60NM
3. Etienne Hochede (PiR2) +725.35NM
Rhum Mono
1. Sidney Gavignet (Cafe Joyeux) 1,618.25NM to the finish
2. Sebastien Destremau (ALCATRAZIT-FACEOCEAN) +207.20NM
3. Wilfrid Clerton (Cap Au Cape Location - SOS Villages D'Enfants) +806.68NM
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Supported by Latitude Kinsale and Seahorse magazine
New for the Tenth Anniversary: Prizes for the bar and for our readers:
For the winning bar: A bottle of Wight Vodka, a certificate for framing about the win and a custom 3D map of the area from Latitude Kinsale.
For best story: A copy of TUIGA .... a book about the boat of the same name. A rare coffee table edition published by Yacht Club Monaco. A great addition to your nautical library.
For best drink recipe: A free six month subscription to Seahorse magazine. The only sailing magazine, written from no national perspective, entirely dedicated to sailboat racing.
Here's a recent email ... the first mention of this wonderful establishment:
Name and location of the bar
Madiba Bar in Portsmouth, Dominica
Here's what makes it so great...
In July 2018, our crew sailed from Antigua to Martinique. The friendships are deep, dating back decades, but geography conspires to keep us in different continents. While our crew all hails from the US, we now find ourselves living in Nanjing, China, Montreal, Canada, Austin, Texas, Richmond, Va. and New York, NY. For us, the summer sailing trip is one part love of sailing, one part an excuse to get old friends together.
For this voyage, we had some that weren't able to start in Antigua and hence elected to meet us in Dominica. Having lived in the Caribbean previously, we knew we should be prepared to be flexible. We tried planning ahead of time, but Dominica offers significant challenges. First, there aren't many functional anchorages in Dominica. A volcanic island, the depth is significant all the way up till the shoreline. Additionally, there isn't an abundance of mooring balls on the island as there are in places live the BVI, Grenada, St. Lucia, or Bequia. The geographical challenges were compounded by the infrastructure challenges following the 2017 hurricane season. We really wanted to visit Dominica because of its unique reputation for beauty but meeting would take some luck.
After making some calls and consulting some trusty websites, we determined that Portsmouth had good moorings and a bar, Madiba, with wifi. So our plan was to arrive on July 11, go to the bar and message our friends, who would be coming over on the ferry from Martinique to meet us. When we arrived at Madiba, we found many people huddled up, speaking different languages, looking different forms of ragged, but all fixated on the tv feed showing the England v. Croatia game for the world cup. When I asked the bar tender for the wifi password to log on she smiled "no wifi right now because the world cup is on. If people start accessing the wifi network, we won't be able to stream the match." It was the 3rd minute of the match.
We sat down, ordered some burgers and rum punches, with Carib as chasers, smiled and said "nothing can be done." During the second half we saw our friends arrive with their sail bags and warm smiles, all excited to find ourselves reunited in such a unique place. When goals were scored, people cheered and groaned. It was a fantastic venue for a memorable friends reunion that none of us recall with clarity.
Is there a special drink they make? Care to share the recipe with us?
Rum punch, of course.
Tell us about YOUR favorite bar.
scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars
wightvodka.com
latitudekinsale.com
It's here - for a short time only.
Zhik's ex-catalogue clearance sale means up to 55% off a wide range of technical sailing gear.
For yacht sailors there are DeckBeater shorts and long pants, which do exactly what they say on the tin. And the very quick-drying ZhikDry tops and polos. Plus, grab yourself some Merino underwear, technical tailored Z-fleeces, hardwearing, stretchy deck shorts (very comfortable for long days afloat), and the fabulous soft, grippy ZKG shoes. Waterproofs on offer include Isotak Ocean and the lighter weight Aroshell coastal and inshore models.
Plymouth to host the 2019 Rolex Fastnet Race
Plymouth City Council and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) have confirmed that Plymouth will host the finish of the 2019 Rolex Fastnet Race.
Plymouth has marked the end of the biennial yacht race since its inception in 1925. Starting in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, competitors cover a course of 608 nautical miles and round the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland before returning via the Isles of Scilly to finish in Plymouth. The race has a huge worldwide following and has seen continued growth over recent years, with the limit of 300 boats having to be increased to over 340 due to high demand.
Yachts come from all over the world to compete in the race which will start on Saturday 3 August 2019. The first yachts are expected to arrive in Plymouth in the early hours of Monday 5 August. The Plymouth race village will be located at Yacht Haven at Mount Batten and will be open to the public from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 August, with live music, family friendly activities and opportunities for local people to try their hand at on-water activities like sailing, kayaking and Stand Up Paddleboarding.
The Rolex Fastnet will be followed by the Britain's Ocean City Blues n Jazz Festival from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 August, rounding off a week of celebration.
www.visitplymouth.co.uk for the latest updates.
Rolex Fastnet Race: www.rolexfastnetrace.com
Iain Percy Joins The Star Sailors League Finals
Making his debut at last in the Star Sailors League Finals in Nassau, is one of the most famous names from the final era of the Olympic keelboat. Following his Finn gold in Sydney in 2000, Britain's Iain Percy was Olympic champion in the Star at Beijing 2008 and came close to defending his title at London 2012, beaten into silver in the final metres of the final race by Sweden's Freddy Loof and Max Salminen. Percy has since gone on to greater things, leading the two Artemis Racing America's Cup challenges on behalf of Torbjorn Tornqvist.
However the saddest moment, a tragedy that has deeply affected him and his life since, was when Percy's best friend and Star boat crew, Andrew 'Bart' Simpson, drowned during America's Cup training in San Francisco in May 2013. Another life-long Olympic contender, Simpson was much loved and respected throughout the sailing world. His name lives on in the sport that was his passion via the Andrew Simpson Foundation. This aims to provide young people to experience the life-changing challenges of sailing. It is also the official charity of the Star Sailors League.
Percy only stepped back into the Star boat fleetingly earlier this year. In March he competed at the Bacardi Cup in Miami with a mutual friend of theirs, Anders Ekström, himself a Star bronze medallist in Beijing and World Champion in 2005, both as crew for Freddy Lööf. There, they finished seventh, despite a 'DNC' in the first race and winning the final race in the 76 strong fleet.
As a legacy of his Olympic career, Percy still owns a small fleet of Star boats he keeps in Miami. For December's Star Sailors League Finals he will be sailing the same boat he and Bart raced at London 2012.
The Opening Ceremony for the Star Sailors League Finals will take place on Monday December 3rd.
RYA Performance Operations Manager
Salary: £38,000 - £40,000 per annum (dependent upon experience)
Full-time, 35 hours per week
Location: Hamble, Southampton
The RYA offers a range of benefits which include; a personal pension scheme, free life insurance and an annual leave entitlement of 25 days (plus public holidays) and an additional 3 privilege days which are granted at Christmas time.
Our ambition is to be the best sailing nation in the world, inspiring future champions and engaging with all forms of the sport in order to attract and retain racing sailors. We are seeking a Performance Operations Manager to be a key part of this team!
As the Performance Operations Manager you will oversee and provide direction to the Performance Operations team, who provide day-to-day operational and logistical support to the RYA's World Class Olympic, Youth Racing and Talent programmes, ensuring each programme is successfully delivered and key targets are met. You would also be required to work with the RYA's Events Officer to oversee the organisation and delivery of some of our key events, including: The RYA Youth National Championships; The RYA British Youth Sailing Stakeholder Conference; and The RYA Regional Junior Championships. This position will also involve planning, budgeting, forecasting and monitoring of expenditure on these programmes and events.
Are you highly organised with excellent communication skills and the ability to work with a wide range of people? Do you have experience of monitoring & controlling budgets/resources and leading a team to achieve success? Then help us with our mission and join our fast-paced, dynamic, world class team.
Experience/knowledge of the sailing industry or another sport would be advantageous for this role but is not essential.
To Apply
Please visit our website, www.rya.org.uk/go/jobs, to view the full job description and to download an application form. Completed application forms should be returned, along with an equality monitoring form, to Lisa [DOT] Rogers [AT] rya [DOT] org [DOT] uk Please note that we do not accept CVs in lieu of a fully completed application form.
Closing date for applications: Mid-day on Monday 26th November 2018
Interviews to be held: w/c 10th December 2018
The Royal Yachting Association, based in Hamble, near Southampton, is the national governing body for all forms of recreational, competitive and professional boating. It represents dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, RIBs and sportsboats, powerboat racing, windsurfing, inland cruising and personal watercraft.
Irish Seafarers Memorial Service Dublin - Sunday 18th November
The annual Maritime Institute of Ireland held Commemoration for Irish Seafarers is to take place in Dublin next Sunday, 18th November.
The wreath-laying event at 12.00 noon along the City Quay Memorial monument, is dedicated in honour of Seafarers lost at sea while serving on Irish Merchant ships during WW2.
Inscribed on the Memorial are names of merchant vessels and crews who lost their lives as battles raged in the Atlantic and surrounding seas, while Irish seafarers tried to ensure vital supplies of food reached our shores despite our neutrality. Among the casualties of war was Irish Shipping Ltd's cargoship, Irish Pine which departed Dublin bound for Boston, USA, however all 33 crew were lost when the ship sank following a U-Boat torpedo attack during mid-November 1942.
Three boats within two points of lead going into RC44 Cascais finale
Traditionally the RC44 Championship goes to the wire in the final event of the season. Last year's championship concluded in Lanzarote with three boats tied on points, the podium for the season decided on discards, the top spot eventually being returned to defending champion, Igor Lah's Team CEEREF. In 2016, the Slovenian team also won through having a large enough discard to beat Chris Bake's Team Aqua. The 2018 RC44 Championship shows every sign that it could throw up yet another tie at the top.
Going into this week's RC44 Cascais Cup, the concluding event of the 2018 championship for the high performance Russell Coutts-conceived one design monohulls, just two points separate the top three. Beyond this, multiple RC44 champion Chris Bake's Team Aqua is two points from the bottom step of the podium with Torbjörn Törnqvist's Artemis Racing just one point behind her. So this year five boats are capable of gaining the top spot on the 2018 podium.
At present, reigning World Champion Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika holds the slenderest of leads going into the final event.
Racing gets underway Thursday and concludes on Sunday. This being mid-November means a mixed bag of weather conditions this week.
The foiling revolution arrives in the Caribbean at Martinique Flying Regatta
An international gathering of foiling boat and board classes, racing in the Caribbean, in November: What better formula could there be for a modern day sailing regatta? This is exactly what Sirius Events have created with their brand new Martinique Flying Regatta, taking place over 17-24 November.
The present revolution in foiling represents the most significant development in performance sailing has ever experienced. It has touched every aspect from the giant Ultime trimarans and IMOCA 60s competing in the Route du Rhum, to the America's Cup catamarans and monohulls to the Nacra 17 catamarans raced in the Olympic Games.
Martinique Flying Regatta will be the Caribbean's first ever foiling regatta and this first edition has already attracted six foiling classes and 50 sailors.
The classes involved are the GC32 catamaran, used on the Extreme Sailing Series and the GC32 Racing Tour, plus its smaller brother the Flying Phantom. These resemble smaller versions of the foiling catamarans used in the last America's Cups, the GC32 capable of peak speeds approaching 40 knots.
The GC32s competing are NORAUTO powered by Team France, skippered by Route du Rhum and Volvo Ocean Race winner turned America's Cup skipper Franck Cammas. They will face Team France Jeune, who represented France in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup in 2017, again led by 23-year-old Robin Follin.
Martinique Flying Regatta has been created and is organised by Sirius Events in partnership with the Comité Martiniquais du Tourisme and the city of Fort de France city plus Corsair International, Grand Port Maritime de Fort de France and Ligue de Voile de Martinique. -- James Boyd
Stuart Walker, 1923-2018
Dr. Stuart Walker, one of the world's most renowned dinghy sailors and founder of Severn Sailing Association, died on Monday at the age of 95.
Dr. Walker, who died as a result of stomach cancer, participated in his last competitive regatta this past April when he finished 10th out of 12 entries at the Soling United States National Championship that was hosted by Severn Sailing Association.
"Many years ago I decided that if I died a great party should be given at SSA in remembrance of me," Walker wrote. "Recently, however, when I was informed that my abdomen was filled with cancer, I decided that it would be far more fun for me to hold the party in advance of my demise."
Walker's last book, titled "Severn Sailing Association - The First Ten Years" was completed and printed in time for the August 26 party.
"Dr. Walker was a remarkable man and he led a remarkable life--a success in so many ways both in his vocation as a pediatrician and in his primary avocation as a small-boat racing sailor," current Severn Sailing Association commodore Jonathan Phillips said.
Walker, who was inducted into the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, announced he was retiring from competitive sailboat racing due to macular degeneration two years ago.
"It was a difficult decision in advance, but not after I made it. I felt relieved," Walker told The Capital. "It's annoying and frustrating to not be able to perform up to your capabilities because you can't see."
However, it proved to be only a partial retirement as Walker continued to compete in the annual Soling Ice Bowl and also created the Thomas Point Lighthouse Race that was a similar point-to-point event.
"That's the type of race I can still do because I know the Severn River so well," Walker said of the Ice Bowl. "It's a distance race that does not feature many mark roundings or boat-on-boat action. I'll sail the Ice Bowl blind if necessary!"
Walker was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years. Francis Walker, who died in September, 2012, was famously fired as crew for her husband because he said she was "too incisive."
Walker was 90 years old when he married for a second time to longtime Severn Sailing Association member Patricia Empey in the spring of 2013.
www.capitalgazette.com/news/obituaries/
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2002 IRC Maxi - LA BETE. 600,000 EUR. Located in Toulon, France.
La Bete has undergone a winter refit in 2016 / 2017 of full servicing and checking, conversion of the primary winches to hydraulic and many more upgrades, this IRC Maxi (LA BETE) offers superb value for money in a competitive package ready for the Maxi Worlds and regattas all over the globe.
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2007 BOOGALOO Open 50. 295,000 EUR. Located in Brittany, France
Originally built for a round world race, she was conceived by renowned architect and sailors. Perfectly suited for solo and double handed race, she is in good condition and ready to race the next Route du Rhum. Fast and reliable, clear deck layout, sleek lines, all is thought to sail her easily.
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The Last Word
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. -- Calvin & Hobbes
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