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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
• RORC Transatlantic Race
• Peyron completes the fairytale aboard Happy
• Harken International Youth Match Racing Championship
• Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
• Perfect scoreline for Mazella as Martinique Flying Regatta concludes
• It's a gift - CNB
• Hamble River Sailing Club Centenary in 2019
• The World Sailing Show Programme 10 - Nov 2018
• For the Record
• Featured Brokerage
• The Last Word: William Burroughs
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
RORC Transatlantic Race
The fifth edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race started on schedule at 1200 UTC on Saturday 24 November. The fleet bid farewell to Marina Lanzarote which had once again provided an ideal location to prepare for the 3,000 nautical mile race to Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina Grenada. "The fleet got away to a clean start," commented RORC Deputy Racing Manager, Tim Thubron. "Kuka3 was first over the line, followed by Class40 Hydra and the two multihulls; PowerPlay and Maserati. My Song held back at the start but was at speed and full upwind mode at the pin, soon leaving the rest of the monohulls in their wind shadow."
The expected light airs start was enhanced by a sea breeze with many of the teams electing to stay inshore to gain lifting pressure rolling down the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote. Pier Luigi Loro Piana's Supermaxi My Song was the first boat to the turning mark at Puerto Calero Marina, followed by the multihulls.
Giovanni Soldini's Maserati Multi 70 and Peter Cunningham's MOD 70 PowerPlay have been swapping the multihull lead right from the start. On the first day, the duo headed northwest, tacking southwest in unison, 73 miles above the rhumb line. A night-time game of cat and mouse ensued, with both teams electing to leave the island of La Palma to port, presumably to avoid the wind shadow from its 2,000m peak. At 1000 UTC on Day 2, both trimarans were heading southwest, upwind at over 13 knots of boat speed. The race was on to escape the expanding area of high pressure and reach the fresh breeze.
International Maxi Association member Pier Luigi Loro Piana, racing Italian Supermaxi My Song, led the monohull fleet by 28 miles from Franco Niggeler's Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka3. Both yachts chose to sail close to the north shore of Tenerife this morning. Kuka3 navigator, Andrea Caracci spoke from on board at 1000 UTC:
In the Class40 Division, Catherine Pourre's Eärendil and Henrik Bergesen's Hydra were battling for the lead. After racing northwest during the first day, Eärendil was the first to tack in the early hours of this morning and has taken the class lead. Trevor Middleton's British Sunfast 3600 Black Sheep is the most northerly of the fleet and looks to be in good pressure and is well placed in the IRC fleet.
The RORC Transatlantic Race fleet have experienced better than forecast conditions for the first 24 hours of the race, however, the ridge of high pressure is expected to come into play for the second day. Whilst the wind speed will undoubtedly fall, keeping the boat speed at maximum could be a winning strategy. Once the teams reach the new breeze, solid trade winds are forecast for days to come.
Peyron completes the fairytale aboard Happy
On a perfect sunny Sunday afternoon off Pointe-à-Pitre, the French sailing hero Loïck Peyron completed his personal tribute to transatlantic racing pioneers Mike Birch and Eric Tabarly when he brought his small yellow trimaran, Happy, through the finish line of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.
Forty years after Canadian Birch ignited the legend of the Route du Rhum when he won the inaugural race by just 98 seconds on the 12-metre yellow trimaran, Olympus, Peyron sailed his 37-year-old Olympus sistership, Happy, through the finish line to huge applause.
"It is perfect timing, coming in on a Sunday afternoon just after church. It is meant to be. What more could you want?" quipped 58-year-old Peyron who took fourth in the Multi Rhum class at the end of one of the most brutal transatlantics of recent years.
His time for the 3,542-nautical mile course was 21 days, three hours and 57 minutes which was well inside Birch's 23-day effort in 1978, although Peyron was quick to point out that his time is not a record.
"Don't forget she is for sale now," Peyron told the crowds who lined the pontoons and breakwaters at Pointe-à-Pitre's Memorial ACTe finish village.
"It was long and a bit tougher than I expected. I am glad it is over. That is the problem with small boats - you have to cross so many weather systems. I think I crossed five or six low pressure systems. But that is fine, that is for the memories. The thing is these small boats are so marvellous but really bouncy all the time, uncomfortable when you are racing with an alloy mast and dacron sails."
The diminutive Frenchman is adamant that this was his last Rhum. "I am done. I have done eight and that is plenty," he said. "The next challenge is a real one in La Solitaire in the new Figaro Beneteau 3; I have started each of the different iterations and I am looking forward to the new 3."
Harken International Youth Match Racing Championship
New Zealand broke the deadlock between themselves and the host Australian club for the greatest number of Harken International Youth Match Racing Championships won in the event's 26-year history, and successfully defended the strong sailing nation's 2017 title in a dramatic final race on Sunday November 25, 2018.
Whittled down from the 12 teams which began their Harken International campaign four days earlier, Jordan Stevenson's Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron team sailing five-up and James Hodgson's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia crew of four earned the right to a first-to-two sail-off on Pittwater in Sydney's north.
A large spectator fleet and the minor-placed teams watched the duelling pair go into the decider one race apiece and flight 2 and the result be determined metres from the finish when the two Elliott 7s came in contact and Stevenson cleverly forced the winning penalty then crossed first, leaving the CYCA team to rue the loss and replay those final seconds in their heads over and over.
Final results:
1. NZL Jordan Stevenson, Mitch Jackson, George Angus, Jake Erson, Celia Willson
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
2. AUS James Hodgson, Ryan Wilmot, Harry Hall, Charlie Gundy
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
3. NZL Frankie Dair, Alistair Gifford, Max South, Louis Scofield
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
4. USA David Wood, Daniel Pegg, Max Brennan, Robert Garrett
Balboa Yacht Club
5. AUS James Farquharson, Hannah Lanz, Jess Angus, Niall Powers, Jack Gaggin
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
6. AUS Thomas Steenson, Felix Prince, Marcus Livingstone, Harry Miller
Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
7. AUS Charlotte Griffin, Mitch Evans, Zac Quinlan, Charlotte Alexander, Nick Rozenauers
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
8. AUS Juliet Costanzo, Alistair Reed, Annie Scholten, Antony Hawke, Emma Rankin
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
9. FRA Tom Picot, Elliott Quintin, Thomas Hautier, Lila Patarin, Titouan Bretenstein
Cercle Nautique Caledonien
10. NZL Lachlan Grimwade, Zoe Bennett, Jonathon Barnett, Wilbur Stanley, Jaymin Southee
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
11. AUS Jed Cruickshank, Sam Brownscombe, Finn Neimeier, Kyle Bonney, Ben Doran
Darwin Sailing Club
12. USA Jeffrey Petersen, Max Mayol, Ed Higson, Charlotte Porter, Sam Barnett
Balboa Yacht Club
www.intyouthmatchracingchampionship.com.au
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Supported by Latitude Kinsale and Seahorse magazine
Tonight's featured bar was our 2012 Winner:
St Maarten Yacht Club
Here's what makes it so great...
Within a few weeks of Irma hitting St Maarten, the Yacht Club bar was one of the 1st on island to reopen . Despite having lost most of the dock and terrace, damage to the roof and staff who were homeless, it provided a meeting point for the survivors to gather, share stories, swop information and enjoy a drink or two. There are times when a bar embodies community spirit. This was one of them.
Is there a special drink they make? Care to share the recipe with us?
Their Bloody Marys are legendary...if I knew the recipe, I would share it with you. Perhaps it's the magical combination of sitting with the best brunch drink whilst welcoming the yachts into the lagoon at bridge openings?
Another reader chimes in on the Bloody Marys:
A feast in themselves. Made of Unicorn's blood and nitroglycerin? Whatever it is, it cures the direst of hangovers.
Please tell us about YOUR favorite bar.
scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars
wightvodka.com
latitudekinsale.com
Perfect scoreline for Mazella as Martinique Flying Regatta concludes
Martinique Flying Regatta, the Caribbean's first event solely for foiling boats, concluded today with the two fastest from each of the six classes – GC32, KiteFoil, Windfoil, Moth, Flying Phantom and Onefly – lining up in the final of the Karibea Speed Challenge. This comprised a 0.4 mile long blast reach down a course off Fort Saint Louis, ending just off downtown Fort de France.
Demonstrating again that the KiteFoils are the fastest foiling boats here, the top two Kitefoilers Axel Mazella and Kieran Le Borgne were first and second respectively in the Karibea Speed Challenge, Mazella winning the first prize of a weekend for two at one of the Karibea Hotels on Martinique. The KiteFoils finished ahead of the GC32s, followed by the Moths and Windfoils together, and finally the Oneflys.
Over the last five days, the Kitefoilers sailed 12 races, including a 26 mile coastal 'Raid' yesterday. Across all, Mazella maintained his perfect scoreline as Le Borgne finished second, ahead of Vendee Globe skipper Morgan Lagravière.
The Kitefoilers today raced on a new course - three laps of a 'classic' triangle with windward, reaching and downwind legs. "It was really nice because the wind was less, 10-12 knots at the beginning, but then it got up to 15-16 knots, so we were able to use bigger kites. It was good to change equipment and compare with other guys," said Mazella, whose top speed this week was 38 knots.
Proceedings started today with four more match races between the GC32s, Franck Cammas' NORAUTO and Team France Jeune, skippered by 23-year-old French three time youth match racing champion Robin Follin.
Alarmingly, Cammas had lost the lead on Thursday. "They raced well," said Cammas of the youth team. "I had a new crew with young people." NORAUTO reclaimed the lead after winning yesterday's triple points scoring Raid. He followed this up winning all four races today, showing better speed in this morning's sub-10 knot winds.
"It is very good, as I expected," said Cammas of Martinique Flying Regatta. "More GC32s will come next year, because it is good to have more events like this in good places, with good ambiance. The bay here may even be better than Lake Garda because the tactics are more open. Plus I really enjoyed the coastal race around Rocher du Diamant, where it was tricky with the waves. It was interesting, more open than windward-leewards."
The Moth class turned into a two horse race over the last couple of days, with France's Anthony Rezzoug relieving Swiss rival David Holenweg of the lead yesterday. In today's two windward-leewards, Holenweg closed, but only by one point, not enough to regain the lead.
Swiss sailors took second and fourth place with the latter, former Whitbread Round the World Race crew and professional photographer, Philippe Schiller claiming the last race.
Martinique Flying Regatta has been created and is organised by Sirius Events in partnership with the Comite Martiniquais du Tourisme and the city of Fort de France city plus Corsair, Grand Port Maritime de Fort de France, Ligue de Voile de Martinique, direction de la mer). -- James Boyd
www.martinique-regatta.com/index.php/en/home-3/
It's a gift - CNB
Philippe Briand explains how you can combine sleek, minimalist contemporary lines with a massive interior volume A boat starts with a design brief, so what was the brief for the new CNB 66? 'Put simply,' explains her naval architect Philippe Briand, 'I was asked to design the best semicustom 60ft production boat in the world'. But that wasn't all. CNB's stunningly sleek 66ft performance cruiser was to be the biggest yacht that could be easily be handled by a couple or family without the need for extra crew. It also had to be a capable, comfortable blue water cruiser that offers a good lifestyle for her owners and safe but exciting to sail. As for its appearance, the silhouette of the design was to be kept as clean as possible. Finally, Philippe has his own personal personal brief: 'I'm a sailor, a boat has to look elegant'.
Construction Navale Bordeaux (CNB) was founded more than 30 years ago in 1987, based in a historic shipyard on the "right bank" of the Garonne River, south of the rolling vine-clad hills of the region's wineries. The shipyard has produced many notable yachts. Its first, the 92ft Frers aluminium cutter Mari-Cha II, was an instant classic while the largest was the 117ft Hamilton II commissioned for Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. For 20 years, if you wanted CNB quality, a one-off fully custom aluminium yacht was the only option. Then, about a decade or so ago, CNB noticed that its clients' needs were changing so it evolved with them.
Full article in the December issue of Seahorse
Hamble River Sailing Club Centenary in 2019
With so much to celebrate, the club has organised a year of events and activities on and off the water. The aim is to bring everyone together to commemorate 100 fantastic years of sailing in Hamble and mark the start of the next century of HRSC.
The programme will kick-off on Thursday 29 November with an evening review of the last 100 years of HRSC. Special guests will recall their days at HRSC and members past and present will explore the unique history of the club with the help of old photos and material from the archives.
"HRSC is as strong today as ever and living up to the founders' pledge 'to encourage the sport of small boat sailing and racing'," comments Past Commodore and MC, Jonty Sherwill. The event will take guests on a journey through time, from the founding group and notable events, people and achievements; through to the expansion of the club facilities, over the years and into the future.
The club bar will be open from 1800 with canapes served before a slide presentation at 1900 by Jonty, who will also facilitate a panel discussion. Supper will be served at around 2045.
Visit www.hrsc.org.uk for further information and to book your space (essential).
The World Sailing Show Programme 10 - Nov 2018
France's legendary transatlantic singlehanded race, the Route du Rhum, draws millions of spectators. This year, as details of a brutal weather forecast started to sink in, the mood on the dock swung as tension began to build. The 3,500 mile race to Guadeloupe was going to be tough; boat busting, strength sapping tough.
After a perfect drag racing start, the big winds and huge waves swept in. Boats broke and skippers retired, yet some pushed on through. We tell the story.
Plus, we go foiling indoors to find out how a high performance America's Cup boat could provide the basis for a radical new commercial vessel.
- And glamour in St Tropez, technical talk in Lorient and big Olympic news in Florida.
- Transatlantic drag race - The brutal Route du Rhum
- Sailing on foils indoors - SailGP & Artemis Technologies
- Olympic sailing to head offshore - plus World Sailing awards
- Classic glamour - Les Voiles de St Tropez
- The future explained - Technical talk at Yacht Racing Forum
For the Record
The WSSR Council announces the achievement of a new Performance Certificate.
Route sailed: Around the World Singlehanded with one stop
Yacht "L'Eau Commotion" 38 ft North Shore Monohull
Name: Bill Hatfield. AUS.
Dates: 24th July 2017 to 9th September 2018.
Start time: 00;18;53 UTC on 24/07/17
Finish time: 15;35;06 on 09/09/18
Elapsed time: 412 days 15 hours 16 minutes and 13 seconds.
Comments: Bill Hatfield's stop was in the Falkland Islands between the 27th February 2018 and the 19th May 2018.
John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council
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1998 AKRON AOTON ORMA 60 Trimaran. 450,000 EUR. Located in Greece.
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The Last Word
Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams. -- William Burroughs
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