In This Issue
• 2019 Tornado Worlds - Aussies take the win
• Solid victory for Giles Scott at Ronstan Australian Finn Championship
• Turks triumph over Monegasques in closely-fought Optimist Team Race
• 18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Final
• British solo yachtsman Robin Davie located
• PixelBoat: Nearing the Equator
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Press and Hay undisputed 12ft Skiff Interdominion champions
• French Canadian Team Take the Spoils in Kraken Cup
• Jeff Martin
• Featured Brokerage
• The Last Word: Enzo Ferrari
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
2019 Tornado Worlds - Aussies take the win
The final day of racing for the 2019 Tornado World Championships Powered by Candida Stationery ended on a high with Olympic Gold and Silver medalist Rex Sellars, sailing with his son Brett, took the win for race 10, a great way to end the regatta. But it wasn't enough to get them on the podium, missing out on third place by just one point. Australian duo Brett Burvill and Max Puttman claimed the overall title, the first time that this team have won the event.
Second overall went to the Swiss team of Jorg Steiner and Michael Gloor, in their first regatta sailing with each other.
Third overall, first youth and first mixed team went to 16 year old helm Estela Jentsch from Germany and her Australian crew Daniel Brown. This is the second time the team has finished on the podium at a Tornado World Championship event.
Final top ten:
1. Brett Burvill / Max Puttman, AUS, 19 points
2. Jorg Steiner / Michael Gloor, SUI, 32
3. Estela Jentsch / Daniel Brown, GER, 48
4. Rex Sellars / Brett Sellars, NZL, 49
5. Alan Gamble / Kim Nicholls, AUS, 66
6. Dave Lineman / Karl Taylor, NZL, 74
7. Marcus Betz / Nicholias Betz, GER, 78
8. Zdenek Pavlis / Michaela Pavlisova, CZE, 84
9. Wayne Limbrick / Lewis Kidman, NZL, 96
10. Jared Eyles / Suzanne Eyles, AUS, 93
Solid victory for Giles Scott at Ronstan Australian Finn Championship
Giles Scott wrapped up a great week's sailing with two more race wins to take the overall victory at the Ronstan Australian Finn Championship in some spectacular Black Rock conditions. Nicholas Heiner secured second place, while Jake Lilley took one point off Ed Wright to move up to third, and also successful defended his Australian National title.
It had been a tough week in Black Rock with solid sea breezes for most of the races challenging the physical preparation of the 40 sailors who took part. Many sailors were visibly tired, with sore legs, heading out for the final day, which looked like being the toughest of the week.
The final two races were scheduled to start at the earlier time of 12.00 and on the water, the southerly change had blown through in the early morning to bring in a solid 15 knot breeze and a 5 minute sail to the start line. The forecast predicted a 15 to 20 knot southerly with a sea breeze coming over the top and building later in the day.
Final top ten results(10 races)
1. Giles Scott, GBR, 14
2. Nicholas Heiner, NED, 28
3. Jakos Lilley, AUS, 42
4. Ed Wright, GBR, 43
5. Henry Wetherell, GBR, 49
6. PieterJan Postma, NED, 52
7. Oliver Twedell, AUS, 52
8. He Chen, CHN, 89
9. Jock Calvert, AUS, 93
10. Lewis Brake, AUS, 94
Turks triumph over Monegasques in closely-fought Optimist Team Race
For a decade the Yacht Club de Monaco has hosted an original team race contest for under-14 sailors from all over the world, with 16 teams representing 16 nations: a regatta without borders, organised by the Club with the support of FxPro, Eventica, Fon and technical clothing supplier SLAM.
Organised as duels for teams of four Optimists, supplied by Erplast, it highlights the tactical skills of these budding young sailors, many of whom could go on to represent their countries in future international competitions.
At the end of a Round Robin totalling 120 matches to ensure all teams met each other, the 4 teams in the semi-finals were Team USA, 2017 World Champions; KSSS (Sweden), 2018 European Champions; the Turkish ARM Urla Sailing Club; and the Yacht Club de Monaco who finished at the top of the qualifying stages with one defeat in 15 matches.
In the final stages, it took 2 wins out of 3 matches in each of the finals to decide between the teams, with each match going down to the wire in the last 10 metres. In the end, last year's finalists, ARM Urla Sailing Club, faced the Monaco club who created the event's big surprise with a young team not very experienced in the tricky tactical skills required for team racing.
It was a close-run finish with victory going to the Turks (2-1), and the Swedish and Americans sharing 3rd place.
Also competing was a Chinese team, selected at a qualifying regatta organised in the autumn in Sanya with the Visun Royal Yacht Club, a La Belle Classe Destinations member.
For the second year, YCM partnered with Peace and Sport for this event.
The date is already set for the 11th edition: 9-12 January 2020, meanwhile the YCM gears up for Act 4 of the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series (18-20 January) for J/70s and the one-design 35th Primo Cup - Trophee Credit Suisse (7-10 February 2019). Monaco Optimist Team Race podium for 2019:
1st: ARM Urla Sailing Club (TUR)
2nd: Yacht Club de Monaco (MON)
3rd: KSSS - Royal Swedish Yacht Club (SUE)
3rd: Team USA
www.yacht-club-monaco.mc/en/home-en/
18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Final
Click on image for photo gallery.
Sydney Harbour: The Asko Appliances 18ft Skiff team becaome the 2018-2019 NSW champions after scoring a win and a second placing in the final two races of the championship which were sailed in a 15K SSE wind on Sydney Harbour today.
Skipper James Dorron and his crew of Harry Bethwaite and Steve Thomas proved too consistent on the day for their main challengers for the title and Asko Appliances deserved the win as the team was the only two race winner of the five=race championship.
Asko Appliances finished the championship with a total of 9 points.
Finport Finance (Keagan York, Matt Stenta, Charlie Gundy) was runner-up on 13 points, followed by Smeg (Michael coxon, Ricky Bridge, Mike McKensey) on 14 points.
John Winning's Yandoo was fourth on 20 points, followed by Bing Lee (Micah Lane) on 27 and Vintec (Kirk Mitchell) on 30 points.
The Australian 18ft Skiff Championship begins next Sunday (January 20 when two races will be sailed on Sydney Harbour. The championship will be sailed over nine races and will conclude on Sunday, February 17.
Live streaming is available on 18FootersTV
The JJ Giltinan Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour from March 2-10. == Frank Quealey, www.18footers.com
British solo yachtsman Robin Davie located
Three days after the UK Coastguard first broadcast an 'All Ships Alert' for British solo yachtsman Robin Davie, the 67-year old sailor made contact late Friday night to say that all was well onboard. He expects to reach Falmouth, his home port, later today.
Davie, who has completed three solo circumnavigations and is preparing to enter the 2022 Golden Globe Race, was three days overdue on a 300 mile solo cross-Channel voyage from France back to Falmouth. British and French Coastguard services have been broadcasting an 'an all ships' alert since Wednesday morning.
Davie made contact with rescue authorities at 22:00 on Friday saying all was well aboard his 36ft yacht C'EST La VIE and gave his position 25 miles south west of the Scilly Isles.
"This is fantastic news" said Robin's brother Rick Davie who had begun to fear the worst. "I am so greteful for all the help and publicity provided by the Coastguard services and the media for publicising this.
Details remain sketchy, but it appears that faced with very light head winds, Davie decided to take one long tack out into the Atlantic well out of radio range and the main shipping routes. rather than zig-zag upwind on the direct route north to Brest and across to Falmouth. -- Barry Pickthall
PixelBoat: Nearing the Equator
This is the first mailshot since Alex left for his solo, non-stop, round-the-world sailing record attempt on New Year's Eve. Most updates can be found here: my.yb.tl/alexalley or via the link on the website. We encourage you to follow the Tracker if you don't mind getting hooked on 'dot watching'! You can see Alex's progress every two hours and read the regular blogs and everyone's comments. If you zoom in, you can even see the underwater volcanoes that Alex sails over, for instance around the Cape Verde islands which he has now passed.
START DAY
His start date and time was 31 December 2018 at 14h 31mins 09 sec, 'subject to ratification by the WSSRC'. If he is to beat the current World Record set by Guo Chuan, (and he has to beat it by at least one minute), then his deadline is to cross the line again going the other way, on 18 May 2019 at 10h 32mins 06 secs.
PROGRESS towards the notorious doldrums
Bearing in mind, Alex waited nearly two months for the right weather window across Biscay, he enjoyed perfect conditions and zipped across in under two days. He then experienced a couple of days of calm off Portugal before getting into the Trade Winds and he is now sailing at a good 8 - 10 knots most of the time towards the Equator where there will be very mixed conditions.
Having three technical challenges in the first week of setting off - the wind instruments, the water maker and the hydrophone, Alex and Pixel Flyer have settled into a happy routine. Crossing the ITCZ will be the next challenge...
Seahorse January 2019
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Update
First came the CFD (or at least first came all the pretty pictures) and then came the simulation - with Emirates Team New Zealand leading the way - and now comes the simulator. Plus the remarkable Dr Stuart Walker, breaking an Ultime from one who knows, first days with the Mule and ‘going back to San Francisco’. Jack Griffin, Adrian Thompson, Malcolm Page, Terry Hutchinson, Dobbs Davis
Unprecedented
Remarkable as it is the 2018 Route du Rhum marked the first time in recent memory that Francois Gabart lost a major ocean race. But losing to Francis Joyon can sometimes feel like an honour... as he tells James Boyd
Going native
Another Imoca, yes, but the new Charal signifies a wholesale change in design philosophy. Paolo Manganelli and Katia Merle
Man and dog
Peter Harken
Watching the show Places to be (and not to be). Rob Weiland
Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2
1yr Print Sub: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/
1yr Digital Sub for £30: www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital
Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.
Press and Hay undisputed 12ft Skiff Interdominion champions
The Geotherm crew of Brett Hobson/Jeremy Jones were the undisputed winners of the final race, but NSW sailors Nick Press/Andrew 'Noddy' Hay (Sydney Sailmakers) have decisively won the Your Move Conveyancing 12ft Skiff Interdominion, hosted by the Sydney Flying Squadron this past week, their names to be carved on the Silasec Trophy again.
Competing against 34 other crews on Sydney Harbour, this was Press' eighth Interdominion title, a record number for a skipper and a co-record for a skipper or crew. It was Hay's second win (his first was with Press in 2017).
He and Hay are in fine company, with some big names on the previous winners list of this prestigious event: John Chapple (NZL), Dave Porter (NSW), Bruce Farr (NZL) - yes, the famous yacht designer, John Winning (NSW) and Iain Murray (NSW) among them.
Alex Vallings, the defending champion from New Zealand, has also won eight titles, two as crew for Tim Bartlett and six as skipper of his own boats. Bartlett himself has won the title six times. He continues to race competitively as the skipper of Frankenskiff (NZL) and finished just outside the top ten this time.
Representing Lane Cove 12ft Skiff Sailing Club, Press/Hay won five from 10 races, only straying outside the top three twice. They won the title from Geotherm by four points, the latter getting off to a flying start, claiming the first two races and winning the last, sailed in a beautiful nor' easter of 10 to 12 knots. They led from go to whoa by a good margin.
The weeklong event on Sydney Harbour gave competitors everything from perfect summer nor' easters, to a stiff southerly and moderate winds from the south and south-east – something to please all.
Thanks go to the Sydney Flying Squadron for making all feel welcome and to the volunteers; no event is successful without them. -- Di Pearson
Full results: skiff.org.au
French Canadian Team Take the Spoils in Kraken Cup
This week on the 8th January saw Team Village Monde crossing the finish line as winners of the Kraken Cup (sponsored by Garmin) one of the World's most adventurous, yet basic, sailing races.
Whilst most of us were nursing hangovers, New Year's Day in Zanzibar saw an international field of 22 teams (made up of 66 sailors), set sail in the Kraken Cup, which, in the modern age of fibreglass hulls and carbon fibre sails, strips things back to basics.
The Cup tests the seamanship of sailors to the max as it races in Ngalawas, traditional African fishing boats whose hulls are carved by hand from mango trees and outriggers lashed on. To add to the adventurous spirit of the race, the course, which is made up of a series of compulsory checkpoints, includes a of couple 'free-sailing' sections. Sailors not only have to contend with the challenges of sailing ngalawas but also find somewhere to sleep for the night - roughing it on uninhabited islets, camping on islands with inquisitive locals or staying in a traditional fishing village. Racers are encouraged to 'bring a hammock'.
The sixth edition of the Cup wound its way 500km around the coast of Tanzania, between the Zanzibar Archipelago and the stunning Lindi region. The route takes in some of best sailing in the Indian Ocean and, for the first three days of the race, it appeared some of the calmest sailing too, with little wind and still seas. Then things changed dramatically, with ferocious gusts and big swells rolling in.
The change in weather resulted in numerous capsizes and battered and broken boats and crew, and with one team diverting course to help rescue three local shipwrecked sailors, with only 13 teams remaining in the main race on the final day. It was Team Village Monde, made up of Canadians Charles and Bastien Mony, a father and son pairing from Quebec, and Gilles Lamire from Brittany in France, who managed to make the most of the treacherous conditions. Their ability to handle the primitive boats in rough waters resulted in them crossing the line as victors, ahead of Team Southern Exposure from the USA, who just pipped British team Krakin' Up for second place.
Jeff Martin
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jeff Martin on 11 January 2019 while on a ski holiday with family and friends. Jeff acted as chairman of the World Sailing Classes Committee and sat on World Sailing's Council for many years and was a respected and valued committee member.
Jeff's dedication to the sport of sailing was unparalleled, having served as the Executive Secretary of the International Laser Class Association for 40 years. Jeff was a cornerstone of Laser events, having worked at every Laser Open World Championship except the first one in 1974 where he was a competitor.
Jeff's dedication and contribution to the sport of sailing will live on in our memories. The loss of Jeff Martin will be keenly felt throughout the sailing world and our deepest condolences go out to Jeff's family and friends.
Featured Brokerage
2008 GP42 - SILVA NEO. 250,000 EUR. Located in Hamble, UK.
Extremely competitive 40 ft IRC and ORC contender. Full inventories for both rule and has had extensive refits over the past two years.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679 222
ben [DOT] cooper [AT] berthon [DOT] co [DOT] uk
-----------------------------------------
2013 Botin 80. 1,550,000 USD. Located in San Diego, CA, USA.
CABRON is now for sale. Formally known as BEAU GESTE, this Botin 80 lacks for nothing. All North sails, B/G wind gear, container FULL of spare gear, she is turn key Call for the massive details
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
William Jenkins
410 267 9419
410 353 7862
-----------------------------------------
1995 Yachting Developments S&S Maxi. 320000 EUR. Located Nr.Naples, Italy.
Extensively refitted beautiful boat with great sailing performances combined with easy handling. The yacht was designed by S&S for offshore racing and cruising in IMS Regulation. She had a major stern modification in 1997, new keel 1997, and new carbon rig 1997.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
GRABAU INTERNATIONAL
Lead broker - Michele Antonini
Tel: +39 333 74 89 281
Email: michele [AT] grabauinternational [DOT] com
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. -- Enzo Ferrari
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