Brought to you by boats.com Europe, 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@scuttlebutteurope.com
One Bar Playa Blanca Voted World's Favourite Yachting Bar!
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London, England: The crew at Wight Vodka is proud to announce that the One Bar Playa Blanca in Lanzarote Spain has been voted the world's favourite yachting bar! Together with Scuttlebutt Europe, and now in its fifth year, Wight Vodka ran one of the most important contests the world over, asking our yachting fraternity to vote for their favourite.
This year's contest was again extremely tight between the winning bar and the runners up, including the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, the Bitter End Yacht Club in the BVI, the Oar on Block Island, The King & Queen in Hamble, GB, the Yacht Club Micalvi in Chili, Maddie's Sail Loft in Marblehead, Mass, Schooner Wharf in Key West, and Pier 23 in San Francisco.
Dan Hiza, co-owner of 50° North, the company behind Wight Vodka, said "This contest is by far one of my favourites to run, and the number of votes this year was incredible. The team at One Bar will receive a trophy and bottle of Wight to celebrate their win, as well as a few Wight Vodka regatta caps to show off. Many congratulations and let the party begin!"
Dan continued "We again asked participants to comment about their favourite bar and received thousands of fantastic submissions. Our favourite entries this year include:
- It is a dreamed refuge after sailing in the wildest and toughest area in the world.
- The shot and knot contest is the best: It's where I learned to tie a very fast bowline while increasing my shot drinking speed!
- There are pictures of us doing big, awesome sailing all over the world on the walls!
- Best Gin Tonics and Martinis served by Claudia, the Queen of all the Atlantic Crossers.
- The bar is an old bus and you can dance with just about anyone in the sand.
- Good-natured race-week-ribbing turns to black eyes and split lips late at night.
- You can step into the bar with all your gear and Wellies on, your Leatherman still on your belt and feel absolutely normal.
- The First Lady of the United States loves it there.
- Great pints of Doombar!
- TODO, en especial Claudia!
- Es mi bar.
About the One Bar
Located out on its own arm of the Marina Rubicon in Playa Blanca, One Bar's presence is marked by the red and white lighthouse around the right hand side. The One Bar is the number one choice from local and worldwide sailors alike, boasting more than 300 types of Gin, Rum & Whiskey. No other bar has this quantity and quality in Playa Blanca. For more information on the One Bar please visit them on Facebook!
About 50° North
50° North are the creators of Wight Vodka. The company's spirit and enthusiasm for the ocean, coupled with the centuries-old regatta traditions of the Isle of Wight (and of course a full appreciation of superior vodka!) culminated in the creation of the world's smoothest, 42% ABV potato-based vodka. One sip of Wight Vodka will make a believer out of the most discerning connoisseur, and the company welcomes your joining a unique and elite class.
www.wightvodka.com. Tack & Gybe Responsibly.
Crew Members Airlifted Off Clipper Yacht
Two crew members on Mission Performance who were transferred to hospital in Hobart last night following an accident below decks have left hospital following medical assessment.
Katherine Camilleri (50) from Sydney, Australia, suffered bruised ribs and got back on the yacht today to sail to Brisbane. Derek Furniss (44) from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, sustained a head injury and will rest in Hobart before flying on to Brisbane to rejoin the boat for the start of Leg 5.
The casualties were transferred by helicopter to the Royal Hobart Hospital for assessment before Mission Performance returned to Hobart escorted by Qingdao due to an engine issue unrelated to the incident. Qingdao then left Hobart this morning and is headed back to the exact location of the incident whereby they will recommence racing.
Deputy race director Mark Light said:
"The whole incident was well handled by relevant skippers, crew and emergency services and we wish both casualties a speedy recovery."
Mission Performance and Henri Lloyd left Hobart this morning at 1230 local time. Two crew members from Qingdao have joined Mission Performance to assist the crew.
Laser Radial Youth World Championships
Oman: The melee outside the protest room at the 2013 Laser Radial Youth World Championships on Thursday night told the story of a roller coaster day on the water with both reputations and trophies at stake for the leading contenders.
Italy's Gianmarco Planchestainer, who has topped the Boys leaderboard for most of the week found himself the subject of a protest for making an incomplete penalty turn after hitting the pin end mark while third-placed Sebastien Schneiter of Switzerland was preparing to protest a black flag penalty he received at the start of Race 9, a race he went on to win.
He subsequently withdrew the protest and remained confident he could recover on the final day to win the 2013 championships which will be his last Laser Radial regatta.
Planchestainer was still waiting to discover his fate from the Jury but was less than happy with his day's achievements despite a decent stable breeze that wavered mostly around 8-9 knots.
Racing in the 2013 Laser Radial Youth World Championships finishes on Friday with two final races to decide the championships
Top five girls
1. Monika Mikkola, FIN, 26 points
2. Celine Therese Herud, NOR, 34
3. Line Flem Host, NOR, 36
4. Agata Barwinska, POL, 38
5. Jillian Lee, SIN, 47
Top five boys
1. Benjamin Vadnai, HUN, 39
2. Sebastien Schneiter, SUI, 42
3. Gianmarco Planchestainer, ITA, 45
4. Jonatan Vadnai, HUN, 50
5. Ryan Lo, SIN, 61
Ocean Safety Presents New EPIRB Servicing Solution at London Boat Show
EPIRB-owning visitors to the London Boat Show, which runs from 4-12 January, can discover how to get their life-saving devices serviced quickly and efficiently, and at the same time get valuable advice on EPIRB operation and servicing when they visit Ocean Safety's stand. It's so easy for customers to have their EPIRBs serviced direct at the company's new in-house EPIRB servicing facility.
Ocean Safety's new servicing facility is equipped to perform all manufacturer and regulatory checks and requirements, including battery changes, programming, live transmission testing and leak testing.
Servicing is carried out by the specialist on-site servicing team, experienced in working with the most popular brands of CAT1 and CAT2 EPIRBs, PLBs and SARTs.
The service offer extends to all EPIRBs manufactured by McMurdo, Kannad and ACR. EPIRBs can be dropped off for servicing at any Ocean Safety service station around the UK or at the company's main offices in Southampton, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Plymouth. Call +44(0)23 80 720 800 to get details of your nearest service station.
There is no need to bring the EPIRB to the show. It can be sent to Ocean Safety or dropped into one of the branches at any time.
Franklyn Keith Musto, OBE
On the Queen's New Year's honours list:
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Keith Musto was never happy to accept that being cold and wet were necessary inconveniences of sailing.
"We sailed in Guernsey sweaters and old flannel trousers for years. You got wet and you accepted it. But, as we progressed up the ladder in terms of competition, we realised that this was a problem that needed to be solved."
So Mr Musto went to one or two manufacturers who were making clothing at that time and spoke to them about improving the designs and there wasn't a lot of interest. "So we soon made our minds up that although we didn't know how to make clothing, we'd learn quicker than the manufacturers at the time could catch on to the fact that there was a need and a demand for better clothing. So we started working on what sailors really needed to make conditions better for them."
And Musto has been around keeping sailors - and horsemen and women - warm and dry ever since.
He came to public notice when he won the Silver Medal in the Flying Dutchman Class at the Tokyo Olympic Games with his crew, Tony Morgan.
Franklyn Keith Musto got his OBE for services to the economy.
Early 18th Century Sailing Onboard The Gotheborg
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The modern day Gotheborg got under planning and construction in 1994, ten years after the shipwreck of the original vessel was discovered in 1984. The construction period was long in the gestation since no plans of the original vessel were preserved and the organization for building the vessel, "The Swedish Ship Gotheborg" organization (Ostindiefararen Gotheborg), opted for traditional and historically accurately means of building the vessel rather than deploying modern methods of marine construction and engineering. The vessel was built at one of the four active shipyards in 18th century Stockholm Eriksberg yard at Terra Nova In Stockholm. Her construction cost (including marine archeological surveys and research) is estimated at more than $40 million, half of it procured by the Swedish government and the rest from individual donations and sponsorships.
Gotheborg, world's largest operational wooden sailing vessel today, is a full-rigged, squared-sailed vessel with three masts and three decks and twenty cabins for a total crew of sixty; she has 26 sails, including the studdingsails, made of canvas, and 1,964 m2 total sail area. The mainmast and the foremast have topgallant sails, topsails and courses. The aftermast has a topsail and a Latin type spanker sail. In the bow is the bowsprit with a jib boom, and hanging below that are two more square sails: the spritsail and the sprit-topsail. The hull is 47 meters in length with 11-meter beam, 5.5 meters freeboard and 47 meters air draft.
As a matter of comparison, Nelson's man-of-war flagship HMS Victory launched in 1765 had a hull 57 meters length and about 5,500 m2 sail area.
Gotheborg's next expedition commences in March 2014 from Gothenburg with expected arrival to Quanzhou, China on October 1st, China's National Day.
gcaptain.com/gotheborg-sailing-tall-ship/
Flying Yacht Concept
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Should you fly or take the yacht? How about both. That's the idea behind this audacious concept - a flying yacht designed by Yelken Octuri. The design has the 150-foot long yacht transforming its four mobile masts from sails to wings.
The flying yacht would have a range of about 370 miles.
The yacht has two main decks, a half-deck in the aft and another half-deck in the fore for the cockpit. Access inside the boat is through two doors located above the aft floats. The lower deck features a main room, a kitchen, a toilet and a storage room. The main room's floor is above the sea level, so that the windows can be just above the boat's waterline. The upper deck features three rooms and a bathroom
Octuri's design was commissioned by three Omani princes. No time table for putting the concept into development has been announced. -- Matthew Breen in The Pursuitist
pursuitist.com/flying-yacht-concept/
George Herbert Repass
New England Ropes, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Teufelberger Group, announced today that the company's original co- founder, Herb Repass, passed away recently in Vero Beach Florida.
Herb attended Knoxville schools and the University of Tennessee in 1937 before moving to Rhode Island. There he attended the University of Rhode Island where he met his future bride Peggy, he having the lead in a musical and she in the chorus. He received his BS degree in engineering in 1941 after which he attended a US Navy accelerated course in Naval Architecture at MIT. In August 1942 he became commissioned Naval Officer in ship construction, proudly serving his country throughout World War II.
Mr. Repass co-founded New England Ropes, Inc. in New Bedford Mass. with his friend and associate David Aigler in 1967.
Many of the rope designs developed by Herb Repass are still in use today, combining superior design with the use of today's fiber advancements. Herb retired in 1990 and passed the stewardship of the company to his son, Jay Repass. In 2007, the Repass family sold the company to Teufelberger Group in Austria.
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* From John Rousmaniere: RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine's account of the origins of the Fastnet Race adds welcome detail to what I learned while writing a history of the Bermuda Race, which Herbert L. Stone revived in the 1920s. Weston Martyr returned to England after the 1924 Bermuda Race, announced that ocean racing is "without question the very finest sport a man can possibly engage in," and helped found the Fastnet. When the RORC came into existence, the rule that members must have sailed a Fastnet was relaxed for the father of modern ocean racing, Herb Stone.
Martyr was back in America in 1926 to sail another Bermuda Race, this time in the winner of that first Fastnet, Jolie Brise under E.G. Martin. Her navigator was Herb Stone. Another visionary, Martin said that his pleasure was "the job of going 'all out' for something difficult, believing that one will succeed." No wonder he itched to race on an offshore course offering no nearby harbors of refuge. Simply getting to the Bermuda Race start was a rigorous adventure with a 6,000-mile, 48-day voyage to New London. Martin's book Deep Water Cruising is a classic of sailing literature.
When Olin and Rod Stephens in Dorade won the 1931 Transatlantic Race to England, who was there to greet them at the finish line but Jolie Brise, with her new owner, Bobby Somerset. A year later Jolie Brise was racing to Bermuda when Somerset spotted a flare astern, turned back, and found a burning wooden schooner, Adriana. In feats of astonishing courage and seamanship, Clarence Kozaly at the wheel of Adriana held position as Somerset brought Jolie Brise (under sail alone) close alongside to save ten lives. The only blot on the early years of amateur ocean racing was Kozaly's loss that night.
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