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@scuttlebutteurope.com
Clipper Hong Kong To Qingdao
The remaining yachts have all finished racing, with Switzerland, Henri Lloyd, Qingdao, Old Pulteney, Team Garmin, Onedll, Jamaica Get All Right and PSP Logistics all motor sailing towards Qingdao after race 9.1 ended.
OneDLL beat all expectations with a very fast finish in the closing stages of the shortened Race 9.1, knocking Mission Performance off its provisional podium position, beating its elapsed time by only one hour 26 minutes to come in third.
The team crossed the revised finish line at the Shanghai waypoint with an elapsed time of 5 days 16 hours 54 minutes, coming behind first-placed GREAT Britain and second-placed Derry-Londonderry-Doire.
All results remain provisional and the official verified leaderboard for Race 9.1, and updated overall standings, will be published on Friday 14 March.
The Race Office, in consultation with the PSP Logistics team, has proposed the yacht delays its start by 48 hours to Tuesday18 March to provide more time for adequate yacht and crew preparation prior to starting Race 10 across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco.
The team will race on an elapsed time basis to still be able to compete against the rest of the fleet. The remainder of the fleet will still start on the scheduled date of Sunday 16 March.
* Jacket signed Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Dame Ellen MacArthur up for grabs
Celebrating the race's partnership with its official charity, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has donated a signed Henri Lloyd jacket to the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust for auction which has also been signed by its founder - legendary yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur.
All proceeds of the auction will go to the trust which gives young people aged 8 and 24 in recovery from cancer the chance to rebuild their confidence through sailing, working with every young person's principal treatment centre in the UK. To date the Clipper Race has raised over £16,000 for the trust which will contribute in helping the trust achieve its three-year plan to double the number of young people it works with by 2016.
For your chance to bid on and own this unique sailing royalty collectable visit ebay: www.ebay.co.uk/
Alpari World Match Racing Tour Announces 2014 Championship Skippers
London, UK: The Alpari World Match Racing Tour has today announced the eight Tour Card skippers for the 2014 World Championship series. Defending Tour Champion Taylor Canfield (ISV) leads the line up of the world's top match racers alongside four-time Tour Champion Ian Williams (GBR), Keith Swinton (AUS), Bjorn Hansen (SWE), Mathieu Richard (FRA) and Phil Robertson (NZL).
Joining the race for the 2014 title is also one of the challenging teams for the 35th America's Cup, Luna Rossa (ITA).
Francesco Bruni will represent Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli's long term America's Cup challenger Luna Rossa. Bruni, a former Laser, 49er and Star class Olympic sailor, was tactician aboard the Italian team's AC72 catamaran in San Francisco during the 34th America's Cup last year. He has now stepped into the driving seat for their match race training. Bruni competed at the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda in 2013, when he triumphed over Sir Ben Ainslie in the final.
All eight Tour Card Skippers are automatically guaranteed a berth at the six Tour Championship events for 2014. At least an additional four skippers are selected by each event to make up the final team tally.
But the man to beat in 2014 will be defending champion, US Virgin Islander Taylor Canfield. His USone Sailing Team won the Chicago Match Cup in 2013 and a third place at the Monsoon Cup was enough to secure the 2013 Alpari World Match Racing Tour overall and the World Championship title.
Alpari World Match Racing Tour - 2014 Tour Card Holders
Taylor Canfield (ISV) USone Sailing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Sailing Team
Mathieu Richard (FRA) LunaJets
Phil Robertson (NZL) Waka Racing
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Luna Rossa
David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour
Marinepool TEC Fashion Collection - A Perfect Blend Of Function And Fashion
2014 saw the introduction of a completely new TEC Fashion line, designed and produced to the highest standards. TEC fashion is a cross over between functional clothing and fashion, which combines the best of two worlds.
Highly elastic fabrics with quick drying and odour preventing technical features provide unmatched comfort while the garments also protect from harmful UV rays and innovative double weave technology provides excellent moisture management. 3M reflective pipings and patches increase safety. Close fit cuts, high quality materials and a sportive design give the garments a fashionable dynamic look on and off the water.
Marinepool TEC fashion is the ideal outfit for sunny sailing days in the Med, as highly functional mid layers when the going gets tough, or for any performance sport. Performance is closely related to the optimum use of energy and is highest where none of the latter is waisted to cool or heat the body. Marinepool TEC Fashion helps keeping the body climate in balance, transports dampness quickly away from the skin and protects from wind, water and sun for a maximum of power and endurance.
The brand new TEC Fashion collection comprises ultra elastic trousers and bermudas for women and men for ultimate wearing comfort as well as short and long sleeved polo shirts and t-shirts from 4-way stretch fabric. Wind and water resistant 3D designed softshell jackets and vests, made from multi-layer stretch fabric are light weight and super comfortable. The new mid layer jackets and vests combine an ultra light nylon shell with a premium 3M Thinsulate® filling into a warm, water and wind resistant garment that is simultaneously a fashion statement. Last but not least highly functional jackets, utilizing the latest in 3-layer fabric technology protect from anything the weather gods might throw at you.
The new TEC Fashion Collection by Marinepool.
Design. Technology. Passion.
Classic Yacht Symposium
Join us at the Herreshoff Marine Museum May 02/03 for the sixth Classic Yacht Symposium.
The Symposium will include presentations on the Centennial Herreshoff designs: the Newport 29, Buzzards Bay 25, and Buzzards Bay Boy's Boat, also known as the 12 1/2.
The Symposium will include presentations on the Centennial Herreshoff designs: the Newport 29, Buzzards Bay 25, and Buzzards Bay Boy's Boat, also known as the 12 1/2.
The Herreshoff Marine Museum, located in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, is a maritime museum dedicated to the history of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, yachting, and the America's Cup.
The Classic Yacht Symposium celebrates all aspects of classic yacht design, restoration, maintenance and use, featuring experienced presenters to promote professional and amateur excellence. This is your opportunity to meet and connect with this amazing community.
The symposium will be held at Roger Williams University and the Herreshoff Marine Museum.
From Sail-World.com
www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=120007
Register:
herreshoff.org
Larry Ellison Eyeing Honolulu For '17 America's Cup
Larry Ellison sat in the quiet living room of his Woodside home and talked about what comes next, after winning the America's Cup for the second time in September 2013, an epic victory being called "the comeback of comebacks."
His vision for the next America's Cup, detailed in a series of exclusive interviews over several months, involves the staging of regattas all over the world - leading up to the Louis Vuitton Cup, and the main event, the America's Cup, likely taking place in Honolulu.
This competition would be a departure from anything done before, and would mean that - unless negotiations turn around - San Francisco will not be the host city for the next Cup.
While outlining his vision for the 35th America's Cup, Ellison acknowledges that much needs to happen before his plan is a reality, and that Team USA CEO Russell Coutts remains actively - and earnestly - in talks with other venues, from San Francisco and San Diego to Newport, R.I.
Ellison's ideas for the 35th America's Cup advance his goal of attracting a wider audience to the sport of sailing and to the 163-year-old regatta. He called the races of the 34th America's Cup "the most magnificent spectacle" he'd ever seen on the water and believes the regatta has "changed sailing forever."
As for the next Cup, "we're going to start with two years of globe-trotting, Formula One-style racing in AC45s," Ellison said. "AC45s are inexpensive to build, transport, and sail. You can throw an AC45 and its support equipment and chase boats into a couple of containers and ship them to regattas all over the world: Shanghai, Tokyo Bay, Marseilles, the Port of Rome, anywhere." -- Julian Guthrie in SFGate.com
Dana Johannsen: Ellison's Dream Ignores Realities
A lot of [Ellison's] plans had been well signposted over the past couple of months as speculation builds over the shape of the next regatta, but it was the first time we've heard the grand salesman himself spell out his vision and rationale behind it.
Known for his innovation, Ellison typically has some bold plans. He wants to take yachting's greatest spectacle around the world, creating a sustainable world series similar to that of the Formula 1 circuit in motor racing. A similar format was introduced in the lead-up to the last event, but Ellison wants to expand on it, with more teams, more regular regattas and more host cities.
The challengers, of which Ellison is expecting up to 12 (for real this time), would also be split into two divisions - Atlantic and Pacific - with the top two teams in each squaring off in a championship series before moving on to the challenger final.
To keep costs down and ensure the series gets up and running quickly, Ellison wants the teams to use the easy-to-ship, one-design AC45s until the finals, when the new boats would come into play.
It is expected the next America's Cup boat will be slightly smaller and less ambitious in design than the giant, super-fleet AC72 catamarans used in the last edition, but still spectacularly fast with foiling capabilities.
And herein lies the key problem. The proposed structure means the challengers would have to commit resources to designing, engineering and testing the new class of boat knowing there is a chance they may not even get to the big show. If they wait until they have qualified before building a boat, then they've immediately blunted their chances in the final as they won't have the testing and development time in the new boat.
While Ellison may have the resources to throw into building a boat that will never race, commercially funded teams don't have the same luxury. -- New Zealand Herald
Seahorse April 2014
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
My next dream has no rules
Francois Gabart is indeed the man of the moment and now he is involved in launching a new round-the-world race
Strength in depth
... And then some. We look at the impressive resources of Premier Composite Technologies in Dubai
A fundamental shift - Part II
Steve Killing on full flight and wiggle boards
Veni, vidi, vici
Now among the world's most 'winningest' designers, Guillaume Verdier reflects upon his first C-Class experience... with Groupama C
Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2
1yr Print Sub for UK residents: €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
Spindrift Racing Turn To Pedal Power
A bike on a boat? It might sound silly but it is a very serious technical innovation to help Yann Guichard to handle the maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 alone on the next Route du Rhum.
Edouard Touchard, a member of the Spindrift racing design team invented this ingenious system when he was with Franck Cammas' team preparing for the 2010 Route du Rhum. Cammas, the skipper of Groupama 3, won the race a few months later on board his 31.5 metre trimaran. The new mission for Édouard is to adapt his invention for Spindrift 2, which is almost 10 metres longer and has lots more canvas.
Are we talking about a real bike? "Absolutely, it is a regular bike attached to the deck that operates the winches on the same principle as the columns, except that you're using the greater power of the legs and not the arms," says Edouard, the mechanical engineer. "Yann can rotate how he uses them and increase his endurance."
To simplify how it works and optimise its use the majority of the work centred on the transmission ratios. "The bike has two chains," Edouard says. "The first works with a box that allows you to shift gears "even when you do not pedal." On land, you can use the movement of the bike to change the chainring or gear. On the boat, the setting is fixed but you still have to adapt the transmission ratio to the effort required for a certain sail or raising a foil, etc…This box, connected to a single chainring, replaces the cogs and allows you to change gears while pedaling on the spot. Then the second chain uses the force of inertia, which adds efficiency to the movement. It will be like being on spinning bike in the gym, but on the Rhum, the session could last more than a week."
To watch the video: www.youtube.com
Foiling Phantom
The A Class is embroiled in a war of words over whether the one-man catamaran should foil or not. Judging by the quality of the field the class attracted to its recent Worlds at Takapuna in New Zealand, the foils are here to stay.
Now the French are jumping on the bandwagon with a foiling two-man cat called the Flying Phantom which they say allows "amateur sailors to experience the 2013 America's Cup". The concept is based on design work by Martin Fischer and the expertise of Franck Cammas and Groupama Sailing Team.
"After an extensive study of different foils and rudder configurations, we came up with a combination of "L" shaped foils and "T" shaped rudders, providing pitch and heave stability in full flight but also being competitive in light winds," they say. "The carbon/epoxy hulls in combination with a carbon mast built in an autoclave result in significant weight reduction, the increased total beam improves the stability while foiling and a longer mast provides additional power."
Italy's Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Beats Gbr Spinnaker At Monaco
Day 3 and in perfect conditions racing is resumed in the Monaco 2K . Littlejohn and Hebbert of Spinnaker looked set to sweep all aside to make it 5 events in a row, but the decider had yet to be fought.
Quietly Filippo Molinari' s Italian team, ranked second in the World rankings set themselves with precision as they approached the start line. Taking 1-3 on the line the Italians quickly moved to consolidate to a 1-2. Littlejohn sailing with remarkable speed brought the Brits back into contention, but a well executed defence by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda kept the challenge at bay, and allowed Italy to gain the decisive win of the competition.
The Dutch were now served up as the next victim for the relentless Italians but in a series of rule intensive duels Korpershoek and Smit emerged the winner,allowing them to gain a spectacular victory.
With Italy, GBR and Holland all tied it was down to the Germany Italy match to decide everything. sailing out of their socks the Germans dominated to the last few meters, when Italy suddenly ripped victory from the jaws of certain defeat, taking line honours and the first place overall.
First. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda ITA
Second: Team Littlejohn and Hebbert Spinnaker GBR
Third Dutch Match and Team Racing Association NED
For full results 2Kteamracing.com
Next event Cowes UK then Rome.
Storms Reveal 7,500-Year-Old 'Drowned Forest' On North Galway Coastline
Parts of extensive forests dating back 7,500 years that once marked Ireland's Atlantic rim have been spectacularly exposed by the recent storms hitting the west coast. The powerful winds and pounding sea swell which stripped away layers of sand and stone shoreline have revealed patches of a "drowned" forest along the north Galway coastline west of Spiddal.
Walking out on to the shoreline at low tide, geologist Prof Mike Williams points to the oak, pine and birch stumps and extensive root systems which were once part of woodlands populated by people, wolves and bears.
"These trees are in their original growth position and hadn't keeled over, which would suggest that they died quite quickly, perhaps in a quite rapid sea level rise," Prof Williams adds. Up until 5,000 years ago Ireland experienced a series of rapid sea level rises, he says. During the mid-Holocene period, oak and pine forests were flooded along the western seaboard and recycled into peat deposits of up to two metres thick, which were then covered by sand.
Prof Williams estimates that sea level would have been at least five metres lower than present when the forests thrived, and traces of marine shell 50cm below the peat surface suggest the forest floor was affected by very occasional extreme wave events such as storm surges or tsunamis.
Prof Williams has located tree stumps in south Mayo and Clare, along with Galway, which have been carbon dated to between 5,200 and 7,400 years ago at the chrono centre at Queen's University, Belfast. Some of the trees were nearly 100 years old when they perished.
Details at nuigalway.ie/archaeology
From the Irish Times: www.irishtimes.com
Featured Brokerage
2001 Volvo 60. 100,000 Euros. Located in Lithuania.
Considered the lightest and most carefully constructed of the MKIII boats. This is the training yacht, which was not used for the race. Completely refitted for her last project and ready for another lap.
For more information visit www.berthon.co.uk
Contact: Ben Cooper ben.cooper@berthon.co.uk
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
Standing on a street corner waiting for no one is power. -- Gregory Corso
Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html