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
Australia Out Of America's Cup
Another major wobble in the progress towards the next America's Cup came overnight with the announcement in Australia that the lead challenger, Hamilton Island Yacht Club's Team Australia, has decided to pull out after, as Challenger of Record, it had negotiated to rules protocol for the next event, expected to be in 2017.
Commenting on the decision not to proceed with the challenge, Sandy Oatley, son of the Australia Team's founder Bob, said: "When we entered the cup we had the intention of trying to change the cup in many ways. Our position as Challenger of Record gave us the opportunity, through the drafting of the protocol, to affect this change. Central to these changes, was the desire to make the participation in the Cup more affordable and more sustainable." There are, however, also understood to be some family reservations about the extent of any financial commitment. -- Stuart Alexander in The Independent
www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/sailing/
* Peter Montgomery and Rob Mundle spoke shortly after the news broke, listen to the archives at www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/listen-on-demand/
Mundle's discussion: www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/listen-on-demand/
* Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton says it's a shame to lose the Australians.
Dalton says when they won the Cup in 1983 it opened the door to the first New Zealand challenge in 1987.
He says Team New Zealand is on track.
Yachting commentator Peter Montgomery says it's another twist, with Prada and Artemis both having entered the race.
"They are asking now "What? What now?" and my sense is that Oracle will certainly be part of the blame game saying they havent had enough support from the australians and maybe the British challenger as well."
Montgomery says the uncertainty around a date or location appears to be a factor.
"The impression I get is that the Aussies have said the protocol is just too difficult, too hard, still no dates, still no venues etc. they've felt it is just enough so it is really quite another interesting twist in the America's Cup."
Earlier this week, British team boss Sir Ben Ainslie expressed disappointment that the venue was set to be moved from San Francisco.
* Hamilton Island Yacht Club CEO, Iain Murray told Sail-World that the decision to withdraw from the 35th America's Cup was only made in the last 48 hours.
'This challenge has grown to the point where the gap between the commercial side and the competitive costs' are out of HIYC's comfort zone
'The Cup campaign has grown into a far bigger cost and potential risk, with which they are not comfortable.'
'Sponsors want to know where the venues are, and the dates. The gap gets pretty wide trying to get the sponsors to commit against the timeline of the expenditure.' -- Richard Gladwell in Sail-World.com
* "We are very disappointed to be receiving this news," said Russell Coutts, Director of the America's Cup Event Authority (ACEA). "We were excited to have Australia as a challenger and we were also looking forward to the prospect of holding America's Cup World Series events in Australia.
"But our focus going forward is with the teams that have already submitted challenges and the teams that have told us of their intent to do so before the entry deadline on August 8th.
Antix Opens The Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup With Two Bullets
Photo by David Branigan, www.oceansport.ie. Click on image for photo gallery.
Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK: Ireland has not competed in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup since winning the event in 2010, but today on the Solent the defending champions once removed got off to a strong start in the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial flagship event for national teams with amateur crews.
The Emerald Isle has one of the strongest teams competing in Cowes this week, led, as in 2010, by Anthony O'Leary and the Ker 39, Antix, recent winner of the RORC's IRC National Championship. Today's two inshore races were held in light conditions in the southeastern Solent and Antix won both. With additional consistent performances by her Irish team mates, American Marc Glimcher's turboed Ker 40, Catapult, and Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling's Grand Soleil 43, Quokka 8, Ireland now leads the 2014 Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup with a 19 point advantage over GBR Red.
Equally consistent, coming home second and exactly 30 seconds behind Antix in both races, was the Scottish team's Swan 45, Eala of Rhu.
The fleets sail offshore on Monday. The course was yet to be published at press time.
Tour Voile: Full On Day
It was a full-on day on the water Sunnday in Gruissan, France. The M34 has three inshore races on, and with a wind blowing up to 30 knots, there was plenty of action on the race course, with some acrobatic, and even chaotic, boat handling. The top teams performed well, with a win for Groupama 34 and another one for Courrier Dunkerque 3, but after 16 days of racing in this Tour de France a la Voile, the Corinthian teams are also improving. Nantes Saint Nazaire won the third race, and the young crew of TPM Coych finished two races in third place.
The fleet offered a fantastic show on the water today. The local north-westerly wind, la Tramontane, was strong and unsettled and blew from 15 to 30 knots.
Groupama 34 won the first inshore race in front of Courrier Dunkerque 3 and Team Oman Sail. And at the beginning of the second race, Franck Cammas was in the lead again, but neck and neck with Daniel Souben. And in the last downwind leg, Courrier Dunkerque made a better gybe on a more direct course to the finish and crossed the line in first.
The third race was decisive for the two rivals, but it also ended up reshuffling the leaderboard for the other competitors.
Top three:
Overall ranking :
1. Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben, 739 points
2. Groupama 34, Franck Cammas, 720
3. Bretagne - Credit Mutuel Elite, skipper Nicolas Troussel, 693
Offshore leg ranking
1. Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben, 343
2. Bretagne - Credit Mutuel Elite, Nicolas Troussel, 325
3. Team Oman Sail, Sidney Gavignet, 318
Technical ranking
1. Groupama 34, Franck Cammas, 404
2. Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben, 396
3. Team Oman Sail, Sidney Gavignet, 371
Amateur ranking:
1. Normandy - Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet, 620
2. Toulon Provence Mediterranee, Florian Simonnot, 619
3. Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellee, 592
Seahorse July 2014
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Update
Terry Hutchinson loses a rig... but wins a regatta, Peter Holmberg wraps up another successful Caribbean season and James Boyd takes a look at the Ocean Masters Imoca series
World news
New IRC designs shine in La Trinite, young chargers challenge in the Transat AG2R, Loick (Peyron) returns to his roots, a right royal dust-up in Auckland, the return of Big Red, a nice debut for Ran V - and Phoenix - at PalmaVela, the mighty McConaghy 38 and Atlantic Cup success. Blue Robinson, Ivor Wilkins, Patrice Carpentier, Dobbs Davis, Carlos Pich
Paul Cayard
If you’re going to try something new then why not start at the very top of the scale...
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International Moth Worlds: Three Bullets For Greenhalgh
Hayling Island, UK: Racing started around 1pm after the Westerly sea breeze came in. Blue fleet made up for their lost race from Saturday and then sailed two more races in the best of the breeze.
Yellow fleet were too far East to get the full effect of this and only managed a single race in what was a long day on the water for them. The race team moved Yellow fleet further west once Blue fleet were sent ashore, but the gradient and sea breeze were cancelling each other out and racing was abandoned for the day.
Robert Greenhalgh (GBR) was the man in Blue fleet who managed to stay up on the foils more than anyone else. Only top Australian helms Nathan Outteridge and Scott Babbage were able to keep in touch at all with Greenhalgh in the first race of the day.
The overall results to date are tricky to show with the fleets out of sync. Of the Brits, Robert Greenhalgh is looking good with 3 bullets and an 8th and Chris Rashley has 1,2,1 in his three races. The Antipodeans are also looking strong with Josh Mcknight scoring 3,1,3, Scott Babbage with 2,2,3,4 and Nathan Outteridge scoring 3,2,2 after his gear failure before race 1 of the series gave him a DNC.
There are a few more who've been knocking in results in the top ten such as Rob Gough (AUS), Ben Paton (GBR), Andrew McDougall (AUS), Tom Offer (GBR) & Christopher Rast (SUI). With the light winds set to continue into the week, this kind of consistency could well be key to getting a podium result.
The stunning weather does make the racing very watchable from the Hayling Island beach.
The World Championships runs from 19-25 July. -- Mark Jardine, Yachts & Yachting, yachtsandyachting.com
Full results: www.hisc.co.uk
Flying Dutchman Worlds
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Saturday was the final day, and the start time was brought forward to try to fit in two races, but in the event only one was possible as the winds died.
So battle resumed with Hungarians Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos in the driving seat, with a lead of six points. In a mostly windy Championship, they took big leads in windy races, but managed to keep at or close to the front in the lighter and shiftier races too. Their leading challengers in this 42 boat fleet were current World Champions Enno Kramer and Ard Geelkerken, from the Netherlands.
The championships concluded with the Hungarian pair of Szabolcs Majthenyi and Andras Domokos taking first place in the final race and continuing their series of great results throughout the week long regatta.
The next FD Worlds will be in Sydney, starting 5th January 2015.
Championship Overall
1. Majthenyi and Domokos, HUN, 8 points
2. Kramer and Geelkerken, NED, 16
3. Vespasiani brothers, ITA, 21
Full results at scottishsailinginstitute.com
Robertissima Crowned 2014 Melges 32 European Champion
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Riva Del Garda, Italy: Unstable racing conditions did not allow for a final race at the 2014 Melges 32 European Championship making overnight leader Roberto Tomasini Grinover and his Robertissima team newly crowned 2014 European Champions! Aboard with Tomasini Grinover was tactician Vasco Vascotto and crew members Federico Michetti, Giovanni Cassinari, Gunnar Bahr, Simone Spangaro, Steafno Nicolussi and Armin Raderbauer.
A hard fought battle between Richard Goransson's Helly Hansen Inga From Sweden and Valentin Zavadnikov's Synergy GT team has also come to a close, respectively finishing second and third overall. Naofumi Kamei's Mamma Aiuto! finished fourth and Alessandro Rombelli's Azimut by STIG was fifth.
Racing in the fleet for the very first time ever, Claudia Rossi aboard Wilma finished an impressive sixth overall out of seventeen entries.
And with the close of the fourth act of the 2014 Audi-Tron Sailing Series, another examination of the overall Series Ranking is in order. Still on top is Zavadnikov, followed by Mauro Mocchegiani aboard Fratelli Giacomel Audi e-Tron in second, followed by Edoardo Lupi on Torpyone. With only one more event remaining (Genova), Zavadnikov maintains his significant lead, but points remain tight for second through fifth.
Top five after ten races, one discard
1. Roberto Tomasini Grinover/Vasco Vascotto, Robertissima, 22 points
2. Richard Goransson/Morgan Larson, Helly Hansen Inga From Sweden, 27
3. Valentin Zavadnikov/Michele Ivaldi, Synergy GT, 27
4. Naofumi Kamei/Manu Weiller, Mamma Aiuto!, 39
5. Alessandro Rombelli/Freddy Loof, Azimut by STIG, 50
Full Results (FINAL After Ten Races, One Discard)
2014 Melges 32 Audi-Tron Sailing Series Ranking
Panerai British Classic Week Concludes
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK: The final day of racing at Panerai British Classic Week could not have been more exciting as the podium positions for all classes were decided. The Race Committee sent the boats on a lovely course that zigzagged around the Central Solent in a moderate southwesterly wind.
The results went down to count back in two of the five classes.
The 8 Metre result also hung in the balance this morning. In race seven victory went to Christopher Courage's Helen with Murdoch McKillop's Saskia second and David Myatt's Erica third. Overall Saskia won the 8 Metre Class by two points with Helen second and Athena third by a single point.
The Je Ne Sais Quoi Trophy, for the boat with that certain something special as voted for by the competitors, was awarded to James Kelman's 1947 Henry Dervin designed cutter Croix des Gardes.
The Stiff Drink Trophy, a silver hip flask donated by Spirit Yachts, is awarded to the competitor who, in the opinion of the BCYC Committee, got into the most close shaves and therefore needs a stiff drink. This year's winner for a number of close shaves was David Murrin's Cetewayo, a 1955 Laurent Giles 7/8 fractional sloop.
The Lallow Cup is awarded to the best-presented new entrant and this year went to David Messum's stunning 1939 HG May designed Berthon 8 Ton Gauntlet, Nausicaa.
There was absolutely no argument about who should win this year's Seamanship Award donated by Classic Boat. To thunderous applause, the crew of Spirit 52 Chloe, came to the stage to receive the trophy for their outstanding feat of seamanship in recovering man overboard David Pitman in less three minutes, under sail, in very rough conditions off St Catherine's Point during the Around the Island Race.
Full results at www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta
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