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
International Moth World Championships: Outteridge Wins In Style
The forecast for the final day was for no wind, but it turned out to be a sparkling day with the best breeze of the week. Four races were held in glorious Summer racing conditions, with 10-14 knot winds, leading to very tactical racing.
Gold fleet racing started at 9.30am.
There were a few white-caps on the waves at the start of the final race - fantastic conditions.
The final leg became really unstable with all the leaders dropping off their foils at times. In the end Outteridge knocked in 15 gybes in a band of breeze to win the race by a country mile.
Nathan said about the final race, "It had got a bit soft in that very last race and I actually fell off the foils at the top mark. Josh Mcknight and Chris Rashley gybed in a really good puff, and I managed to gybe, get foiling again and did about 15 gybes down in this one little puff, turned around half-way to see how I was going and no-one was foiling so it was a pretty nice way to finish, to have a really big lead."
On Australia retaining the #MothAshes Josh Mcknight said, "Well I mean that's really all we come to these events for - the Moth Ashes. It's a great trophy to have as it puts emphasis on a bit of team spirit among Australia and England... A-Mac's got a knack for pulling something out of the bag, whether it be new kit or just a stellar result.
Top five, Gold Fleet:
1. Nathan Outteridge, AUS, 23 points
2. Chris Rashley, GBR, 33
3. Josh Mcknight, AUS, 34
4. Scott Babbage, AUS, 51
5. Ben Paton, GBR, 60
Gladwell's Line: America's Cup - Joint Statement Is A Curious Note
The Joint Statement issued on Friday, by four European America's Cup teams, appears to indicate a change of stance in relations between the Defender and Challengers.
Most obvious absence was that of long-standing Challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, otherwise all would have been sweetness and light.
The timing of the statement seemed a little strange coming so soon after the Competitors Meeting in Los Angeles, two weeks previously. A week after the LA meeting, the Challenger of Record for the 35th America's Cup, Hamilton Island Yacht Club, unexpectedly announced that they would be not be entering the Regatta and gave 90 days notice of their resignation.
This latest release seemed by its style to have been penned by Luna Rossa - widely regarded as the heir apparent to the now-vacant Challenger of Record role. They were the first of the Challengers to release a copy to media.
The release opened with the comment that the four teams would support the event regardless of the venue selected.
But they didn't name the venues (Bermuda and San Diego are the two that have been publicly short-listed).
So why the change in position from 'expressing varying degrees of dislike for the two remaining venue choices, San Diego and Bermuda' to 'confirm their full support to to the event, regardless from (sic) the host venue that will be selected'?
Richard's full editorial in Sail-World.com:
www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=124913
Dubarry Ultima - Loved By Sailors
It's hard to love a pair of boots. They either do a job or they don't. Some will have great grip and others will send you crashing down to the deck like some slapstick comedian. Some will keep the water out, others will leak like a pair of bespoke footbaths. Some will breathe to keep you comfortable, others will slowly baste your feet in their own sweat. Some will look great, others like you've just escaped from a circus.
Even if you do find a pair that ticks every box, which looks good, grips well and keeps you warm, dry and comfortable, you'd still struggle to love a boot. Unless, of course, it's a Dubarry boot. Take the Ultima, with its blend of rich, supple leather and durable man-made fibres, the hi tech GORE-TEX® liner that acts like an air conditioner, the award-winning grip of the sole - yes, those are all there, recognised benchmarks of quality, but what you can't see or touch or smell is the soul.
Ultima boots have it in abundance because, like you, they change. They gain experience at sea and improve with age just as surely as you do. That's why sailors love them.
Dubarry Ultima - Where will you go in yours?
Rio Ready To Host Sailing Test Event
The Aquece Rio - International Sailing Regatta 2014 is the first test event of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will take place from 2-9 August from the Marina da Gloria.
With 324 athletes from 34 nations, racing in 215 boats, it is set to be the largest Olympic classes sailing competition ever held in Brazil.
Organised by Rio 2016 and Confederacao Brasileira de Vela (CBVela) in conjunction with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the regatta will test the field of play, equipment, workforce, systems and procedures two years out from the Olympic Sailing Competition.
All five proposed Olympic race course areas will be assessed during the course of the regatta. Three course areas - Ponte, Escola Naval and Pao de Acucar - are situated inside Guanabara Bay with the other two - Copacabana and Niteroi - located outside the bay in open water.
Pae de Acucar, the proposed Medal Race course area with its spectacular Rio backdrop, will be put through its paces from day one.
Come Games Time, a workforce of over 1,000 people are expected to be working on the Olympic Sailing Competition and a key objective of the Test Event is to start developing the skills of the team who will be critical to a successful regatta. The on water race committee teams are one such group and their training programme will get underway under the guidance of International ISAF officials from Brazil and overseas.
www.aquecerio.com/en/competicoes.php
www.sailing.org/2014-test-event.php
2014 29er Worlds Off To A Wet & Windy Start
Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Over 200 sailors in their 29ers hit Lake Ontario for a wet and windy start to the 2014 29er Worlds. The rain never let up but brought lots of breeze in the 20 knot range.
Kurt Hansen and Harry Morton (AUS) fresh off winning the North American Championship last week, sailed a perfect day with a picket fence of 1-1-1-1 in the four races held. ISAF Youth World Champions Brice Yrieix and Loic Fischer-Guilou (FRA) are close behind in second sailing a 1-2-3-2. New Zealand sailors Micah Wilkinson and Jack Rogers sit in 3rd with Wilkinson commenting "We had a good day on the water today with four solid results (5-2-4-2); we had a capsize in the first race which cost us a few positions but all in all it was a solid day on the water."
Tomorrow's forecast calls for clearing skies and 12 knot winds, even though Gillies Munroe from Great Britain said the weather was "Just like home."
Racing for the qualification series continues tomorrow through Wednesday followed by the finals which start July 31 and the prizegiving on August 2.
Top five after four races:
1. Kurt Hansen / Harry Morton, AUS, 4 points
2. Brice Yrieix / Loic Ficher-Guillou, 8
3. Tania Bonilla / Marc Chapon, ESP, 13
4. Zack Downing / Riley Gibbs, SUA, 19
5. Hinnerk Siemsen / Soren Brandt, GER, 22
Full results www.29erworlds.org/index.php/results/
Strong International Presence At Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week
Although it is generally Fastnet start years (every other, odd, year) that attract the greatest number of foreign entries with 46 teams last year, the number of international entries is generally on the increase.
This year there are entries from far and wide including Antigua, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, and the USA.
The Flying 15 class is seeing a bit of a resurgence at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week this year with 12 boats currently signed up including reining event champions, Rupert and John Mander with Men Behaving Badly, and a South African team on Durban Fflyer.
This year's regatta takes place 2-9 August.
Harken Technical and Hardware Support at Cowes Week
Book in with our onsite tech team and get your boat ready to race at Cowes Week, August 2-9.
Need hardware installed? No problem.
Technical consult? We've got answers.
Plus, we'll have a boatload of spare parts available to keep your deck gear primed and rolling.
Sign up now at: www.harken.co.uk
England Rugby Captain Signs For Clipper Ventures
Former England rugby sevens Captain and 2009 IRB Player of the Year, Ollie Phillips has joined the team at Clipper Ventures, the company that owns and operates the unique Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, as a partnerships and development ambassador.
The deal follows Phillips' participation in the GREAT Britain team during the 2013-14 edition of the international Clipper Race which finished in St Katharine Docks next to Tower Bridge in London on Saturday 12 July following eleven months racing round the planet.
Phillips retains the option to join the Great Britain rugby sevens team for Rio 2016, when the sport makes its Olympic debut, should he be selected in either a playing or support capacity.
The former Newcastle Falcons and Stade Francais player took on the Clipper Race challenge after suffering a serious calf injury. The highly competitive sportsman helped take the GREAT Britain Clipper 2013-14 Race team to a 'silver' finish in second place on the podium overall out of the 12-yacht field.
Joachim Aschenbrenner Takes Gold at ISAF Youth Match Race Worlds
Helsinki, Finland: Denmark takes the gold medal in the first ISAF Youth Match Racing World Championship, Australia gets silver, and bronze goes to the USA.
The day started with the semi-finals, both already in the situation of 2-0. Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) was leading Pierre Quiroga (FRA) 2-0, and Sam Gilmour (AUS) was leading Nevin Snow (USA) 2-0.
Aschenbrenner led the race at the first upwind mark and kept that led to progress into the finals.
In the second semi-final match Gilmour took the win and continued to the finals with a result 3-0.
The final was raced to three points, and the petit final to two.
Gold: DEN
Joachim Aschenbrenner
Hans-Christian Rosendahl
Lars-Peter Rosendahl
Sebastian Bennetsen
Silver: AUS
Sam Gilmour
Adam Negri
Jack Breislin
Christopher Smith
Bronze: USA
Nevin Snow
Katia DaSilva
Jacob LaDow
Graham Landy
John Wallace
Final results:
1. Joachim Aschenbrenner, DEN
2. Sam Gilmour, AUS
3. Nevin Snow, USA
4. Pierre Quiroga, FRA
5. Mark Lees, GBR
6. Valerio Galati, ITA
7. Chris Steele, NZL
8 .Tyler Rice, ISV
9 .Markus Ronnberg, FIN
10. Nelson Mettraux, SUI
11. Philip Bendon, IRL
12. Jakob Klitte, SWE
13. Florian Haufe, GER
14. Vladislav Abramov, RUS
15. Slawomir Plichta, POL
Swinoujscie, Poland will hold the 2015 edition of the event.
www.sailing.org/events/youthmatchworlds/index.php
Event Website - www.njk.fi/matchrace/isaf-youth-match-racing-wc/
TP52 Class - Back to the Copa Del Rey MAPFRE
Palma de Mallorca, Spain: Eight TP52 from seven nationalities will compete in the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE in the class Barclays 52 Super Series. The fleet includes the defender of the title, North-American Quantum Racing, recently proclaimed TP52 world champion. They will fly flags from Brazil, United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden and Turkey.
Sailors like Juan Vila, Jordi Calafat, Terry Hutchinson, Ed Baird, Vasco Vascotto, Santiago Lange, Adrian Stead, Gonzalo Araujo, Tomasso Chiefi, Tom Slingsby and Javi Plaza are among their regular crews.
The list of entries includes the defender of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, Doug DeVos' U.S. "Quantum Racing", who also just became the class world champion and is leading the European Tour.
The 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organized by the Real Club Nautico de Palma and will be held from August 2nd to 9th, 2014. 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE - Pre-registered entries Class Barclays 52 Super Series Name, Country, Owner
1. Hurakan, GBR, Giuseppe Parodi
2. Paprec Recyclage, FRA, PH Finance
3. Gladiator, GBR, Tony Langley
4. Provezza 7, TUR, V. Ergin Imre
5. Phoenix, BRA, Eduardo de Souza Ramos
6. Ran, SWE, Niklas Zennstrom
7. Quantum Racing, USA, Doug DeVos
8. Azzurra, ITA, Alberto Roemmers
Safety Is A Consideration Inshore As Well As Offshore
The UK is at the height of the regatta season. The big venues like the Solent are full of classes going around various courses and in less than two weeks Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week begins.
"It's important to check that liferafts, lifejackets, EPIRBs and man overboard equipment are in date and in working order ready for any sailing event," says Ocean Safety's Servicing Manager, Steve Bockett. "The unexpected can always happen."
Most crews are in the swing of it now and with light winds and hot weather dominating the season, it's easy to forget about safety equipment especially when land is always in sight and your nearest rival is racing only a few metres away. It's easy to stay safe with equipment like Ocean Safety's Kru Sport Pro compact lifejacket which is easy to wear whatever your role onboard.
For owners and crews in the Cowes area there is a drop off point at the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, for getting equipment serviced with Ocean Safety. For every product serviced a donation will be made to the charity.
RORC Channel Race
One of the closest races of the RORC Season's Points Championship took place over the weekend with side by side battles right through the fleet of seven classes racing in the 10th fixture of the series. The race started on the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, with the RORC fleet beating into a light southwesterly wind helped on by a positive tide. After leaving the Solent, the wind was enhanced by sea breeze, giving the fleet a tactical dead beat to a DZB buoy south of Anvil Point followed by a run to a virtual mark south of the Isle of Wight, before beating up to Poole. The course then took the competitors around the south of the Isle of Wight bringing them into the finish at Gilkicker vis the Nab Tower.
Harry Heijst's S&S 41, Winsome was the overall winner, the Dutch team claiming their first winner's trophy of the 2014 season, as well as their first win in IRC Four. Winsome had a tremendous battle with Noel Racine's French JPK 10.10, Foggy Dew, taking the victory by just 2 minutes after 24 hours of racing.
In IRC One, Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3, was the class winner, the flying dutchmen are unbeaten in Class One this season.
In IRC Two, Vincent Willemart and Eric Van Campenhout's MC34, Azawakh was the victor, propelling the Belgian team to the overall lead for the championship with three races to go.
IRC Three was won by Pascal Loison's Rolex Fastnet winner, Night And Day, which was also the winner of the Two Handed Class.
The next race in the RORC Season's Points Championship is the longest and toughest race of the series. The 1760-mile Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race starts on Sunday August 10th from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line. -- Louay Habib
Children Sailing In The Optimist Europeans - Whatever Happens To Them?
Anyone looking at the 254 young sailors - mostly thirteen to fifteen year olds - milling around at the closing ceremony of the recent Optimist European Championships in Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay last weekend might wonder what future participation in sailing holds for them writes David O'Brien.
No crystal ball is available but it is possible to research with the help of Google what has happened to their opposite numbers of ten years ago, the participants in the championship of 2004 held in Sandhamn in Sweden. What follows is the result of such research seen by Afloat.ie into a random 20% sample of those sailors.
The percentages found to be competing are as follows:
Year : 2006 / 2008 / 2010 / 2012
Average age: 16 / 18 / 20 / 22
Boys: 85% / 79% / 74% / 62%
Girls: 90% / 80% / 55% / 35%
This study throws no light on why the percentage of females declines so sharply at 18+. It is notable that four of the seven girls in the sample known to be still sailing at age 22 were sailing Olympic Class boats whereas only six of the 21 boys were doing so, but this sample may be statistically too small for such detailed analysis to be valid.
While it is relatively easy to study, as above, the future sailing of a small elite, similar research for larger numbers presents problems.
What does the future hold for our children? No one knows for sure but, thanks to Google, at least we can start to sketch a picture of sailing's class of 2004.
Full story in Afloat: afloat.ie/sail/youth-sailing/
18ft Skiffs 2014-2015 Season Race Program
The Australian 18 Footers League has announced its 18ft Skiff Racing Program for the 2014-2015 Season, which will begin on Sydney Harbour from 12 October.
There are two significant changes to the previous few seasons' racing.
Firstly, the world's premier 18ft Skiff event, the JJ Giltinan Championship will be raced from 13-22 February 2015, while the Australian Championship will return to Brisbane, Queensland for the first time in more than 20 years.
Race dates for the Australian Championship are 20-23 March 2015.
Nominations for 2014 ISAF Rolex World Sailor Of The Year Awards Open
Nominations are invited for the 2014 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, the most prestigious award of recognition in the sport of sailing.
Inspiring individuals and dynamic combinations are nominated each year - from windsurfers, kiteboarders and dinghy sailors to offshore specialists, a nominee's achievements may be an exceptional series of regatta wins, a record breaking passage or a triumph against the odds.
Nominations can be made by anyone and the only criterion for sailors is "outstanding achievement in the sport of sailing" during the qualifying period of 1 September 2013 to 21 September 2014.
Nominations should be sent to ISAF by 19:00 UTC on 21 September 2014 using the Official Nomination Form, available at www.sailing.org/38239.php
Featured Brokerage
2008 Mills 43. Located South Coast UK.
Full refit in 2012, including topsides Vinyl Wrap, full suit of Doyle Sails, and IRC optimization from Mark Mills. She is complete and ready to race anywhere in the world.
Contact:
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679222
ben.cooper@berthon.co.uk
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. -- Oscar Wilde
Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html