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
Loick Peyron Taking The Helm of the Maxi Banque Populaire for the Rhum
Armel Le Cleac'h, who seriously injured his hand and has been forced out of the 2014 Route du Rhum, will be replaced in the solo transatlantic race by Loick Peyron.
The sailor from La Baule, who was forced to retire from the 2008-2009 Vendee Globe after dismasting (Gitana Eighty), is also a multihull expert having won the Jules Verne Trophy on the Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V in 2012. Seizing this latest opportunity after a trip aboard the Maxi Trimaran, Loick is enthusiastic about the challenge he will face, when he lines up at the start of the famous transatlantic race with the trimaran which won the last edition (Franck Cammas's former Groupama).
Armel Le Cleac'h, who has fully got to grips with the boat will be accompanying Loick Peyron as he prepares for the race, offering his solo experience after four transatlantic races and two records aboard the Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire VII. Forced to remain ashore, Armel will then be focusing on the construction of his new Banque Populaire monohull for the 2016-2017 Vendee Globe.
ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Notice Of Race Released
The Notice of Race for the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates has been released.
All ten Olympic events will be contested in Abu Dhabi from 26-30 November, with an open kiteboarding event joining the fray around Lulu Island off the UAE capital's stunning Corniche.
With just 20 boats in each event the competition is set to be fierce. Equipment will be supplied in eight of the ten Olympic events (RS:X sailors shall bring their own equipment) and support will be available for travel expenses and accommodation.
The ten Olympic events will contest an opening series and a Medal Race with the kiteboard fleet using a short track format. Prize money will be in awarded to the top three overall finishers in each of the Olympic events from a total prize purse of US$200,000.
The qualification system for the 2014 Final was published on 30 July 2014 and is included Addendum A of the Notice of Race. The first sailors to secure their place will be confirmed at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander where the top ten in each event will be offered a place. The highest place non-Asian finisher and highest placed Asian finisher at ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao will also qualify with the remaining spots awarded based on the ISAF Rankings and wild card entries.
2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup
Melbourne - 7-14 December 2014
Miami - 25-31 January 2015
Hyeres, France - 20-26 April 2015
Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain - 8-14 June 2015
www.sailing.org/worldcup/home.php
Chicago Match Cup to Feature 12 Top Teams and $75,000 In Prize Money
Chicago, USA: In just two weeks, the Chicago waterfront will once again come alive with high-intensity match racing for the Chicago Match Cup, the highest-graded match race event in the US and the only US stop on the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT). From Wednesday September 17th through Sunday, September 21st twelve teams from nine nations will battle for their share of the US$75,000 prize money purse as well as for valuable points on the AWMRT World Championship year-long series.
Six of the twelve teams that will sail in Chicago have Tour Cards, and as regulars on the AWMRT they are also competing for a share of the US$500,000 Tour bonus fund throughout the seven-event series. The other six teams earned entry to Chicago Match Cup by winning Tour Qualifier events or were selected as Wildcards. This year's line-up includes eight of the top ten skippers in the ISAF Match Racing World Rankings and Wildcard entry Tom Slingsby, an Olympic Gold Medalist and strategist for the successful defense of the 34th America's Cup- Oracle Team USA.
One of the favorites among the Tour regulars is the reigning World Champion and 2013 Chicago Match Cup winner, Taylor Canfield and his Team US One. Canfield, who is originally from the US Virgin Islands, sails with Rod Dawson (NZL), Hayden Goodrick (NZL) and Mike Rehe (USA) - the same team he won this event with last year.
Although Canfield currently lies in third place on the Tour Leaderboard his several years of experience and hundreds of hours in Chicago's TOM 28 class boats and his former position as the Sailing Director of the CMRC give him an edge. While no longer in Chicago full time, just a few weeks ago Canfield and team US One returned to Chicago and demonstrated their prowess on their home turf by winning the CMRC's Grade 2 Chicago Grand Slam with an impressive 19-3 winning record.
www.wmrt.com
www.ChicagoMatchRace.com
Seahorse October 2014
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
A most remarkable man - Part 1
Blue Robinson sits down with fellow Finn class alumni Iain Percy, Ben Ainslie and Anthony Nossiter to pay tribute to close friend and confidante Bart Simpson
Caribbean racing circuit
Former Alinghi helmsman and champion match racer Peter Holmberg gives his own unique insights and guide to a successful winter season
The Holy Grail (of sail materials)
UK Sailmakers are upping the innovation stakes with the introduction of Uni-Titanium...
(A fine) case study - Part 2
Ran 5 build manager Jason Carrington moves on to look at systems, foils and final detailing
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Etchells UK Nationals
15 experienced Etchells teams are gathering at the WPNSA to race in Weymouth Bay this weekend, while Saturday's weather forecast looks light and shifty, Sunday's breezes are set to be moderate and more stable.
Who is likely to win, could be anybody's regatta, Nils Razmilovic the last winner is back to defend his trophy, but the class has moved forward over the last year having been influenced by this years Worlds and an increase in coaching in the fleet. New teams skippered by Peter Rogers and Jeremy Thorp have joined the class, Robert Elliott and Richard Burrows have been putting in good results, so has Shaun Frohlich, Rob Goddard and David Franks, all three winning class championships this year, and Nick Stagg is bouyed by his first ever class championship win, winning at Cowes week this year, we then have Gert Zandt from Holland and Graham Ellis from the Mersey both unknown quantities.
As well as the overall champion, the ISAF CAT1 crewed Etchells will be sailing for a new trophy, dual scoring will apply throughout the regatta and all results will be counted towards the Cowes Fleets 2014 league table.
The Nationals is the first of two events in Weymouth this year being run as test events towards the Etchells World Championship in 2016 that is being held at Weymouth, and next weekend being held over 3 days is the European Championships when more boats are set to join the racing.
raceqs.com/regattas/etchells-uk-nationals
'New' Tore Holm J-Class In Build
A collaboration between the Amsterdam-based Tiger Jay fashion company and North Sails in the USA, Tiger Jay (J11) is named after North Sails founder Lowell North's penchant for naming his professional sailing associates "tigers". Ken Read, current president of North Sails, is a J-Class aficionado and skipper of JK-6 Hanuman.
Tiger Jay is in build at the Bloemsma yard using Hoek drawings based on the original Tore Holm lines. Computer modelling at Hoek Design predicts she may be one of the fastest Js ever built. Her design is pure Scandinavian elegance with a flush, uncluttered deck, low-profile 'blister' deckhouse and minimalist racing interior. When her aluminium hull is complete, she will follow the journey of several other modern Js, past windmills to Claasen Jachtbouw by barge for fitting out. At 136ft (41.5m) she will be one of the longest in the fleet. Mast and rigging will be from North Sails and partners.
The Tiger Jay company hopes its flagship will launch in the first half of 2015, in time for sea trials and the regatta season. But there are still hoops to jump through, including final approval of the build by the J-Class Association.
Nine Hot Yachts at Southampton
This year's Southampton Boat Show has more new sailing boats on show than the past few years combined, promising more of a buzz to the event and plenty of hot yachts to look at.
Granted, not all of the boats are brand new models, however, often it's the mark 2 version of any model that's the most desirable and is the one in which all the little touches that can collectively make a big difference to the on-board experience have been sorted out.
Rupert Holmes' picks:
Discovery 55 MkII
Rustler 37
GT35
Beneteau Oceanis 35
Huzar 28
Archambault 27
Bavaria Easy 9.7
Legend 37
J/97 Evolution
Photos, details, the full article on boats.com:
uk.boats.com
RYA Membership Survey Results
After three months of surveying members, lapsed-members and non-members the results of the biennial RYA Membership survey are now in.
"The membership survey provides us with a crucial insight into what the boating community feels about RYA membership, members' attitudes towards membership and potential ideas for the future, all of which contribute towards shaping the RYA membership offer and help us develop plans for membership growth", explained Conor Swift, RYA Membership Development Manager.
Of the thousands of survey respondents 41% stated the main reason they joined the RYA was due to the RYA's globally recognised training, certification, personal and professional qualifications, followed by almost a quarter (24%) stating they joined to add their voice to the existing 102,000 members to ensure legislators, regulators and other authorities understand, and take account of, recreational boating activity.
When asked what the single most valuable benefit of RYA membership was 25% of respondents stated access to advice, information and knowledge from RYA experts.
A (Polite) Plea For Simplicity
TP52 class manager Rob Weiland cautions against the ever growing complexities in the sport...
When you sift through the current rules it is like reading a history book. All the clever ideas that once were judged to need a ban, a rule patch, or the opposite, as in making a new accommodation, have seen the rules grow ever longer and ever harder and more complex to digest.
Some ideas, judged at the time as clever, have not survived to the 21st century. A few still have a place in some rules and again not in others. I remember a discussion in 2012 about jibs with more than one clew, a quadrilateral code-0 type sail that Hugh Welbourn had recently reinvented. I remember a rule in IMS about not permitting two jibs in a luff groove device unless changing sails: 'No jib may be set in conjunction with any other sail so as by any means to simulate a double clewed or double luffed jib.' Still present in PHRF and indeed in the TP52 Rule!
A complication is the choice to combine various rules, like RRS, ERS, OSR with the class and event specific rules. All great stuff for those with an interest in rules, a good memory and possibly who are more fond of reading than of sailing. It is the only way to come to some kind of standardisation in the rules that govern our racing, but it can drive you mad as these rules never stop changing… and then it becomes 'spot the mistakes' in your class or event regulation.
Full article in Seahorse magazine:
seahorsemagazine.com
$10,000 RACE To Alaska - Paddle, Row Or Sail
Long distance rowers, paddlers and sailors will compete next summer in a first-ever Race to Alaska that offers a $10,000 prize - and no fuel bill.
The Northwest Maritime Center, based in Port Townsend, WA, has begun accepting applicants for the unique, non-motorized, 750-mile marathon scheduled to begin next June in Port Townsend.
The cash prize of $10,000 will go to the first competitor to reach Ketchikan without the aid of an engine, according to Maritime Center executive director Jake Beattie. "It's kind of a Gold Rush thing," Beattie says. If you get there first, you win ten grand."
The Race to Alaska is scheduled to begin June 4, 2015, on Port Townsend Bay, with a 40-mile first leg to Victoria, BC. Any paddler, rower or sailor is invited to participate in that leg without committing to the full race to Ketchikan.
Racers who complete the first leg without assistance will qualify for the full race, scheduled to begin the following day.
Contestants will not be allowed to have any kind of motor on board - neither gas nor electric, Beattie says. There is no limit on the number of crew, but no substitutions will be allowed. To qualify for the prize, racers must be on board for the entire race.
Peter Mccrea As The First Recipient Of The New Vertue Award
Doug & Dale Bruce, Ocean Cruising Club Regional Rear Commodores, USA NE, announced at the 60th Anniversary Maine Rally that the OCC in North America is instituting a new award to be called the "Vertue Award" in honor of Hum Barton and his creation of the Ocean Cruising Club. It is to be "given to the OCC member in North America who best represents club founder, Humphrey Barton, through sailing achievements or service to the club and cruising community."
Hum Barton was a living symbol of the strong friendships between cruisers from Great Britain and those from North America. He created this marvelous club and a legacy that we shall always cherish. Peter McCrea of Thomaston Maine was chosen as the first winner of the Vertue Award.
Peter fulfils all the criteria. He has been an OCC member for 21 years, having qualified in 1990 on a passage from Norfolk VA to Virgin Gorda BVI. His sailing CV includes the entire US East Coast from Maine to Key West; Bermuda - many times; an Atlantic Circle in 1994- 95; the Eastern Caribbean in 1991 & 95, the Bahamas in 1999; Nova Scotia along the South Coast to Cape Breton in 2000. Plus eleven Bermuda 1-2 races, every other year from 1987 to 2013, sailing single-handed to Bermuda and 2-handed on the return to Newport.
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The Last Word
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