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
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Erwan Le Roux Wins The Multi 50 Class
When he crossed the finish line at 18:13:55 TU/19:13:55 CET / 14:13:55 hrs local this Thursday 13th November Erwan Le Roux (FenetreA-Cardinal) won the Multi50 class of the 10th edition of La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe. The solo skipper completed the 3,542 miles theoretical course in 11 days 5 hours 13 minutes and 55 seconds at an average speed of 13.16kts. In terms of actual miles on the water, Le Roux sailed 4,071miles for an average speed of 15.12knots. Le Roux sets a new course record, beating the 2006 course record of his former co-skipper Franck-Yves Escoffier by 12 hours and 15 minutes.
Erwan Le Roux enjoyed a great duel with his nearest adversary Lalou Roucayrol who finished runner-up in the last edition in 2010. Although they were close for most of the first half of the race, Erwan Le Roux finished with an advance of over 100 miles.
He completes a rare Transatlantic double, adding solo success in this La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe to double-handed victory one year ago when he triumphed in the Transat Jacques Vabre with Yann Elies into Itajai, Brazil. On his way to this keynote victory Erwan Le Roux has shown a solid mastery of all the vital variables required to win, meteorology, strategy, sleep, manouvres, strength and stress management.
After finishing 6th in the 2010 edition of this race, this is Le Roux's biggest solo success.
VOR Fleet Gets All-Clear From Piracy Threat
Volvo Ocean Race's seven-strong fleet are to sail all the way from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi for Leg 2 after the event's security experts gave the all-clear this week following a big decrease in piracy.
In the 2011-12 edition, the boats were shipped from the Maldives to Sharjah during the same stage because of the threat of attack from pirates in the Indian Ocean. They were also transported over the same stretch by the ship for Leg 3.
Since then the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean has decreased dramatically following pan-national intervention and the only activity that has been recorded recently has been in the far west, well outside the route of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet.
Race CEO Knut Frostad emphasised that he and Race Director Jack Lloyd would continue to work with the event's maritime security experts, monitoring the situation on a daily basis.
On paper, the leg is likely to be slightly shorter than first envisaged - up to three days - although the nature of the changeable weather conditions means the spread of potential arrival dates is wide.
The fleet leaves for Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, November 19 for the 6,125 nautical mile (nm) second leg.
Seahorse December 2014
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
The man who launched an industry
Car and yacht designer, fashion entrepreneur, Olympic sailor and a Star World Champion, Pelle Petterson looks back across a remarkable career with Oyvind Bordal
More, more
Job (very) well done... but Rob Weiland is no longer 'just' the TP52 Super Series class manager
World Yacht Race Forum 2014
... Dobbs Davis takes a sneak preview
Sailor of the Month
Just keep plugging away (and you'll get there)
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Glen Keelboat Class Fleet Celebrate Fifty Years Of Sailing
The Glen keelboat. Illustration by Pete Hogan. Click on image to enlarge.
The Glens are celebrating 50 years sailing and racing together as a class in Dublin Bay Sailing Club, writes 'Glenshane' skipper Pete Hogan. As a very successful season draws to a close for the 12 or so Glens in Dublin Bay there seems all prospects that the fleet can continue for a further 50 years.
The story of the Glens is worth repeating. Designed by the celebrated Scottish Marine architect Alfred Milne in 1945 the Glens were built by the Bangor boatyard over the following 20 years. Possibly 39 Glens, at least, were built which gives them claim to be Milne's most successful design and also one of the last of Alfred Milne Senior's designs. The firm still exists. He also designed the Dublin Bay 21's and the 24's which were recently in the news on Afloat.ie
At first the Glens were confined to the North but started appearing in Dublin over 50 years ago. Glenluce G67 celebrated last year being 50 years in the sole ownership of the O'Connor family. They started racing together as a class under DBSC organisation in 1964 and have been racing ever since.
Southern Black Magic Heading To Geelong
Click on image to enlarge.
Graham Mansfield's Black Magic will be much harder to pick amongst the cruising with spinnaker fleet at next January's Festival of Sails. A bingle with a fishing boat at Easter brought the Ed Dubois design out of the water for repairs, at which point Mansfield decided it was a good time to redo the whole kit and caboodle.
Black Magic was black and is now disguised in white. The new paint job was the final stage of a total refurbishment. Prior to the new white coat the boat was stripped right back inside and out, sanded then repainted, and the mast revamped.
Black Magic is a Dubois 40 built in the early 1980s in Victoria for a Sandringham Yacht Club member who had ambitions of qualifying for the Admiral's Cup Australian team. The boat missed the cut and sailed for Ireland instead.
Black Magic has logged many Launceston to Hobart and Sydney to Hobart races. It's a sold ocean-going campaigner crewed mostly by friends; some of those have been with Mansfield for the past decade. "The Festival creates a fair bit of interest back here [in Hobart]," he says. "There's never a shortage of people putting their hand up to race. It's harder finding people for the 1,000 mile delivery there and back of course..."
Racing for most divisions commences Friday January 23, 2015 with the traditional Melbourne to Geelong passage race, and continues over the weekend through to the Monday public holiday for Australia Day, a major Festival draw card that brings the peak of the weekend's estimated 100,000 visitors to the foreshore.
Eileen Ramsay - The Queen Of Yachting Photography
Eileen Ramsay was at the centre of a unique period in yachting history, and this wonderful book, featuring her classic photography, celebrates an extraordinary woman and her extraordinary subjects. Eileen's heyday was between 1950 and 1970 - a time when eccentrics ruled, records were there for the setting, and women weren't often to be found behind the lens.
But Eileen established herself as one of the greatest yachting photographers of her time, taking famous portraits of sailing icons like Francis Chichester and Eric Tabarly, Olympians, including Rodney Pattisson and Keith Musto, and historic pictures from the first Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic (OSTAR) Races.
Her unique archive records the explosive growth in dinghy and offshore sailing during post-war years, and includes pictures of the first Enterprises, Mirrors, Ospreys, Optimists and the first America's Cup 12 metres Sceptre and Evaine.
Eileen, now into her 90s can remember just about every photograph she has taken and relate an anecdote or story about each one. Many of these memories are also recorded in the book.
Eileen Ramsay - the Queen of Yachting Photography, is a spectacular celebration of a pioneering photographer and a fascinating time in yachting history.
160 pages, 123 classic pictures. £25 + postage & packing
southatlanticpublishing.com/er_intro.htm
Industry News
As a result of restructuring recently announced by the ISA President David Lovegrove, the ISA was very sad to lose the committed and loyal services of Ed Alcock and Tony Wright who after many years of dedicated service have left the professional team of the ISA.
Tony was employed by the ISA since June 1997. He joined the Association as the ISA's Training and Development Officer, and latterly became the ISA Training Manager.
Ed was employed since 2007 as the ISA's Racing Manager. His responsibilities included, but not limited to, race management (development and training), race officials (race officers, judges and umpires), racing rules, appeals, tribunals, handicaps, sailing calendar, class associations.
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According to organisers, a handful of open spots remain for the inaugural Atlantic Sailing Conference to be held in Halifax, Canada on November 22.
Presented by Sail Nova Scotia, the event will present a range of workshops of interest to marina operators, dealers and yacht clubs alike, including insurance and risk management issues, developing an Able Sail program, hosting regattas, and increasing youth participation in sailing.
Registration information is available on the Sail Nova Scotia website www.sailnovascotia.ca
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IBI Plus, in association with Dominion Marine Media, is today launching quarterly market index summaries based on Yachtworld.com's renowned YachtWorld Market Index.
In the opening report DMM editorial director John Burnham offers a snapshot of the US and European yacht brokerage markets for January-October 2014, and spotlights the current state of the Spanish brokerage sector.
IBI Plus subscribers can download the report
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The Miami International Boat Show is taking its luxury yachts and crush of customers and setting sail from Miami Beach for a new home farther south on Biscayne Bay.
The new digs: hurricane-battered, graffiti-tagged Miami Marine Stadium.
Starting in 2016 and running through at least 2017, the Boat Show will be hosted outside the abandoned waterfront concrete hulk where speedboats once zoomed and pop superstars crooned. Boat Show representatives declined to answer questions Tuesday about its future beyond 2017, but sources with knowledge of the agreement say the event - one of South Florida's largest tourist draws - could remain at the venue long-term and play a key role in the financing of a $30 million renovation of the dilapidated stadium.
Supporters say the deal confirms the project's viability, and will help nail down a long-term operating contract with the city and rope in big donors who have been on the fence about committing.
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Stagg Yachts appoints Turkish representative and announces hiring of assistant to the class secretary; Sena Akman will spearhead organizing the Turkish fleet while Brady Stagg comes aboard in operational support role.
Stagg Yachts has announced the appointment of Sena Akman as Turkish representative for the Farr 40 Class Association. Akman will report to class secretary Tink Chambers while working to promote the existing Turkish fleet by organizing regattas, procuring sponsorship and establishing one-design control.
Akman will also work closely with Fabrizio Pirina, the Farr 40 European class secretary, in anticipation of the class coming Europe for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. There is strong consideration to conducting regattas in Turkey during those years and it is vital to have support from the local fleet in order to do so.
In other news, Stagg Yachts has also announced the hiring of Brady Stagg as administrative assistant to the class secretary. He will assist Tink Chambers with the day-to-day operations of the class with duties to include overseeing dues, producing one-design certificates, distributing sail buttons, assisting with measurement procedures and updating the website.
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The International Sailing Summit (ISS), taking place on 17 November, will be streamed live online for the first time in the event's history. This worldwide industry forum has never before been as accessible to a truly global audience, with content available at the time and as a resource after the event.
The Summit theme 'Waking up the sailing industry - how sailing needs to modernise, diversify and develop to attract and retain participants' stresses the importance of modernisation and innovation. Organiser British Sailing, a British Marine Federation (BMF) association, is working in partnership with SailRacer and SportsXsream, to utilise the latest in online technology to help share the benefits of the Summit by providing streaming to sailing enthusiasts.
Sailing business around the world will be able to view expert presentations by globally renowned industry experts and sailing stars. This includes Olympic Gold Medallist Iain Percy OBE, Molly Winans of Spinsheet Magazine and Peter Johnstone of Gunboat.
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Gurit (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR), a worldwide leading developer and manufacturer of advanced composites and technologies, announces that Markus Knusli Amacker will leave the company by May 2015. Markus Knusli Amacker joined Gurit in 2007 as CFO and has contributed significantly to the development of Gurit over the past 7 years.
Gurit has initiated a search for the succession and will communicate the succession in due time.
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BoatersTube.com, the website developed to bring boating enthusiasts and the recreational boating industry together through video, announced today it has passed the million videos viewed milestone.
There are currently over 960 videos on BoatersTube.com, that have generated over a million views. The videos provide specific product information to both boating enthusiasts as well as the boating industry. They provide the vital elements of sight, sound and motion, essential ingredients of brand awareness, preference and, ultimately, sales.
"We are certainly proud of this milestone that illustrates the rapidly growing importance of video in our personal and business lives," said Richard Schoen, president, BoatersTube LLC., when making the announcement. "Our industry recognizes the importance as well as is evidenced by the many articles in industry magazines validating the power of online video marketing.
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MUSTO is proud to officially announce their support for Team Vestas Wind. The first-ever Danish boat to compete has proved that minimal time on the water isn't a barrier with the new one-design Volvo Ocean 65 by winning Leg 0 and finishing in 4th place on Leg 1.
Team Vestas Wind are wearing customised HPX suits which, now they've descended into the Roaring Forties, the team have been living in to ensure they can keep physically pushing hard even when facing extreme cold with water constantly pouring across the decks.
Ocean Racing is a fundamental part of MUSTO, who announced their position as official supplier of sailing apparel and footwear for the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. MUSTO's association with the historic race stretches back to 1981/82 when they partnered winning boat Flyer II and they have continued to be involved as a supplier in all-subsequent editions. For the duration of the Volvo Ocean Race, Team Vestas Wind are kitted out in customised MUSTO HPX in navy and orange.
Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
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* From Peter Cook: Sailing - a male-dominated culture and non-inclusive sport?
In Scuttlebutt 3212 Ms Harvey is quoted as stating that there is 'a real need to curb the excesses of this male-dominated sailing culture and it remains a non-inclusive sport'. This could not be further from the truth.
When I was first sailing over 60 years ago many clubs ran annual events that were open only to ladies and some still do; there were no men only events. In many championships apart from the main trophies that were open to sailors of either sex there was also a prize for the first lady helmsman and the first lady crew; as far as I know there were never prizes open exclusively to men.
Sailing, therefore, has a history of discriminating against male competitors by providing some events that are open only to female sailors but not the other way round.
In the Olympic games until the introduction of women's classes in 1988 the sport had been gender-independent and as long ago as 1900 a number of women competed in the yachting events. The introduction of women's classes in the Olympics had nothing to do with allowing women into a male-dominated culture. It is all to do with physical strength in the same way that there are Olympic events for both sexes in many other disciplines. Men and women are different. Long may it remain so!
* From Laurence Mead: All this talk of making sailing a spectator sport and bringing it to the masses, just like F1, despite sailings complications in the number of classes and plethora of events. F1 of course is the pinnacle, easily followed and undisputed as the glamour / peak event. Everything else leads up to that. So what does our our governing body do? It goes and throws another event in the mix (the so called "ISAF Sailing World Cup Final"). In Abu Dhabi, with limited notice and timed to coincide with a huge Abu Dhabi tourist push. Nothing to do with money at all was it?
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The Last Word
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