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
ISAF Team Racing World Championship
Click on image to enlarge.
On day one of the 2015 ISAF Team Racing World Championship, it was the teams of Great Britain and USA who were fighting it out at the top of the leaderboard at Rutland Waters.
With the wind picking up throughout the day, a total of 108 races were completed to make a significant dent in the first round-robin stage, and all the teams have been enjoying the great sailing conditions.
Three teams sit at the top with a win percentage of 92%, the West Kirby Hawks and the Royal Forth Hoosiers of Great Britain and Ladies & Gentleman of the USA.
The West Kirby Hawks are current World Champions, while The Royal Forth Hoosiers are the UK National Champions, so both crews are full of confidence coming into the regatta and seem to be taking that confidence and putting it to good use.
Following close behind are the third British team, BYOB, and the two USA teams, Team Shred and Days of Thunder. The three teams are tied for fourth position with a win percentage of 83%. All the teams will not only be looking to move up in the standings when the regatta continues on Tuesday, but also move ahead of their compatriots for bragging rights.
The nearest teams to the two dominating nations are Bermuda and Ireland who are tied together on a 50% win percentage for seventh position.
The sailing continues on Tuesday at Rutland as the round-robin stages are completed.
29er Europeans
Medemblik/Netherlands: After 4 races in the final series, Gwendal Nael and Pierre Tydgot from France took over the lead of the 2015 29er Europeans in Medemblik, Netherlands. The French pair started this third day of the championship off with two bullets in a row and added a second and tenth. They lead by one point, ahead of Peter Lin Janezic and Anze Podlogar from Slovenia. The British Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling grabbed the fourth and last victory, which lifted them up to the third position overall.
The silver and emerald fleets on the green course completed 3 races, after which the breeze decreased to 3 knots and the race committee had to abandon further racing. The Spanish girls Carla and Marta Munte lead the silver fleet, Cecilia and Catharina Sandman from Finland the bronze fleet and Luis Olivia and Arnou Guillemot from Spain the emerald. The final result from the qualifying series counts as race 8 in the final series. Three last races are planned for tomorrow, the final day of the 2015 29er Europeans.
Top five gold fleet after 12 races:
1. Nael/Tydgot, FRA, 24 points
2. Janezic/Podlogar, SLO, 25
3. Beaumont/Darling, GBR, 26
4. Lamay/Willim, GER, 44
5. Van Dongen/Becker, NED, 45
XS-R
The worklight you should never be without
Exposure's XS-R (red beam) torch is the smallest, brightest, toughest and lightest for its micro size. The 21 lumens red light has an impressive 17m beam distance, is 33g and measures 50x22mm with high and low definition outputs and 6 to 60 hours burn time plus optional rechargeable batteries.
Designed to wear around the neck, XS-R is great for on deck jobs, night trimming and working in dark spaces whether you are searching in lockers or fixing the engine! Maintaining night sight is critical especially when navigating through channels and traffic at night. The XS-R reduces risk of losing that essential nocturnal vision.
Ian Walker, Skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team, says "This little light is my favourite piece of equipment. It's so useful, it lives around my neck day and night for the entire race. The red light allows you to work without disturbing your crew, or anyone else's night vision. Even in daylight it's useful down below decks. You never know when you are going to need it. With the little XS around your neck it is always ready for you but never gets in the way."
More XS-R information and contact Ocean Safety for dealers.
Transpac Course Record Smashed By Lending Club 2
The 105ft trimaran Lending Club, which elected to leave Long Beach ahead of her scheduled race start, has completely smashed the course record for the Long Beach to Honolulu.
The crew crossed the finish line at 1544 UTC giving an elapsed time of 3 days 18 hours and 9 seconds.
The mark is subject to ratification from the World Speed World Sailing Speed Record Council, but reduces the previous mark by 24 hours.
Lending Club 2 was formerly Groupama 3, and Banque Populaire VII. Under skipper Franck Cammas she set a new circumnavigation record in 2010 sailing around the world non-stop in a then record time of 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes and 52 seconds, earning them the Jules Verne Trophy.
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:
Ian Walker (GBR)
'For keeping us entertained with his head rubbing for 9 months' - Maria Perkins; 'A huge job that paid off... finally!' - Piret Salmistu; 'Total commitment and endless determination to succeed in winning this race' - Tim Robinson; 'The crown on an already impressive career' - Rob Weiland; 'If at first you don't succeed...' - Charles Darbyshire; 'For Ian this has been a long time coming' - Matt Sole; 'Man, did he work hard for this (and a top bloke)' - Blue Robinson; 'There is only one winner here' - Chris Mason.
This month's nominees:
Neil Cox (AUS)
From the moment that Vestas Wind hit a reef in the Indian Ocean until the boat was relaunched in Portugal Vestas shore-manager 'Coxy's' feet barely touched the ground. This hugely experienced Australian first had to talk his crew off the reef while sorting a complex salvage operation, then undertake a thorough damage survey 'at the coal face', execute a rebuild plan and then get his boat across Europe during public holidays
Charlie Enright (USA)
In the end Enright's young and relatively inexperienced Volvo team won two In Port races and then took the prestigious final offshore leg into Gothenburg. Before the race few expected much of this enthusiastic but largely unknown campaign and yet in the final analysis Alvimedica finished tied with the hugely experienced Spanish Mapfre entry and only one point adrift of mid-race superstars Dongfeng
Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Musto, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!
Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month
To subscribe to Seahorse Digital £30 for one year with discount promo code SB2 click www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital
For The Record
The WSSR Council announces the establishment of a new World Record.
Record: Monohull 24 hour record
Yacht: "Comanche" 100 ft Monohull
Name: Ken Read USA and 20 crew
Dates:. 10th to the 11th July 2015.
Start time: 05.30 on 10/07/15
Start position: 43.62228N. 40.6599W
Finish time: 0530 0n 11/07/15
Finish position: 44.79027N. 26.3646W
Elapsed time: 24 hours
Distance: 618.01 M
Average speed: 25.75 kts
Comments: Previous record: "Ericsson 4. Torben Grael. BRA. 596.6M. 24.85 kts
America Replica Begins Tour, To Visit Bermuda
A replica of America, the namesake yacht of the America's Cup, is getting set to tour the east coast next year, including a stop in Bermuda during the event itself.
The tour is being undertaken by Troy Sears of Next Level Sailing, who is currently touring the west coast, including stops in yacht clubs in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
The Next Level Sailing website says, "In 2003, long-time San Diego Yacht Club member, Troy Sears and his business partners purchased two International America's Cup Class [IACC] racing yachts from legendary America's Cup Skipper, Dennis Conner.
2015 ISAF Rolex World Sailor Of The Year Nominations Invited
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and Rolex are pleased to invite nominations for the 2015 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, the most prestigious award of recognition in the sport of sailing.
First presented in 1994, the nominees and winners have always included the highest achievers from all disciplines of sailing. From record breaking passages, exceptional performances or a triumph against the odds, the Awards celebrate inspiring individuals and outstanding teamwork each year.
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 2014 and 31 August 2015.
Nominations should be sent to ISAF by 19:00 UTC on 2 September 2015 using the Official Nomination Form, available at www.sailing.org/40427.php
The winners will be announced at the Awards dinner on Tuesday 10 November in Sanya, China the host city for the 2015 ISAF Annual Conference.
Launchings
Infiniti Yachts and Dynamic Stability Systems (DSS) have entered into an agreement with Farr Yacht Design to design the new Infiniti 53 racing yacht. Design work and preparation of builder quote packages and pricing for the yacht is proceeding quickly to be ready for a construction start this autumn.
The partnership will significantly advance the performance of yachts in the mid-50ft range.
A stunning easy sailing carbon fiber yacht. She is also a solar friendly one thanks to the highly efficient solar panels on the deck and the low consumption components as assembled on board.
DSS is a retractable foil that is deployed to leeward on a yacht. This foil creates lift to leeward, thereby increasing righting moment
Using a DSS foil also reduces a boat's displacement and, in turn, its hydrodynamic drag, while offering further benefits of reducing bow burying and pitching.
Farr Yacht Design is excited by the performance benefits available from DSS and felt it would be beneficial to both parties if they teamed up. It has already designed canting keel yachts like IMOCA 60s with foils that provide some vertical lift.
Fitting DSS has proven to be the single greatest performance-enhancement one can make to a racing or fast cruising yacht. Many performance or racing yachts are now benefitting from DSS turbocharging, including multiple Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race winner, Wild Oats XI, and a new series of Quant Boats in Switzerland.
The Infiniti 53 will be a slightly larger, modernised version of the Farr-designed canting keel Cookson 50.
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Just launched in La Rochelle, France this week is a new 36' (11 metre) double-handed, offshore J/Boat designed to compete in the double-handed IRC circuit in Europe. Built by J Composites, the J/11S starts with the high performance hull of the J/111 and is then rating optimized for its length (from IRC 1.096 down to 1.050) with a shorter VCG optimized sail plan, increased stability, a twin rudder/single tiller steering system, and simplified deck and interior plan.
While most designs in this genre are focused on offwind sailing in windy conditions (i.e. max beam carried to the transom), the J/11S provides a versatile performance platform that's ideally suited for most of the popular double-handed races in Europe and North America, where wind and sea conditions vary widely, and where both upwind and downwind performance matters.
There will be the world show debut of the J/11S at Southampton Boat Show in September.
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The latest Van Munster-built boat is "Young Guns", which is a brand new FB35 lightweight, carbon fibre Club and Offshore coastal racer. The FB35 was designed, engineered and built in Australia and the first boat is commissioned for Bruce Herbert to sail with his young family, and after sea trials and commissioning will be shipped to its home in New Zealand.
Brett says: "The FB35 is designed to be a fast club racing yacht, race week friendly, and a coastal passage rocket. Fred Barrett's design approach is simple: high ballast ratio, reasonable draft, generous appendage area, modern sail plan all set on a high tech, lightweight fuselage to deliver a modern boat that is fast and fun".
"The light weight flier is super responsive and very well balanced which makes it easy and exciting to sail. Unlike most modern racers of this size, the FB35 features a cabin with full standing head room. This was an important design component for Bruce Herbert as it provides his family with some protection from the elements and gives versatility for offshore and overnight outings".
"The FB35 incorporates all the benefits of a Grand Prix build approach. It has light displacement, high ballast ratio, high righting moment, forgiving appendage area and a modern sail and rig platform into a well-priced modern race boat. The design aim is to promote the concept of fast sailing, without the need to adapt to variable ballast".
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Atalante is the largest in the Truly Classic range to date and built in accordance with MCA LY2 regulations. Combined with her highly optimised performance, she'll be able to complete in the Superyacht Cup and Spirit of Tradition regattas as well as being enjoyed privately. And, like all Truly Classics, behind those traditional looks are the very latest technologies and innovations.
The next stage of the project is to step the mast and add the rigging. But you can already see another striking visual aspect of Atalante in the form of her deck layout. This includes both a private owner's cockpit aft and a guest cockpit and deckhouse amidships, an instantly recognisable Hoek Design feature.
The Claasen craftsmen are now putting the finishing touches below decks to a classic interior with raised and fielded panelling, white painted panels above wainscot level, and a range of other classic details.
claasenshipyards.com/atalante-sees-the-light-of-day/
Featured Brokerage
2013 Vismara V47 Indigo. 480.000 EUR. Located in Italy.
A stunning easy sailing carbon fiber yacht. She is also a solar friendly one thanks to the highly efficient solar panels on thee deck and the low consumption components as assembled on board.
Contact
info@vismaramarine.it
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. -- Albert Einstein
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