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
Copa Del Rey MAPFRE Reaches Cruising Speed
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
The competition program of the 34 Copa del Rey MAPFRE is progressing at a good pace. Today the wind tested the Race Committee's ability, but it finally blew with enough strength and all classes managed to fulfil the scheduled program. H.R.H. The King competed in the coastal race in BMW ORC 1 on board "Aifos". The Real Club Nautico de Palma will host tonight the traditional Owners' Dinner- BMW White Party.
Palma de Mallorca: Today it was a busy day on the 34 Copa del Rey MAPFRE. The BMW ORC 1 and BMW ORC 2 sailed a coastal race, and the other classes two windward/leeward races. The Air Europa X-35 and Herbalife J80 returned to the RCNP with eight races sailed in their scoreboard, therefore the teams from both classes can discard their worst result of the week. The wind finished blowing stronger than in the three previous days reaching up to 17 knots, although it delayed the first start for several classes.
The leaders at the end of the fourth day are: American "Ran V" (Gaastra IRC 0), Japanese "Mamma Aiuto" (Rías Baixas IRC 1), German "Platoon" (TP52 Super Series), Portuguese "Bigamist" (Singular Kitchen Soto 40), German" Elena Nova" (BMW ORC 1), and Spaniards "L'Immens" (BMW ORC 2), "Red Electrica de España" (Air Europa X-35) and "Ono Polaroid Tressis" (Herbalife J80).
All classes will sail tomorrow windward/leeward races in the fifth day of competition. The first start of the day is scheduled at 13h00. The first race of the day will allow discards in all classes except for the TP52 Super Series, the only class which doesn't apply discards in this edition, which could overturn some classifications.
The tribute to Portuguese Pedro Mendonça, owner of "Bigamist", who passed away this year, will be the emotional moment of the day.
The 34 Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organized by the Real Club Nautico de Palma and is held until Saturday, August 8th.
NYYC Team Racing Championships
August is team-racing season at the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court, in Newport, R.I. Over the course of three weekends, the Club will host a trio of prestigious team racing regattas featuring teams from some of the oldest yacht clubs in the country. The competitors will include Olympians, world champions, college sailors of the year and numerous collegiate All-America selections. The racing will use the Clubs fleet of identical Sonar sailboats (designed by NYYC member Bruce Kirby), which will each be crewed by three or four sailors.
While there is no official U.S. national championship for keelboat team racing, these three events are held in very high regard throughout the team racing community.
Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Morgan Cup, August 14 to 16
Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy, August 21 to 23
The Grandmasters Team Race Regatta, August 29 to 30
Competing Clubs
(M = Morgan Cup, H = Hinman Trophy, G = Grandmasters)
Annapolis (Md.) YC (G)
Balboa (Calif.) YC (M)
Beverly (Marion, Mass.) YC (H)
Eastern (Marblehead, Mass.) YC (M, H)
Eastport (Annapolis, Md.) YC (M)
Hampton (Hampton, Va.) YC (G)
Indian Harbor (Greenwich, Conn.) YC (H)
Larchmont (N.Y.) YC (M)
Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.) YC (M, G)
New York YC (M, H, G)
Norton (Darien, Conn.) YC (H, G)
Royal Thames (United Kingdom) YC (M)
Seawanhaka (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) CYC (M, H)
Southern (New Orleans) YC (M, H, G)
St. Francis (San Francisco) YC (H, G)
Texas Corinthian (Kemah, Texas) YC (H, G)
Dubarry Crosshaven - 'Race Face' Protection
It's pitch-black. We're on the wind halfway across the Irish Sea, heading for 'The Rock' in a Force 6 - and it's building. On the rail we might look like a troop of Japanese snow monkeys on valium but we've huddled into something like comfort when skip calls the headsail change we've been dreading for the last five minutes. Three minutes later I'm clipped on with my feet on the leeward toerail with an armful of changed foresail when a wave engulfs the foredeck. The water clears and I'm still onboard thanks to the combined efforts of my tether and the stanchion lodged in my crotch. Lucky me.
Sail change over I'm back on the rail but my feet are cold and wet and my enthusiasm for this caper ebbs quickly away, unlike the sea water - the boots were still wet a week after the finish in Plymouth. It's 1989 and, though the stylishly weathered Shamrock boot is much in evidence, the Crosshaven is but a dream. Had I been wearing Crosshavens, the gaiter and drawstring would have kept my feet dry and my race face on. Funny how something so simple can be so incredibly effective.
Dubarry Crosshaven - Born at sea
Lysekil Women's Match
World #4 Stephanie Roble of the USA didn't only win the round-robin stage of the Lysekil Women's Match, but she and her Epic Racing Team also made it in a very stylish way. 11 wins and no losses is certainly a result that speaks for itself:
When the round-robin stage of the Lysekil Women's Match, the 2nd event out of four on the 2015 WIM Series, concluded Thursday, Stephanie Roble was alone at the top with all her matches won. But when racing World #2, local hope Anna Ostling, it was really close to a defeat for the American match-racing ace. The spectator crowds on the cliffs of Slaggo Island got a truly breath-taking show, practically within arm's reach/
Lysekil Women's Match continues Friday with quarterfinals, and then Saturday with semi finals and final.
Round-robin results in Lysekil Women's Match, the 2nd stage of the 2015 WIM Series, (name, nationality, wins - losses). The top 8 skippers advance to quarterfinals:
1. Stephanie Roble, USA, 11 - 0
2. Camilla Ulrikkeholm Klinkby, DEN, 10 - 1
3. Anna Ostling, SWE, 8 - 3
4. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 7 - 4
5. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 7 - 4
6. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 5 - 6
7. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 4.5 - 6
8. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 4 - 7
9. Annabel Vose, GBR, 4 - 7
10. Juliana Senfft, BRA, 3 - 8
11. Johanna Bergqvist, SWE, 1 - 10
12. Sanna Hager, SWE, 1 - 10
www.lysekilwomensmatch.se
www.wimseries.com
Volvo Ocean Race Heads for Fifth 'Ocean' at Sail Amsterdam 2015
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: The Volvo Ocean Race heads for its fifth 'ocean' during SAIL Amsterdam 2015, to be held from August 19 to 23, when Team Brunel provides a centre point for the giant nautical show.
The SAIL Amsterdam event is divided into five 'ocean' areas, each with its own theme. Dutch boat Team Brunel, which won a hard-fought second place in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 finishing on June 27, will be berthed in the Green Ocean, which represents sustainability, technology and innovation.
The team base and the Volvo Ocean 65 cross section, which was visited by nearly half a million during the nine-month race, will give the audience a glimpse of the most extreme sailing event for crews around the world.
After sailing in the race for nine months, covering four oceans, five continents and 38,739 nautical miles, Team Brunel and its Sailing Holland organising team join numerous international Tall Ships to form the backdrop of 2015 SAIL Amsterdam, the largest public event in the Netherlands with around two million expected to visit.
The cross section of a real one-design Volvo Ocean 65 is located next to the home of Team Brunel. The eight Brunel sailors and Onboard Reporter, Stefan Coppers, braved the oceans with this 65-foot/19.8 metre-long boat.
The cross section offers visitors to SAIL Amsterdam the chance to experience life in a Volvo Ocean 65. They can get a taste of what the Team Brunel sailors called home for nine months, racing around the planet.
Extreme Sailing Series Announce Sydney As Final Act For 2015
Extreme Sailing Series organiser OC Sport has today confirmed Sydney as Host Venue for the final Act of the 2015 season, in partnership with the New South Wales Government's tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.
One of the largest and most beautiful natural harbours in the world, Sydney is an iconic haven for avid sailors and all types of watersports enthusiasts, and the Extreme Sailing Series Act 8, presented by Land Rover, will be a highlight of Sydney's action-packed summer events calendar.
Thousands of spectators are expected to line the waterfront at the world famous Royal Botanic Gardens to watch as the best in the business, including some Australian homegrown talent in Seve Jarvin and the crew on GAC Pindar, go head-to-head on a racecourse set between Garden Island and the Royal Sydney Opera House.
Seahorse September 2015
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
DSS gives you wings
Hugh Welbourn and Gordon Kay describe the evolution of the increasingly mainstream DSS concept
Real progress
Andy Rice talks to John Craig and Will Howden about Rio 2016 in general and about the Nacra 17 catamaran class in particular
For the fun of the thing
Time to celebrate the 90th Fastnet anniversary - with the help of some of the 1925 competitors
Update
Patrice Carpentier on Laurent Bourgnon, Jack Griffin on the limited AC48 design options, Terry Hutchinson chases breeze... and why such fragile 1/4 Tonners?
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Philip Walwyn
Sailing legend Philip Walwyn has passed away in hospital after being recovered from the sea off the Cornish coast.
The sailor, who was attempting his 17th Atlantic crossing, was due to complete his journey from the Azores to Falmouth on Tuesday but his yacht Kate was found abandoned off Cornwall on Monday.
After the alarm was raised, coastguard teams and nearby sailors began a search for the 68-year-old, and he was discovered in the water shortly after.
An MCA spokesperson said: "A search for a missing yachtsman who was travelling from the Azores to Falmouth has now been suspended after a person was found in the water during a search between the Lizard and Coverack. The person was taken to hospital in a very serious condition.
A Facebook page set up to account Mr Walwyn's Atlantic crossings, paid tribute to the sailing legend: "To the man, the myth, the legend that is and always will be Philip Walwyn. A man that touched so many people's hearts and souls, a man that is. Thank you Philip for all of your dancing to foxes and cross dressing and throwing glasses at the precise moment. Thank you for making all of our lives fuller, you will be very missed. With love, everyone you met."
Industry News
A UK South East-based manufacturer which makes custom racing yachts has recovered from losses and returned to the black following what it described as a "very busy year",
In Green Marine's latest set of accounts, the Southampton company said it worked on an "unprecedented large number of projects" in 2014, resulting in improved profitability and shareholder returns.
Among the contracts worked on by the company included building seven identical VO65 yachts for the 2014/2015 Volvo Ocean Race.
Green Marine reported a pre-tax profit of almost £620,000 for the year ended 31 December 2014, a significant recovery from pre-tax losses of £168,496 in the previous year.
Revenues, however, declined from £24.6m to £16.7m.
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The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) has become an Official Partner of the 35th America's Cup. This will significantly boost the island's tourism effort over the two years of America's Cup racing around the world during the "Race to Bermuda", where the final weeks of America's Cup competition will be held in May / June of 2017.
The official partnership agreement includes prominent branding and activation space at each America's Cup venue in 2015, 2016 and 2017, as well as commercial airtime promoting Bermuda on U.S. TV broadcasts on NBC Sports of the America's Cup in 2017.
Additional partnership benefits for marketing Bermuda will be realised on the AC35 website, app and on social media. BTA has plans to work with other ACEA brand partners to leverage exposure and increase demand.
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METS organiser Amsterdam RAI has announced that the proceeds of this year's DAME Design Award will go to the Dutch charity Sailability. The foundation enables disabled people to independently enjoy sailing via a nationwide network of partner yacht clubs.
Sailability was also the beneficiary of the DAME 2013 proceeds and the METSTRADE Exhibition Committee was impressed with the way in which the funds had been used. The charity used the €11,500 raised to buy a new Hanse 303 sailing yacht for its fleet, which was specially adapted and christened METS.
The amount of this year's donation will be announced and the DAME funds will be presented during the METS Breakfast Briefing on Tuesday, November 17, the official opening day of the show.
METS 2015 runs from November 17-19 at the RAI Exhibition Centre in Amsterdam.
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Henri Lloyd is proud to announce that we will be continuing our support for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation and the Bart's Bash for 2015.
For the 2nd consecutive year, Henri Lloyd will be raising funds for the Foundation through the retail of official Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation branded apparel. A limited range of Henri Lloyd marine products, which carry the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation logo, have been designed to celebrate the Bart's Bash and raise awareness for the foundation.
Henri Lloyd will be contributing £25 from the sale of each Cyclone jacket, £10 for each polo and £5 for each cap.
As Official Clothing Sponsor to the foundation, Henri Lloyd will also be supplying shore kit for the staff, coaches and ambassadors at the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation and the Centre, based in Weymouth & Portland.
The collection is available to purchase from the Henri Lloyd website at www.henrilloyd.com
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Slovenian state holding company SDH, which coordinates the privatization process in the country, said Wiltan Enterprises Limited is acquiring 95.1% of Elan as part of the sale of the Slovenian ski equipment manufacturer.
Merrill Lynch International will get the remaining equity, SDH said in a statement issued after the signing of the share sale and transfer agreement on Thursday.
The state holding company is the owner of 49.03% of Elan. The remaining sellers of Elan equity are Triglav Nalozbe, DSU, and Modra Zavarovalnica.
The buyers, Merrill Lynch International and Wiltan Enterprises Limited, were selected as the best bidders, enabling Elan to continue to operate and to settle its relations with financial and other creditors, SDH said.
Elan's winter division makes skis and snowboards, the marine division manufactures sail yachts and power boats while the energy division produces key components for wind turbines.
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Beneteau Group CEO Bruno Cathelinais was abruptly ousted because of "differing views" with the supervisory board on the company's evolution.
Cathelinais, whose termination is effective immediately, also had a conflict of opinion regarding "the implementation of the succession plan" at Beneteau, according to the company.
The supervisory board has appointed Herve Gastinel general manager of the charter division and newly named chairman of the management board.
Christophe Caudrelier, chief financial officer and a member of the management board, is acting chairman of the management board.
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CMC Markets, one of the leading providers of spread betting and CFD trading has announced that they will be joining Land Rover BAR as Official Partner to help bring the America's Cup home.
During today's sponsorship announcement CMC Markets will hold a trading competition, which will see Ben Ainslie, along with Land Rover BAR's CEO Martin Whitmarsh, and CFO Andy Hindley, all competing to raise money for the 1851 Trust, which is supported by Land Rover BAR. The winning trader will donate their earnings to the charity. The 1851 Trust aims to inspire and engage a new generation through sailing and the marine industry, providing young people with the education, skills and training to become innovators of the future, and stewards of the marine environment.
www.cmcmarkets.com/land-rover-bar
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Herve Gastinel was appointed chief executive of Beneteau Group's boat division, in part to help develop the group's charter business.
Gastinel also will join the executive board on Aug. 26. He succeeds Dieter Gust, whose mandate expires Aug. 31 in accordance with the company statute that sets age limits for executive board members at 60.
Gust will continue as president of Construction Navale Bordeaux and will be nominated as a member of the Beneteau Group's supervisory board at the annual general meeting of shareholders on Jan. 29.
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