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Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, 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 Winning Group 2013 JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship, Race 7
Following yesterday's wipe out in Race 6 of the championship it all came down to today's final race in a strong North-East wind with Gotta Love It 7 and Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel level on a net 8 points. Allowing for discards being introduced, Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel (Jack Macartney, David Witt and Mark Kennedy) had to finish within the first three placings today and ahead of Gotta Love It 7 to win the title. A great start by the '7' crew saw the red flying machine quickly take the lead from The Rag as the fleet sped off towards Bradleys Head. Gotta Love It 7 maintained her advantage over Coopers-Rag & Famish Hotel, and when the latter team capsized near the Beashel Buoy the title was as good as won by '7'. With their main challenger out of contention, the '7' crew appeared to sail more conservatively (if you can sail an 18 conservatively in a 25-knot North East wind) as Thurlow Fisher Lawyers led the fleet down the spinnaker legs back to Clarke Island. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League, http://www.18footers.com.au Final top ten: 1. Gotta Love It 7, Seve Jarvin, Scott Babbage, Peter Harris, AUS, 9 points Team Australia's Express Ride To Hobart
They set a new elapsed time of 29 hours 52 minutes and 23 seconds, bettering the previous time set last December by Wild Oats XI by 12 hours 30 minutes 49 seconds. Ahead of a 12-15 knot NE breeze, Team Australia coasted past the Castray Esplanade finish box, recording an unofficial finish time of 16:51:20 or 4.51pm. This time will be verified by the recording device installed on the boat by World Sailing Speed Record Council representative John Brooks prior to leaving Sydney Heads yesterday morning. An exhausted Sean Langman this evening said they never took their wet weather gear or lifejackets off, "we were always on the edge, that's what sailing these boats is like." On their time he reckons there is still potential to take the record even lower. "We'll have another go when someone else breaks ours." While Bob Oatley's 100ft supermaxi Wild Oats XI will remain the Sydney Hobart yacht race record holder with their time of 42 hours 23 minutes and 12 seconds, the ORMA 60 trimaran Team Australia will be added to the WSSRC's list of sanctioned passage records. The former French-owned trimaran was more than capable of withstanding the rigours of the passage to Hobart having in her former life been raced hard repeatedly across the North Atlantic and won the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre from northern France to Brazil. -- Lisa Ratcliff Transfusion Wins Farr 40 John Calvert-Jones Trophy
After nine races, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis' Transfusion has been declared the winner of the John Calvert-Jones Trophy and named the Aberdeen Asset Management Australian Farr 40 Champion. Transfusion won all three state titles and has now collected the clincher, the nine-race national one-design regatta sailed over just two days after horrendous conditions forced yesterday's racing to be abandoned. This is Belgiorno-Nettis' fourth national class title. Second by one point was Lang Walker's Kokomo (25 points) and third overall and first Corinthian Farr 40 was Andrew Hunn and Lloyd Clark's Voodoo Chile (26 points) from Tasmania. Five races were completed in quick succession today, two laps of the course set off Clarke Island outside Double Bay per race with a hard windward work to the top marks laid off Nielsen Park at Vaucluse and lots of crash gybing and kites flogging in the following breeze once they turned the corner. This weekend's national one-design series was dedicated to the country's Farr 40 forefather and the first Australian Farr 40 World Champion, John Calvert-Jones, who was on the water watching the final day of competition and will this afternoon present the trophy to the ultimate victor. Overall results: MAPFRE Bask In Bahamas Success On Friday, February 22 at 08:18:10 CET, MAPFRE crossed the finish line in San Salvador, Bahamas. On board the rebranded Telefonica Volvo Open 70, the Spanish crew, including Pablo Arrarte, Ñeti Cuevas-Mons, Pepe Ribes and former Media Crew Member Diego Fructuoso, celebrated taking their place in the record books. The entire route from Palos de la Frontera in Spain to San Salvador, with a stop in La Gomera (Canary Islands) took 11 days, 7 hours 38 minutes and 40 seconds. The Atlantic crossing from La Gomera to San Salvador accounted for 9 days, 12 hours 18 minutes and 10 seconds of that time. "We've sailed between 20 and 25 knots since we left the Canary Islands," said Volvo Ocean Race's Pedro Freitas, who joined the team as an Onboard Reporter. "It blew a bit less once we entered the Bermuda triangle. We've sailed downwind the all way from La Gomera to the Bahamas, always over the wind speed." Looking for the trade winds, the Spanish crew sailed a total of 4,446 miles from La Gomera to San Salvador instead of the 3,084 miles of the theoretical route. The team is not stopping in the Bahamas but will sail to Miami, Florida. OKI 24-Hr Sailing Race There will also be a solo division, which means some sailors will sail through the night in a test of extreme endurance. There will also be a sub-youth category, consisting of 3-4 sailors under the age of 16. Sailing is non-stop through the night, in crews of two competitors per boat, with each team member sailing for a maximum of three hours before required to rest for a minimum of one hour. The winning team is the one that completes the most number of laps within the 24-hour period. Race sailors include every shape and size from 14 years up to 70 years of age with the event spilt into five categories: Open Class, Youth (under 18 years), Women's and Masters' (over 35), and Endurance athletes. All competitors from each class can be in the running to win the overall OKI 24 Hour Race trophy. A second event, the OKI 6-hour race (from 7.30am – 1pm on Sat 9 March) runs just prior to the 24-Hour event and is an optimist dinghy race for children aged 7-15 years and gives young sailors a chance to participate with their heroes in the Legends Race. The events are fundraisers for Murray's Bay Sailing Club to develop youth sailing and local business Comworth, distributor for OKI fax and telecommunications products, has been sponsoring the race since 1989. From Scoop New Zealand: www.murraysbay.org Otterbox Melges 32 Virgin Islands Sailing Series
In second overall is Alex Jackson's Leenabarca and rounding out the top three, after a truly hard day of racing is Jason Carroll on Argo. Carroll won the last race of the day and the series earning third place on countback. Fourth place finisher Ryan DeVos on Volpe and Carroll shared an equal 32 points each. Richard Goransson's Inga From Sweden was fifth overall. The final day of racing in Virgin Gorda, hosted by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) was unequivocally the best racing the Melges 32 Class has seen in a long time North Sound provided great match racing conditions. Combine that with glorious sunshine, a steady breeze out of 100 degrees, it was really all about where to go and most of all, when. Timing in the confined area of where air funneled in fast along the shoreline and choosing the best lane off the start and to the finish meant everything. The 2013 OtterBox Melges 32 Virgin Islands Sailing Series consists of three exquisite events and is the first ever of its kind for the progressive sportboat class. The second event happens in conjunction with the International Rolex Regatta in the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 22-24, 2013. The grand finale of the Series, the 2013 Caribbean Championship happens in late April on Peter Island. Star Olympic Status Unchanged The situation is the same as we have reported for the past year. The Olympic committee in Brazil may request an 11th medal for sailing. A final confirmation of all Olympic events will be made by IOC in late summer or early fall. The spreading of rumors concerning Olympic status does not help our position. I will inform Star Class membership with any new developments. I keep in contact with all relevant parties and therefore have the most accurate and current information. See you at Bacardi, Bill Allen, President, ISCYRA Line-Up Spurs Artemis Racing Into 'Improvements' "In some ways it was tough," admitted sailing director Iain Percy, when asked about the results of the two-boat training. "We've learned we needed to make some changes to the boat and hence she's come into the shed." Lining up against the opposition is an important reality check on progress, especially when testing a new class like the AC72. "It's amazing to be out there with another boat," Percy said. "You can learn heaps. Now, we have to look at a few things. We enjoyed being out there with them. We all know what one boat sailing is like, you go out and think you're making improvements and then suddenly there's another boat there and it's huge (what you learn)." For Artemis Racing, the lesson learned was that the team needs to make changes. "It's going to be a full team effort," said CEO Paul Cayard. "We have the shore team, the design team and everyone is enthusiastic and we are going to roll up our selves and get into it before we get back out on the track." In the meantime ORACLE TEAM USA has resumed its training sessions on San Francisco Bay. But for the time being, they're all alone. Norwegian Sail Trainer 'Prolific' Arrives In Dublin Bay The British Registered Prolific is 26 metres long and six and a half metres wide, with a total sail area of 527 m2. She has 26 berths and for this voyage is crewed by a mix of crew and trainees from Hiimsmoen, Norway. Afloat magazine: afloat.ie/sail/tall-ships/ Schooner Sails Under Safe Hands Robin Elkington a 24 race veteran has been an inspiration for a number of Female Ocean racing sailors who have faced the demands of setting sail on the physically tormenting open ocean elements. A similar situation will apply when the 30 member crew comprising a group of female cancer charity fund raisers share the spacious crew quarters and stand to man the sails under the orders of their experienced navigator. Yacht racing will become a treasured experience for several of the crew who have diligently raised funds in support of the national cancer charity Redkite to earn a berth to become a Gladstone Race sailor for the first time. During their voyage of personal discovery the rookie crew members will have the opportunity to bond with one of Australia's more experienced female ocean sailors while leaning the valued skills of personally trimming the sails on the triple mast schooner. While they remain proud to wear a 2013 sailing for Redkite crew shirt the race over what has often been described as a 308 nautical mile torture track has also been known as a test of character. However Robin Elkington who has charted a safe course for South Passage r to record popular wins in the Cruising class has the important sea miles to provide the new Sailing For Redkite charity workers to gain another important reward for supporting the children and young adults who are suffering from cancer. -- Ian Grant Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com * From David Villiers-Child: Paul Elvstrom is 85 tomorrow - The greatest competative yachtsman we shall see and a great giver to his sport too. He has put so much back. Featured Brokerage Beautiful Swedish built wooden classic yacht, Havsornen went trough a few major refits in 1987 and 2000 and is completely restored to her original state. The yacht has won several prizes in the Mediterranean regattas and will now try to do the same in the Caribbean classic regattas. Brokerage through Pierre-Andre JEANNE Yacht Broker: www.yachtworld.com/paj/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at uk.yachtworld.com The Last Word |
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Scuttlebutt Europe #2787 - 25 February
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