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
Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Entries Close With 100 Yachts
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) takes great pleasure in announcing that at the close of entries, 100 yachts are signed up to take part in the 2016 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the 72nd running of the 628 nautical mile race.
Record holder Wild Oats XI, owned by the Oatley family and skippered by Mark Richards, leads an intimidating array of boats, having never missed the race since launching in 2005.
Last year's overall winner, Paul Clitheroe's Balance, also returns. There are a dozen international entries, including the first Korean entry in the history of the race, past winners, first timers, those about to break records and more.
Four super maxis, inclusive of Scallywag from Hong Kong, Perpetual LOYAL, 2000 line honours winner Ludde Ingvall, with his yet to be named super maxi, three V70's - Black Jack, Giacomo (NZL) and Maserati, joined by an 80 footer (Beau Geste, HKG), a 66 footer (Alive) and a 62 footer (Chinese Whisper) will have a crack at line and overall honours.
Trying to pick an overall winner in this fleet, it would be easiest to close your eyes and point. The weather, a well maintained boat, slippery crew work, the right tactics and a bit of luck all play their part.
It may be one of the big boats, an international boat such as Germany's Varuna VI, or one like Paul Clitheroe's TP52. There are nine TP52s entered, along with a trio of Cookson 50s, one of which won in 2013.
Joining Balance (also won as Quest in 2008) from past overall winners are: Victoire (2013); Wild Oats XI (2005 and 2012) Primitive Cool (2010 as Secret Mens Business); Two True (2009); Love & War (1974, 1978 and 2006); The Banshee (1995 as Terra Firma) and China Easyway (co-won as She's Apples II in 1991) - boats from 100 feet down to 40 feet.
Smaller boats have also won and this time it could be a Sydney 38, such as TSA Management and Calibre, or the oldest boat in the fleet, Maluka of Kermandie, measuring just on 30 feet. 00 Di Pearson, RSHYR media
Coutts: Queenstown Could Stage America's Cup
Russell Coutts has floated the idea that Queenstown might be able to stage the world's most famous yachting regatta.
Asked this week if Auckland could again host the America's Cup, Coutts - a five-time winner - said: "Why not have it in Queenstown?"
Coutts says land-locked Switzerland, whom he won the Cup for in 2003, could have hosted the following regatta.
And this year the Cup broke new ground with a qualifier in Chicago: Lake Michigan became the first freshwater venue in the event's 165-year history. That lake was bigger than Lake Wakatipu, but Coutts said that the modern format was for racing to be held on tight circuits, close to the shore.
The course need only be 2-3km long - "so you could set a course easily".
"You don't need much width either."
The yachting legend and event authority CEO for the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda said he was a big fan of lake sailing, especially for learners.
"You get a hell of a lot of wind changes/wind shifts".
You Are Invited! St. Thomas International Regatta - March 24-26, 2017
Fair winds and following seas to those setting sail in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers this month and to all of those sailing south to the Caribbean! Make sure to mark your calendar for the St. Thomas International Regatta, set for Marcy 24-26, 2017, in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Here are five great reasons why:
- Something for everyone! Race in CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association); IRC; Multihull; CSA Bareboat; Beach Cat or One Design classes with a minimum length of 20 feet. Large offshore multihull class for 2017!
- Race in Two Regattas. Enter the Round the Rocks race on March 23, a circumnavigation of the neighboring island of St. John. Great tune-up for STIR. Seperate prizes.
- Full-service logistics operation for Grand Prix race boats. Just contact Caribbean Racing Logistics, run by yacht club member Ben Beer, who can handle even the hall out and storage of large deep draft race boats (benbeer13@aol.com or 340-998-6203).
- Concierge Services. Island Way Services (islandwayservices@gmail.com or 340-244-8457), can assist with everything from accommodations to rental vehicles and more. In addition, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism website offers a wealth of information: www.visitusvi.com
- Win FREE Long-Sleeve High-Performance Team Shirts for Early Registration. Drawing's November 30 and December 31.
Register Now! www.stthomasinternationalregatta.com
Pay only US $250 up until January 31, 2017.
For information, Email: cpessler@hotmail.com, Call (340) 642-3204
New Hopes Of Saving A Historic Scottish-Built Sailing Ship
Click on image to enlarge.
Campaigners say they have new hope of saving the Scottish-built historic sailing ship the Falls of Clyde which was threatened with being towed out of a Hawaii harbour and being sunk.
They have called on the authorities to halt any moves to consign the last remaining iron-hulled four-masted sailing ship in the world to a watery grave after a new naval architect's report said it is not a safety hazard.
Launched in Port Glasgow in 1878, Falls of Clyde, now a museum ship, had been declared dangerous by the Harbors Division of the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation (DoT), which has rescinded its permit to reside in Honolulu harbour.
Hawaiian volunteer group Friends of Falls of Clyde (FFOC) which has owned the vessel for eight years, has been attempting to raise $1.5 million to have the ship put in dry dock and repaired with a view to returning it to Glasgow. They have raised a tenth of that sum so far.
Scottish actor Brian Cox has given his backing to the campaign and former Honolulu resident Patricia Mirrlees, wife of Nobel Prize winner Sir James Mirrlees, has written to MPs and MSPs asking them to intervene by contacting the Governor of Hawaii, David Ige.
They have written to the DoT to halt any moves to sink the vessel and are to challenge the impoundment in a hearing set for November 22.
President of FFOC, Bruce McEwan has told the DoT that it hoped to move the ship next year.
He told the DoT that the naval architect's report states there has been "effectively no change" in the condition of the Clyde-based vessel since 2013 and the ship is not a safety hazard.
12 Meter Freedom Grounded, Refloated
Greenwich, CT, USA: A racing yacht that Dennis Conner skippered to an America's Cup victory in 1980 ran up on rocks just east of Little Captain's Island off the shores of Byram this weekend.
Freedom US30 was grounded on the group of rocks known as Hen and Chickens about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The tide took it off about 10:30 p.m. with minimal damage, reported Harbormaster Ian Macmillan, who was not on the scene.
"It wasn't as unfortunate as it very well could have been," he said.
The yacht was acquired by the 12m Yacht Development Foundation in 2014, according to the foundation's website. The executive director of the foundation is Patrick Sikorski.
Qingdao Extends Clipper Race Partnership To 2020
China's 'Sailing City' Qingdao has today confirmed it will continue as a Host Port and Team Partner with a Qingdao yacht entry to the end of 2020 to incorporate the 2017-18 and 2019-20 editions of the Clipper Race.
Qingdao first sponsored the Clipper Race in 2005 and used the event as a focal point for building its credentials to host the sailing events of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and a powerful legacy, not only as China's but also Asia's leading location for international sailing events, in addition to developing Qingdao as a powerful maritime city with a strong 'blue' marine economy and creating a leisure sport cluster along the route of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Over the last twelve years and six editions of the Clipper Race the organisers have brought thousands of crew, visitors, VIPs and business partners to Qingdao and China to boost tourism, representing Qingdao's winter season travel offer, and develop trade, with tangible deals and visitor generated economic impact. The unique business and government network associated with the race has also developed Qingdao's international relations and improved its global profile as a top Chinese port city and resort.
The value of the event to Qingdao and China over the last twelve years runs into billions of RMB in global media exposure, trade deals and tourism.
The next edition of the Clipper Race will leave the UK in late August 2017 and reach Qingdao in March 2018.
Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash
The Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash is the opening event of the popular GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series 2016/17. Last year the 130 entry limit was all but reached despite a pretty appalling forecast and weather on the Saturday. This year entry can only be made online in advance and the entry closing date is Sunday 13th November - just 10 days away! Entries are filling up fast.
Enter online here: enter.sailracer.org
The Draycote Dash consists of 4 back-to-back average lap races on the Saturday (first start 11am) and one 120-minute pursuit race on the Sunday. If sailed, the pursuit race has to count in your score, but is not double points as in previous years.
The entry list in previous years has included a Who's Who of UK non-Olympic dinghy sailors with multiple national, European and world champions attending.
Class prizes will be awarded to any class with 6 or more entries (on the same handicap) - so far the Laser class has achieved this and the D-Zero looks likely to follow.
The winner will take away probably the most expensive sailing book ever published: Bob Fisher's heavyweight tomb on the history of the America's Cup: An Absorbing Interest which retails at a mere £250!
Seahorse December 2016
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Securing the future
Blue Robinson talks reliability - and communication - with Volvo Race Boatyard manager Nick Bice
Now that's trickledown
Richard Jenkins has travelled from a quirky sailing project to a world land speed record and now on to Norton Sound in Alaska...
(Almost) a fresh start
Gautier Sergent talks round the world speed, weight and reliability with Dobbs Davis
Pure energy...
Something that Slovenian Mini 6.50 veteran and boatbuilder Andraz Mihelin has in spades. He talks boatspeed with Oyvind Bordal
Relentless innovation
UBI Maior Italia not only come up with clever new stuff, they are also not shy of leaning on the best lessons from the past to do it
Nautical Expo
Browse a Large Range of Sailboats
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Launchings
Launched in July at Vitters Shipyard in Harlingen, the Netherlands, the 33-metre sailing yacht Missy has made her way to Mediterranean waters and was recently captured underway for the first time. Designed by Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design, Missy was created as a 'world-cruising yacht that was lightweight and fun to sail' with a strong focus on safety on board for the entire family.
Despite her lightweight construction, the engineering team at Pure Composite in New Zealand paid great attention to achieving a noise and vibration free ride by implementing various soundproof and thermal insulating solutions
A unique feature on deck is the custom dodger system that is deployed at the touch of a button. This feature works in tandem with a bimini system that is erected with the dodger in position. The solution offers a guest friendly environment that essentially disappears when not in use.
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The Infiniti 53, a new 53 foot canting keelboat suited for exceptional performance both offshore and inshore. The new yacht will feature a canting keel, gybing centerline daggerboard and leverages the dramatic performance advantages available through the DSS system. The design intends to revolutionize the performance of yachts in the mid-50 foot range. It will be the first Farr-designed boat featuring DSS foils.
www.farryachtsales.com/sales/boat/infiniti-53
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Sunreef Yachts seized the Cannes Yachting Festival as the opportunity to announce the construction start of a fully personalized double deck sailing superyacht-catamaran - the Sunreef 88 Double Deck. With the contract concluded a couple of weeks ago, the mould of this all new model is currently being built at the company's production site in Gdansk, Poland.
The Double Deck series was introduced in 2010 with the launching of the imposing 102ft Ipharra - the world's very first double deck sailing catamaran and at the same time one of the biggest sailing multihulls ever built. All yachts in the Double Deck range feature a mezzanine level inside the main deck and a spacious master stateroom with a panoramic view in the bow part of the yacht.
Scheduled for delivery in mid-2017 this catamaran will be Sunreef Yachts sixth superyacht construction.
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Ocean Youth Trust South's new sail training vessel, Prolific, was re-launched on Monday 24th October 2016 following a 12-month refit at Saxon Wharf, Southampton.
Prolific will further the work of Ocean Youth Trust South, helping young people aged 12-25 - many of them disadvantaged and vulnerable - to develop the skills they need to succeed in life: confidence, team-work, communication, resilience and the ability to cope with unfamiliar experiences. The new sail training vessel, which was bought from Norway in 2015, is the long-term replacement for the Trust's previous boat, John Laing, which has taken thousands of young people to sea over the last 26 years with the Ocean Youth Club and Ocean Youth Trust South.
Post-refit, Prolific, which was built in 2005 and is a hybrid of modern-day construction and an historic design based on 19th-century herring fishing vessels, offers modern accommodation and a low-maintenance design. Crucially the low-maintenance design will allow OYT South to focus on its charitable work (www.oytsouth.org/charity.asp) allowing the Trust to continue, with Prolific, for the next thirty years.
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Construction is underway at Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding in Thomaston, Maine, on a 65-foot sailing yacht designed by Stephens Waring Yacht Design.
Lyman-Morse said company president Drew Lyman and his team spent the spring and early summer months working closely with Belfast, Maine-based Stephens Waring and the owners, fine-tuning the design and construction process.
Lyman-Morse said it built a full-scale mockup of the boat in March and an alternative mockup of the master stateroom and guest cabin. This setup enabled the owner, Lyman-Morse team and designers to walk through a couple of layouts to fine-tune the cockpit and interior layout according to the owner's wishes.
Accommodations provide for six, although Lyman-Morse said overnights and cruising are not top priorities for the owners. However, purposeful crew accommodations for delivery up and down the Eastern Seaboard were specified. And the owners' cabin forward has all the creature comforts commensurate with a yacht of this caliber.
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The Last Word
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