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
Quantum Racing Win But Azzurra Hold Firm
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Quantum Racing won the only raced sailed today at the 52 SUPER SERIES Miami Royal Cup, but with regatta leaders Azzurra crossing the line in second place, the team from the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda lead by 11 at the half way point of the event with eight points. Provezza are tied on 19 points with Quantum Racing.
The 52 SUPER SERIES champions who won four out of five regattas last season, Quantum Racing, today came right back after a poor Wednesday when they added 13 points to their aggregate. With TP52 newcomer Bora Gulari steering, and Terry Hutchinson on tactics they made their small speed advantage in light airs work for them on the first beat and stretched out a good early lead, winning comfortably.
Quantum Racing's Terry Hutchinson - the racecourse Houdini among South Beach's world of Lamborghini, Martini and Bikini - did excellent work in sniffing out the best lanes of pressure on the first beat, seeming happy to take a couple of extra tacks to eke out the strongest shift and wind strength.
Tony Langley's Gladiator crew took a well earned sixth, 48 hours of incredible work to mobilise their substitute TP52 from West Palm Beach, may have seen some red eyes matching the colour of their hull, but all credit to a remarkable piece of team work to get their other boat in the match after their new boat was holed in the second race of the regatta.
Standings after five races
1. Azzurra (Roemmers family, ITA/ARG), 8 points
2. Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos, USA), 19
3. Provezza (Ergin Imre, TUR), 19
4. Platoon (GER, Harm Muller-Spreer), 21
5. Ran Racing (Niklas Zennstrom, SWE), 29
6. Bronenosec (Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS), 31
7. Sled (Takashi Okura, USA), 35
8. Alegre (Andres Soriano GBR/USA), 35
9. Sorcha (Peter Harrison, GBR), 38
10. Gladiator (Tony Langley, GBR), 41
11. Paprec (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, FRA), 60
Oman Air Go Top As Battle For Act 1 Glory Heats Up
Home team Oman Air snatched the overall lead in the opening Act of the Extreme Sailing Series in a second day of intense action in Muscat today.
Phil Robertson's men made amends for their slow start to the 2017 season opener yesterday with a masterclass of consistency, claiming one win and two runner-up spots over the five races held off Muscat's Almouj Golf.
Their impressive record helped knock early leaders SAP Extreme Sailing Team off the top spot at the halfway mark of Act 1, the first of eight that make up this year's Extreme Sailing Series.
Danish-flagged crew SAP Extreme Sailing Team looked set to retain their position at the head of the overall standings thanks to two race wins and a second as the fleet of nine crews enjoyed high-octane racing in near-perfect breeze of 12-14 knots.
But in the final race of the day they got caught in a patch of light wind and had to settle for eighth place, relegating them to third overall, tied on points with Austria's Red Bull Sailing Team.
Meanwhile reigning Extreme Sailing Series champions Alinghi, from Switzerland, followed up three third-place finishes with their first race win of 2017 to go into the penultimate day of Act 1 just two points off the podium.
With two days of racing completed and two more yet to sail, Oman Air top the table by one point and just three points split the first four teams - a clear indication of how tight the Extreme Sailing Series is set to be this year.
Standings after Day 2, 12 races
Position / Team / Points
1. Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari, 117 points
2. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Stewart Dodson, Adam Piggott, Will Tiller, 116
3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Adam Minoprio, Rasmus Køstner, Mads Emil Stephensen, Herve Cunnigham, Richard Mason, 116
4. Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothe Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 114
5. Team Tilt (SUI) Sebastien Schneiter, Jeremy Bachelin, Florian Trüb, Arthur Cevey, Jocelyn Keller, 93
6. Team ENGIE (FRA) Sebastien Rogues, Gurvan Bontemps, Jules Bidegaray, Antoine Joubert, Benjamin Amiot, 93
7. Tawera Racing (NZL) Chris Steele, Graeme Sutherland, Shane Diviney, George Anyon, Josh Salthouse, 90
8. Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) Rob Bunce, Owen Bowerman, Will Alloway, Adam Kay, Oli Greber, 66
9. NZL Sailing Team (NZL) Logan Dunning Beck, Harry Hull, Isaac McHardie, Matthew Kempkers, Luca Brown, 60
A+T Instruments At St. Barth's Bucket
A+T both repair and make replacement displays for the many existing B&G systems for which pars are no longer available, H2000 and H3000. Current display replacements include and MFD which as swap aout replacement for an FFD/GFD, a pilot had version of this, a 3020 display which fits into the space of a 20/20 with much larger digits and a range of traditional analogue displays.
Hugh Agnew is travelling out to Antigua and then St Barth's (sailing on Adela) on 13th March and will have demonstration systems with him as well as some B&G spare parts. Do get in contact if you what any help with existing instrument systems or if you need any parts brought out.
Please contact Hugh directly on his mobile +44 (0)7860 181277 or email hja@AandTinstruments.com
For enquiries prior to the regatta, please email us at info@aandtinstruments.com and see www.aandtinstruments.com
Fourth Team Confirmed And Coming In March
The fourth team for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 is now confirmed - and will be revealed later this month.
The fourth team for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 is now confirmed - and will be revealed later this month.
With over seven months to go before the beginning of the next edition in October, the new campaign joins Team AkzoNobel, Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE in early preparations for the 2017-18 start line in Alicante.
The teams will depart Alicante on 22 October 2017, and race more than 45,000 nautical miles around the planet, taking in Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff and Gothenburg before the big finish in The Hague at the end of June 2018.
With boats 7 and 8 likely to be undergoing the stringent re-fit process at the Boatyard in Lisbon until around May/June 2017, the full fleet is unlikely to be announced before the summer.
The one-design concept has reduced the need for teams to begin their campaigns as early as in previous editions. There is no reason why a campaign getting off the ground this summer can't go on and win the trophy.
It's Not Just About The Bikes
Much has been made of the new cycle grinders onboard Emirates Team New Zealand's America's Cup catamaran, but for the team it's also about the crew behind them.
There has been much made of the cycle grinding innovation that Emirates Team New Zealand revealed last week, but the hardware is only one part of the power generation needed onboard. The other part... The grinders or 'cyclors' they call themselves affectionately.
Test jigs and prototypes are one thing to keep hidden during the past few years, the harder thing to keep unnoticed was the intense physical training program the cyclors have been undertaking transitioning their bodies from an upper body, chest and arms focused program to all legs legs legs.
Everyday is leg day at Emirates Team New Zealand.
Team Physical Trainer Hubert Woroniecki has been over seeing the transition, with some help from under cover import Simon van Velthooven who has helped with the changes in training technique.
www.sailingworld.com/its-not-just-about-bikes
Pier Damage Puts Congressional Cup Viewing In Limbo
Long Beach's Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier reopened Tuesday, more than two weeks after a major storm ripped two docks away from the pier's end.
Marine Bureau Manager Elvira Hallinan said pedestrians and fishermen are back on the pier. However, it will take a more detailed inspection from structural engineers before it can be decided whether the Long Beach Yacht Club can set up its traditional viewing area at pier's end for the Congressional Cup match races.
A major rainstorm Feb. 17 caused large wave action around the pier, detaching both the Aqualink water taxi dock and the lower mooring dock. The docks ended up on the beach, and were declared a total loss, Hallinan said.
The next big event on the pier calendar is the Congressional Cup Sailing Regatta. It is the biggest match racing event on the West Coast
This year's event is scheduled for March 29-April 2, with a practice day on March 28. Ten of the world's best skippers and their crews compete in a double round-robin of match races over the five days.
One of the Congressional Cup's biggest draws for fans and spectators has been the ability to watch from the end of the pier, with the Catalina 37 sailboats jockeying for starting position just feet away from the pier. In the last few years, the mooring dock has been used extensively to transport people on and off spectator boats and occasionally the race boats as well.
Solo Season Commences For The Offshore Academy Sailors
With the 2017 European sailing season fast approaching, British solo sailors from The Offshore Academy have been hard at work preparing for a programme of gruelling racing in the lead up to the 2017 La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro.
The 2017 season kicks off in a week's time, and will see Mary Rook compete in her Beneteau Figaro II 'Inspire+' whilst team mate Hugh Brayshaw will sail 'The Offshore Academy' for his second season. The 2017 Solo Normandy race will start on Friday 17th March, following a course around the Cherbourg peninsular, starting from Granville, and finishing in Cherbourg after approximately 36hrs of racing. It is the sailors first opportunity to put their winter training into practise, lining up against some formidable French opposition.
Academy sailor's schedule:
Solo Concarneau: 4-8 April
La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro: 26 May - 25 June
Cowes Week: 29 July - 1 August
Solo Maitre Coq: 21-30 April
Round the Island: 1 July
Rolex Fastnet Race: 6 August
A Not So Secret Ambition
Coming to a (big) race near you - Mirpuri Foundation Save the Ocean
hose of us lucky enough to cross an ocean or race offshore for any length of time will have an innate sense of appreciation and wonder at the beauty and power of the sea - it's this very primal urge within us that binds us all together as sailors. And yet, as we know, some of the most important features of the sea and its ecosystems are under threat from human interference - most likely for the first time in the planet's history. Consequences now include measurable effects and influence on not just our aesthetic values as sailors but also the lives and well-being of those who depend on being on and around the sea.
The Mirpuri Foundation is a non-profit organisation set up by businessman and philanthropist Paulo Mirpuri as a vehicle to support specific projects in many diverse but interrelated fields, including marine conservation, wildlife conservation and general social responsibility.
In marine conservation the foundation is promoting a number of projects and initiatives relating to ocean conservation and events to consolidate and reinforce these objectives moving forward into the future. Besides specific projects such as the Save the Ocean campaign, the Mirpuri Foundation also works to spread a message of increasing awareness among global authorities of the importance of protecting oceans and of the wider dangers faced by the whole planet due to pollution and the effects of the human contribution to climate change - over which we do have power to control.
Full article in the April issue of Seahorse:
https://www.seahorsemagazine.com
What Colour Ilen's Hull? - You Decide In Afloat Poll
The new Larch hull of the ketch Ilen nearing completion in West Cork has had its first coat of primer, only after much plugging, filling and sanding. Preparation, as all painters know, is the difference between a good job and a not so good one.
In a few weeks it will be time to follow the undercoat with a good finish or topcoat. And apart form the many paint types one has to choose from, comes the additional aesthetic choice - which hull colours might the good ship Ilen ultimately carry.
A wide hull colour selection process has been narrowed down to two distinct options - Green and Grey. Let us know what you think in the poll:
Revived St. Petersburg-Habana Race Marked By A Lucrative Restart
The historic St. Petersburg-Habana Race roared back to life following a more than half-century hiatus, bringing in nearly $700,000 to St. Pete as the regatta restarted an old tradition.
The 40-foot FOMO, led by St. Pete resident Lloyd Thornburg, won the race, beating Conviction, a 52-foot vessel skippered by Douglas Fisher of Sarasota. The two ships arrived at the Hemingway International Yacht Club in Havana on March 2, with a time of 1:17:00:32 for FOMO and 1:20:21:04 for Conviction.
Nearly 675 sailors hailing from those countries and others such as France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands descended on St. Pete for one week prior to the race's start and spent an estimated $676,786, according to the St. Petersburg Sailing Center.
The race had the biggest estimated economic impact of all the boat races out of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club so far this year.
The race began 87 years ago but was last conducted some 58 years ago. The regatta was one of four pre-eminent races in the United States in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
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* From Jonty Sherwill: re: Tea and Clippers
While it may come as a revelation to some, Adrian Morgan's clear explanation of the benefits of drinking tea (#3791) will be well-known to many of us Brits, but it is Rich Hayes' response (#3792) that nudges me to expand on what I think could be the ultimate sailing competition.
I have always viewed the tea clipper ships as the finest expression of seafaring and now with a more swashbuckling yet rigorous attitude to safety (current America's Cup and space tourism spring to mind) perhaps the time has come for the return of the Great Tea Race of 1866. The revival could be raced in one-design replicas of the Cutty Sark, and without engines or powered winches so as to replicate the true values of the original clippers.
Waving the fleet off from a Chinese port and then waiting for them to arrive in London is no longer an option, so onboard renewable power will be needed to recharge the drones and tracking software to deliver the media coverage that we and the sponsors will be demanding.
To maintain authenticity calls home to mum would be banned, but the live footage of crew aloft, match racing in extreme conditions should eclipse anything seen to date. For the next generation of professional sailors such a race would surely be the ultimate challenge. As for possible sponsors, suggestions on a postcard please!
* From David Lewin: Reading Adrian's comments about sustenance aboard reminds me of the time, many moons ago, when I was crewing on a boat in the North East of England. One of our opposition was a beautiful wooden boat (a scaled down version of a Morning Cloud I believe), owned by a pair of twins who, on Sunday mornings would always put a joint of meat in the gimballed oven just before the 10 minute gun (I think the spuds went in slightly later on the second spinnaker run). Of course as the race progressed the smell emanating from the galley became ever more irresistible and cross tacking behind them became absolute purgatory.
Once the race was over, one of the owners would be excused all the deck tidying to go below and carve the meat so that back on the dock the crew could all dive below and tuck into a full roast dinner. Why do I only seem to get a can of beer and a filling station sandwich these days?
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