In This Issue
Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand push ahead | Guest Editorial - May the Force be with... the Kiwis! | Bosun | Giraglia Rolex Cup: Freccia Rossa's Momentous Display | Andy Beadsworth and Provezza win the Dragon Worlds | One of the toughest jobs in yacht racing | A Classic Bol d'Or Mirabaud | Letters to the Editor | Featured Brokerage
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
Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand push ahead
Battle resumed on Father's Day in the America's Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton with Jimmy Spithill's ORACLE TEAM USA looking to seize back the advantage gained by Peter Burling's Emirates Team New Zealand on day one. However, it was day two to the Kiwis again, with Emirates Team New Zealand recording two more back-to-back victories over the Defenders of the America's Cup, putting themselves 3-0 up in the first-to-seven series that will determine the winner of the 35th America's Cup.
After racing had finished on day two, Jimmy Spithill looked ahead to the five day break before racing restarts on 24th June and what ORACLE TEAM USA can do to put themselves back in the fight. "These are going to be the most important five days of this America's Cup campaign for us."
"I thought we took a good step forward from yesterday, but it is clear we have to find some speed from somewhere, that is no secret.
"If we were forced to race day after day we'd be in some serious trouble at the moment. This break coming up is a massive opportunity for us as a team to go away and regroup.
"Everything will be put out on the table, nothing will be off limits, and over the next five days our incredible shore team will be looking at every aspect of our boat.
"Nothing will escape our eyes, I can guarantee that. Whether it's system related, appendage related, sailing technique or strategy, we are going to look at absolutely everything.
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
* Races three and four were run today on Great Sound and the result was the same. He KIWI dominance in this wind range is impressive.
The Kiwi foils and wing combine to generate 7-10% more speed around the race course over the American boat.
The questions are; do the Americans know what to do exactly to improve, and can they get it done in 5 days? No doubt they have the financial and human resources to put to the task. As Jimmy Spithill said tonight; the next 5 days will be the most critical of their campaign. Tune in next Saturday to see if the comeback specialists can do it once again. -- Paul Cayard, cayardsailing.com
Guest Editorial - May the Force be with... the Kiwis!
There's a lot of beef between these two Cup teams; beef being a middle English word currently employed enthusiastically by dear daughter Frances and her school chums...
When I saw the Kiwis at 5 to 1 to win, several weeks back, I thought this less of a bet than a chance to earn the money I would have got if I'd been working on the Cup again. Better not go into details, in case the IRS or HMRC finds out - or even worse, forensic accountability-wise, Mrs Fox.
There was no way a fierce leader like Grant Dalton and his ETNZ posse were going to make any of the mistakes they made last time around. In fact, while I think my theory that sport is a substitute for war is a decent one... in this case, I'm not so sure. For the Kiwis, this is war.
Jimmy Spithill is going to be hard to beat. He's an animal. I say this in a respectful way. I have to. His lovely wife Jennifer told me in San Francisco that he's so competitive, even a game of tiddly winks with the kids gets pretty serious.
The partnership with Tom Slingsby onboard is superb. We can hear it, courtesy of the incredible job the TV techs do, and in particular a guy called Haresh, who mixes all the audio in the live TV production like an aural wizard. The audio in this Cup is off the scale fantastic. Half of television is sound. Think about it.
As my favourite two Australians, Jimmy and Slingers are formidable in a strategic and tactical way, with a design and build team behind them that produces beautiful, slippery, frigging hi-tech boats. Oracle's loss will be Australia's gain when they set up their own team....
... because ETNZ are going to win. Yeah! It'll be tight, but my money, my actual money, is on the clever, cunning, talented, incredibly tight Kiwi design and tech team coming up with a faster boat. Come on... peddling. Leg power over arms. Says it all.
It's quite a load on Peter Burlings' shoulders. He's basically a kid. The comms onboard are... what? Nothing. It's the Pete show. And he's going to get stitched up, pre-start, by Jimmy. But Pete the Kid is bloody cool. He'll simply grind them down. Let his compadres pedal Oracle, the evil empire, ooooh, into touch.
My last film analogy was Game of Thrones, but this is more Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance, Star Wars, which my mate Kenneth, who operates the onboard remote cams so well, is a fan of.
Jimmy is not going to crash into ETNZ and trash their boat. He's a truer sportsman than that. And I doubt the obsessive pressure to win by Larry and his henchvader Russell is still there.
I think Larry is happy to sit back and enjoy the show, bucket list tick, billions spent and still spending, propping up the balance sheet. Russell meanwhile has been working on his legacy.
And the legacy is pretty damned good. It's the first Cup I've ever watched on TV. What a cracking show! Mrs Fox, Frances and me have been following avidly, commentating and theorising wildly. The speeds, the sounds, the complete mentalness of these boats is epic. Only the Apprentice winds us up more. Our neighbours round for a BBQ have been too, diving in to catch Sir Ben between flipping burgers and chugging cold ones – us that is, not Ben. Well, back then anyway. Ben's probably cooking up a storm right now.
Mrs Fox thinks Jimmy is a bit phwoar, beef in another sense – which is outrageous; what I may lack in terms of Jimmy's six pack I feel more than make up for in audio-visual 65 inch, 5:1 cinema surround sound equipment.
Pete the Kid is going to take him down anyway. Yeah! Booya! And the Kiwis crushing Oracle means the Fox household will be upgrading to 7:1 Dolby Atmos with a speaker in the ceiling soon. Oh yes. There's more than some old trophy at stake here, I can tell you...
Digby Fox - livethestory.com (sent to us on Friday before the finals started...)
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Giraglia Rolex Cup: Freccia Rossa's Momentous Display
Nearly 250 yachts featured in the week's sailing; 209 took part in the main event - the 241-nm offshore race from Saint-Tropez, France to Genoa, Italy where two yachts claimed the week's main honours. Overall victory of the 65th Giraglia Rolex Cup went to Freccia Rossa, a predominantly Russian-crewed TP52 owned by Vadim Yakimenko. Her success followed that of Momo. Dieter Schon's Maxi 72 from Germany winning the race's line honours crown as fastest finisher.
n the absence of a 100-ft Maxi on the start line in Saint-Tropez, the quest to win line honours at the 2017 Giraglia Rolex Cup was set up for the three competing Maxi 72s. Each had their own reasons to believe it could be their year. Alex Scharer's Caol Ila R, as the fastest performer during the popular three-day inshore series in Saint-Tropez, was the form yacht; Sir Peter Ogden's Jethou, a perennial race competitor, has amassed significant Giraglia mileage; Dieter Schon's Momo arrived in single-minded fashion having exclusively focused her preparations and set-up specifically for the offshore race.
Claiming the Rolex Challenge Trophy and a Rolex Submariner timepiece as overall race winner, Freccia Rossa, translating as red arrow, becomes the second TP52 in recent years to win the race - Franck Noel's Near Miss also won in 2012. Arriving in Genoa in the early hours of Friday morning, as the fifth yacht to complete the race, Freccia Rossa soared to the summit of the corrected time leaderboard. As the lack of breeze on the tricky passage from the Giraglia rock to the finish line continued to thwart the ambitions of those yachts still in contention, Freccia Rossa's status as race leader became race winner.
Results:
Giraglia Rolex Cup Offshore Race (Saint-Tropez - Giraglia - Genoa)
IRC overall:
1. Freccia Rossa (RUS), Vadim Yakimenko (winner Rolex Challenge Trophy & Rolex Submariner)
2. Momo (GER), Dieter Schon
3. Caol Ila R (GBR), Alex Scharer
ORC class:
1. DHL - Adelasia Di Torres (ITA), Renato Azara
Line honours:
Momo (GER) - 32 hours, 52 minutes and 4 seconds (winner Rolex Trophy, Rene Levainville Trophy & Rolex Yacht-Master)
Current course record:
Esimit Europa 2 (SLO): 14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds in 2012
Giraglia Rolex Cup Inshore Series (Saint-Tropez):
IRC 0 Caol Ila R Alex Schaerer
IRC A Freccia Rossa Vadim Yakimenko
IRC B Absolutely II Philippe Frantz
ORC A Giuletta Marina di Cascais Alexandre Kossack
ORC B Foxy Lady Carlo Costigliolo
Full results and further information at: www.giragliarolexcup.com
Andy Beadsworth and Provezza win the Dragon Worlds
Photo by Neuza Aires Pereira / Clube Naval de Cascais. Click on image to enlarge.
Andy Beadsworth, Ali Tezdiker and Simon Fry win the 2017 Dragon World Championship in the final and only race of the day, sailed on the waters of Cascais in Portugal.
Overnight the Russian team Annapurna skippered by Anatoly Loginov were given redress by the race committee for a collision on the penultimate days racing which caused them to retire from that race. Their redress score re-duced the gap to 7 points from the Turkish flagged boat overnight with Lawrie Smith (Alfie) another 2 points adrift.
The final race of the regatta started on time at 1305 hrs local time on yet an-other steamy hot day on the Guia race course off the coast of Cascais. The breeze from the N/NW was lighter than most of the week at around 10 - 12 knots at the start, up to 15 kts at the top of the course.
NED412 took the race bullet by a comfortable margin to move up to 6th in the overall rankings and RUS76 (Rocknrolla) Dmitry Samokhin improving all week to finish clear in 2nd. GBR803 (Gorgeous Worgeous) Quentin Srauss, sailing in the Masters category, just snatched third on the finish line in his best result of the regatta.
In fourth, also a regatta best was JPN50 (Yevis ll) with Bocci Aoyama at the helm. Fifth was a very popular result for the Portuguese as Patrick Monteiro de Barros declared this race his regatta his last with his intended retirement.
Lawrie Smith (Alfie) with his Portuguese crew, Hugo Rocha, Joao Matos Ro-sa and Goncalo Ribeiro crossed 7th to confirm third place in the overall podium. Anatoly Loginov in Annapurna had to count a 17th but held on to second overall. -- Jonny Fullerton
Overall Results: (Top 10 of 70 boats after 8 races with 1 discard)
1. Provezza Dragon, Andy Beadsworth, TUR, 32 points
2. Annapurna, Anatoly Loginov, RUS, 36.2
3. Alfie, Lawrie Smith, GBR, 38
4. Desert Eagle, Hendrik Witzmann, UAE, 55
5. Rocknrolla, Dmitry Samokhin, RUS, 64
6. Troika, Pieter Heerema, NED, 65
7. Bunker Prince, Braslavets Yevgen, UAE, 65
8. Drago, Jose SM Matoso, POR, 68
9. Louise, Grand Gordon, GBR, 88
10. Jeanie, Jens Rathsack, MON, 88
Corinthian Trophy winner:
GER1180 Rosie, Benjamin Morgen
Masters Trophy winner:
GER1162 Desert Holly, Stephan Link
Full results: www.cncascais.com
One of the toughest jobs in yacht racing
They are by nature on the other side of the lens and fans rarely even know their names, yet they are some of the sport's unsung heroes. Indeed, most large sailing projects, events or teams wouldn't exist without them...
Now Mirabaud extends its prestigious yacht racing photography awards to moving pictures. The newly created Mirabaud Sailing Video Award will recognise professional TV, film and video producers, editors and filmmakers, who will be celebrated in their own right. The award will honour the best sailing videos each year, and recognise high achievement in sailing imagery, filming, editing and storytelling.
'We decided to launch this award because we have great respect for those who produce racing videos and work so hard at helping us to share our passion for sailing,' says Bernard Schopfer, the organiser of the contest.
'Our objective is to pay tribute to the quality of work we too often take for granted. I often observe cameramen at work at regattas. It seems a dream job, but the truth is they often work in tough conditions, using heavy and fragile equipment in an unforgiving environment. They deserve recognition for their work and this is what we want to offer.
The winners of the 2017 Mirabaud Sailing Video will be celebrated during the Yacht Racing Forum in Aarhus, Denmark, from 27 to 28 November 2017, in front of the sport's leading personalities, clubs and sponsors.
A Classic Bol d'Or Mirabaud
The 79th edition of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud met the expectations of the most demanding yachtsmen, running under ideal conditions, with a sustained "bise" wind, sometimes strong at night.
The three first boats winning in real-time had co-ed crews: a rare happening that's worth noting! Overall winner of the event, Alinghi was helped by Coraline Jonet, a confirmed racer who's already won the Lake Leman D35 championship four times, as well as the Bol d'Or Mirabaud in 2011. The second boat in the real-time ranking, Ladycat Powered by Spindrift Racing is Dona Bertarelli's crew, and she was aboard. Finally, the hydrofoil catamaran GC 32 Realteam, helmed by Jerôme Clerc, took advantage of Olympian Nathalie Brugger, who was in both the 2008 and 2016 games.
Arnaud Psarofaghis, who helmed the Alinghi catamaran, winner of this 79th edition of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud, is the nephew of Jean Psarofaghis, who won the monohull category in real-time (the Bol de Vermeil) aboard Sys & Co.
With 567 boats on the starting line, and 437 rated sailboats, this Bol d'Or Mirabaud beat all contemporary participation records, although still far behind the 1990 record of 684 registrants. However, the record of 125 Surprise one-designs registered in 2010 was beat with 132 this year! The last boat to cross the finish line, Sergio CooperTeixeira's Deluge, finished at 8:20:17 after twenty-two hours and twenty minutes of racing.
The J 70 CDE.CH, helmed by Marcel Stern, won the ACVL ranking ahead of Surprise Mirabaud 1 helmed by Nicolas Anklin and another J 70, Frederick Hedlund's Agera 3. The ACVL ranking is based on handicapped time; each boat is assigned a coefficient based on its characteristics, which is multiplied by the actualrace time. This allows small sailboats to compete with big ones, although that certainly wasn't the case this year with this terrible trio of seven meter boats.
Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From Adrian Morgan:
Of course the knives are out, or rather a critical post mortem on the latest failed British challenge needs to be undertaken. With so much public money spent on an essentially trivial yacht race that is only right and proper.
This is not F1, where sponsors have every right to throw money at cars and drivers in a bid to sell more stuff; this is Britain trying to sell itself, with the help of an Indian-owned car maker who must be wondering where its money went.
We must be critical, even to the point of attack or the next British challenge may indeed start late, have early design issues and end in embarrassing failure. Many backed Sir Ben's quest, including some photogenic royals. But blind support and wishful thinking are not enough, nor is exposure by a largely sycophantic media.
To win the America's Cup needs 110% dedication to... winning the America's Cup. The rest of it, the attempts to suggest it is also a crusade to save the planet, sustainability, promote the environment (how much carbon was consumed in this year's Cup; how much recycled?) encourage youth etc. are just an unnecessary distractions.
If Oracle wins, the next edition will be on us in a flash, the rules will no doubt once again make a mockery of level-playing, one to one competition and anyone thinking of entering the game better have no illusions, or delusions.
* From Mike Hayles:
Tell Ben Nichols, that it was fine on BT Sport even in Aldeburgh and it worked in France with a little help from Tunnel Bear.
* From Derek Paterson, Auckland NZ:
Alistair Skinner is "right on the money" with his comments. BAR had to start from scratch and that meant picking up some "past use by dates" from longer established teams. Now Sir Ben needs new people with uncluttered minds to kick on to the next level. Ignore the "moaning minnies" and think on Churchill's "fight" speeches
* From Nick Fry:
I was saddened to read some of the negative comments about BAR's entry into the present America's Cup. As there often seems to be many parallels drawn between my sport and sailing, I thought I would offer my two pence worth!
Brawn GP did not win the F1 World Championship starting from a piece of paper and a plot of land. We had been competing in Formula 1 in different incarnations for years. Challengers in top level sport rarely if ever win the World Championship at their first attempt.
As a British subject, I am very proud of Ben Ainslie, Martin Whitmarsh, and the entire team. The fact they made it into the Challenger semi-finals in their first effort is impressive and something we should all be very proud of that our government supported. Through BAR's hard fought and determined efforts, people are employed in a part of the country that was struggling.
Dreams of designers have materialized and will have implications for us as regular citizens in improved environmentally-friendly shipping or aerospace or defense. And we are lucky in having a sportsman like Ainslie so focused and driven as a great example to those young people who are scared to even try to succeed because they are handicapped by their own fear of failure.
It is unfortunate that the PR and the media had buoyed the hopes of the public without properly informing everyone of the Herculean task BAR had before them.
It is because we are willing to take the risk, to learn, and to improve which makes Britain a global leader in innovation, design, and sport.
Team New Zealand have red socks and a support of an entire nation. Certainly, our team deserves that level of support and encouragement to do even better in the next America's Cup.
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The Last Word
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