In This Issue
Land Rover BAR Academy Dominate Day One Of 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup Finals |
Lionheart wins JClass Regatta |
Semi-Finalist Decided at Women's Match Racing World Championship |
Fastnet: The date's drawing ever nearer! |
Slow Progress For Figaro Fleet |
Rockabill VI Gets To Dingle In Time For Dinner |
Bosun |
'I'm delighted to be back!' |
Tributes paid to Tom McNally |
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
Land Rover BAR Academy Dominate Day One Of 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup Finals
Day one of the 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup Finals belonged to Land Rover BAR Academy who sit on top of the leaderboard heading into day two after two second places and a first place in the three races on day one.
For the home of the 35th America's Cup, the day started in fairytale fashion for local heroes TeamBDA whose incredible story in the 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup continued in fine style when they won the first race of the Finals against their seven competitors.
Having given the packed Grandstand and all the TeamBDA fans in the America's Cup Village a huge reason to cheer in race one, races two and three proved tougher for the young team and they end day one in sixth place overall.
Day One Standings
1. Land Rover BAR Academy, GBR, 28 points
2. Team Tilt, SUI, 21
3. Team France Jeune, FRA, 21
4. Artemis Youth Racing, SWE, 20
5. NZL Sailing Team, NZL, 18
6. TeamBDA, BER, 18
7. SVB Team Germany, GER, 15
8. Spanish Impulse by IBEROSTAR, ESP, 15
Find out whether the Cinderella story will have a fairytale ending. Watch the Red Bull Youth America's Cup Finals, live on Red Bull TV on June 20 and 21 at 2:00pm local Bermuda time/5:00pm UTC.
Lionheart wins JClass Regatta
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
The final day of the America's Cup J Class Regatta in Bermuda completed two races, with Lionheart and Velsheda trading punches, each scoring a first and second to move up the standings and take the top two positions. Lionheart, with Harold Goddijn on the helm and Bouwe Bekking as tactician, finished three points ahead of Velsheda while day one leader Hanuman dropped to third.
Final score:
1. Lionheart, 11 points
2. Velsheda, 14
3. Hanuman, 14
4. Ranger, 18
5. Topaz, 21
6. Shamrock, 30
7. Svea, 36
Semi-Finalist Decided at Women's Match Racing World Championship
Before thunderstorms abruptly ended the racing in Helsinki, there were some exciting matches in the Quarter-Finals of the 2017 Women's Match Racing World Championship. The results went "according to form" as the top four from the round robin stage came out on top in each of their pairs.
Renee Groeneveld (NED) and her Dutch Match Racing Team met local sailor Marinella Laaksonen (FIN) and her L2 Match Racing Team in the first Quarter-Final match, winning 3 - 0.
Defending Champion, Anna Ostling (SWE), had a good feeling about today's races against the second Finnish team in the Quarter-Finals, Mikaela Fors (FIN) and her Pen & Hammer Sailing Team, which Team Anna won 3 - 0.
Trine Palludan (DEN) and her Team Experience used some of their years of experience to fight off a very competitive Pauline Courtois (FRA) and her Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team, winning 3 - 1.
When the final pair hit the water for their matches, the weather had changed and the sun shown brightly and the breeze increased to a steady fifteen knots. Round robin winner, Lucy Macgregor (GBR) earned the right to choose her opponent and chose Caroline Sylvan (SWE) who finished eighth in the round robin. Macgregor praised her team: "The girls are doing a great job and we've had really good starts which allow us to get ahead and stay ahead."
Quarter-Final Results
Lucy Macgregor, GBR - Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 3 - 0
Trine Palludan, DEN - Pauline Courtois, FRA, 3 - 1
Anna Ostling, SWE - Mikaela Fors, FIN, 3 - 0
Renee Groeneveld, NED - Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, 3 - 0
Round-robin results (skipper, nationality, wins - losses, winning percentages):
1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 13 - 0, 100%
2. Trine Palludan, DEN, 10 - 3, 77%
3. Anna Ostling, SWE, 9 - 4, 69%
4. Renee Groeneveld, NED, 9 - 4, 69%
5. Marinella Laaksonen, FIN, 8 - 5, 62%
6. Mikaela Fors, FIN, 7 - 6, 54%
7. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 7 - 6, 54%
8. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 7 - 6, 54%
9. Johanna Bergqvist, SWE, 6 - 7, 46%
10. Margot Riou, FRA, 5 - 8, 38%
11. Martina Karlemo, FIN, 4 - 9, 31%
12. Antonia Degerlund, FIN, 4 - 9, 31%
13. Sanna Hager, SWE, 2 - 11, 15%
14. Ekaterina Kochkina, RUS, 0 - 13, 0%
The date's drawing ever nearer!
There are just 47 days left until the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Rolex Fastnet Race gets underway on Sunday 6th August at Cowes, and for owners and crews those safety preparations are a priority. Don't forget to contact us at Ocean Safety to get a copy of our Fastnet safety check list if you haven't already. Click here to request your FREE copy. Our team are right at the end of the phone to give you extra advice on all 40 of the items that are required to meet Cat 2 offshore special Regulations and RORC prescriptions.
Even as a crew member you can take steps yourself to maximise your own personal safety by ensuring that you are familiar with everything on board, its location and how to operate it. At least one person has to have had completed an Offshore Personal Survival Training Course. That could be you - contact your local sailing school. While you're at it you could get yourself a PLB or AIS recovery beacon like the MOB1 or the 3Si Guardian PLB. Ocean Safety's Kru lifejackets are built to house them effortlessly.
Slow Progress For Figaro Fleet
Monday afternoon saw a very slow start to Stage 4 of La Solitaire URGO le Figaro and was followed by an even slower evening, the conditions allowing the skippers to complete just 60nm of the course with a further 365 to go at the 05:00 hours check Tuesday morning.
Throughout the early hours of this morning the fleet have been negotiating the headland of Penmarc'h, looking for every little bit of speed possible short tacking close into the shore to avoid the adverse current, boat speeds of the fleet down to as little as .5kts making any maneuvers hugely costly and many needing to anchor to avoid backtracking.
This is going to be an incredibly tough stage! The fleet left the port of Concarneau after mid-day yesterday and are still in south Brittany more than twelve hours later! "It's true that the reality is not at all in line with expectations," explained Gildas Mahe to the VHF this morning. "We really had a very weak wind and I almost got wet last night at Cape Caval. It's going to take a long time, but I'm happy to be back in the game." Just like Alexis Loison (Custopol), who was recalled yesterday at the start along with the skipper of Action Contre La Faim, both have made up the time and back within the pack.
Tracking map: www.lasolitaire-urgo.com/en/cartographie
Rockabill VI Gets To Dingle In Time For Dinner
In Dingle of a warm summer Friday's evening, the night has barely started at 9pm, writes W M Nixon. So the multi-talented crew of Paul O'Higgins' JPK1080 Rockabill VI were in plenty of time for a leisurely winner dinner when they swept across the finish line in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2017 at 2048 hrs to stake what looks like an unassailable claim to have won just about everything in this race for which they're eligible.
There have been Dingle Races in the past where the nearer you got to the finish, the more difficult it was to find enough breeze to close the race. But this time round, Rockabill VI has found such sparkling conditions towards the end that, with a warm yet brisk fair wind sweeping her up the majestic Dingle Bay, she covered the last nine miles in less than an hour.
The crew who shared this victory with him were Conor O'Higgins, Mark Pettit, Ian O'Meara, Peter Wilson, William Byrne, Rees Kavanagh, and Ian Heffernan. Many have done the Dingle race before, with some of them winning in times past. Many will do it again. But the totality of Rockabill VI's win - with line honours thrown in despite the fleet having started with many larger boats - is more than enough to be going along with for now.
Afloat magazine's D2D coverage:
afloat.ie/sail/events/dunlaoghaire-to-dingle
Bosun
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'I'm delighted to be back!'
Dee Caffari returns for the Volvo Ocean Race in 2017-18 - and she's aiming to make a global impact with Turn the Tide on Plastic
Dee - you're back on the start line, and leading a team in 2017-18! How does it feel?
I feel like this has been a long time coming, it's been a huge challenge to get to the start this edition of the race. I'm delighted to be back in the race, and it feels even better because I'm really passionate about the campaign. Above all, I can't wait to get back into the Southern Ocean - that's what we call 'real' sailing. I can't wait to take a whole lot of new blood and see the young ones experience that.
It's not been an easy journey. Were there times when you thought you'd be watching the next race from shore?
I've had a nagging voice in the back of my mind about getting on board a Volvo Ocean 65 for this race. I've had various discussions with teams that didn't come off and I've had glimmers of hope and then been disappointed. I've been frustrated and I was at the point where I thought it was beyond my reach. The fact this opportunity has come together is amazing. I believe I'm more passionate sailing for a cause and I love this race, I love sailing in the Southern Ocean and now I get to do it by leading the way for a group of young passionate sailors.
As a passionate environmental campaigner, does it feel like a big responsibility to be leading a team with such a vital message on a platform like the Volvo Ocean Race?
For sure, it's so exciting to be carrying a global message to a global stage like the Volvo Ocean Race. It's true that when you're communicating a brand or a corporate message it's not quite the same as being part of a campaign that touches and affects every single one of us - and there's a very emotive tie for me to this campaign. This isn't a B2B or B2C campaign, it's relevant to everyone, and so it feels like I'm taking on a major responsibility. We've abused our planet, and it's key to drive conversation about the amount of plastic in our ocean. We're already talking about it, of course, but this campaign is all about pushing people into proactively doing something about it.
Full interview: www.volvooceanrace.com
Tributes paid to Tom McNally
For years, Liverpudlian Tom McNally attempted to set the world record for crossing the Atlantic in a small boat.
He finally did it in 1993 when he sailed the 5ft 4.5 inch boat, Vera Hugh, from Lisbon, Portugal to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida via Puerto Rico.
Even more amazing was the fact the boat was partly built out of an old discarded wardrobe and that the hatch was made out of an old washing machine door.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, his daughter, Lorraine, paid tribute to her father, who was known as the "crazy sailor" as a result of his exploits, many of which raised money for cancer charities.
"My dad was an absolutely incredible man, some of the stories he told were unbelievable, he had such a fulfilled life. He was a very clever, kind and loving man and would do anything for anyone.
"Over the years he must have raised hundreds of thousands for cancer charities and I'm just so proud to be his daughter. Everyone talks about his sailing exploits, but to me he was just my amazing dad," she told the newspaper.
Tom McNally was always passionate about the sea, and bought this first boat, Anisor, sailing it across the Atlantic with next to no sailing experience. Aiming for the Caribbean, he ended up in Brazil.
He did other more traditional Atlantic crossings before he decided to go after Hugo Vilhen's 1968 world record for crossing the Atlantic in a small boat ( Vilhen's April Fool was 5ft 11 inches).
www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-world/
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 Dale Kushner:
While we are all giving the thumbs up regarding the proposed Volvo Ocean Race proposal, spare a thought as follows:
The Around the World Race is exactly that, so firstly the side show of multihull sounds the most exciting proposal, but the reality is that besides the fanfare that the Volvo Race adds, this is already being done with the extreme series and the M32 circuit and drifting away from the core product as that being the around the world race. The Multihull racing essentially detracts from the true race and in fact could jeopardizing the actual race for the future as it is diluted into much more exciting sailing. It would be better suited to Volvo to run a series of Port events for this outside the VOR.
Secondly, spare a thought for the following: The Around the World Race has always had flexible rules (The IMOCA rules). This has allowed for development in yachting. Eventually applying a box rule. This allowed for varied designs and more boats to be built, allowing older boats to compete again with the newer boats. The Vendee is a good example. There becomes a good base of boats built to this box rule which helps grow the event. Currently the VOR is to launch it as a strict one design which can also comply with Imoca 60 rule. The truth is that perhaps days after the launch of the first boat, a potential Vendee entry might launch a new boat in France that is even more up to date and faster than these boats. By the second event, essentially these boats will be outdated in terms of IMOCA top entries.
Surely the best way forward is to just set a box rule.. or accept the IMOCA rules.. but let each campaign build what they want.. It allows innovations and excitement. Look at the VOR70's, they kept breaking records in each event.. very exciting. Nothing exciting in the 65's. Yes, they are well built boats, but right now people want excitement.. even footage from the VOR70's still get used.. and all those boats are in demand due to their ability to reach fast speeds.
My suggestion to the organizers is to rethink.. suggest perhaps the IMOCA rule or even extend that back to 70 foot. Let the teams do their thing. Their own maintenance etc... and focus on running the race. Learn from the Vendee and stop fleecing sponsors and cities.. The race has lost it's presence. I think if you do this, entry numbers will progressively swell.. and yes, not all teams will be capable of winning.. but then, no event is successful without entries.
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