In This Issue
Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand win the 35th America's Cup | ORACLE TEAM USA Congratulates Emirates Team New Zealand | O'Leary Life Sovereigns Cup | Harken and the America's Cup: Bermuda and Beyond | Queen Mary 2 Leaves French Four In Her Wake But Resists Luffing | Finn Gold Cup Anniversary Regatta | What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine | 750 miles on a Standup Paddleboard | Rolex Middle Sea Race Notice Of Race | 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
Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand win the 35th America's Cup
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Another dominant race win for Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand in race nine of the America's Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton, gave the Kiwi team victory on the Great Sound in Bermuda, sparking wild celebrations on board their America's Cup Class (ACC) boat, and the team's support boats on the Great Sound.
The Kiwi team dominated the final stage of the 35th America's Cup, winning eight races to ORACLE TEAM USA's one race win, giving the New Zealanders a final winning scoreline of 7-1.
The America's Cup was last won by a team representing New Zealand in 2000 and they are now the Defenders of the America's Cup for the 36th instalment of the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport.
Quotes and insights from the leading players in both Emirates Team New Zealand and ORACLE TEAM USA will follow soon.
America's Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton Race Nine
Race nine started with both Emirates Team New Zealand and ORACLE TEAM USA enjoying clean starts and engaged in a drag race to the first mark, the US team edging just ahead but then losing ground to their rivals on the run to the second mark.
Burling was serene at the helm of the Kiwi boat, displaying no nerves as he steered his team towards glory, but Spithill and the ORACLE TEAM USA crew were not giving up, pushing harder than ever to try and take the tie to race ten. However, it was not to be.
By the third mark the Challenge's lead was up to 26 seconds, increasing further still at the fourth mark, up to 34 seconds, and from that point, barring mistakes by Burling and his all-conquering Emirates Team New Zealand crew, the die was cast.
ORACLE TEAM USA managed to peg back their rivals slightly in the latter stages of the race, but New Zealand sealed their win in impressive style, crossing the finish line for the final time in the 35th America's Cup 55 seconds ahead of the US team.
ORACLE TEAM USA Congratulates Emirates Team New Zealand
ORACLE TEAM USA offers its sincere congratulations to Emirates Team New Zealand. The team is a worthy champion.
"On behalf of ORACLE TEAM USA I want to congratulate Emirates Team New Zealand," said skipper Jimmy Spithill.
"They were the complete package and fully deserving of the win.
"Thank you to our families, friends, partners and supporters. You've been with us every step of the way.
"I'd also like to thank Bermuda for hosting a fantastic America's Cup. What you saw here was some of the best racing in the history of the event and you have to credit the vision of Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts for passing the event over in such a strong position."
Team founder Larry Ellison addressed the team after racing, saying: "I am very proud to be a part of this team. We gave it everything.
"When you compete against the very best in the world, you aren't going to win every time. We did it Valencia in 2010 and in San Francisco in 2013. But this was New Zealand's time and we congratulate them for a great win."
O'Leary Life Sovereigns Cup
Rob McConnell's Fool's Gold from Waterford Harbour Sailing Club. Photo by David Branigan/Oceansport, www.oceansport.ie. Click on image to enlarge.
There was no doubt about the overall winner of the O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club at the weekend when a standout performance by Rob McConnell's Fool's Gold delivered the trophy to Waterford Harbour Sailing Club.
Straight wins across the series - a string of six bullets - in Class 1 IRC which was the largest division with 16 boats out of the 98-strong fleet meant McConnell's result was the best score of the event.
Pat Kelly's J109 Storm from Howth YC followed victory at the Scottish Series barely a month ago with straight second place finishes against the Dunmore East-based Fool's Gold.
With no fewer than 11 J109's taking part in the division, a separate title was sailed within the series. However, as Storm is currently ineligible for J109 one-design racing, the class title went to John Maybury's Joker II, just one point ahead of Andrew Algeo's Juggerknot with Timothy and Richard Goodbody's White Mischief in third place; all three boats sail from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.
In the 1720 European Championships, run as part of the O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup this year, Anthony O'Leary's Antix was crowned 2017 Champion denying overall victory from his son Peter, a double Olympian veteran.
In Class Zero, Tony Ackland's Dark Angel claimed two bullets on the final day to come home ahead of Conor Phelan's Jump Juice and Johnny Mordaunt's eye-catching Tshcuss. There was some consolation for the Jump Juice team when they were awarded the Michelle Dunne Prix d'Elegance for the best presented boat at the 2017 regatta.
Local boat Artful Dodger, skippered by former Kinsale YC Commodore Finbarr O'Regan claimed overall victory in Class 2 IRC by the tightest of margins, squeezing out Kieran Collins' Coracle VI by just 0.5 points after six races. Overall 2015 Sovereign's Cup winner Equinox, skippered by Ross McDonald mounted a worthy defence of her crown to third place overall by a narrow 0.5 point margin.
In the Coastal Class, as Friday's programme was cancelled due to high winds, there was no series discard so after the three races, the overall podium positions in IRC and ECHO were identical. Conor Doyle's Freya, fresh from a broken boom in KYC's Spring Series, claimed top spot, despite not matching her race winning exploits of Wednesday and Thursday. The Coastal Class was locked out by Kinsale boats with the Carroll Brothers' Chancer second overall and with John Godkin's Godot finishing the event in third place.
Full results are available here: www.sovereignscup.com
Harken and the America's Cup: Bermuda and Beyond
From the era of trim tabs on the 12 Meters to the hydraulic foil adjustments on today's amazing flying machines, technology has always played an enormous roll in the America's Cup. And the 35th iteration was no different - cutting edge hardware solutions implemented by brilliant sailors making immediate decisions under incredible stress--brimming over with the drive to win.
Where will the new Defender take us? Who can say? But be assured, Harken will be there, armed with the latest thinking to fuel the skills of competitors in the battle for sailing's greatest trophy. It's been our honor and privilege to work with all of these remarkable teams--At The Front of sailing... where Harken must be.
Queen Mary 2 Leaves French Four In Her Wake But Resists Luffing
After enjoying a magnificent start from the place of its birth in St Nazaire on Sunday, the Queen Mary 2 has powered into a commanding lead of over 250 miles after 24 hours of racing in The Bridge Centennial Transat race. She has left the four giant trimarans in her long wake. In the battle behind, the veteran record-breaker Francis Joyon and his crew on IDEC Sport reeled in the young gun Francois Gabart and MACIF on Monday afternoon to lead by 9 miles at the 19:00 ranking (French time)
The only regret for the Queen Mary 2's captain, Chris Wells, is that he was not allowed perform what would have been the largest luffing manoeuvre in history after the starting gun sounded.
"The first and most important thing is that currently I am in the lead," Wells, who has been captain of Queen Mary 2 since 2008, said, tongue maybe partially in cheek. "I was a little disappointed as the gun went off that I was not allowed to accelerate very fast because we had to give enough room for the four trimarans to get ahead of me to allow them to tack in the channel. I could have been like Mr Lewis Hamilton and squeezed into the space quicker but we did have the race director on the bridge with me, so we had to wait. It would have been a magnificent luffing manoeuvre. But, I was a British gentleman and allowed them to go first."
Wells will average 23.2 knots covering just over 3,000 miles across the Atlantic, speeds easily within the compass of these Ultime-class trimarans in different conditions to the anticyclonic ridge that greeted them in the Bay of Biscay. Joyon has been averaging 13 knots. They may be nimble for their size, but the QM2 has a 157,000-horsepower engine plant to call on allowing her to churn out a metronomic 540 miles a day.
From Tuesday, the face of the race should radically change and take a completely different turn with an approaching a low-pressure system, which should allow sail racers to seriously speed up the pace. The south-westerly will intensify (up to 20 knots) and switch to the north-west," Vittet added. The boats that catch these winds first will begin to open up the first significant gaps and match the speed of their steel leader.
Finn Gold Cup Anniversary Regatta
Palamos, Spain: The Trofeo 40 Aniversario de la Palamos Finn Gold Cup 1977 drew to a close on Sunday with no more racing possible with persistent cloud, light rain and an almost non-existent wind. So the results stand from Saturday with Miguel Fernandez-Vasco winning from Alejandro Muscat and Paul Mckenzie.
The event was held to commemorate the 1977 Finn Gold Cup which was plagued by political problems and caused the Finn Gold Cup to be withdrawn from the competition, and the event being renamed the Finn World Week. Last night at a vineyard inland, the Finn Gold Cup was finally handed over to the winner of the 1977 Finn World Week, Joaquín Blanco and he became an official Finn World Champion for the first time, with his name finally engraved on the Cup.
Overall winner, Fernandez-Vasco said, "I am happy because this is a regatta for the Spanish circuit, and with 32 boats it is the result of good work by the National Secretary before me, Victor Serrano, who was working so hard to build the fleet to more than 40 boats. In particular, the Masters fleet is so important to build the youth and the senior fleets."
On winning the weekend, "I am so happy because I am sentimental and yesterday with Joaquín's recognition for his Gold Cup win, 40 years ago, it was such a happy moment for us and to win this regatta 40 years later with Josele Doreste and Alex Muscat, one of the best sailors in Spain, is so nice for me, especially ahead the Spanish Championship in two months."
"I want to thank the International Finn Association for coming here and supporting this event, and showing that this regatta was important."
Final results
1. Miguel Fernandez Vasco, ESP, 5 points
2. Alejandro Muscat, ESP, 5
3. Paul Mckenzie, AUS, 10
4. Jose Luis Doreste Blanco, ESP, 14
5. Dorian Gachon, FRA, 18
6. Carlos Ordonez Sanchez, ESP, 18
7. Joaquin Blanco, ESP, 19
8. Francisco Castaner, ESP, 27
9. Miguel angel Cabrerizo Morales, ESP, 29
10. Miquel Alvarez Valls, ESP, 36
Full results www.cvpalamos.org
Seahorse July 2017
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Not so simple
Who better than a cycling nut to send to unravel Emirates Team New Zealand's 'power cell'? Richard Aspland
Unprecedented
Technology among the resurgent J-Class is only heading in one direction with rig technology at the forefront of development
Faster and faster
The new 65-footer from Mylius is just the latest example of a type of boat that would once have been considered inconceivable
Second life
Dodge Morgan's famous round-the-world yacht American Promise is back out there crossing the oceans where she belongs
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750 miles on a Standup Paddleboard
Ketchikan, Alaska, USA: Hot damn! Team Heart of Gold on a 19' custom Standup Paddleboard has finished the Race to Alaska! The first and only SUP competitor to complete the 750-mile race course. Karl Kruger, 45 from Orcas Island, Washington solo paddled the 710-mile stage two leg from Victoria, BC to Ketchikan, AK in 14 days, 6 hours and 17 minutes ahead of almost a dozen other teams.
This was Kruger's second attempt at the R2AK. Last year, he was forced to quit after approximately 100 miles when his board broke. Two other SUP racers competed in this year's race but both exited midway up the course.
The annual Race to Alaska (R2AK) is a 750-mile race open to all engineless vessels, and has no handicaps or classes and a $10,000 first prize. Second prize is a set of steak knives.
Rolex Middle Sea Race Notice Of Race
Valletta, Malta: The 38th edition of the iconic Rolex Middle Sea Race is scheduled for Saturday 21st October 2017.
Full details about the Race can be found on the Notice of Race which is available online and can be accessed on the event's official website www.rolexmiddlesearace.com or collected from the Royal Malta Yacht Club Secretariat.
Entries may be submitted on line through the event website and close on the 6th October 2017.
Participants are nevertheless encouraged to submit their entry early to assist the organisation with their preparation for the event.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race is truly an international race and so far entries from over fifteen countries have been received with Spain and the United Kingdom leading the fleet – we expect more to be added to the list in the coming weeks.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race starts on Saturday, 21st October 2017 and the final Prize Giving ceremony will be held on Saturday, 28th October 2017.
For further information about the race please contact the Royal Malta Yacht Club via email on info@rmyc.org or on +356 2133 3109.
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 Ernesto Bertarelli:
Congratulations to Emirates Team New Zealand for their much deserved victory in this America's Cup. Their innovation and determination is an example to everyone in competitive sport, and a reminder of the passion and ingenuity that is at the heart of the Cup.
Combined with the incredible sporting talent of the sailing team, helmed by the remarkable Peter Burling, they have taken our sport to a new level. Well done, thank you and enjoy your celebrations!!
* From Phil Ross:
In reply to Euan Ross: you are quite correct, realised after the 1987 Cup that the racing was not decided on the water, it was decided four years prior around the design table. Once you start on a design path it is very difficult to change - both philosophically as well as in a manufacturing sense
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