In This Issue
Rio 100 Wins Barn Door Trophy | Rolex Farr 40 World Championship: Racing Is Called Off Due To Strong Winds | The Nations Trophy - Swan One-Design Racing at its best | Dragon Edinburgh Cup | Glandore Classic Boats | What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine | Steele and Postma duel for first day bragging rights at M32 World Championship | 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
Rio 100 Wins Barn Door Trophy
Invisible Hand. Photo by Sharon Green/Ultimate Sailing. Click on image to enlarge.
Honolulu, Hawaii: In the pre-dawn hours this morning, Manouch Moshayedi's Bakewell-White-designed Rio 100 crossed the finish line at Diamond Head to be the first-to-finish monohull without powered assistance, and thereby winner of the historic Barn Door Trophy in the 2017 Transpac.
With an elapsed time of 6 days 17 hours 9 min and 9 sec, Rio 100 once again joins a long and storied list of classic ocean racing yachts that have won this trophy every other year since it was first awarded to H.H. Sinclair on Lurline in the very first Transpac race in 1906. it may be interesting to note Lurline's time was nearly twice that of Rio's.
Next in line at Diamond Head several hours later with an elapsed time of 7:01:20:10 was Invisible Hand, the latest-generation Pac 52 whose design heritage started here with this race. Unlike the current-generation TP 52 class yachts competing in the 52 SuperSeries events in Europe, these boats have higher freeboards for livability below decks and less water on deck, and are built to meet Category 1 offshore safety regulations.
On board with Slootman was one of the Pac 52 Class originators Gavin Brady, who came up from his native New Zealand to compete in this year's race.
Reflecting on the race, one of several Transpacs he's done (last year with Rio 100), Brady said "This is a great race, and the boat was great too. This new generation of Pac 52's are getting back to the original offshore/inshore design concept. We were fast, but I told the guys we had another 10 miles a day we could squeeze out of the performance if we were more aggressive on gybing on shifts."
Right now Invisible Hand enjoys a 5 hour corrected time lead over their fellow Pac 52, Tom Holtus's Bad Pak, who in turn is currently fighting to preserve their slim 3-mile lead over the ex-Invisible Hand, Steve Maheen's R/P 63 Aszhou. Both boats are flying into the Molokai Channel now at 15+ knots, so 3 miles whizzes past in only 12 minutes. No doubt both crews will be pushing to the edge to their finish here mid-afternoon Hawaii time.
And in the next 12 hours we expect the following additional finishers: Des Murphy's Jeanneau 50 trimaran LoeReal, Chris Hemans's Rogers 46 Varuna, and Naomichi Ando's R/P 45 Lady Kanon VI from Japan.
Rolex Farr 40 World Championship: Racing Is Called Off Due To Strong Winds
Porto Cervo, Italy: The Mistral breezes that were forecast for the first day of racing at the 20th edition of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship kicked in as expected in Porto Cervo with gusts at over 30 knots.
Today, ARCORA Lifestyle Race Day, saw the Farr 40 One Design fleet wait in port while the AP flag was hoisted at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, organizer of the event in collaboration with the Farr 40 Class Association and the Title Sponsor Rolex.
The Race Committee, headed by Peter "Luigi" Reggio, checked out the sea state and decided to commence starting procedures. The Farr 40 fleet headed out hoping to get at least one race under their belts today. But seeing how the Mistral kept building, Reggio called off racing for the day.
Tomorrow should see the first day of racing in this event. Edoardo Recchi, Sports Director at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, had these words: "When I went out this morning on the Committee Boat the breezes were at about 18 to 20 knots which would have been fine for racing. But by noon, when racing was scheduled to start, the breezes had built to 27 knots and were predicted to get even stronger. We sent the fleet back to port for safety's sake at 1:00 PM when there were gusts at up to 32 knots. So we abandoned for the day, but are looking forward to tomorrow when conditions should be better."
Racing should get underway tomorrow, Friday July 14th, at noon in Mistral breezes that are predicted to be lighter than today's.
The Nations Trophy - Swan One-Design Racing at its best
The first edition of The Nations Trophy will be held from 10 - 14 October 2017 in Palma de Mallorca hosted by the Real Club Nautico Palma and is open to three Swan One-Design classes: ClubSwan 50 and ClubSwan 42, which will also be competing for their European Championship; and, Swan 45, which will also be contesting its World Championship.
The Nations Trophy is reminiscent of events popular during one of the golden ages of international yacht racing. The Admiral's Cup, launched in by the RORC in 1957, was the catalyst for number of nation versus nation team events including the Sardinia Cup in Italy (first held in 1978) and the Clipper Cup (later Kenwood Cup) in Hawaii (first held in 1978). Other events include the Southern Cross Cup (Australia, 1967) and even the Onion Patch Trophy (USA, 1986). While a number of these events have fallen by the wayside as trends in yacht racing have changed, the sentiment that nation versus nation competition should be a strong part of the sailing world has never wavered. The Nations Trophy is a small step towards reinvigorating this element of the sport.
Enter while you can. Charter yachts are available, but you need to be quick!
Contact clubswan@nautorswan.com for charter information or enter online at: thenationstrophy.com
Dragon Edinburgh Cup
Cowes, UK: The penultimate day of the Dragon Edinburgh Cup 2017 sponsored by Oliver Morgan Architects and Stoneham Construction Ltd in Cowes, produced one truly extraordinary race which shook the leader board up and leaves four boats in close contention going into the final race.
As they set off for the race area, the competitors found that the forecast north-westerly was instead an extremely shifty south-easterly of around 10-12 knots. Even seasoned locals famed for their ability to read the Solent's vagaries with ease have found themselves struggling to make sense of the apparently random shifts this week and today was no different.
Recently crowned Dragon World Champion and Solent local Andy Beadsworth summed the situation up with a wry smile saying, "It's a little bit harder to win here that it was [at the Worlds] in Cascais! It's home waters and I thought I knew what was going on in the Solent, so I thought I knew how to go the right way, but we're getting it wrong with monotonous regularity."
On the final beat, Byrne took a comfortable victory from Bailey with Tom Vernon in GBR810 Badger crewed by Oliver Spensley-Corfield and Adam Bowers third. Beadsworth had made his way up to fourth, Dmitry Bondarenko in Hauschreckeand with Vadim Statsenko and Alexander Shalagin was fifth, Hoj-Jensen sixth and Goikhberg seventh, but Payne unable to do better than 20th, which he immediately discarded.
So the showdown in tomorrow's remaining race is going to be a humdinger. Bailey tops the leader board with 12 points, Hoj-Jensen is on 14, Beadsworth 15 and Payne 16. The forecast for that final race is 12 gusting 20 knots from the north-west, but we're beginning to learn that what is forecast and what we get are not necessarily related this week
Tomorrow's final race is programmed to get underway at 11.00 and the regatta will conclude with the Edinburgh Cup 2017 Prize Giving Dinner Dance at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. -- Fiona Brown
Top ten:
1. C Aimee, Graham Bailey, Julia Bailey, Will Heritage, Will Bedford, GBR
2. Danish Blue, Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, Hamish McKay, Paul Blowers, GBR
3. Provezza Dragon, Andy Beadsworth, Simon Fry, Ali Tezdiker, TUR
4. Full Speed, Martin Payne, Gillian Hamilton, Chris Bittain, GBR
5. Badger, Tom Vernon, Oliver Spensley-Corfield, Adam Bowers, GBR
6. Murka, Igor Goikhberg, Dmitry Berezkin, Roman Sadchikov, RUS
7. Jaguar, Martin Byrne, Connor Byrne, Pedro Andrade, IRL
8. Harry, Mike Budd, Mark Greaves, Mark Mansfield, GBR
9. Ecstatic James, Eric Williams, Rory Paton, Katie Cole, GBR
10. Jerboa, Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Mark Hart, Andrew Norden, GBR
Full results: edinburghcup.org/results/
www.britishdragons.org
www.edinburghcup.org
Glandore Classic Boats
The handsome McGruer ketch Cuilaun - whose CV includes a Transatlantic Race Class Win – is headed for the Glandore Classic Regatta 2017 from July 23rd to July 28th. Click on image to enlarge.
With just twelve days to go to the start of the 25th Anniversary Glandore Classic Boat Regatta 2017 from July 23rd to July 28th, Glandore Harbour Yacht Club are swinging all systems into action with the extra muscle provided by sponsorship writes W M Nixon. As ever, the theme will be variety, with the pace in sheer style being set by elegant craft such as the 1970-vintage all-varnish 55ft McGruer ketch Cuilaun (Brian Smullen & Michael O'Flaherty).
She's a fine ship which, in her day, has won her class in a Transatlantic Race to Cork. But then at the other end of the spectrum in terms of size and detail, there will be a host of boats representing the strong Traditional Boat theme which is central to West Cork sailing and rowing.
And this time round, there'll be an unprecedented level of input from the Shannon Estuary, including the Theo Rye-designed CityOne dinghies from Limerick.
Internationally, the late naval architect and maritime historian Theo Rye was noted as the ultimate authority in everything to do with real classics right up to such giants as the Fife 23 Metre Cambria. But he was a man of many and inventive talents, and when his friend Gary MacMahon of the Ilen Boat-Building School in Limerick requested some ideas for an easy-to-build sailing dinghy whose construction would fit neatly into the school's curriculum, Theo came up with the CityOne concept.
Full article by W M Nixon in Afloat: afloat.ie/sail/historic-boats
Seahorse July 2017
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
World news
The rise of the Mini scow is proving relentless, a new Vendée Globe 'launching', the ultimate Transat rivalry, skiffies on top, tough (Olympic) decisions and New York gets out the cheque book. Patrice Carpentier, Ivor Wilkins, Rob Kothe, Dobbs Davis
Paul Cayard
Now this one just became very interesting...
IRC - Less than obvious
Or why a one-design can be easier to draw
Design - A (very) different task
Stephane Leveel has travelled a long way during a successful international career in yacht design. His current task is (literally) the biggest
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Steele and Postma duel for first day bragging rights at M32 World Championship
With 15 high-speed catamarans firing out of a reaching start, day one of the M32 World Championship was a big, fun learning curve for everyone in Marstrand, Sweden.
Getting ahead of the pack was a key skill on such a busy start line, and one sailor who seems to have learned the knack quickly is Olympic Finn sailing veteran, Pieter-Jan Postma who steered Sailing Team NL to scores of 2,2,1,3. The Flying Dutchman was the only skipper to keep all his scores inside the top three, although he's tied on points with young Kiwi Chris Steele and CFA Sport Racing who scored 1,2,4,1.
Postma hasn't long been racing the M32 catamaran but has got to grips with the high-performance demands of the boat very fast. "Today was a very awesome day, an amazing situation in Marstrand with 15 boats on the start line. It was very tight, very exciting and we had a good day. The reaching start is great. I see starting as an art, you hit the pace at the right moment, with the team all synced and the hull flying, it's a fantastic experience."
Fellow New Zealander Hayden Goodrick is sailing with Chris Steele and is one of the most experienced M32 sailors around. Today though, was new territory for everyone.
The 2008 Olympic Champion in the 49er skiff, Jonas Warrer, is also doing well in third overall, and the Danish skipper was the other race winner today. However the Corinthian owner-drivers are also faring well against the Olympic medallists and America's Cup sailors in the fleet.
Leading the Corinthian battle is Don Wilson and Convexity in fourth overall, while Richard Davies and Section 16 are in sixth overal
Friday promises more exhilarating conditions for day 2 of the M32 World Championship. -- Andy Rice
1. CFA Sport Racing, NZL, Chris Steele, 8 points
2. Sailing Team Nl, NED, Pieter-Jan Postma, 8
3. Warrer Racing, DEN, Jonas Warrer, 13
4. Convexity, USA, Don Wilson, 19
5. Chinaone Ningbo, NZL, Phil Robertson, 19
6. Section 16, SUI, Richard Davies, 27
7. Redline Racing, AUS, Matt Jerwood, 30
8. KSSS, SWE, Rasmus Rosengren, 33
9. Grave Digger, USA, James Prendergast, 38
10. Flux Team, SWE, Johnie Berntsson, 39
11. Gazprom Team Russia, RUS, Victor Serezhkin, 43
12. Gac Pindar, GBR, Ian Williams, 45
13. Essiq Racing Team, SWE, Nicklas Dackhammar, 48
14. Cape Crow Vikings, SWE, HAkan Svensson, 52
15. Magenta Robline, GBR, Olivia Mackay, 59
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 David Evans:
The hard line approach that the Belgian authorities have been adopting in relation to yachts having red diesel in their tanks has been ratcheted up to levels that effectively preclude any UK yachts visiting Belgium or even transiting inside their 12 mile territorial waters, they have even stopped transiting yachts at sea to test their tanks. The Belgian interpretation of the EU rules is that red diesel is prohibited for any leisure use, the UK Government interpretation of these Rules is different as they just require red diesel to have duty paid where the red diesel is used for propulsion, red diesel used for heating being duty exempt.
Over the last couple of months many yachts that have adopted the RYA recommended measures ( keeping receipts ensuring these state in typed text on the receipt that UK fuel duty has been paid; ensuring receipt is less than 12 months old; keeping a fuel usage/motoring hours log; not having red diesel in standby cannisters, keeping the letter from the EU - available on the RYA web-site) have been completely ignored by the Belgian authorities. Interestingly in the UK we actually pay a higher rate of Duty on red diesel used for propulsion than the Belgians pay on their white diesel! The yacht most recently fined to my knowledge was Zero Gravitas, an SJ320 fined last weekend (8/9 July 17), in Ostende whilst competing in the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association's Triangle series of races.
Fines for having more than 0.07% red traces in a fuel tank seem to be ranging between 500 - 750 Euros.
(Note 0.07% is 7 parts in 10,000 of the contents of of a yachts tank!)
Also being fined are any non-EU yachts, US and Norwegian in particular. Plus I have heard that Belgian, Dutch, German and French yachts that have fuelled-up in the UK and have some traces of red diesel in their tanks are being fined as well (even though it is not possible to fuel-up with white!)
In the UK it is almost impossible to source white diesel for one's yacht, even purchasing road diesel (not ideal for yachts due to its very short tank life - 3 months I am told) is not really possible as garages limit the amount that can be put into containers to circa 10 litres. This means that Belgium and its waters are now off-limits to most visiting yachts. It does make one wonder how the Belgian marinas, restaurants, bars etc etc feel about the loss of tourist revenue!
As an active campaigner of a half-tonner, it is mooted that the 2018 Half Ton Classics Cup is likely to be held in Nieuwport Belgium, we will either need reassurances from the Belgian authorities or we must reconsider where this event should be held.
For the benefit of non-UK yachts I understand that white diesel can be purchased at Ramsgate Marina, but I believe that this is the only marina on the south and east coats having this available, but for a UK yacht one wonders how many times a tank needs to be flushed and filters changed to get down to less than 0.07%.
At a political level the UK Government, the EU and the Belgian Government clearly need their heads banging together, but until that happens, CAUTION IS THE WORD!
See also www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/
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The Last Word
At length, the first carriage reached the lawn and drew up; a crowd of gentlemen dismounted in eager haste and the Guest of the Nation was handed out: simultaneously Mr. Jefferson had walked to the edge of the lawn hurriedly and bareheaded to meet his guest. They embraced and kissed each other on the cheek in European fashion: - all was so still that we heard the words distinctly - "My dear Jefferson! - My dear Lafayette!" -- Lafayette's Visit to Monticello (1824)
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