In This Issue
Christophe Killian Wins 51st Governor's Cup |
Barcelona glory for Oman Air |
Racing Starts Wednesday In Dr Irena Eris ORC European Championship |
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine |
Paul Goodison shows his speed in Italian Moth Series |
Phuket Raceweek |
Il Mostro Breaks Monohull Record for Cove Island Course |
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
Christophe Killian Wins 51st Governor's Cup
Governor's Cup Winners. Click on image to enlarge.
Newport Beach, CA, USA: Christophe Killian, 20, of host Balboa Yacht Club, Newport Beach, California, won the 51st Governor's Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship with a 3- 1 victory over New Zealand's Leonard Takahashi before a record number of spectator boats watching the action. Killian and his crew Harrison Vandervort, won five of their last seven races in the semi-finals and finals, with a 3-0 win over Christopher Weis of Del Rey Yacht Club, Marina del Rey, California.
Australia's Harry Price, winner of the double round robin portion of the event - where every team sails against every other team twice - chose his opponent from among the semi-finalists as is the practice in modern match racing events. Many observers predicted that he would choose the youngest sailor in the group, Takahashi, and he did so. But, like many such choices, sometimes they go terribly wrong; in this case, Price may regret that decision as Takahashi beat Price 3-1 in their semi-final.
Price, as the 6th ranked sailor in the World Sailing Open Match Racing rankings, was a favorite coming into the event but a few uncharacteristic mistakes resulted in his loss to the young Kiwi to set up what turned out to be an exciting Killian-Takahashi final.
Price and Weis sailed the petit final to determine third place. Price's difficulties continued in a 3-1 loss to Weis.
Barcelona glory for Oman Air
Oman Air scored their first Act win of 2017 as SAP Extreme Sailing Team rise to the top of the overall Extreme Sailing Series scoreboard following a nail-biting finale to Act 4 in Barcelona.
Just ten points separated Extreme Sailing Series heavyweights Oman Air, Red Bull Sailing Team, SAP Extreme Sailing Team and Alinghi going into the final double-points scoring race, leaving victory anything but certain.
However Phil Robertson's Omani-flagged team sealed fourth-round victory in style, sailing a flawless race to cross the line with a mammoth lead of more than two minutes over closest rivals SAP Extreme Sailing Team.
The crowds lining the shore could hear the cheers coming from Oman Air's GC32 as the team, last year's runners up, celebrated topping the podium for the first time this season following a trio of thirds in the previous Acts.
Three wins in six races saw Austria's Red Bull Sailing Team claim the second podium spot, finishing just six points behind Oman Air, while second in the final race was enough to secure third for the Danish crew of SAP Extreme Sailing Team.
Alinghi's hopes of a podium finish were quashed when they finished seventh in the final race, forcing the Swiss syndicate to settle for fourth place.
The battle for the Extreme Sailing Series top spot will recommence in Hamburg, Germany, from August 10 to 13, before the global Stadium Racing tour heads to Cardiff, UK, from August 25 to 28.
Barcelona standings after Day 4, 22 races
1. Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari, 233 points
2. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Stewart Dodson, Adam Piggott, Will Tiller, 227
3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Kostner, Adam Minoprio, Mads Emil Stephensen, Pierluigi de Felice, Richard Mason, 221
4. Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothe Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey, 214
5. NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) Chris Steele, Graeme Sutherland, Harry Hull, Mike Bullot, Josh Salthouse, 191
6. Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) Rob Bunce, Chris Taylor, Oli Greber, Will Alloway, Adam Kay, 190
7. FNOB Impulse (ESP) Jordi Xammar, Joan Cardona, Luis Bugallo, Kevin Cabrera, Florian Trittel, 159
8. Team Extreme (ESP) Mitch Booth, Alberto Torne, Jordi Sánchez, Jordi Booth, Tom Buggy, 129
Racing Starts Wednesday In Dr Irena Eris ORC European Championship
Marina at Motlawa river in old town of Gdansk, Poland. Photo by Patryk Kosmider - Fotolia. Click on image to enlarge.
Gdansk, Poland: After two days of measurement, registration and practice racing Monday and Tuesday, 92 teams from 11 countries throughout Europe will start racing on Wednesday, 26 July for four days of offshore and inshore competition at the Dr Irena Eris ORC European Championship held here in Gdansk. The format is scheduled to include a 10-12 hour Offshore race on Wednesday, followed by Inshore windward/leeward racing on Thursday through Saturday, with final Awards scheduled for Saturday evening.
In Class A there is a healthy mix of a dozen Racers and Cruiser/Racers, with the latter category led by Tea Ekengren-Sauren's Swan 45 Blue Nights from Finland, who has just won the Granaria Polish ORC National Championship. Yet they will likely be challenged by another Swan 45, Erik Berth's Tarok 7, who was the Silver medalist in last year's ORC World Championship in Copenhagen. Among the Racers in this class will be Filip Engelbert's Ker40+ Elvis from Sweden and Rolf Relander's Cookson 50 Furiosa, a sistership to the newly-crowned 2017 ORC World Champion, Mascalzone Latino.
In Class B there is a larger crowd of 29 entries in Class B, ranging from proven champions in the Baltic region, like 2015 ORC Class B European Champion Jaak Jogi on his X-41 Forte from Estonia, to brand new designs, like Bjorn Erik Bjornsen's Aquatich 40 Aquatich from Norway. But watch out also for Thomas Dehler on his Dehler 38c Sporthotel from Germany, since they just won the Granaria Polish National Championship this past weekend.
Class C is the largest class at the event, with 42 entries, the largest ever for an ORC European Championship. Within this group there are also some proven champions - such as the reigning Class C European Champion Aivar Tuulberg on his Arcona 340 Katariina II from Estonia and new winner of the Granaria Polish National Championship as well, Patrik Forsgren's modified First 36.7 Pro4U, the 2015 Class C Champion from Sweden, and Sandro Montefusco from Italy leading an Estonian team on the NM 38 Sugar, the European Class C Champion in 2013.
Racing will be held in the Gulf of Danzig just north and east of the port, and the shoreside venue will be in the historic heart of the Port of Gdansk, a scenic backdrop for a city which has had a seafaring heritage for over 1000 years.
Seahorse August 2017
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Built (fast) to last
For many years Alex Thomson has bucked the wider trend with his choice of sailmaker for Hugo Boss. Richard Bouzaid, David Duff and Mike Sanderson have been there with the British skipper every step of the way
Newbie
Designing the closest thing yet to a purpose-built ORC race yacht involved some overdue analysis of IRC/ORC performance vs rating comparatives. Tom Humphreys And Dobbs Davis
Smarter in the lab and smarter on the water
Was everyone looking in the wrong place? Andy Claughton
Watch your back
This time it's the rise of the transistors...
Reboot
The ClubSwan 50 success story is spreading
The last straw...
But inch by inch we'll get there
Timeless (and fast)
'Wide-ranging success' is a suitable moniker
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Paul Goodison shows his speed in Italian Moth Series
Fraglia Vela, Lake Garda, Italy: For day 2 of the Italian Moth Series, the precursor to the McDougall + McConaghy Moth Worlds, Lake Garda delivered with fantastic Moth sailing conditions with spectators enjoying a grand stand view of the action from the Fraglia Vela Malcesine club foreshore. The Yellow fleet was sent out for a 1300hrs start in warm afternoon sunshine and flat water. The breeze continued to swing between 200 - 240 degrees, delaying the start for about an hour.
When it did settle on 205 degrees it was blowing around 12 - 15 knots straight up the lake with patches of light wind on each shoreline.
By the time race 5 was started the breeze had increased to 16 - 18 knots in streaks in the middle of the course.
As the final race of the day started for the red fleet the early evening breeze started to fade and soften back to 10 knots. Again it was the usual suspects, Rob Greenhalgh (GBR) leading Nathan Outteridge (AUS) with Western Australian Steven Thomas having his time in the sun. Australians Scott Babbage Tom Slingsby was up there with the leaders. This was the way things stayed until the finish.
Once the two fleet results had been combined it was dominance by the two British sailors with Paul Goodison counting 5 bullets and dropping a 2nd to win the Italian Series with 5 points.
Only two points behind Rob Greenhalgh takes second and Nathan Outteridge third with 13 points. Josh Mcknight sailed a consistent series for 4th and Tom Slingsby a solid 5th.
Italian sailors finished the second day of the series strongly, Carlo de Paoli Ambrosi counted single digit results to finish 9th overall, Francesco Bianchi in 11th and Francesco Bruni in 14th.
The Moth fleet now has a lay-day for registration and measurement formalities in advance of day 1 of the McDougall + McConaghy Moth Worlds on Tuesday 25 July.
There is, however the small matter of the Veneri Bangin the Corners Cup which is an invitational knockout series which has become a feature of past Moth Worlds. Previous winners are Pete Burling, Josh Mcknight and Iain Jensen. Weather permitting this will take place from 1400hrs.
Results: myregata.it/en/2017/2/italian-moth-series
Phuket Raceweek
Phuket, Thailand: Today brought to a close one of the best Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek's in recent history with a full complement of races across all seven classes and some exceptionally close racing. Forecasts all predicted extremely light airs this week but when Day 1 came around, the winds arrived and put in a good showing throughout the four days to deliver some challenging, tactical and exciting racing for all.
Ray Roberts' TP52 Team Hollywood (AUS) used their superior boat length to best effect and put in an excellent performance, winning seven from eight races and dominating IRC I.
Amongst the 40-footers places changed throughout the regatta with four different boats making it onto the podium. A last race third place finish, the best of their series, for the Chinese crew on Ramrod was a good ending to what has been a trying series for them while East Marine Emagine (AUS) fought off the rest to secure second overall. Loco's (SIN) late charge saw them better Rerefine (AUS) to finish third overall.
In IRC II the racing has been exceptionally close - both on-the-water and on corrected time. While Phoenix (JPN) claimed what appeared to be an easy win with six wins from eight races on the pointscore, the devil is in the details with just seconds the winning margin on more than one occasion.
Sailescapes Farrgo Ladies (AUS) crewed by an all-female team overpowered the rest of the class to claim second overall and the bragging rights over fellow Farr 1104, Krabi Boat Lagoon Piccolo (GBR), who finished in third.
Four multihull classes consisting of 24 multihulls is the largest multihull turnout of any Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek in history, and in Multihull Racing Asia Catamarans Hurricane (AUS) were true to form, winning the final race of the series and defending their title with a five point cushion.
Il Mostro Breaks Monohull Record for Cove Island Course
Detroit, Michigan, USA: Peter Thornton's Volvo 70 Il Mostro broke its own race course record today in the 93rd Bell's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race. The newly established elapsed time record for the 254-nautical mile Cove Island Course is 21:45:12. Il Mostro's previous record, set in 2015, was 23:39:54. Il Mostro missed breaking the course's multihull record (held by Rick Warner's Arete) by a mere 15 seconds.
Il Mostro was the first to finish of 207 boats in the race that started on Saturday from Port Huron; 124 of the boats (including 7 multihulls) sailed the Cove Island Course) and 82 of those sailing the shorter 204 nm Shore Course. The team crossed the finish line at 11:25:12 this morning.
Thornton described how at one point in the race, about 20 miles from Cove Island, his team was clipping along, approximately 30 miles in front of all other teams. "Then we sailed into a hole for two hours and Wizard was the only one who stayed with us; the rest of the fleet saw us stalled and went to the Michigan shore." After Il Mostro got going again, a storm harboring gusts of "mostly 25 knots, up to 30" carried the boat at an average of 21 knots up the straights to Mackinac Island.
Wizard, David and Peter Askew's Reichel/Pugh 74, crossed the finish line at 12:19:13. In the standings, they correct out ahead of Il Mostro.
Most of the fleet is yet to finish.
Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
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* From Guy Bloomfield:
You left a luminary off your list of One Ton Cup Winners. Chris Bouzaid introduced the world to New Zealand keel boat sailing. He was the forerunner of a wave of outstanding performance exemplified by our recent achievement in Bermuda.
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