In This Issue
Germany's Momo and Earlybird Open Best at 36 Copa del Rey MAPFRE | Day Three at Lendy Cowes Week | Neutral Helm. Reduced Heel. Balanced Sail Plan. In a Box. | Nicholas O'Leary launches Vendee Globe 2020 campaign | Peter Burling: 'Step backwards' if Team NZ move away from foiling catamarans | Andrew Simpson Foundation : The Sailing Charity | What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine | Shannon One Design Sailing Dinghy 'Kiwi' Celebrates Her 95th Year | 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
Germany's Momo and Earlybird Open Best at 36 Copa del Rey MAPFRE
On the first day of the 36 Copa del Rey MAPFRE on the Bay of Palma tacticians and strategists in the big boat classes racing on the outermost course area had their work cut out. Rather than the super consistent, solid sea breeze that the Balearic race track is known for, there was a regular difference between the windward and leeward extremes of the course area which tested and teased some of the best afterguards in the world.
But it is German flagged teams which are the only two crews to have started with a perfect pair of wins. In the Maxi72 class Dieter Schon's Momo, which has German ace Markus Wieser backed up by Kiwi strategist Murray Jones who clocked up his sixth America's Cup win last month as part of the winning performance coaching group along with Ray Davies and Rod Davis.
And in the ClubSwan 50 fleet Hendrik Brandis' Earlybird, which has German four times Olympic medallist Jochen Schumann as tactician, also started with two wins.
With ten TP52s racing in Mallorca Sotheby's IRC Class 1 it is Jean Jacques Chaubard's Team Vision Future which leads by one single point.
The second day of competition Tuesday sees windward-leeward racing scheduled for all classes. The GC32 foiling catamarans will warm up with an official non-scoring training regatta prior to racing starting on Wednesday.
Top results after day one:
BMW ORC 1 (35 boats)
1. Aifos (ESP), S.M. King Felipe VI, 2+3=5
2. Zappy's (FRA), Christophe Wargny, 4+6=10
3. Adrian Hoteles Macaronesia (NED), Daniel Adrian Rueda, 1+10=11
BMW ORC 2 (21 boats)
1. Maverta (ESP), Jose Ballester, 3+2=5
2. L'immens - Laplaza Assesors (GBR), Carlos Rodriguez, 2+4=6
3. Sum Innovation (ESP), Pedro Campos, 8+1=9
BMW ORC 3
1. Grupo Ceres (ESP), Daniel Cuevas, 4+1=5
2. Just the Job (GBR), Scott Beattie, 1+4=5
3. Lanzarote Sailing Paradise (ESP), Alejandro Morales, 3+3=6
Maxi 72
1. Momo (IVB), Dieter Schon, 1+1=2
2. Cannonball (ITA), Dario Ferrari, 3+2=5
3. Proteus (USA), George Sakellaris, 2+3=5
Club Swan 50
1. Earlybird (GER), Hendrik Brandis, 1+1=2
2. Ulika (ITA), Andrea Masi, 2+4=6
3. Skorpios (RUS), Andrey Konogorov, 3+3=6
MRW Swan 45
1. Ange Transparent 2 (ITA), Valter Pizzoli, 1+3=4
2. K-Forze (USA), Jan de Kraker, 3+2=5
3. Negra (ECU), Rizzo, 6+1=7
Swan 42
1. Nadir (ESP), Pedro Vaquer Comas, 2+1=3
2. Pez de Abril (ESP), Jose Maria Meseguer, 1+2=3
3. Voloria IV - Regina 2.0 (SWE), Jacob Wallenberg, 3+6=9
Mallorca Sotheby's IRC
1. Team Vision Future (SUI), Mergui Mikael, 1+4=5
2. Alizee (FRA), Laurent Camprubi, 3+3=6
3. Phoenix (USA), Hasso Plattner, 5+2=7
Herbalife J80
1. Les Roches Jeunesse Marbella Team (ESP), Eric Brezellec, 2+1=3
2. Bribon Movistar (ESP), Marc de Antonio, 1+3=4
3. VSA Comunicacion (ESP), Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg, 3+3=6
Day Three at Lendy Cowes Week
Day three of Lendy Cowes Week delivered yet more racing in blazing sun and a perfect south westerly breeze of 12-16 knots that gradually built to a peak of 20 knots by the end of the afternoon. It was a day of intensely close racing for many competitors, with numerous podium places decided by only a handful of seconds after more than three hours of racing.
Most of the early starts for the Black Group yachts starting on the Bramble line favoured the southern end of the line, but a wind shift under a line of cloud just before the start of the Quarter Ton class switched the bias towards the committee boat end.
This left Ed White's immaculately restored Joker more or less alone at the pin, while Louise Morton's Bullit avoided the pack, starting mid-line. Tony Hayward's Blackfun won his first race of the series, finishing almost four minutes ahead of Sam Laidlaw's Aguila. Bullit crossed the line 67 seconds after Aguila to take third place both on the water and on corrected time.
This class has a reputation for extremely close racing and this year is no exception. While Aguilla now leads the class overall with only six points, Bullit and Blackfun are on 9 and 10 points respectively and the next four boats are separated by only one point.
The right hand wind shift was still evident for the Contessa 32 start 10 minutes after the Quarter Tonners. Nevertheless, yesterday's winner, Eldred Himsworth's Drumbeat, started at the southern end, while most of the remainder of the fleet opted for the northern end, with Donna and Martin Rouse-Collen's Andaxi and Mark Tyndall's Persephone both making good starts there.
With Drumbeat retiring from today's race, the way was clear for Andaxi to take her first win of the series, 27 seconds ahead of Ray Rouse's Blanco. Ed Bell's Mary Rose Tudor took third, just over a minute later.
This year IRC Class 6 is a large fleet with boats ranging from older 38 footers such as Jonathan Rolls' Swan 38 Xara and David Kirkley's Nicholson 39 Conteza, through Impalas to Edmund Gatehouse's J/24 Jupiter and Kevin Downer's diminutive Jeanneau Fun 23 Ziggy.
Full results for all classes: www.lendycowesweek.co.uk
Neutral Helm. Reduced Heel. Balanced Sail Plan. In a Box.
Olaf Harken: "On service calls, travelers are far and away the worst-functioning equipment we see. People think replacing them is just too much hassle. But travelers are too important for crew safety and boat performance to ignore. These kits are our way to make improving them much easier."
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Watch The Harken Tech Team Replacement Traveler Kit video
Nicholas O'Leary launches Vendee Globe 2020 campaign
Royal Cork Yacht Club's Nicholas O'Leary has launched a Vendee Globe 2020 campaign and as part of the build-up the Crosshaven sailor will compete in next week's Rolex Fastnet Race as co-skipper with British round-the-world skipper Alex Thomson.
O'Leary (31), an emerging offshore sailing talent, has been training with the Thomson Racing team this summer and assisted in preparations ahead of the Vendee Globe in 2016 where, O'Leary, younger brother of double-Olympian, Peter, completed over 1500 nautical miles on board Thomson's Hugo Boss.
Thomson, from Bangor in North Wales, finished second overall last March in the French-based race, recording the second fastest time on record - 74 days 19 hours - just 16 hours behind winner Armel Le Cleac'h.
O'Leary won the UK's largest yacht race last month when he helmed the JPK 10.80 'Yes!' to an overall win in the Round The Island Race at Cowes.
"Being chosen to co-skipper the boat with Alex is a huge honour and it allows me to start the preparation for my own Vendee Globe campaign in 2020," said O'Leary.
There's no doubt O'Leary is a headline Irish act in the race on Sunday week but he is by no means the only one. He's not even the only Irish Vendee Globe campaign.
There's a potent line-up of Irish performers for the record breaking Fastnet Race entry - the world's largest offshore race. The 605-nautical mile race card was full in under five minutes, creating another record. Up to 400 boats will be on the Royal Yacht Squadron start line in Cowes on Sunday, 6th August.
Among the 12 Irish entries, from 28 participating countries, is a former Middle Sea Race class winner and some top ISORA performers. There's also two sailing school entries from Dun Laoghaire and two West Coast entries, one from Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary and another from Westport in County Mayo.
Peter Burling: 'Step backwards' if Team NZ move away from foiling catamarans
America's Cup winning helsman Peter Burling hopes Team New Zealand persist with foiling catamarans for the next America's Cup.
The new holders will unveil their protocols for the Cup in September where the venue, design type and nationality clause will be finalised.
There has been talk the Cup could return to more traditional monohulls, but Burling wants to race in something fast.
Burling has told Radio Sport that he's confident Team New Zealand will come up with a class for America's Cup 36 that will advance the event.
"I'm happy as long as it goes fast. It would be a bit of a shame to take a step backwards in terms of the speeds the boats can generate. I'm pretty sure we can come up with a rule that can keep pushing that forward," Burling said.
Burling is also a fan of a bigger nationality clause.
"This time we had a very small nationality clause but definitely for me it seems like something that has got to be as part of the America's Cup. It is a friendly competition between nations and the Deed of Gift is a big part of it. I'm in favour of the nationality clause but I'm not too sure how harsh it's going to be yet, as to what percentage it breaks out at, but it's all part of the fun and games over the next little while."
Andrew Simpson Foundation : The Sailing Charity
Today the Lendy Cowes Week spotlight shone brightly on the Andrew Simpson Foundation (ASF) with the day being officially designated Charity Day and with Founding Trustee and America's Cup sailor Iain Percy OBE in Cowes to fly the FUNdraising flag.
Iain Percy was honoured to be invited by Lendy Cowes Week and the Royal Yacht Squadron to fire the start gun for Cowes Bash and the first race of the day. As a reminder of why the Foundation was formed and in a nod to the global fundraiser 'Bart's Bash', results from all fleets were pooled to find an overall winner for the day. Congratulations go to the winner of Cowes Bash, just confirmed as Sam Cox on Nifty, a King 40, who picks up a free entry into next year's Lendy Cowes Week plus a range of Chatham Shoes for the crew and some Musto kit.
In between a host of media interviews and photo calls Iain enjoyed meeting young sailors signed up to one of the ASF's primary initiatives running this week, Discover Sailing supported by Lendy, a series of daily one hour taster sessions to introduce 8-14 year olds to the delights and challenges of sailing. The ASF Discover Sailing Programme ensures there are no financial barriers to entry into the sport. To date the Andrew Simpson Foundation has introduced 5,600 young people to sailing.
Iain took on his brother Richard who is the CEO of the Foundation and ASF supporter Sir Keith Mills, in the Sunsail Gutterboat Racing Challenge. Iain also raced Olympic Silver medallist and the 'Face of the Foundation' at the regatta, Mark Covell, who went on to host the Foundation's 'Big Bash' party on the main stage in Cowes Yacht Haven; a great big wonderful party with fabulous prizes, on-stage entertainment, putting the FUN into FUNdraising! Remember to text your donations to BART17 £5 to 70070.
www.facebook.com/andrewsimpsonfoundation twitter.com/AndrewSimpsonFo www.instagram.com/andrewsimpsonfoundation www.andrewsimpson.org
Seahorse August 2017
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
World news
The shorthanded boom continues, AIS safety, the mighty Macif, Conrad Colman's (incredibly) close shave, bumps on the way to Tokyo 2020 and Key West lament. Patrice Carpentier, Ivorwilkins, Rob Kothe, Dobbs Davis
Too soon?
James Boyd is excited by changes for the next Volvo race but highlights some of the less obvious technical hurdles that will need to be addressed
(Fast) horses for courses
A small degree of compromise can pay dividends
New horizons
And a (very sexy) 50th birthday celebration
Breathe easier
Preserving the gap... and with it the warmth
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Shannon One Design Sailing Dinghy 'Kiwi' Celebrates Her 95th Year
The Shannon one-design class, designed by Francis Charles Morgan-Giles (1883-1964) built their preview boat in 1921 (which no longer survives), and trials were offered to sailors on the Shannon River, in order to promote the idea of a one-design for the Shannon. Everybody who sailed the new boat were impressed, and during the winter and spring of 1922, nine boats were built to the new design, seven of which were built by Walter Levinge of Creaghduff, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Numbering started at No. 32, so these new boats were Nos. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 40.
In 2017, the surviving boats, Nos. 32, 33, 37 and 40, celebrated their 95th birthday, so, it was decided to have a pre-regatta, in preparation for a bumper centenary regatta in 2022. It was the owners of No. 37, 'Kiwi', Peter and Owen Delany and their siblings, who put together the idea of the pre-centenary regatta to be held at Lough Ree Yacht Club (Est. 1770) over the weekend of 29-30 July. A notice was circulated to the owners of the other 95 year olds, and to all the newer Shannon one-design owners (most recent boat in No. 179), and 15 boats turned up to race and to party.
On Saturday, the wind was 12-25 knots which resulted in one compulsory reef. Race one went to the opportunistic Alan and DJ Algeo in No. 138. Then, after lunch, race two was won by Andrew Mannion in No. 97, who also managed to win race three. This was followed by a Pimms party, and dinner for eighty celebrants in the Lough Ree clubhouse.
On Sunday, the rain belted down, but the wind was lighter, so the reef was no longer mandatory. Racing north of the Yellow Islands, saw Miss Georgina Corbett in No. 108 win race four, and race five was won by veteran sailor Frank Browne in No. 86. The final race after lunch was held in the flukey waters close to the clubhouse, and was won by Harmon Murtagh Snr and Jnr. as popular winners.
However, there were no discards in the six race series, which resulted in Miss. Corbett being declared the overall winner by one point from Dr. Mark McCormack on No. 50 which was built in 1925.
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