In This Issue
Swuzzlebubble edge ahead at Half Ton Classics Cup |
Eight Metre Worlds |
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine |
M32 Series: Danes Back to Top Spot in Scandinavia |
Protocol for 2021 America's Cup 'basically done' |
Industry News |
Loss of a sailing great: Edward Allcard dies aged 102 |
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
Swuzzlebubble edge ahead at Half Ton Classics Cup
Photo by David Branigan, www.oceansport.ie. Click on image for photo gallery.
In a clear statement of intent for the remainder of the regatta, Phil Plumtree's Swuzzlebubble found form on the second day of racing at the Euro Car Parks Half Ton Classics Cup at Kinsale with two wins and two second places during a long day afloat sailed in ideal conditions.
While there was a building breeze of 12 to 20 knots ending in champagne sailing conditions for day two, a near gale forecast for Wednesday morning may yet mean a lay day is on the cards and a break in the programme could be the best hope for a tight pack of runner-up contenders to break Plumtree's dominance of the 21-boat fleet.
Two bullets for David Cullen on Checkmate XV edges him into second overall, five points behind Swuzzlebubble and just a single point ahead of Nigel Biggs on Checkmate XVIII, the previous overnight leader. A consistent day for Mike and Ritchie Evans' The Big Picture, Cullen's clubmates from Howth, Co. Dublin keeps them in the hunt in fourth overall and just ten points off the leader.
On the water, Swuzzlebubble's impressive upwind performance is hard to miss and although needing to finish by more than a minute and a half over her nearest rival to win on IRC handicap, Plumtree's team is absent from the boat on boat tussle for places further astern.
The possibility of the gale blowing through by lunchtime on Wednesday has not been discounted and the intention to hold a coastal course remains - pending a decision by the race committee in the morning.sThe longer race offers 1.5x multiplier and could prove critical in deciding the final outcome of the championship.
Top six overall standings after Day 2 - seven races (21 entries)
1. Swuzzlebubble Phil Plumtree (UK)
2 Checkmate XV Dave Cullen (Ireland)
3 Checkmate XVIII Nigel Biggs (UK)
4 The Big Picture Michael & Richard Evans (Ireland)
5 General Tapioca Philippe Pilatte (Belgium)
6 Miss Whiplash Paul Pullen (UK)
Full results: results.kyc.ie/2017/halfton17os.html
Eight Metre Worlds
Hanko, Norway: The weather forecast struck at 4 m / s from south-east, then calming in the afternoon. This gave the sailors some challenges, where the choice of route became important. The outgoing current from river Glomma was another challange. First out was the Finnish Luna, that took the lead after the first cross mark. She was later by Bangalore and Miss U. In the second race, Miss U was first, followed by Bangalore and Sira, that did a good race.
The results so far show that there is no doubth that the classic Sira Class yachts are capable of fighting with the modern "Miss U" yacht in this championships. While Miss U is alone in group of modern yachts, the Sira yachts, built before 1960, the most interesting group in Hanko these days. Bangalore was the best of the day, and Luna had a 2. and a 3.place.The winner of the first day, Pandora, was number 3 and 10 today. Sira, with HM King Harald, finished second in one of the races, while Wanda with Dag Usterud, was probably not satisfied with a 6. and a 10. Place.
Top five after day two:
1. Miss U, Avia Willment, GBR, Moderne, 7 points
2. Bangalore, Terry McLaughlin, CAN, Sira, 14
3. Pandora, Werner Deuring, AUT, Sira, 18
4. Luna, Harri Rochier, FIN, Sira, 21
5. Sira, H M Kong Harald, NOR, Sira, 25
www.8metre-worlds2017.no
8mworlds2017.sapsailing.com
Seahorse August 2017
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Design - Higher (and wider)
The 39ben is not a (wrong) birthday for the Land Rover BAR skipper but it does mark a radical step for another famous yacht racing name. Alex Vrolijk and Jochen Rieker
Historic context
Volvo - and Whitbread - race veterans Brad Jackson (who is going again) and Paul Standbridge (who is definitely not going again) look at race editions old and (very) new
Wow!
It was one hell of an America's Cup match to be commentating on for TV. Ken Read
Confessions of a Cup addict
Or to put it another way, the ability to change your mind gracefully... Ian Walker
Sounds familiar?
Overdue - a new challenge between nations
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M32 Series: Danes Back to Top Spot in Scandinavia
Helsinki, Finland: The tropical paradise of Hernesaaren Ranta delivered three days of tight racing action, just metres from the shoreline of the race village in Helsinki city centre. Danish team Wallen Racing were the stand out performance of the weekend, leading from race one and never leaving the top spot.
Winning race one of the regatta and then continuing to take four bullets on the opening day of M32 Series Scandinavia in Helsinki, Jonas Warrer and his all Danish crew stamped their mark on the event from the outset.
With the third podium spot still within grasp of three teams going into the final race, GAC Pindar just had to finish ahead of Essiq Racing Team and not fall three positions behind Section 16. Skipper Ian WIlliams is a man who always knows the numbers and so would have had this on his mind coming in to the final double scoring race.
In the end the British team made it and sneaked into third place to close out the overall event podium. Flux Team managed another three bullets on the final day, but still couldn't get close enough to the Danes to challenge their grasp on this event, as Wallen Racing pulled a bows up "wheelie" to cross the line in style and take the final race and close out a hugely impressive regatta.
With an event win in Helsinki, Jonas Warrer and Wallen Racing now take the lead on the overall M32 Series Scandinavia as the season heads south to Aarhus where Warrer will look to hold on to his top spot on home town waters. The Danish stopover will run August 31st-September 2nd and is part of the 2017 culture festival taking place in the city.
Results:
1. Wallen Racing, Jonas Warrer, DEN, 50 points
2. FLUX Team, Johnie Berntsson, SWE, 58
3. GAC Pindar, Ian Williams, GBR, 72
4. ESSIQ Racing Team, Nicklas Dackhammar, SWE, 74
5. Section 16, Richard Davies, SUI, 76
Protocol for 2021 America's Cup 'basically done'
Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton says the protocol for the next America's Cup "is basically done" and they are on course to deliver it by the end of September.
Dalton is in Europe working on plans for the 2021 defence in Auckland with Italian challenger of record Luna Rossa.
He's also working on fundraising for the defence of the Auld Mug by Emirates Team New Zealand after their stunning win in Bermuda in June.
Dalton has also touched base with potential European challengers as he works on a two-pronged plan for the future.
He said they were determined to make it a swift process, rather than the tweaking of rules and regulations for Bermuda that dragged on for a year following Oracle Team USA's success in San Francisco in 2013.
"We need to give certainty and stability to the teams," Dalton emphasised.
There is huge anticipation about the class of boat to be used, with the multihull versus monohull debate in full noise, and also the competition structure.
Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa have already signalled a return to more of the traditions of the Cup and Dalton reiterated the desire for a nationality clause around crews and a country of origin for the boats.
"People will see a more respectful ... of the Deed of Gift as the founding document of the whole thing. In recent years it has gone away a lot from the principles of the Deed of Gift, so we are returning more to that."
Dalton suggested the structure of the 36th America's Cup regatta would be "more in line to when New Zealand last had it".
Industry News
The Yacht Racing Forum is pleased to announce a new partnership with Chinese based management agency HAI Sports.
HAI Sports Limited is devoted to building a sports management and marketing platform focused on events promotion, online training management, sports tour arrangement and sports media distribution.
"We attended the Yacht Racing Forum last year in Malta and were very impressed by the business opportunities offered by this event ", says Tim Bai, CEO, Hai Sports. "The Chinese market is opening up to the sport of sailing, and represents a huge potential of development. The Yacht Racing Forum is a great platform to discover new business opportunities. After attending the Forum in Aarhus, our dream is to welcome the international sailing community to China!"
The Yacht Racing Forum 2017 will take place on November 27-28 in Aarhus, Denmark.
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French equity firm NextStage and boatbuilder Fountaine Pajot have entered into negotiations with Dream Yacht Charter to acquire a majority stake in the charter firm. NextStage expects to invest more than €14m in Dream Yacht Charter.
A statement says that the change of ownership would allow Dream Yacht Charter to continue its growth. Founded in 2001, Dream Yacht Charter now has 850 boats in 47 charter bases around the world. The company was able to self-finance its growth through opening new locations and making acquisitions. It has seen annual growth between 15% and 20% over the past 10 years. In 2016, total revenues were about €90m.
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The Helsinki Boat-Afloat Show is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with the 2017 edition due to take place from August 17-20 at the HSK yacht club's marina in Lauttasaari.
Over the course of its 40-year existence, the Helsinki Boat-Afloat Show has established itself as the largest on-water boat show in Finland and also one with international clout, bringing over 150 exhibitors to the piers and shores. This year's event will feature more than 250 boats, including several 2018 models plus almost every new model for the 2017 season.
Among the boats exhibited for the first time in Finland will be the Hanse 315, the X43 sailing boat from X-Yachts and Dragonfly trimarans.
The exhibition area has also been made over completely, with over 100 stands offering boat equipment, boating gear and related services.
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UK-based private equity house IW Capital has facilitated a £626,000 loan to Discovery Yachts to support the British sailboat builder's recent acquisition of Southerly Yachts, reports Private Equity Wire.
The acquisition of Southerly is said to be a logical move for Discovery Yachts, which aims to become one of the UK's leading sailboat builders with an 11-model range of monohull and catamaran cruising yachts from 32ft-67ft.
Southerly Yachts folded back in 2014 after accruing debts of more than £800,000. It was once one of the UK's leading sailboat builders, employing around 165 people at its base in Itchenor and its moulding operation in Havant.
While no new Southerly yachts have been built since 2014, the brand is still widely recognised in the market, and the Discovery Yachts management team believe the market is primed for the return of Southerly Yachts. This is reflected in the number of orders that have already been secured by Discovery for a new model.
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Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image announces a world class lineup of personalities for its international jury 2017. Carlo Borlenghi, universally recognized as one of the best sailing photographers, Rob Kothe, founder of the Sail-World network, Daniel Allisy, sailing writer and founder of Voiles & Voiliers, Nicolas Mirabaud, member of the Executive Committee, Mirabaud & Cie SA, and pro sailor Sally Barkow will be selecting the world's best yacht racing photographs of the year.
The Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award has been held since 2010 to recognize the very best yacht racing image taken during the year
The Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image (the main prize) will be selected by the international jury. Two secondary prizes will be awarded in parallel: the public prize, based on the public votes on the social networks and the Yacht Racing Forum award, selected by the delegates from the Yacht Racing Forum (Aarhus, November 27-28), based on a selection of the top twenty photographs made by the International Jury and exhibited at the Forum.
Submissions of the photographs is open until October 12, 2017 at midnight on www.yachtracingimage.com
Loss of a sailing great: Edward Allcard dies aged 102
Edward Allcard (centre) in May 1952 with fellow sailors Ann Davison and Norman Fowler in Plymouth. Photo credit: PA Archive/PA Images. Click on image to enlarge.
Yachtman and adventurer, Edward Allcard has died in Andorra, where he lived with his wife, Clare.
According to a notice in The Times, he passed away on 28 July at the age of 102.
Born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 31 October 1914, Edward Allcard was an apprentice shipbuilder in Scotland before he qualified as a naval architect just before the Second World War.
He had learnt to sail as a youngster, and made his first single-handed voyage – from Scotland to Norway and back – in 1939.
In 1951, Edward Allcard became the first man to sail the Atlantic solo in both directions. He had crossed initially in 1949 on his 35-foot wooden ketch, Temptress.
His return journey in 1951 became an international press sensation after he discovered a 23-year-old female stowaway – Otlilia Frayao – on board. The young woman had sneaked on board in the Azores, hoping to visit Europe and England.
In the Canaries in 1957, Allcard met the young Peter Tangvald – later to become the well-known sea gypsy – and they became life long friends.
The pair are credited with taking part in the first ever east-to-west solo transatlantic race when they raced each other to the West Indies. The wager – the princely sum of $1 – was won by Tangvald.
When Tangvald died in July 1991 off the coast of Bonaire, it was Allcard and his wife, Clare who gave a home to Tangvald's 15-year-old son, Thomas, who himself disappeared with his fishing smack, Oasis off the coast of Brazil in 2014.
Between 1957 and 1973, Edward Allcard sailed a protracted solo circumnavigation aboard his 36-foot wooden ketch, Sea Wanderer.
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 Alistair Skinner:
I reckon young Simon Hoffman has already proved he is a true Olympian and won a trophy far greater than any Gold Medal.
To selflessly throw away a good position in a race to go to someone's aid with such dramatic consequences is what I would expect from the sort of people I am used to meeting, and enjoy meeting, in our sport. Sadly this isn't always (and increasingly so) the case as evidenced by World Sailing feeling the need for a specific 'Misconduct Guidance' manual.
It also shows the value of ancillary skills such as Marine First Aid and CPR.
Our sport needs more Simon Hoffmans and less of those who think only of themselves or disregard the rules and spirit of our sport.
Well done young man, sailing should be proud of you.
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