In This Issue
Dorade Takes the Podium in First Two Events of "Dorade Down Under" Campaign | Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: A Masterpiece Of A Day | A great response to open registration for Grenada Sailing Week 29 Jan to 3 Feb 2018 | Most Common Repairs At Sea For Yachts Sailing Across The Atlantic? | Atlantic Class US Nationals | How Briton sailed a junk single-handed from Hong Kong to US | Born in the Volvo - Available to All | A for awful? | 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
Dorade Takes the Podium in First Two Events of "Dorade Down Under" Campaign
Dorade at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2017. Photo by Andrea Francolini, www.afrancolini.com. Click on image to enlarge.
Hamilton Island, Australia: The "Dorade Down Under" campaign is in full swing, and Dorade, the 86-year-old Sparkman & Stephens classic yacht, is proving yet again that age is just a number with the team taking podium finishes in the first two events of its five-race series off the southern coast of Australia.
"Dorade is an amazing yacht to be in the hunt against some very competitive modern boats at a very technical venue," said Tactician Kevin Miller about Dorade taking third place in the 370-mile Brisbane to Keppel Race and second place in IRC Passage Division 2 at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, both of which concluded last month. "The boat and the team are performing well down here, even up against conditions that aren't ideal for Dorade. She is an incredible yacht and always seems to surprise us.
"We're just coming off of a very challenging week competing against a very talented fleet at Hamilton Island Race Week, and although we're tired, we have a great feeling of accomplishment and look forward to our next challenge."
Before taking on the 628-nautical mile Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in December, the "Dorade Down Under" team will head to New South Wales in October for the Bass Island Race and to Sydney in November for the Bird Island Race.
Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: A Masterpiece Of A Day
Photo of Ribelle by Ingrid Abery www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photos from Ingrid and Max Ranchi www.maxranchi.com
Porto Cervo, Italy: The third day of racing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup & Rolex Maxi72 World Championship was especially satisfying. The Mistral breezes kicked in just as predicted so the Maxi 72 and the Wally Classes managed to get two races in while the rest of the fleet raced along a spectacular 31 nm course through the archipelago, clockwise around La Maddalena and Caprera after rounding Isolotto dei Monaci on the left.
First places across the various Classes are currently held by: Momo (Maxi 72), Ribelle (Supermaxi), Rambler 88 (Maxi), Galateia (Wally), Jethou (Mini Maxi R), Supernikka (Mini Maxi RC1), H2O (Mini Maxi RC2).
Starting procedures got underway as scheduled at 11:30 with the Classes competing in the coastal race heading off toward Isolotto dei Monaci in northwesterly breezes at about 12 knots. By the afternoon the wind had built to 20 knots with gusts at up to 23.
The Baltic 108' Win Win won the Supermaxi Class today in front of Ribelle, sailing with Francesco De Angelis at the helm. The later yacht is still in the lead overall. George David's Rambler 88 won the Maxi Class but is tied for the lead overall with the 82' Highland Fling XI, owned by YCCS member Sir Irvine Laidlaw. The Wallycento Galateia placed first in one race and second in the other today and is currently leading her Class followed by the 80' Nahita (4-2) and Lyra (5-6).
Sir Peter Ogden's 72' Jethou continues to lead the Mini Maxi R Class after placing first again today. She is followed by Bryon Ehrhart's Lucky and Spectre, owned by Peter Dubens. The Mini Maxi RC1 Class saw Roberto Lacorte's Supernikka win the day's coastal race and capture the Class lead with just one point on Wallyno. The Mini Maxi RC2s saw Riccardo De Michele's Vallicelli 80' H2O, with tactician Lorenzo Bodini, beat Giuseppe Puttini's Swan 65 Shirlaf by just one point.
Tomorrow only the Maxi 72 and Wally Classes will compete to make up for the race they missed yesterday due to light winds. It will be lay day for the other Classes. Mistral breezes at 20 to 25 knots are forecast and tomorrow evening will see the YCCS host their Crew Party in piazza Azzurra.
A great response to open registration for Grenada Sailing Week 29 Jan to 3 Feb 2018
Building on the success of last year's regatta, Grenada Sailing Week has had a great initial response to the opening of online registration.
The regatta would not be what it is without the loyal support of Title and Race Day sponsors. Title Sponsor: Island Water World has been supporting the event since its onset in 2013. They have been serving sailors for over 50 years and are the Caribbean's leading chandlers.
Race Day Sponsors: Mount Gay is a long term supporter of the regatta, their rum, and their sought after Red Caps and Red Cap party are a highlight of the event. Secret Harbour Marina a more recent sponsor is a first class marina and boutique hotel. Sea Hawk manufacturers of performance antifouling paints and coatings have loyally and enthusiastically supported the event since its inception. Grenada Tourism Authority have been with us since the beginning and recognise the importance of our regional and international participants that are integral to the development of tourism in Grenada.
Sign up for our newsletter online, Email: info@grenadasailingweek.com, Facebook: GrenadaSailingWeek, or Twitter @grenadasailweek
Most Common Repairs At Sea For Yachts Sailing Across The Atlantic?
We surveyed nearly all 290 yachts in the 2016 ARC transatlantic to find out what broke and how it was fixed; what worked and what didn't.
You cannot presume to be able to sail across an ocean without experiencing some problems or breakages with your equipment. We issued the 290 yachts sailing in the 2016 ARC and ARC+, transatlantic rallies with a survey to detail their breakages and solutions.
The first thing you notice from the results is that there were few empty columns for yachts without problems. In total, 167 yachts, or nearly 60 per cent of the fleet, had a breakage.
Problems are of course to be expected, but breakages can spoil voyages. One of the best ways to avoid them is to learn from others' mistakes.
The most common casualties were ripped sails and breakages caused by chafe - which, going on past feedback, is nothing new. But prudent seamanship, plus routine checks and maintenance will limit these.
A worrying number of yachts had problems and breakages with their vangs and gooseneck fittings - something we see time after time, so we have dedicated a large section of the results report to this. -- Toby Hodges, Yachting World
Knut Frostad talks about taking part in ARC 2016
Atlantic Class US Nationals
Steve Benjamin, representing Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, has won the 88th National Championship held by Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club at Blue Hill, Maine. With his crew of Chris Larson, Ian Liberty and Brooks Daley aboard A128 Cassidy, Benj posted scores of 6,1,5,4,4,9. Second was Mark Foster from Cedar Point YC in A140 Thistle; third A135 Rascal, Peter Smith of KYC.
It was a fine week for weather, though at times the wind was baffling for the visitors, and local knowledge played a part. Some likened it to lake sailing, with winds coming from directions that were hard to predict. Still, the cream soon came to the top as usual.
At least 10 of the 33 competing boats had more than one family member in the crew. And for the first time since 1996 a Nationals race was won by a female skipper: Lindsay Doyle, a member of the University of Vermont sailing team, steered A102 Rival with her father Jim crewing.
When it came down to the last championship race, Benj was the most consistent skipper, having finished no lower than sixth place so far. By winning Races 4 and 5 David Peck had a slightly better score after the discard, but had a 16th from the first race that he now needed to lose. No such luck. Benj hunted down Miss April from the start and pushed her down the fleet, the Pecks eventually finishing in 19th place, clinching the title for Cassidy. Mark Foster and Peter Smith followed very close on points, both having a strong last race.
How Briton sailed a junk single-handed from Hong Kong to US
Click on image to enlarge.
Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie is regarded as being the first person to sail solo across the North Pacific from west to east, in 1962, but credit should arguably go to Brian Platt, a Hong Kong-born Briton who made the journey in 1959
Setting sailing records requires people who are a little out of the ordinary, and while Hong Kong might be the last place one would expect to find such records being made, or the eccentric oddballs making them, this coastal city - in matters maritime, at least - often throws up wonderful surprises and characters.
From most lists of sailing records, you'll learn that the first person to journey west to east across the North Pacific Ocean single-handed was Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie, who voyaged from Kobe to San Francisco over 94 days in 1962.
Horie also made two circumnavigations of the globe and two additional transpacific voyages - both in yachts built from recycled materials. Now 78 years old, he is undoubtedly a great sailor, a dedicated environmentalist and, by all accounts, a charming chap. But the claim that Horie was the first to sail single-handedly west to east across the North Pacific doesn't give due credit to a fascinating forerunner. The honour should, in fact, go to a determined Hong Kong-born sailor who - bar a few miles motor sailing to save his skin - made the voyage in a locally built junk as early as 1959...
... On Christmas Eve 1959, pinpointing his position by lighthouses blinking their welcome, Platt was just 30km north of the landfall he had decided to aim for after the High Tea had been dismasted: the small, northern California town of Eureka.
It had been a truly exceptional feat of navigation given fatigue, stress, winter weather and skies, and the liveliness of a very small boat. Platt had indeed learned to navigate while he had sailed.
Two record-making transpacific junk voyages separated by 48 years and a few months, taking respectively 70 and 69 days, both having started their long voyages in Hong Kong, both arriving in Eureka, California, and both heading on to San Francisco. If both have their claims to our admiration, the first of them was an epic of guts and survival.
Despite the High Tea's measly few kilometres motored in extremis, as the worst of the winter threatened and with only one and a half masts left standing, to reasonable folk Platt's voyage in the Hong Kong-built High Tea was the first single-handed west-to-east transpacific voyage.
With all respect to Mr Horie, it's an overlooked record, well overdue its share of glory.
A lot of article between the ellipses in the excerpt above.
Stephen's Davis' full article well worth a read in the South China Morning Post: www.scmp.com/magazines/
Born in the Volvo - Available to All
Harken ProCare is expanded to cover all the high end grand prix classes as well as the superyachts
The performance and reliability of Harken hardware are worldrenowned - the majority of raceboats have at least one system that is being handled by a block, winch, bearing, cleat or other device made by Harken, whether installed as original equipment or a retrofit. But while Harken hardware is impressive, a new concept is being introduced that further extends both its working life and reliability.
Harken Tech Team ProCare is a new service designed to help competitive race and large-scale programmes keep their equipment running at 100 per cent - the ultimate objective being to reduce the chance of a breakdown caused by a Harken part to as close to zero as is possible in sometimes brutal operating environments.
This concept was piloted during the last Volvo Ocean Race and is being expanded during the next edition. The Harken Tech Team is at every race stop, working with the servicing teams in the Volvo Ocean Race Boatyard to keep systems operating at full potential. Some stopovers require a full service, where all pieces of the winches, pedestals, deck hardware and drive units are disassembled, inspected, cleaned and re-assembled, a process that can take technicians days of effort. At other stopovers the systems only received minor servicing, as per a schedule developed by the boatyard.
Full article in the September issue of Seahorse: www.seahorsemagazine.com
A for awful?
She's one of the most talked about superyachts in the fleet, but does global recognition really mean that S/Y A is an attractive vessel?
Since S/Y A first entered the public eye, there has barely been a second where the 142.8m superyacht hasn't made it into headlines. But despite the seemingly relentless stream of media attention, my feelings are that there is a rather large elephant in the room when it comes to the yacht's appearance. 'Unique', 'breathtaking' or 'interesting' are all words that have been used by various news outlets to describe Nobiskrug's latest creation in the past year or so, but am I really alone when I say that S/Y A is not an attractive-looking sailing yacht?
From a purely aesthetical perspective, S/Y A, designed by Phillipe Starck, takes the concept of a sailing yacht and turns its back on the fundamental values of yachting - or even being on the ocean at all. Due to the acute levels of privacy on board required, and the sheer size of the enclosed hull, it looks as if a relationship with the ocean could be more easily achieved on land - a villa with a sea view perhaps.
Georgia Boscawen in SuperyachtNews:
www.superyachtnews.com/opinion/a-for-awful
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 Mark Chisnell:
We've seen a few rather selective comparisons between the very best of the action from the J Class, 12M and IACC days, put up against the racing from AC35. If it were possible, it would be interesting to sit through continuous video coverage of the whole of the Challenger and Cup series from say 2007, (including the ten days or so that it took for enough wind to appear to start racing), and then do the same for AC35 in 2017... then come back and tell us which was - overall - the most entertaining.
Featured Brokerage
2012 Carkeek 40 Mki - DENALI 2. 600000 USD. Located in Harbor Springs, MI - USA.
Top level IRC / ORC contender. Perfect for Fast 40+ circuit and beyond. Complete with fresh sails, mostly fresh water usage and absolutely turn key.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679 222
ben.cooper@berthon.co.uk
-----------------------------------------
2016 Modified Ker 40+ - "PACE". 575000 GBP. Located in Cowes, UK.
"PACE", the highly upgraded and modified Ker 40+ is now available. Featuring the latest and greatest technology, as developed for the FAST 40 class rules, she is a step above her rivals in the pursuit of those performance gains. FAST 40 Class National champion in 2017. Wants for nothing....
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ancasta Race Boats
Sam Pearson
+44 2380 016582
+64 277733717
sampearson@ancasta.com
-----------------------------------------
2010 Davidson Custom 70. 850000 EUR. Located in East Coast, Italy
Designed by Laurie Davidson, this Custom 70 (Mini Maxi) is a true performer in light breeze due to her narrow waterline and super quick in breeze. Clean and tidy deck layout and bright and airy interior.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679222
ben.cooper@berthon.co.uk
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
Hobbes : "What are you doing?"
Calvin : "Being cool."
Hobbes : "You look more like you're bored."
Calvin : "The world bores you when you're cool."
Editorial and letter submissions to editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb@beesonstone.com or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html