In This Issue
Azzurra Are 2017 52 Super Series Champions | HYS One Ton Cup | Talk about sex | Soling World Championship | Rossi Milev's Clear Air Crowned J/24 World Champion | Hamlin-Zinn Draw First Blood In 2017 SAP 505 World Championship | Volvo China Coast Race Week is on! | America's Cup: Formula is firmly secured | 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
Azzurra Are 2017 52 Super Series Champions
Menorca, Spain: Winning the final regatta of the year to become the only crew to win two events in 2017, the Roemmers family's Azzurra which represents the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda are the new 52 SUPER SERIES champions.
With three teams in the frame for the overall season title, Azzurra, Harm Muller-Spreer's Platoon and Doug DeVos's Quantum Racing, the final, last day showdown at the Menorca 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week regatta was thwarted by a lack of breeze. Although the fleet went afloat for several hours on the strength of a forecast for marginal light winds, there was only a short period when the wind showed any promise.
Azzurra, skippered by Guillermo Parada with tactician Vasco Vascotto finish an incredibly close fought season seven points ahead of the German flagged Platoon, winners of this year's Rolex TP52 World Championship, and eleven points ahead of outgoing 2016 titlists Quantum Racing. It is the first time since 2012 when the 52 SUPER SERIES started out with a complement of just four TP52s, that the circuit has seen three teams go into the last day each with a chance of lifting the title.
The 2018 season will start in Croatia in May next year. Latest confirmation is that there are eight new build boats expected for next year.
Menorca 52 Super Series Sailing Week: Final Regatta Standings
1. Azzurra, Roemmers Family, ITA/ARG, 22 points
2. Gladiator, Tony Langley, GBR, 22
3. Quantum Racing, Doug DeVos, USA, 25
4. Platoon, Harm Muller-Spreer, GER, 25
5. Bronenosec, Vladimir Liubomirov, RUS, 27
6. Provezza, Ergin Imre, TUR, 37
7. Paprec Recyclage, Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, FRA, 38
8. Sled, Takashi Okura, USA, 42
9. Ran Racing, Niklas Zennström, SWE, 50
10. Alegre, Andres Soriano GBR/USA, 52
11. Sorcha, Peter Harrison GBR, 57
2017 52 Super Series Season: Final Overall Standings
1. Azzurra, 192 points
2. Platoon, 199
3. Quantum Racing, 203
4. Provezza, 240.3
5. Bronenosec, 260
6. Ran, 266
7. Sled, 293
8. Gladiator, 309.6
9. Alegre, 345.3
10. Sorcha, 427
HYS One Ton Cup
Three races on Premier Composite Technologies Race Day, produced a nerve jangling finish to the HYS One Ton Cup. Bright sunshine and a shifting southerly breeze produced a highly strategic finale, before Peter Morton's CF40+ Girls on Film, retained the HYS One Ton Cup, the first team to do so since 1993.
Girls on Film: Peter Morton, Nat Ives, Ben Cornish, David Lenz, Jason Carrington, Nick Butt, Duncan Yeabsley, Darren Marston, Phil Pafford, Anthony Spillbeen, Toby Mumford.
The final race of the HYS One Ton Cup was won by Tony Dickin's GP42 Jubilee, Rebellion was second, and Invictus was third. The weighted races, added serious thought to the mathematics, before Girls on Film was declared winner of the HYS One Ton Cup. Stewart Whitehead's Rebellion was runner up, just 1.5 points ahead of Bastiaan de Voogd's Hitchhiker.
The President of the Cercle de la Voile de Paris (CVP-Paris Yacht Club), Hervé Godest, presented Girls on Film with the One Ton Cup. "Modernity and Tradition - The One Ton Cup is in good hands, the FAST40+ yachts are highly technical, and very powerful, and it is wonderful that the One Ton Cup, has returned to Cowes, nearly one hundred years since it was last here."
The final round of the 2017 FAST40+ Race Circuit will take place 14-15th October, as part of the Hamble Bigboat Championship, organised by the Hamble River Sailing Club.
Talk about sex
Sitting on the rail - and turning a lot of winches - during the 2017 Fastnet with the rest of his VO65 crew was Blue Robinson. As is usual on offshore races this was indeed a subject of serious debate
Seahorse Magazine: Martine [Grael], when did you first consider the Volvo Ocean Race... and when were you asked?
Martine Grael: I was already interested in the last VOR and what the SCA team put together, but it was clear my goal was the 2016 Olympic Games so I stayed focused solely on that. But when the rule changed to promote mixed crew for the 2017 race I immediately tuned in and started looking out for a good opportunity.
SH: Hesitation?
MG: None! I had no idea if I would like it or not so, as early as I could, I went offshore with one of the teams to check that it would actually work for me!
SH: Conversations with your family, brother Marco, uncle Lars, father Torben and coach Javier [Torres]...
MG: Since the announcement of the rule change for mixed teams and then my initial contact with a VOR team, I pretty much asked everyone I knew who sailed for their opinion on the rules, women onboard, ocean sailing, everything really, so I did as much research as I could including watching all the videos. I talked to Javier after the Olympics last year about the possibility of competing in the VOR, in particular if there was a chance to do it with my own team. But that didn't quite happen.
The full interview in the October issue of Seahorse: www.seahorsemagazine.com
Soling World Championship
Click on image to enlarge.
Litkey Farkas, Karoly Vezer and Gabor Oroszlan did it again!! 2017 World Champions , after 8 races in mostly light conditions. The weather didn't help much at the beginning of the week with some rain and a day without sailing. But then the 35-strong Soling fleet from 13 different countries and three continents had the chance to see the sun and one day of good sailing conditions: a long day trying to catch up the races lost at the second day of the championship.
The final race at the final day of the event sponsored by ING and organized by the KNZ&RV was also abandoned after waiting almost the entire day. But three days were enough achieve 8 races in very difficult conditions varying intensity and direction, extremely well handled by team HUN 11 to take the title back home by two points ahead team Equilibrium BRA 78 with Nelson Ilha, Manfredo Floricke and Carlo de Leo.
In third was team UNIOR UKR 1 with Ygor Yushko, Sergey Pichuguin and Igor Severianov ahead the finish team FIN 46 with Ekki Heinonen, Pasi Palmu and Jenney van der Werf the winner of the Tony Clare Trophy for the best woman placed. In Fifth Odds & Ends CAN 1 with Billy Abbott, Joanne Abbott and Scott McNeil.
The Grand Master bowl was won by George Wossala sailing with his son Christoff and Pepe Nemeth at HUN 77. The Classic Trophy was won by team NED 39 with Ronald den Arend, Gavin Lidlow and Sven Borsje. The Young helm trophy was won by team El Demolidor BRA 45 with Kadu Bergenthal, Eduardo Cavalli and Renan Oliveira
The next World Championship will be held from Nov 15 to 22 at the Club Nautico San Isidro.
www.solingclubnederland.blogspot.nl
Rossi Milev's Clear Air Crowned J/24 World Champion
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: For those who place in the bottom third in the first race of a World Championship, look to Rossi Milev's Clear Air for inspiration. The local team overcame double-digit finishes in the first three of eight races to become the 2017 victors at the driveHG.ca J/24 World Championship in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Going into Saturday's final day of competition, Milev trailed Tony Parker's Bangor Packet by 5 points. Nailing a second-place in today's only light-air contest earned Clear Air the title with 47 net points. Parker ended just one notch back, settling for the silver position after a very consistent week of sailing. Ariko Murohashi's Lull of Japan claimed the bronze spot with 62 points. Nicolas Cubria's Elvis won Saturday's meeting, and although the Race Committee attempted a ninth race, conditions forced an abandonment.
The top five overall:
1. Clear Air, Rossi Milev, Mississauga, ON, CAN, 47
2. Bangor Packet, Tony Parker, Washington, DC, USA, 48
3. Lull, Ariko Murohashi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, JPN, 62
4. Lifted, Evan Petley-Jones, Halifax, NS, CAN, 68
5. YouRegatta, Carter White, Portland, ME, USA, 68
Hamlin-Zinn Draw First Blood In 2017 SAP 505 World Championship
Photo by Christophe Favreau, christophefavreau.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Californians Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn drew first blood at the 2017 SAP 5O5 World Championship - snatching the lead just after rounding the leeward mark and holding it the rest of the way to win Race 1, which was seven legs and approximately five miles with a downwind finish.
Mike Holt and Carl Smit, the 2015 world champs, were first around the initial windward mark and held the lead on the run. However, Holt-Smit and Hamlin-Zinn split gates and that would ultimately prove decisive.
When it was over, most of the usual suspects were in the Top 10 with Chesapeake Bay locals Tyler Moore and Rob Woelfel taking third, just ahead of the British tandem of Ian Pinnell and Dave Shelton. Defending world champions Mike Martin and Adam Lowry finished eighth.
PRO Sandy Grosvenor said the pressure steadily dropped during the race and was barely above the class cutoff of five knots when she went into sequence for Race 2. She got the fleet started, but very quickly abandoned, due in part to a strong ebb current that was sweeping boats down the bay.
Volvo China Coast Race Week is on!
With less then a month to go, sailors are gearing up for the first major Big Boat event of the season; Volvo China Coast Race Week comprising the Volvo China Coast Regatta (13 to 15 October) and the Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race starts 18 October).
The Volvo China Coast Regatta typically sees a quality fleet of 40 boats battle it out in the most superb sailing conditions that Hong Kong has to offer. This year, to encourage more entries from the HKPN racing division HKPN entries will race on only Saturday and Sunday with IRC Racer divisions racing from Friday to Sunday. Some of the fleet will also take part in the Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race; a roughly 673nm "very exciting downhill run" to Nha Trang, Vietnam.
The offshore fleet has an international flavour with 13 entries from Great Britain, Italy, China, Russia, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. This year, in order to allow the slower boats to arrive in time for the party in Nha Trang, there will be a first start for three boats on Tuesday 17 October with the remaining fleet starting on Wednesday 18 October.
New faces include Mascalzone Latino, a Cookson 50 owned by Matteo Savelli, Lion Rock, Michael Lunn's Azuree 40 and Jackie Siu and Lin Guangmu's Sense 50, Salalah. Russian sailor Alexander Vodovatov, returns to racing in Hong Kong with a First 40CR, No Applause.
Many eyes will be on China entry, UBOX, a Cookson 50 owned by Wang Bin and Australian entry, Alive, Philip Turner's Reichel/Pugh 66, both of whom also have early entries in for the 2018 Rolex China Sea Race. Competition between the two Cookson 50s will also be of keen interest.
The Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race is a biennial event in 2015 Black Baza lifted the trophies for IRC Racer 1 and IRC Overall. The current race record of 42h 17m 24s was set in 2015 by Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin 100 at an average VMG of 15.8 knots.
The Notice of Race for the 2017 Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race starting on 18 October is available online at www.chinacoastraceweek.com/race-vietnam
America's Cup: Formula is firmly secured
Team New Zealand will on Friday unfurl their plans for the 36th America's Cup when they announce the Protocol for the event. While the key changes have already been sign-posted, the devil will be in the detail. Dana Johannsen highlights what to expect.
Team NZ have signalled their intention to strengthen the nationality rules for the next event, with the Protocol expected to contain more robust "constructed in country" rules as well as a nationality requirement for competing crews.
The constructed in country rule is not a new condition introduced by Team NZ - it is a fundamental principle in the Deed of Gift. This rule has gradually been watered down over the years to the point where at the last event in Bermuda, only a small section of the bow was required to be built in the country of the competing team.
Team NZ have already indicated a preference to hold the next America's Cup in Auckland in early 2021. The regatta is expected to return to a traditional challenger selection series after Oracle Team USA this year broke with tradition and inserted themselves in the challenger series, which saw them carry through a one-point advantage into the Cup match.
Italian media are reporting that Luna Rossa's backers Prada will be the new naming rights sponsor of the challenger series. If so, the arrangement would end Louis Vuitton's 37-year sponsorship with the challenger series, so evidently Team NZ and Luna Rossa are not fiercely guarding every tradition.
There has been suggestion Team NZ will also hold a series of pre-regattas in the lead-up to the 2021 event, so we can expect these plans to be outlined on Friday. Dalton last week gave La Stampa a heads-up, confirming a pre-regatta circuit will begin in 2019.
Earlier this month the Herald reported Auckland has less than two years to build facilities for the America's Cup, with the first of the challenger syndicates set to arrive in mid-2019.
Urgent work is under way by the Auckland Council to consider options for basing the syndicates on the Auckland waterfront, which include a 60m to 80m Halsey Wharf extension north of the Viaduct Harbour, an extension to Westhaven Marina and Captain Cook Wharf.
The urgency surrounding a site for the America's Cup syndicates, which requires 30,000sq m of space, was disclosed at council's planning committee at the beginning of September.
Dana Johannsen's full article in the New Zealand Herald: www.nzherald.co.nz
Letters To The Editor - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com
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* From Derek Paterson: re: ISAF World Sailor of the Year:
In my mind AC does not even come close to the Vendee Globe and Armel LeCleach should be the greatest sailor for 2017.
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See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
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