In This Issue
Vestas 11th Hour Racing Wins The First Leg Of Volvo Ocean Race | Torvar Topples Robertson To Win His First World Title | Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Competition | World's first floating wind farm | Saving the whale (from us) | Two Women, and Their Dogs, Rescued After Nearly 5 Months Lost at Sea | Industry News | 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
Vestas 11th Hour Racing Wins The First Leg Of Volvo Ocean Race
Lisbon, Portugal: Vestas 11th Hour Racing crossed the finish line in Lisbon at 1408 UTC ahead of their competitors by a few hours earning 8 points and are now the leaders of the Volvo Ocean Race. They led the 7-day race since the first night staying ahead of the other seven boats through the Strait of Gibraltar, around the island of Porto Santo, and north to Lisbon via a virtual waypoint added by the Race Committee mid-leg.
This is technically back-to-back ocean leg wins for the American duo, Enright and Towill. The pair along with their fellow US sailor, Nick Dana, won the final leg of the last edition onboard Team Alvimedica. This is the first leg win for Vestas, and for a Danish flagged boat in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The team is now in Lisbon for one week participating in outreach events with the local community, an In-Port Race, Pro-Am racing, and preparing for the 7000-mile leg to Cape Town, South Africa that starts on November 6th.
Vestas 11th Hour Racing led for the majority of the 1650 nm course that took the seven teams from Alicante, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal.
Leg 1 Results
1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing
2. MAPFRE
3. Dongfeng Race Team
4. team AkzoNobel
5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
6. Team Brunel
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic
Torvar Topples Robertson To Win His First World Title
Shenzhen, ChinaL Torvar Mirsky has become the Match Racing World Champion after beating defending champion Phil Robertson 3-1 in the 2017 finals in Shenzhen, China. The skipper from Western Australia tore up the script, defied the odds, and sailed out of his skin to beat the form sailor of the past two seasons, New Zealand's Phil Robertson.
Mirsky's precision sailing came as a surprise to a lot of teams, bearing in mind they haven't done nearly as many regattas on the circuit since the arrival of the M32 catamaran. Robertson went into this event as the clear favourite and it looked like he would go all the way after dispatching fellow New Zealander Chris Steele 3-0 in the Semi Finals. "Unfortunately we couldn't cross the line first in the final," shrugged Robertson. "We were outsailed, it's a one-event World Championships and Torvar did a fantastic job today. We have to take our hats off to him and accept he sailed better. But it's been a great season, we reached the final in every event, and we're taking steps in the right direction. It's been fantastic to be here in China, we're lucky to be sponsored by Ningbo and we have a massive fanbase in China which you don't really know about until you get here. It's huge."
Semi Final
Pair 1
Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team 3-1 Yann Guichard (FRA), Spindrift Racing
Pair 2
Phil Robertson (NZL), China One Ningbo 3-0 Chris Steele (NZL), 36 Below Racing
Petit Final
Yann Guichard (FRA), Spindrift Racing 2 - 1 Chris Steele (NZL), 36 Below Racing
Final
Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team 3 - 1 Phil Robertson (NZL), China One Ningbo
Final Standings
1. Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Mirsky Racing Team
2. Phil Robertson (NZL), China One Ningbo
3. Yann Guichard (FRA), Spindrift Racing
4. Chris Steele (NZL), 36 Below Racing
5. Harry Price (AUS), Down Under Racing
6. David Gilmour (AUS), Team Gilmour
7. Taylor Canfield (ISV), US One Sailing Team
8. Ian Williams (GBR), GAC Pindar
Wight Vodka Best Yachting Bar Competition
In Support of SailAid UK
Submissions and stories coming in over the transom... memories and praise for the pubs that give warmth and cheer to sailors around the world.
Here are two recent ones:
Pensacola YC Grill Room Bar, Florida, USA (pictured at right)
Here's what makes it so great...
The friendliest bartenders, great food, daily specials, spacious deck, spectacular view of the PYC marina at the mouth of Bayou Chico with a beach on Pensacola Bay.
Is there a special drink they make? Care to share the recipe with us?
PYC's Famous Frozen Bushwackers. A sneaky drink and desert all on one big glass.
4 ounces cream of coconut
2 ounces coffee liqueur (tia maria,kahlua)
1 ounce rum (black)
1 ounce Creme de Cacao
4 ounces half-and-half
4 ounces vanilla ice cream
plus a dash secret ingredients and a cherry on top.
Bushwackers come in pitchers delivered to boats finishing the Gulfport-Pensacola Race. Crews then sleep on the lawn under the oaks :)
Salty Mike's, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Here's what makes it so great...
The home of Wednesday night racers, local live-aboards, delivery and mega yacht crews - and sometimes their "slumming"/cool owners, it is the first place to go in one of the most beautiful port cities in the world. Any night of the week there will be a small crew of folks ready to share a beer and a story, and maybe a foosball game. And Sean the bartender always takes care of you....
Is there a special drink they make? Care to share the recipe with us?
The beer and cocktails do seem colder there...
Send us your thoughts on the greatest yachting bar: scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars
And skip a couple of overpriced, half-caf, skim milk, shaved chocolate, cinnamon frosted, frappamaccacrappa "coffees" this week, and give to a very worthy cause: SailAidUK to help the sailing industry hit so hard by Caribbean hurricanes.
World's first floating wind farm
Five giant turbines have been tethered to the seabed about 15 miles from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
The wind farm has been officially opened by Nicola Sturgeon.
The first minister said the project, which will generate enough power for about 20,000 homes, was testament to Scotland's "international reputation" for renewable energy.World's first floating wind farm starts generating electricity.
At 175m from sea surface to blade tip, the turbines are almost as tall as the Queensferry Crossing.
They extend another 78 metres below the surface and are chained to the seabed to stay in place.
Norwegian energy firm Statoil has been working on developing the project, known as Hywind, for more than 15 years.
Claire Mack, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: "Hywind's presence in Scottish waters is a reminder that, as the windiest country in Europe, and with some of the deepest waters and most promising offshore wind sites, Scotland is perfectly placed to capitalise on floating turbine technology.
"Our unique offshore supply chain and the skillset it supports put us at the forefront of the deployment of these innovative machines."
Bird charity RSPB Scotland opposed the project, not because it dislikes the technology but because it believes too many offshore turbines in the area have already been approved. It fears thousands of sea birds may be killed by offshore wind farms.
The operation to tow the turbines into place from Norway was completed in August.
Saving the whale (from us)
It's not just boats that suffer in a whale strike at sea... the consequences for the world's largest known mammal can be every bit as destructive
For most offshore sailors the grandeur of seeing wildlife within their marine ecosystems is another big reason to be passionate about this sport. Thousands of species of birds, fish and mammals all play their roles in keeping a healthy and sustainable balance to the ocean's ecosystems. As sailors we can have a unique role ourselves in helping preserve this balance even as man's own interactions with the planet present increasing and now more easily identifiable effects that threaten this environment.
Observing large marine mammals in their habitat is simultaneously thrilling yet frightening since the prospect of being close to a moving object that may greatly exceed our size can be disturbing. One hundred and fifty years on from the tale of Moby Dick it's no less hard to break this primal fear of being sunk from a whale impact. And each year brings more living examples.
One was in May 2012, when video captured Camper helmsman Roberto Bermúdez de Castro throw his VO70 violently up into the wind to narrowly avoid colliding with 'something huge' while hurtling along at 20kt. 'It would have been a bad day for the whale and for us,' said onboard reporter Hamish Hooper. 'Fortunately "Chuny's" decent reflexes saved the both of us from the equivalent of a freight train colliding with a truck.'
This was not an isolated incident.
Full article in the November issue of Seahorse magazine: www.seahorsemagazine.com/
Two Women, and Their Dogs, Rescued After Nearly 5 Months Lost at Sea
They were supposed to trade one island paradise for another: a monthlong sailing trip in spring, from Honolulu to Tahiti.
But on Wednesday morning, they were discovered in the wrong hemisphere, 5,000 miles off course and nearly six months into a dream that had curdled into a nightmare.
Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiaba were rescued by the Navy vessel the Ashland 900 miles south of Japan, according to a statement released by the Navy on Thursday. After setting out in early May, a storm claimed their 50-foot boat's engine on May 30. They spent the next five months adrift at sea and unable to make contact with others.
The two friends survived on a water purifier and a store of oatmeal, pasta and rice, with two pet dogs, Zeus and Valentine, to keep them company.
"I had tears in my eyes,'' Ms. Appel said of the moment she saw the Navy ship approaching, according to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "It was incredibly emotional."
Industry News
New editors announced at Time Inc marine titles
Following a re-organisation of Time Inc's marine titles, Theo Stocker has been appointed editor of Yachting Monthly and Rob Melotti as editor of Practical Boat Owner.
Hugo Andreae remains editor of Motor Boat & Yachting and Elaine Bunting of Yachting World, while Elaine also takes up the role of group editor and content director across all of Time Inc's marine titles.
The purpose of the reorganisation has been to create a more efficient art and production process while preserving roles creating content for the magazines and websites.
"Our new editors, Theo Stocker and Rob Melotti, have each worked on their titles for a number of years, are really familiar with readers and their brands' DNA, and they will do a great job," says Elaine Bunting.
"We have some exciting plans lined up, the next of which is a relaunch of Yachting Monthly with the January issue - a fresh, bold new look that is bigger and better than ever." We will follow suit next year with improvements to other titles and some exciting digital plans.
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Semidep-Ciotat (La Ciotat Shipyards), which manages the impressive array of facilities at La Ciotat in the South of France, is seeking up to three partners to share in a new €100m investment to further expand the facility. The main asset of the new project will be a 4,000-tonne capacity shiplift to be operational by the start of 2022.
Jean-Yves Saussol, SEMIDEP's CEO, told IBI: "This is a new project to develop a new platform with the 4,000-tonne shiplift which will take four years to complete. It will be ready for late 2021 or the start of the season in 2022. This will be a new platform to add to those that we already have with the 2,000-tonne platform, the 300-tonne platform and the 200m (656ft) drydock."
The new shiplift will be dedicated to yachts over 80m (263ft) and Saussol indicated that the actual technology that will be chosen has not yet been decided on. "We have been in touch with a number of companies such as Synchrolift and once we have appointed the partners then we will decide on the right technology for the project," he said.
Blohm + Voss La Ciotat is working on a 35-month long concession which ends in November 2019.
For the new project La Ciotat Shipyards has issued a call for 1-3 private operators to share in the new venture and the €100m investment that is involved. The new project will be geared to the refit and repair of superyachts over 80m.
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The Jury of the DAME Design Award 2017 competition has announced that 64 products from a total field of 122 entries have been nominated to enter the final round. To reach this stage is, according to the organiser, a notable achievement, one which is acknowledged by the creation of a special DAME 2017 display area during the METSTRADE Show itself. Visitors will be able to see the very broad diversity of submissions, with products that will be used on all sizes of watercraft, from stand up paddleboards through to superyachts, with equipment prices ranging from just €3 to six figures.
This year's entry of 122 products from 22 countries shows the continued growth of interest in the DAME Awards.
The DAME winners will be announced during the Breakfast Briefing on the opening day of the METSTRADE Show 2017, which will take place at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre from 14 to 16 November.
The shortlisted products are divided into seven categories:
- Marine electronics and related software
- Interior equipment, furnishings, materials and electrical fittings used in cabins
- Marina equipment, boatyard equipment and boat construction tools & materials
- Deck equipment, sails and rigging
- Clothing and crew accessories
- Lifesaving and safety equipment
- Machinery, propulsion, mechanical and electrical systems & fittings
* With less than three weeks to go before the 2017 METSTRADE Show opens for business, event organiser Amsterdam RAI has confirmed that 1,526 exhibitors have confirmed their presence at this year's event - a figure which has already surpassed last year's record high of 1,471. These include 290 yards and equipment supply companies represented in the SuperYacht Pavilion, 69 exhibitors in the Marina & Yard Pavilion and 49 in the Construction Material Pavilion.
The three-day show, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, runs from November 14-16 at the Amstersdam RAI convention centre and is expected to attract more than 15,500 unique visitors.
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The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is very pleased to announce that it has appointed Tom Way as its new Deputy Race Director, with immediate effect in Cape Town, following the decision by Dan Smith to step down from the role in order to relocate back to Scotland.
An experienced racer and RYA Yachtmaster Offshore certified instructor with over 60,000 miles in his log book, Tom has over 10 years' experience in the marine industry, including five years working for the Clipper Race.
Tom has developed an extensive and invaluable level of knowledge of the Clipper Race and its operations, following roles with the training, refit, maintenance, recruitment and media departments. Most recently Tom also spent the past ten months working in Abu Dhabi as Fleet Manager for Pindar's two Volvo 60s.
Tom, 27, from Portland, Dorset, began his Clipper Race journey as a qualified crew member on board the Derry~Londonderry entry in the Clipper 2011-12 Race
Featured Brokerage
1997 Farr 45 - "Bucket List". 79000 EUR. Located in Scheveningen, Holland.
If you are looking at stepping your racing plans up, but only with a small boat budget, then this boat is a country mile ahead of its rivals at this size and performance and needs serious consideration. A lot of fun to be had with these timeless machines!
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+64 277733717
+44 2380016582
sampearson@ancasta.com
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1994 Mumm 36. 90.000 EUR. Located in
For sale ABSOLUTELY MUMM 36 – 1994 Formerly Thomas I Punkt three time Mumm 36 world champion.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Christophe Champroux
+ 33 673 31 11 59
christophe@apyachting.fr
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2011 TP52 - SPIRIT OF MALOUEN VIII. 600000 EUR. Located in Lorient, France.
Super Series Specification TP52. Fully kitted out and ready to play. Has IRC sail configuration as well as class. Designed by Judel/Vrolijk in 2011. Formerly RAN racing and hugely successful in the TP class. Built by Green Marine to exacting standards and in excellent condition.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679 222
ben.cooper@berthon.co.uk
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
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