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Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, Yachtworld.com Europe, 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
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Telefonica Turns On The Afterburners
The Volvo Open 70, Telefonica Azul, is scorching along at a blistering speed. After the first 24 hours of the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, the Spanish yacht has covered 440 miles of the1800 mile course.
Hurtling along behind them is Groupama and they are pushing hard. If anything, the wind speed is due to increase during the night. The crews on board will be soaking wet and beginning to feel the effects of fatigue.
To put this amazing 24 hour run into context, the two rocket ships are now north of Edinburgh, and could well be north of mainland Scotland by tomorrow morning.
Several hours behind the two front runners, Jonny Malbon and his crew on IMOCA 60, Artemis Ocean Racing, are reveling in the fast reaching conditions, (You can watch video, from on board, in the Competitor Blogs sevenstar.rorc.org/newsblogsphotos/ ).
The overall leader on handicap is the RYA Keelboat Academy's TP52, John Merricks II. The average age of the team is under 24 and they have been training hard all season.
After 24 hours, Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, leads Class Zero. Tonnerre de Breskens loves heavy weather and is absolutely flying up the North Sea. They are now north of Vroon's homeland, Holland.
In IRC One, Philippe Falle's Reflex 38, Visit Malta Puma is first in class after 24 hours. Averaging over nine knots, the sailing school team is just north of Norwich, having covered 225 miles of the course. Astounding for a boat of only 38 feet.
You can watch the race as it unfolds by visiting: sevenstar.rorc.org/tracking.html
sevenstar.rorc.org
LesSables- LesAcores - LesSables
Arriving this Monday, August 23 at 4h27mn18s (GMT +2), Bertrand Delesne recorded an outstanding performance based as much on the management of his race than on meticulous preparation. The skipper of Prati'Buches has traveled the leg back in 5jdays 13h27mn18s, with an average of 9.53 knots. His overall time in race is 12j01h42mn19s.
First reactions to his arrival:
Record of the twenty-four hours
"Since the last Transat 6.50, I thought that the level of three hundred miles in twenty-four hours could be exceeded. This is the kind of performance that I love ... We must recognize that it grows stronger, he must know how to keep pace. "
Boat:
"It's a superb machine. I'm really happy to sail on it. Having participated in its construction put me in confidence. So, we know the boat on the fingertips, you know when you can shoot and when to pay attention. Not to mention that having been involved in the design of the boat that you live in the more intense moments on board. Last year, I've had just seven months to prepare for the Transat 6.50, so I had to identify priorities ... Finally, it served me well. "
Delesne Bertrand, 33, lives in Nantes. Originally from the Cotes d'Armor, he participated actively in the construction of its plan Manuard "Raging Bull" in 2008 to participate in the Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime - Salvador de Bahia in 2009, he finished at the second place. In 2010, he participated in the Transat AG2R before returning to his first love and wins brilliantly Les Sables - The Azores - Les Sables.
After Bertrand Delesne (Prati'Buches), it was Thomas Normand (Financiere de l'Echiquier) and Xavier Macaire (Starter) who cut the finish line.
Top five provisional places:
Prototypes :
1. Bertrand Delesne (Prati'Buches) 12j 01h 42mn 19s total time over the two legs
2. Jorg Riechers (mare.de) 12j 15h 10mn 08s
3. Andrea Caracci (Speedy Maltese) 12j 19h 51mn 16s
4. Sebastien Picault (Kickers) 13j 00h 55mn 49s
5. Sebastien Rogues (Eole Generation GDF Suez) 13j 00h 56mn 31s
Series :
1. Xavier Macaire (Starter) 13j 06h 48mn 19s
2. Jean-Marc Allaire (Baker Tilly AG2R La Mondiale) 13j 22h 27mn 28s
3. Amaury Francois (amauryfrancois.com) 14j 02h 53mn 39s
4. Jean-Marie Oger (JMO Sailing) 14j 11h 22mn 19s
5. Robert Rosenjacobson (NED 602) 14j 17h 28mn 32s
www.lessables-lesacores.com
Artemis Keep On The Winning Way
Photo by Chris Cameron, www.chriscameron.co.nz. Click on image for photo gallery.
 Artemis, winners of last month's Camper Regatta - Conde de Godo Trophy - Barcelona, suggested today that they might have lost nothing of their momentum when they comfortably won today's official Practice Race for the TP52 Series at the Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy off Cartagena.
With Cameron Appleton (NZL) calling tactics and Paul Cayard (USA) on the helm, the Artemis crew read the tricky approach to the first turning nearly perfectly to be able to round in first place, ahead of the Portuguese team on Pedro Mendonca's Bigamist 7.
At the leeward gate Artemis sailed wide and late allowing Bigamist through, but they quickly made good what they had lost, leading around the top mark for the second time to take the winning gun by 41 seconds from Bigamist with Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) finishing third. The best recovery of the day was that staged by Terry Hutchinson (USA) and Quantum Racing (USA) who worked from 11th at the first turn to finish fourth.
After a delay of over one and a half hours waiting for the sea breeze to fill in sufficiently to allow racing the SW'ly breeze topped no more than eight knots but it was the top corner, calling the layline in to the windward mark in the streaky breeze and strong current which taxed the afterguards most today.
Racing is scheduled to start in earnest for the TP52's tomorrow at around 1330hrs after the GP42 Series have completed their initial practice starts.
Caja Mediterráneo Region of Murcia Trophy
TP52 Series official practice race
1. Artemis (SWE)
2. Bigamist 7 (POR), +00:41
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), +00:53
4. Quantum Racing (USA), +01:13
5. Matador (ARG), +01:38
6. Synergy (RUS), +02:12
7. Luna Rossa (ITA), +02:21
8. Bribon (ESP), +02:43
9. TeamOrigin (GBR), DNF
10. Cristabella (GBR), DNF
11. Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), DNF
medcup.org
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Why Do RC44 and TP52 Fleets Use T-Clewrings?
 The answer is simple; they are the lightest, simplest and easiest system available on the market.
"We decided to change our whole downwind inventory to T-Clewrings after our first regatta in the RC44 this season," says four-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts.
"We were leading a race and ripped the gennaker in a hoist. It took forever to change the sheets over to the new sail. By then the race was over! Now we run T-Clewrings on all our upwind and downwind headsails."
If you are looking for that tiny advantage - be it weight savings, cleaner tacks or quicker sheet changes - you, too, should be using T-Clewrings.
Contact your sailmaker today to demand T-Clewrings on your headsails, and you'll make a change for the better.
Visit our Web site, www.tclewring.com for more information.
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Oman Air Majan Smashes Single Handed Round Britain and Ireland Record
Photo by Lloyd Images / Oman Sail. Click on image to enlarge.
 At 09:03:55 GMT today (24/08/10) skipper Sidney Gavignet (FRA) onboard Oman Air Majan crossed the finish line off Lizard Point, Cornwall to smash the single handed Round Britain and Ireland record. The A100 trimaran broke the existing record held by Thomas Coville by 1 day 15 hours 30 minutes and 44 seconds.
This incredible achievement also means Sidney has beaten the existing fully crewed record time by 1 hour and 7 seconds. This record was set by Steve Fosset onboard Playstation in 2002.
The record attempt has seen Oman Air Majan sail 1,787 miles along one of the most challenging coastlines in the world. Sidney has tackled huge low pressure systems and sailed through squalls of over 40 knots. This is the first major test for Oman Air Majan and Sidney ahead of the single handed Route du Rhum race this coming November.
New single handed Round Britain and Ireland record (subject to ratification by WSSRC)
Distance miles: 1,787
Boat: Oman Air Majan - 100 foot trimaran
Skipper: Sidney Gavignet (FRA)
Record time: 4 days, 15 hours, 9 minutes, 47 seconds (subject to ratification by WSSRC)
Previous record around Britain and Ireland, Non stop singlehanded
Distance miles: 1,787
Set: August 2006
Boat: Sodebo - 60 foot Trimaran
Record time: 6 days, 6 hours, 40 miniutes, 31 seconds
Average speed: 11.86 knots
Round Britain and Ireland fully crewed record
Distance miles: 1787
Set: October 2002
Boat: Playstation - 125 foot Catamaran
Record time: 4 days, 16 hours, 9 minutes, 54 seconds
www.sailspeedrecords.com
omansail.com
Lymington Prepares to Welcome Josie Phillips
Click on image to enlarge.
 When Josie Phillips (27) and her husband, Roger, sail Nordlys, their Contessa 32 yacht into Lymington, on 26 August, the Lymington Yacht Haven marina, which is offering them a free berth, won't be welcoming ordinary sailors.
Josie, a doctor at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has set herself a challenge with three primary objectives: sail anti-clockwise around the coast of Britain, raise awareness of brain tumours and, at the same time, collect around £20,000 through sponsorship for Brain Tumour Research.
To date they have sailed 1,680 nautical miles with about 400 to go before arriving back in Ipswich on 4 September.
Jeremy and Fiona Rogers of Jeremy Rogers Ltd will be there to welcome Josie to Lymington on 26 August at XXam when she berths in Lymington river.
Jeremy Rogers Ltd of Lymington www.jeremyrogers.co.uk , not only built the 30 year-old Contessa 32 in which Josie and Roger are sailing, but the company is also their biggest sponsor.
Josie's challenge comes after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2004, following five years of unexplained symptoms. Josie later faced devastating news: the tumour became malignant in September 2008.
Her prognosis then was given as between 12 to 15 months. But Josie and Roger, who has just completed a PhD, were determined to make the most of life. They began to focus on a challenge for when she was sufficiently healthy: to sail 2,000 miles around the coast of Britain.
Having set out from their home port of Ipswich on the 15 May, Josie and Roger's planned route took them first up the north-east coast, passing through the Caledonian Canal, then southwards through the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, across to Wales and around the south coast of England, and back to Ipswich.
Josie's motivation for this challenge follows various 'awake' craniotomies to try to remove the tumour, as well as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and she is now only too aware how little is known about brain tumours.
The statistics speak for themselves: 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour and more children and people under the age of 40 die of a brain tumour than any other cancer. While the five year survival rate for many cancers is over 50% and rising to over 90% for some cancers, for brain tumours the five year survival rate is just 14%. Against this background, it may be shocking to learn that brain tumour research receives less than 1% (0.7%) of national cancer research spending in the UK.
Sponsorship and sailing details of Josie's Sail Around Britain can be via her website www.contessa32.co.uk
or Josie's Just Giving page
www.justgiving.com
or by sending a cheque payable to Brain Tumour Research to and marked Josie Phillips to Brain Tumour Research, The Business Centre, Padbury Hill Farm, Padbury, Buckingham, Bucks MK18 2BN.
Gale-Force Winds Ground the C-Class Cats
Newport, Rhode Island, USA: Six boats and wings are ready to fly, on day two of the 2010 Little America's Cup, aka the International C-Class Catamaran Championship. Instead of racing as planned yesterday, internationally accomplished sailors from five countries played show and tell under the tent at New York Yacht Club. A collection of designers, America's Cup evaluators and multihull pioneers weren't too upset that a blustery weather system delayed day one.
The Championship was last raced in 2007, at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto. There, Canadian challenger Fred Eaton and crew Magnus Clarke sailed Alpha to a 5-0 victory over the previously undefeated Steve Clark's Cogito.
Of the four catamaran divisions, the C-Class is governed by a simple set of rules that reward outside-the-box thinking in aero and hydrodynamics to create the lightest, fastest course-racing boats on the planet.
"All wings under the C-Class rule are the same area of 300 square feet but it can be distributed in any fashion," shares Steve Killing, the designer for Fred Eaton's C-Class program. They are propelled not by traditional fabric sails, but by elegant wings, rigid but with twist capability.
"The C-Class cats were never meant to be convenient, practical craft, instead efficiency and high performance are the goals," Killing says. Exotic materials allow them to sail significantly faster than the wind, with a top speed near 25 knots, approaching efficiencies of ice boats.
Principal Race Officer Kevin Keogh has postponed ashore until at least 1100 due to sustained 25+ knot winds in the course area. Winds are expected to drop this afternoon. Racing is scheduled daily through the 28th and will likely take place north of the Newport Pell Bridge.
Live streaming videos: www.LittleAC.com
www.nyyc.org/cclass
Seahorse September 2010
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Design
- Gaining (serious) credibility
HUGH WELBOURN's Dynamic Stability System has just moved up a notch as LOUAY HABIB discovers
Seahorse build table
- Style and substance?
GIULIANO LUZZATO talks to leading Italian designer MAURIZIO COSSUTTI
RORC news
- More sailing less sitting
EDDIE WARDEN OWEN on the rapid growth of interest in two-handed offshore racing
Sailor of the Month
Same racing team... but very different skill sets
If you haven't subscribed to Seahorse already we're keen to help you attend to that! - Please use the following promotional link and enjoy the hefty Scuttlebutt Europe discount... and it gets even better for 2 and 3 year subscriptions...
www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs
Thames Revival
 The Thames Revival is an annual event that celebrates vintage glamour, classic boats and the golden days of sailing. The event is being held as part of The Mayor's Thames Festival, London's largest free outdoor arts festival, taking place on 11th & 12th September 2010.
Entering the historic St Katharine Docks will be like stepping back in time as you cast your eye around a fabulous variety of craft. Admire hearty fishing smacks, rub gunwales with the finest racing yachts, and hear the tooting of a steam tug as it punctuates the silky purrings of upriver motor launches.
Entry to St Katharine Docks is free to all festival goers. All the boats and activities can be seen from around the basin.
To add to the period feel, all the boat crews will be dressed in the period of their boat. If you would like to be part of the spectacle and get a hands on look at the boats you can spend the day in the members enclosure. Just buy a ticket, and choose your favourite look from Victorian to Sixties you will not look out of place
If you would like to become part of the spectacle and climb aboard these beautiful craft, the Members Enclosure is for you.
Information at www.thamesrevival.com
Irishman Who Sailed Around World as a 70-Year-Old Buried in Kerry
 Pat Lawless, whose solo circumnavigation of the world made him a household name in the late 1990s, died suddenly at his home in Limerick last weekend, aged 84.
He received a hero's welcome back in July 1996 when he sailed up the Shannon Estuary in his 30ft vessel The Sea Dog, after completing his epic 30,000-mile voyage.
The father of six from the South Circular Road in Limerick city was laid to rest in his beloved Dun Chaoin in Co Kerry yesterday following Mass at St Joseph's Church in Limerick city. His grandchildren brought to the altar a number of gifts symbolising his life, including a small boat, a globe, a violin, and a sailor's cap.
Pat Lawless's interest in sailing came relatively late in life, and he became a member of Iniscealtra Sailing Club in Mountshannon, Co Clare.
He is survived by his wife Nancy, daughter Helen, sons Jim, Pat, Dan, John and Peter, sister Betty, grandchildren, great grandchildren, relatives and his many friends. -- Kathryn Hayes
www.irishtimes.com
Short Tacks
A 20 minute film about the Dragon European Championship 2010 in Hungary, Balatonkenese on YouTube, here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3dqGyXiId4&feature=related
The links to part 2 and part 3
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The Notice of Race for the 2010 Rolex Farr 40 North American Championship is now posted. Racing takes place in Annapolis, Maryland October 15-17.
The fee for entries received by 9/15 is $1200. There is a $100 late fee for entries after 9/15. The entry fee is due by September 15th or with late entries.
See AYC Regatta Management for online registration.
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On Sunday 23rd August, over 50 boats from throughout The Solent gathered off Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, for an unprecedented, waterborne protest against proposed changes to the town's unique harbour.
Click on image for photo gallery.
The cause of the unusual protest is a planning application lodged by Yarmouth Harbour Commissioners (YHC) that will dramatically alter the attractive port, potentially changing the harbour from a popular sailing destination into a sterile marina with a drastic impact on the busy, unspoilt town.
Far from a stubborn reaction to change, the protest was triggered by profound concerns for the fundamental wellbeing of Yarmouth on aesthetic and practical grounds. Local resident, keen yachtsman and joint organiser of the protest, John Caulcutt, explains: "Yarmouth depends for its livelihood on visitors," says Caulcutt. "If there were no visitors, the much-reduced revenue generated by residents would be insufficient for the survival of many of Yarmouth's businesses," he continues. "Many marinas along the South Coast of the United Kingdom are mostly populated by yachts and motorboats that are seldom used because their 'absentee owners' - both private and corporate - have neither the time nor the money these days to use their boats as often as they thought they would when they first bought them!"
Fears that Yarmouth harbour will rapidly evolve into a bland, featureless, boat park are an overiding concern
For more information regarding the protest movement in Yarmouth, contact Peter Isaacs at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For media inquiries, please contact Oliver Dewar at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Excellent new promo video of Shetland Round Britain & Ireland Race as experienced onboard Fujifilm. Two part video click here for links:
Part 1
Part 2
Alex Bennett Ocean Racing
www.alexbennett.co.uk
From The "Not Sailing But Cool Files": Magnetar!!!
 Paris, France: A neutron star with a mighty magnetic field has thrown down the gauntlet to theories about stellar evolution and the birth of black holes, astronomers reported on Wednesday.
The "magnetar" lies in a cluster of stars known as Westerlund 1, located 16,000 light years away in the constellation of Ara, the Altar.
Within Westerlund 1 is the remains of one of galaxy's few magnetars -- a particular kind of neutron star, formed from the explosion of a supernova, that can exert a magnetic field a million, billion times strong than Earth's.
The Westerlund star which eventually became the magnetar must have been at least 40 times the mass of the Sun, according to the study, which appears in the research journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
If so, intriguing questions are raised.
The mainstream assumption is that stars of between 10 and 25 solar masses go on to form neutron stars. But those above 25 solar masses produce black holes -- the light-gobbling gravitational monsters that are formed when a massive, dying star collapses in on itself.
In that case, the magnetar's mother should have become a black hole because it was so big.
But another alternative, say the authors, is that the star "slimmed" to a lower mass, enabling it to become a neutron star.
How did this happen?
The answer, says the paper, could lie in a binary system: the star that became the magnetar was born with a stellar companion.
As the stars evolved, they began to interact, and the companion star, like a demonic twin, began to steal mass from the progenitor star.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100818/sc_afp/spaceastronomystars
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The Last Word
The way to succeed is to double your error rate. -- Thomas J. Watson
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