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Brought to you by Yachtworld.com Europe and boats.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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Audi Sponsors Medcup Circuit
Audi AG has signed a three-year contract to become the title sponsor of the MedCup Circuit which will feature the TP52 Class racing in six regattas over five months in four countries. Now in its fourth year the circuit, to be called the Audi MedCup Circuit, features the TP52 Class. It is the world's leading regatta circuit, the keelboat racing class of choice for America's Cup teams, professional sailors, owner-drivers, Olympic Champions and Royalty.
Last year the circuit featured five events with a total of 24 teams from 12 countries competing in a mixture of inshore windward-leeward courses and short, day-long coastal races.
For 2008 the Audi MedCup Circuit will run between early May and mid-September. This year the circuit will also feature a sixth event. Currently no fewer than eight new TP52 yachts are in the final stages of construction around the world, all to be launched and made race ready before the first regatta in May where they will join the fleet.tted to competing for the title of Audi MedCup Circuit Champion.
The first event, as last year, will be hosted by the City of Alicante in Spain and will run between the 12th and 17th May. The second will be hosted in the Vieux Port of Marseille, France between the 2nd and 7th June. The third will be run from the capital of Sardinia, Italy, the city of Cagliari, between 30th June and 5th July. The fourth regatta will see the fleet make a return to the eternally popular Puerto Portals Marina in Majorca, Spain between 21st and 26th July. The fifth regatta will be held in the region of Murcia, Spain between 25th and 30th August, and the season closer will see the fleet racing in Portimao, Portugal between 15th and 20th September.
Winning the Audi MedCup Circuit requires the best score from all races run across the six events that make up the season. Unlike past seasons this year there will be no discard races allowed at all. Mistakes or breakages will prove extremely costly to a team's overall score and title chances, increasing the importance of consistent and reliable performance by the teams across the whole year.
The winners of the last three seasons - 2007 Artemis (SWE), 2006 - Mutua Madrilena-Mean Machine (MON) and 2005 - Mutua Madrilena (CHI) - are all back to compete in the 2008 Audi MedCup Circuit, all three with brand new boats. The American, German and Spanish America's Cup teams are also dedicating themselves to the circuit this year, each also with a brand new boat.
www.medcup.org
Mixed Fortunes on Day One of the 2008 Tornado World Championship
The German crew of Roland Gaebler and Gunnar Struckman have come out on top after day one at the 2008 Tornado World Championship which started today off Takapuna, North Shore City, Auckland. Conditions were reasonable for the start of the five day, ten race series which concludes next Saturday.
The stormy conditions experienced in Auckland over the weekend abated for day one of the 2008 Tornado World Championship today. 51 Tornados took to the water under blue sunny skies and a shifty south westerly breeze of around 12 to 18 knots.
Gaebler and Struckman, who were 2nd at the recent Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland Regatta used by 40 Tornado crews to tune-up for this event, were third in both races sailed today and lead the fleet at the end of day one with a narrow one point margin.
Hot on their tail in the standings is John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree representing the USA. The Americans were 2nd in race one behind and then 5th in race two to hold second overall at this early stage in the regatta.
In what promises to be a hard fought battle Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and the Ukraine are currently the best placed of the nine nations who are on the hunt for one of the four remaining Olympic places to be decided at the this event. This puts the pressure on double Olympic gold medallists and reigning Olympic champions, Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher of Austria who are also fighting for a spot after failing to qualify the country at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Portugal last year.
Another surprise at the end of the first day is to see hot favourites Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby of Australia lying 19th in the overall standings. The pair who has a string of recent wins in the class including Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland sailed on the same waters just a week ago was 14th and 23rd in racing on day one.
Top Ten standings after day one
1. Roland Gaebler & Gunnar Struckman, GER, 6 points
2. John Lovell & Charlie Ogletree, USA, 7
3. Mitch Booth & Pim Nieuwenhuis, NED, 9
4. Andrew Walsh & Edward Barney, GBR, 9
5. Yann Guichard & Alexandre Guyander, FRA, 13
6. Fernando Echavarri & Anton Paz, ESP, 15
7. Francesco Marcolini & Edoardi Bianchi, ITA, 18
8. Oskar Johansson & Kevin Stittle, CAN, 22
9. Carolijn Brouwer & Sebastian Godefroid, BEL, 23
10. Aaron McIntosh & Mark Kennedy, NZL, 25
www.takapunaworlds.org
GER-OO German Offshore Owners' Organization
Hamburg, Germany: Felix Scheder-Bieschin, 78-year-old owner and skipper of Vineta received a standing ovation Friday night at an august gathering of 300 top German offshore sailors and friends both German and international in Hamburg's historic Rathaus (City Hall) at the invitation of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
The occasion in the splendid Gothic masterpiece overlooking the Alster lake was the inaugural annual Awards Dinner of GER-OO, the German Offshore Owners' Organization (www.ger-oo.org ). Vineta and Felix completed last year's toughest-ever Rolex Middle Sea Race winning 4 prizes and finishing the race as one of only 15 from 55 starters. Also honoured was Hamburg's Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, organizers of the 2007 Transatlantic HSH NORDBANK blue race www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com also Norddeutscher Vermoegen Hamburg from youth group HVS with skipper Torsten Hilbert, and Wappen von Bremen under young skippers Jan-Paul Gundlach and Sven Nelsen.
Guests included RORC Commodore David Aisher and Treasurer Mike Greville. Mike was the winner in the recent Fastnet Anglo-German Friendship Challenge. David will compete later this year in the IRC division of the increasingly-popular Baltic Sprint Cup www.balticspintcup.com sponsored by bank DnB NORD starting from Travemuende on 19th July,
Felix Scheder-Bieschin was inspirational. His next long-distance race? Another ocean crossing, this time the South Atlantic in the 2009 Cape to Rio Race. Few sports offer leading-edge participation to such a wide age-range and with Felix in the fleet it must be odds-on that more silverware will be making its way to Hamburg.
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Less than 1,000 Miles to the Goal
After setting out from New York over thirty nine days ago to challenge the Route de l'Or record, Gitana 13 passed under the symbolic barrier of 1,000 miles to go, shortly before midnight last night. Currently off the coast of Mexico, Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew are on the final sprint to San Francisco.
For over three days, the maxi-catamaran has benefited from a NE'ly air flow of around fifteen knots, to climb northwards with the ridge of high pressure. These stable conditions associated with relatively calm seas have enabled Lionel Lemonchois and his men to rack up some fine average speeds throughout the weekend.
On a NW'ly heading, the 33 metre catamaran is rounding its trajectory to conserve a favourable wind angle. This is set to be the case until midway through the week, when Lionel Lemonchois and his crew change over onto another point of sail; a compulsory tack to make San Francisco Bay with the help of what they hope will be a NNW'ly air flow. "We are still on starboard tack and will be for another two days. According to the latest forecasts we'll have at least one tack to perform 24 or 36 hours before our arrival, as we are going to stumble across the edge of the zone of high pressure. However, other small tack changes may be envisaged in order to remain in a good vein of wind."
Given the latest routing, Dominic Vittet estimates that Gitana 13 could reach the foot of the infamous Golden Gate Bridge on the afternoon of Thursday 28th February (US time).
www.gitana-team.com
Leroy Seals Third Women's Winter Challenge Crown
World number one Claire Leroy lived up to her billing as the clear event favourite as she produced a faultless display to regain the RYA Women's Winter Challenge Match Racing Championship crown this weekend (22-24 February).
Leroy, who was named the ISAF World Sailor of the Year in November following her World and European match racing titles in 2007, made light work of a world class field at Queen Mary Sailing Club to tie up her third Championship victory without losing a race over the three days.
The Frenchwoman won her first Women's Winter Challenge Championship in 2005 and successfully defended her crown the following year before relinquishing the title last year as Finland's Silja Lehtinen pulled off a superb Finals win.
But this time it was Lehtinen, one of six of the top 10 ranked females in world match racing battling it out at Queen Mary, who was forced to settle for second spot as Leroy's immaculate series left the rest of the field in her wake.
Leroy's victory has now qualified her for the RYA Winter Challenge Match Racing Series Grand Final at Queen Mary from Friday 7 - Sunday 9 March where the winners and runners-up from all the Series qualifiers over this winter are scheduled to battle it out for the overall title. -- Karenza Morton
RYA Women's Winter Challenge Match Racing Championship final results:
1. Claire Leroy (FRA), Morgane Gautier, Claire Peuvot, Elodie Bertrand, Marcie Riou
2. Silja Lehtinen (FIN), Erica Backstrom, Maria Kiemetz, Vivi Fleming-Lehtinen, Livia Varesmaa
3. Linda Rahm (SWE), Helena Barne, Marie O'berg, Lotta Harrysson, Annika Olsson
4. Lucy Macgregor (GBR), Annie Lush, Mary Rook, Sue Monson, Sophie Esson
5. Jenny Axhede (SWE), Nina Bake, Johanna Sarnia, Malin Svedmyr, Annika Carlunger
6. Camilla Ulrikkeholm (DEN), Christel Jappe Teglers, Nathalia Nyeland, Signe Fabricius Eggenksen, Joan Vestergaard Hansen
7. Silke Hahlbrock (GER), Maren Hahlbrock, Marian Rammed, Kerstin Schult, Jody Slater
8. Gemma Farrell (GBR), Lucy Burn, Imogen Wellington, Charlotte Laurence, Lauren Martel
9. Josie Gibson (GBR), Jo Ryley, Bex Marriot, Barbara Watson, Rachel Larman
10. Lotte Meldgaard Pederson (DEN), Christina Refu, Inge Ebbensgoard, Kristina Stenstrom, Mia Nielson
Banque Gonet Withdraws from the Class Championship
Photo by Juerg Kaufmann, www.go4image.com
A founding member of the Decision 35 Class, initially a Class sponsor before acquiring a boat, Banque Gonet announces its withdrawal from the Class. Banque Gonet was sailing with Russell Coutts since three years. The team has - amongst others - won the prestigious Bol d'Or regatta in 2006.
Nicolas Gonet announces his withdrawal from the D 35 Class. Despite a very promising sportive season, that would have seen the arrival on lake Geneva of the team BMW ORACLE Racing on board his D35 Banque Gonet & Cie, most Class members have shown hostility during an owners meeting last Friday.
Team Gonet takes note of this position, which it respects but does not share. Despite its desire for continuity with its race team from previous years, Mr Gonet said he prefers to withdraw from a competition whose values he no longer shares. -- Bernard Schopfer
* From the class association:
The AMC remains loyal to D35 Class values and welcomes resolution of differences with Nicolas Gonet
Five years since conception by a group of owner-sailors, the Association for Multi-hull Competition (AMC) aims to organise a 2008 Championship representative of the original D35 Class spirit with high-level competition on the water and friendship ashore.
The AMC was the brainchild of five founding members: Ernesto Bertarelli, Philippe Cardis, Jean-François Demole, Guy de Picciotto and Nicolas Grange, who created and developed the Decision 35 as an owner-sailor class on Lake Geneva. All members share the same passion for sailing competition based on similar sporting values that do not centre on commercial gain.
Following fundamental differences regarding the future of the class and a marked divergence in values and objectives, the owner of the yacht Banque Gonet, who had contradictory objectives with the other members of the association, has decided to withdraw from the class.
The AMC never had the intention to exclude the Banque Gonet boat from competition nor forbid anyone from sailing. However, the AMC clearly expressed to Nicolas Gonet that in the D35 Class, we put sport before commerce and therefore, his objective was in conflict with that of the other owners. His decision to sell his boat is an appropriate solution for all involved and the AMC will ensure that the boat continues to race on the circuit." -- Nicolas Grange President Association des Multicoques de Competition
Short Tacks
* Clipper Ventures Plc has signed an agreement with the Olympic Sailing Committee of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for the Chinese city of Qingdao to host the Clipper 09-10 and Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Races in its Olympic Sailing Centre.
The deal, which follows a successful eight-day stopover for the Clipper 07-08 fleet in the city that is to host the sailing events in the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, also includes sponsorship of a Qingdao entry in both Clipper 09-10 and Clipper 11-12.
At 1530 local time (0730 GMT) on Sunday the ten-strong international fleet competing in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race crossed the start line in Fuschan Bay, Qingdao, signalling the start of Race 7 of the series which will take them to Hawaii. The race restart marked the end of a successful stopover in Qingdao's Olympic Sailing Centre, which acted as a dress rehearsal for the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
* On Sunday Groupama 3 was righted in the port of Dunedin in New Zealand.
With the help of the two cranes and straps arranged either side of the starboard crossbeams, Groupama 3 was slowly lifted into a vertical position prior to regaining its original position.
The starboard float and the central hull seem to have been relatively preserved. This impression will need to be confirmed or contradicted by the crew, who will land in Roissy Charles de Gaulle on Wednesday morning prior to going to the Race HQ for the Jules Verne Trophy to give a press conference.
Franck Cammas will be present with seven of his crew, Jan Dekker heading directly to South Africa whilst Loic Le Mignon is remaining in New Zealand where two members of the shore crew, Jean-Marc Normant and Olivier Mainguy will meet up with him from tomorrow, Tuesday.
* Matt Struble, DN US183, of Wixom, Michigan, won his second consecutive DN Gold Cup. The DN Gold Cup (World Championship), which is sailed in the US and Europe in alternating years, was sailed February 17th-20th on Lake Lipno, Czech Republic 183 entrants, including 14 from the US, competed in four fleets, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Aluminum. Matt finished with 18 points in the 50 boat Gold Fleet, besting second place finisher Lukasz Zakrzewski, DN P155, by 10 points. Other Gold Fleet finishers from the US included Ron Sherry, Canton Twp., Michigan - 5th, John Dennis, Mound, Minnesota - 9th and Aaron Stange, Toledo, Ohio - 10th The 47 boat Silver Fleet was won by Leon LeBeau, DN US2000, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
* At the International Yacht Restoration School and the Museum of Yachting this summer, running concurrently with the restoration of the 1885 schooner yacht Coronet will be an exhibit on the voyages of one of the yacht's owners, Arthur Curtiss James (1867-1941), a railroad magnate who kept a home in Newport and was one of America's wealthiest men of his era. A second exhibit focuses on the genius of Olin Stephens, who celebrates his 100th birthday this year. The exhibit will focus on some of the groundbreaking Sparkman & Stephens designs and the people behind them. At the same time, a team of shipwrights managed by Boothbay Harbor Shipyard will build a replica of the S&S-designed 6-Meter Cherokee. While the Museum salutes a legend, part of Olin Stephens's legacy has a tie to current events: this replica 6-Meter will be eligible to vie for the 6-Meter World Cup when it comes to Newport in 2009. -- iyrs.org
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The Last Word
You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth. -- Henrik Ibsen
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