Brought to you by boats.com Europe with the support of OC Events, 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 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

CIAN GRABS EARLY LEAD IN GROUP B AT ALLIANZ CUP
San Francisco, California, USA: Italy's Paolo Cian, tied for fifth in the match racing world championship standings, leads the Group B round robin at the Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle after four flights. Cian has a perfect 4-0 record at Stage 5 of the 2006-'07 World Match Racing Tour.

Cian won Stage 3, the St. Moritz Match Race, in August for his first World Tour victory. Today he defeated Larry Ellison, Brian Angel, Cameron Dunn and Jesper Bank in light winds for his undefeated record.

Group B is scheduled to resume its round tomorrow afternoon around 1:30 p.m.

After Cian there's a tie for second, at 3-1, between old foes Ed Baird of Alinghi and Peter Gilmour of PST.

The wind conditions were light for Day 2 of the $100,000 regatta. The wind blew from the northeast for most of the day around 6 knots. It would build to 8 knots at times, but also drop to 4 knots or less.

Like Day 1, the current played a major factor in the racing, on the runs in particular. In a largely ebb tide starboard jibe was the fast tack, going with the 2-knot current.

Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, the world's largest enterprise software company, and a member of the BMW ORACLE Racing afterguard, completes the round at 0-4. He's competing in his first World Tour event as a skipper. In the past three years he's won the Owner/Driver series at the Moet Cup and UBS Trophy, both America's Cup Class regattas. He's also a five-time maxi yacht world champion.

Tomorrow's schedule calls for a Pro-Am regatta in the morning, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Group B racing is scheduled to resume around 1:30 p.m. and, time permitting, the race committee would also like to start the repechage round tomorrow afternoon.

Group B Provisional Standings (After 4 of 7 flights)
1. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Viano Mercedes Benz - Shosholoza, 4-0
2. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 3-1
T. Ed Baird (USA) Alinghi, 3-1
4. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 2-2
T. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team, 2-2
6. Cameron Dunn (NZL) Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia, 1-3
T. Brian Angel (USA) King Harbor Match Race, 1-3
8. Larry Ellison (USA) BMW ORACLE Racing, 0-4

allianzcup.com and www.worldmatchracetour.com

* The 24-hour sailing and watersports broadband channel Sail TV, is broadcasting coverage of the Allianz Cup, Stage 5 of the 2006-2007 World Match Racing Tour, live from San Francisco this weekend. Working closely with the Tour's production company, Sportshows Television, Sail TV will stream live pictures from the semi-finals and finals on the 28th and 29th October from the St Francis Yacht Club.

Sail TV Director, Andy Steward said, "It's exciting to be bringing live coverage of the WMRT to our global audience. This is a great opportunity for our viewers to experience what is now possible through IPTV by watching such high profile events as the Allianz Cup, live. We are pleased to add the event to our growing international event schedule."

Tune into www.sail.tv for updates and for the final rounds of the Allianz Cup 2006.

* Video clip from Wednesday's sailing on YouTube.com: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUVby_Ye1Dw

FOUR BOATS ON THE COURSE, TWO MORE WAITING FOR DAWN
At the 15:00 GMT position poll, Bernard Stamm and Cheminees Poujoulat were 150 miles north of Madeira with Kojiro Shiraishi 161 miles astern, closing the gap over the past three hours.

Just north-east of Cape Finisterre, Mike Golding restarted racing off the Spanish port of La Coruna when his 48 hour penalty expired at 14:11 GMT this afternoon and sailed into light headwinds. Twenty miles north-east of Ecover, Alex Thomson and Hugo Boss are rounding the headland north of La Coruna as daylight fades. Golding has had to play catch-up before - most memorably after restarting in the 2001-02 Vendee Globe and carving through the entire fleet - so for the British skipper, anything is achievable: "Alex is the immediate target" he commented, shortly before setting off, "but the bigger goal is catching Bernard."

At 11:00 GMT, shortly before Ecover left the dock, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston shook hands with Golding on the pontoons in La Coruna before returning to work on SAGA Insurance, a boat which he described today as "a very tough little girl". Knox-Johnston's in port, 48 hour time penalty expires at 14:55 GMT tomorrow (Friday) and the sixty-seven year-old mariner is keen to rejoin the race: "Once we've got these few jobs done, I'm ready to go, and I will go."

Puerto Deportivo marina in Gexto, just outside Bilbao, will be busy tomorrow (Friday) morning. Unai Basurko is scheduled to restart racing with Pakea at 08:00 GMT and Kiwi skipper, Graham Dalton, will start racing at around the same time. VELUX 5 OCEANS Race Director, David Adams, scrutineered Dalton's Open 50, A Southern Man - AGD, this morning and handed her skipper a back up EPIRB and a satellite tracking beacon. By postponing his race start for five days, Dalton has missed the boat breaking conditions experienced by the rest of the fleet earlier this week and will now begin racing in very good shape.

www.velux5oceans.com

"AN EXCELLENT BIT OF KIT ..."- SAILING WORLD
Ocean Racing's new waterproof Offshore Backpack will keep your laptop dry, even when you get wet! Together with the matching Offshore Duffel they make the driest, most functional & best looking sailing luggage no matter where you go, and possibly the perfect gift for the sailor on your list too! Also check out our sailing watches, gloves, sunglasses, synthetic shirts, classic sailcloth duffels & gifts under $50.

www.OceanRacing.com

ISAF MATCH RACE RANKINGS
France continues its reign at the top of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings as Sebastien Col (FRA) and Claire Leroy (FRA) continue to hold comfortable leads in the world number one spots. Behind the leaders both Australia and Great Britain break into the top five.

Sebastien COL (FRA) holds the top spot for the third consecutive release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings, although the 29 year old skipper for Areva Challenge did not make an appearance in the latest Ranking period. A string of wins over the European summer keeps him well clear of his rivals, with 338 points separating him from second place Paolo Cian (ITA). Like Col, both Cian and third place World Champion Peter Gilmour (AUS) were also absent from the match racing circuit during this Ranking period.

Victory in Bermuda pushes Ian Williams up to a year-best fourth on the Rankings.

Claire Leroy (FRA) makes it 15 consecutive releases at the top of the Women's Rankings and looks almost certain of making it an unbroken calendar year in the top spot, as she currently holds a massive 1,222 point lead over her nearest challenger. That is now Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN), who moves from fourth up to second on the back of a terrific European summer for the Dane.

The next Rankings release will be on 6 December following on from the ISAF Grade WC Monsoon Cup in Malaysia.

Top Ten - Open
1. Sebastien Col, FRA
2. Paolo Cian , ITA
3. Peter Gilmour, AUS
4. Ian Williams, GBR
5. Chris Dickson, NZL
6. Mathieu Richard, FRA
7. Eugeniy Neugodnikov, RUS
8. Bjorn Hansen, SWE
9. Staffan Lindberg, FIN
10. Johnie Berntsson, SWE

Top Ten - Women
1. Claire Leroy , FRA
2. Lotte Meldgaared Pedersen, DEN
3. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED
4. Katie Spithill, AUS
5. Marie Bjorling, SWE
6. Silke Hahlbrock, GER
7. Linda Rahm, SWE
8. Josie Gibson, GBR
9. Jenny Axhede, SWE
10. Sally Barkow, USA

Full rankings on sailing.org

ULLMAN SAILS - GULF COAST
Ullman Sails International is pleased to announce, West Wind Sails in Mandeville, Louisiana (a suburb of New Orleans) has joined the Ullman Sails group. Owners Julie and Dave Bolyard celebrated West Wind's 25th Anniversary in September. This prominent- full service Gulf Coast sail loft has a clientele that includes offshore and one-design champions, world cruisers, and local recreational sailors. The staff includes their son David and journeymen sailmakers with years of experience, whose customer service is second to none! Ullman Sails - Gulf Coast contact information can be found in the "Loft Locator" section of Ullman Sails web page, www.ullmansails.com

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL IN THE ROUTE DU RHUM
Embedded in between the numerous 40-footer and the IMOCA fleet, 14 skippers, dispatched in 3 classes (monohull Class 1, 2, 3 - 40 to 50 feet) are going through the usual "to do list" for final preparations with amazingly mild weather in St Malo. Obviously slower than the other boats in the race, they will have to fly across the Atlantic if they want to cut the finish line before it closes - that is 10 days after the first monohull has arrived.

Some of the skippers enrolled in these classes dreamt about this Transatlantic as their sailing "Everest" and it took them a big share of their lifetimes to get to this edition. Others, generally younger, have more pressure on their shoulders in terms of results: they must demonstrate their skills and attract sponsor's interests to switch to a "pro" career.

Using Ellen MacArthur's wining time in 2002 of 13 days, 13 hours 23 days to sail the 3,543 miles to the finish. In 2002, Nick Moloney (AUS) - sailing in Class 2 - crossed the line 5 days after Ellen on her IMOCA 60.

Apart from Kip Stone (Artforms) in Class 2, the international entries are concentrated in Class 3. Michel Kleinjans (Roaring Forty), from Belgium, JanKees Lampe (La Promesse), from The Netherlands and Aurelia Ditton (Dangerous When Wet), from the UK, will sail in this category.

Kip Stone (Artforms) is considered as the favourite, but he will have to count on the motivation of Servane Escoffier (Vedettes de Brehat Cap Marine) who is seeking a springboard for a pro sailing career. It is also noticeable that those two will compete on "rival" boats in terms of design, Owen Clark for Artforms(launched in 2003) and Finot-Conq for Vedettes de Brehat Cap Marine (launched in 1996 and 5th in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2005).

ROARING 40S
Twenty five 40-footers are moored in St Malo. This class, the most numerous of the fleet, will sail for the first time in the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale. With all types of backgrounds and sailing experiences, the men and woman on board illustrate today the original spirit of the Route du Rhum: a combination of amateurs, semi-professionals and full time skippers, with different levels of preparation and dreams for the arrival. Three English sailors also jumped in: Nick Bubb (Kenmore Homes), Ian Munslow (Bowland Mills), Phil Sharp (philsharpracing.com).

If we talk about "serious" racing, on the French side the names coming out are: Dominique Vittet (ATAO Atao Audio System), Gildas Morvan (Oyster Funds, a pogo 40), as well as Joe Seeten, Philippe Legros (Cotes d'Armor - Pierre & Mer),...Some of them have already accumulated thousands of miles under their 40-footer hulls as their boats were delivered early this year. But, there are heavy rumours circulating on the pontoons about "ambushed" English competitors in this class.

The best funded are obviously (or should be) the better prepared. On this side, Ian Munslow (Boland Mills) and Nick Bubb (Kenmore Homes) are well provided for. On the other side, Phil Sharp boat's hull is still waiting for a company to stick their name on it.

Team sites:
Phil Sharp: www.philsharpoceanracing.com
Ian Munslow / Bowlandsmill: www.bowlandsmill.com
Nick Bubb / Kenmore Homes: www.nickbubb.com

www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com

RSS Feed:
www.routedurhumlabanquepostale.fr/en/actus.rss

* Jonathan Crinion sailing 'Friends of the Earth' the first Owen Clarke Class 40 on the water, has arrived in Falmouth. Entered in La Route du Rhum, the new Class 40 yacht has now missed the deadline and has sustained damage from various knock downs in the extreme weather on the journey up from Cape Town, South Africa. "The boat is very fast and I've hit 20kts a number of times now but I've pushed too hard to make the deadline and paid the price with damage" Add to that the boat still needs to pass the Class 40 certification and that ISAF has ruled that the "Big Ask" wording on the main sail is a political slogan and therefore the boat cannot race. The Big Ask is a Friends of the Earth program to create awareness about climate change. Friends of the Earth is registered as a non political charity and is appealing the ruling by ISAF. www.jonathancrinion.com

INDUSTRY NEWS
* Sailing Networks has teamed up with Sail TV to add streaming video of sailing events from around the world to it's rapidly expanding sailing community websites.

All of Sail TV's free-to-view programming will be available to members of Sailing Networks and the new video content will be cross referenced with other content on the Sailing Networks and Crew Reunited websites to make relevant footage easy to find.

Sail TV has a growing library of professionally produced video with new programmes added daily to the multi-channel service. -- www.sail.tv

* In what will be a good news story for would-be Beneteau owners, the President of Groups Beneteau, Bruno Cathelinais announced yesterday that while the volume and range of Beneteaus is increasing, the prices are coming down.

Groupe Beneteau has revealed plans for two new boat ranges to help fuel further growth in 2007.

The Groupe consolidated its position as the world's largest sailboat builder, with sales of around E858 million predicted for 2006 - an eight fold increase since 1995.

Another key development on the model front sees the launch in 2007 of a new range designated Bordeaux, to fill the current vacuum in its sail boat range from 18m-24m. The range up to 80ft will bridge the gap between Beneteau's First range that ends presently at 50ft and its custom CNB division. Production is already underway of the first Bordeaux 60 which should be ready for launch in March 2007.

There will also be a new Oceanis generation 4, with an Oceanis 50 to be unveiled at Paris in December. A new flagship catamaran Lagoon 620 is also on the drawing board.

* CST Composites Ltd are pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Searle as Sales Manager of the composite spar and tube manufacturing company based in Kurnell, Sydney, Australia. Matthew joins the team alongside Managing Director Clive Watts and Production Manager Chris Dixon reinforcing CST's position as a key supplier of spars for the skiff and small yacht market.

* Hyde Sails has expanded its sail loft in Cebu, the Philippines, to meet increasing business demand.

The addition of a stand-alone yacht sails manufacturing area has increased the loft's original 16,000sqft (1,486sqm) to 35,000sqft (3252sqm) with new offices and production area. Additionally, new equipment at the sail loft includes an aeronaut cutter, a custom made heavy-duty long arm sewing machine in the yacht sails area, and a new knife wheel for cutting Kevlar and carbon laminates has been installed along with two laser cutters.

Since the sail loft, which is wholly owned by Hyde, was set up three years ago, the number of employees has also increased from 20 to 150.

* The three-day India International Boat Show in Cochin ended on Sunday evening with a wave of optimism that the leisure boating market is moving forward in India. Dealers were happy about boat sales and news of new marina projects about to be launched. At least two new marina projects should get the go-ahead in Cochin shortly, including one being promoted by the Kerala Tourism Department to be located at Bolgatty Island in the heart of the waterway network in Cochin Town. There are also projects muted further north in the country in Goa and the commercial capital Mumbai.

The first Annual General Meeting of the India Marine Federation was also held during the boat show and Joe Nejedly of Praga Marine boatbuilders was elected chairman.

* Navman founder Peter Maire told a New Zealand website that Brunswick's divestiture of its Brunswick New Technologies (BNT) division to a European-based equity group is imminent, though he did not name any companies. Brunswick announced that it was placing the division for sale on April 27, 2006. "Rumours are it is getting closer," Maire told National Nine News. "It needs a new owner to love it because it's losing a lot of people. It's heartbreaking to see that happening."

Brunswick completed the purchase of Navman, which makes Global Position Systems (GPS) technology, two years ago for $NZ108 million. -- IBI News, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20060918152639ibinews.html

* Berthon International has announced that it is to serve as the sole UK broker for the entire Challenge Business fleet, which comprises five 67ft David Thomas-designed yachts and thirteen 72ft Rob Humphreys-designed yachts that have participated in the Global Challenge series.

The news follows an earlier report that Challenge Business, a UK-based company founded by Sir Chay Blyth to organise the Global Challenge round-the-world yacht race, has gone into administration.

www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20060925163016ibinews.html

* Formula Yacht Spars of Lymington, UK, has acquired Black Flag Composite, the French high tech spar manufacturer based in Mudaison, Montpellier.

The acquisition will assist Black Flag to further develop its activities in the high-end yacht racing and ocean cruising markets. The company's Thierry Castaldin has extensive experience in composite technology, having been the composites advisor to Michael Schumacher's Ferrari campaign, and has built many spars for Americas Cup boats over the years, including booms and poles for the current French competitor.

Formula is also working closely with several AC syndicates, including the provision of masts, poles and booms for the German boat and masts for the South African entry. -- formulayachtspars.com (article from IBI, ibinews.com )

THE LAST WORD
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. -- Abraham Lincoln

OC Events, organisers of two major IMOCA 60 oceanic events, the new double-handed Barcelona World Race 2007, and the original solo transocean race, The Transat 2008 (ex-OSTAR) www.ocevents.org

Over 80,000 boats for sale on www.boats.com

Scuttlebutt Europe is available via email:
To subscribe, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit scuttlebutteurope.com

Editorial and letter submissions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Advertising and technical queries to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or see scuttlebutteurope.com/advertising/