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

MONSOON CUP
Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia: After a trying day beset by light winds and intermittent downpours, Peter Gilmour took the early lead in defense of his title at the Monsoon Cup, Stage 6 of the 2006-'07 World Match Racing Tour.

Gilmour, skipper of PST, finished the day with a 3-0 record to claim the top spot. Behind him is a group of four skippers - including Jesper Bank, Paolo Cian, Sebastien Col and Ian Williams - at 3-1.

While the names at the top of the leaderboard are familiar, it was a 22-year-old Malaysian woman who stole the show. Tiffany Koo, Malaysia's rising female match-racer, made a splash in her World Tour debut when she won her first match against Asian rival Wearn Haw Tan from Singapore.

Koo gained entry to the Monsoon Cup by winning the Malaysian nationals in September. A dinghy sailor by training, she won the 2001 Byte World Championship and a Gold medal in the Laser Radial class at the 2001 Southeast Asian Games, Koo has recently abandoned the small boats to take up match racing and do more big boat sailing. She trims headsails on the 75-footer Jelik.

The wind conditions made the day difficult for all involved. The Race Committee was on the water for more than nine hours, taking a break only for lunch during a monsoon squall.

The wind this time of year is typically from a northerly quadrant, but today it blew from a southerly quadrant and was light, topping out around 6 knots in puffs. There were other factors that compounded the mental strain on the sailors, such as the ripping current and short racecourses.

The Pulau Duyong Basin sits at the confluence of two rivers. The tide rips through before flowing to the South China Sea. On a racecourse barely 300 meters long, the racing was tight and placed a huge emphasis on starting. Then, the winning move seemed to be heading to the right side of the first beat, where there was current relief.

Gilmour scored wins over Bjorn Hansen, Peter Holmberg and Col for his 3-0 mark.

The vagaries of the conditions caught several experienced hands out on a few occasions. James Spithill, of Luna Rossa Challenge, lost to Tan after leading comfortably around the second windward mark. Spithill jibed to starboard after the rounding, which should've put him in better current. Tan held port towards the shoreline. When they converged again two-thirds down the run Tan crossed ahead of Spithill and hung on for his only win of the day in five starts.

Racing in the semifinal and final rounds, Dec. 2 and 3, is scheduled to be broadcast live on the Internet at http://www.sail.tv. It will also be broadcast live on ESPN/Star Sports, Eurosport, The Sailing Channel, Fox Australia, Sky New Zealand and Showtime Middle East (check local listings for times).

The events of the World Tour serve to determine the ISAF Match Racing World Champion. Next year the Monsoon Cup will be the final event of the 2006-'07 season, and will crown the 2007 World Champion. -- Sean McNeill

Provisional Standings (After 6 of 17 scheduled flights)

1. Peter Gilmour (AUS) PST, 3-0
2. Jesper Bank (DEN) United Internet Team Germany, 3-1
T. Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza, 3-1
T. Mathieu Richard (FRA) Saba Sailing Team, 3-1
T. Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar, 3-1
6. Sebastien Col (FRA) Areva Challenge, 2-2
T. James Spithill (AUS) Luna Rossa Challenge, 2-2
8. Peter Holmberg (ISV) Alinghi, 1-2
9. Tiffany Koo (MAL) Team Selango Gapurna, 1-3
T. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Apport.net, 1-3
11. Wearn Haw Tan (SIN) China Team, 1-4
12. Adam Minoprio (NZL) Black Match Racing, 0-3

Event site: www.monsooncup.com.my

Tour site: www.WorldMatchRacingTour.com

LA SOLITAIRE AFFLELOU LE FIGARO 2007
The course for the 38th edition of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro will no doubt go down in history: 2 legs in the traditional Solitaire format precede a record-long leg, 762 miles between Brest and La Coruna in Spain!

On 31st July 2007, the single-handed sailors will set off from Caen on a 414-mile leg, leaving France behind to cross the Channel before sailing along the English coast to reach the Celtic Sea. The finish of this first technical leg, where strategy can supplant pure speed, will be judged in Crosshaven in Ireland.

The start of the second leg will be in Cork Harbour on the 6th of August. The fleet will set off along the South coast of Ireland and head for the famous Fastnet Lighthouse , to be left to port. The skippers will then set off on a southerly course in order to reach the point of Brittany, where they will head for Brest, final destination of this 344-mile leg.

On the 11th of August, the Figaro Beneteau 2 will set off on a record 762 mile-leg. The race course takes the fleet North round the Fastnet Lighthouse for a second time, before heading virtually due South on a true speed run to reach the western tip of Spain. This leg, the Everest of the 38th edition, will finish in the Spanish port of La Coruna.

The final sprint will be on the 19th of August. Having extricated themselves from the pitfalls of the Spanish coast by negotiating several headlands, the solo sailors will plunge into the Bay of Biscay to reach the Vendee town of Les Sables d'Olonne, where they will end this Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2007 by entering the legendary Vendee Globe channel.

www.lasolitaire.com

RICK TOMLINSON CALENDARS
The 2007 Rick Tomlinson Calendars are now available. Rick Tomlinson is one of the world's foremost marine photographers and is responsible for some of the most memorable yachting images ever captured. He has chronicled his experiences over the years through his signature calendar range.

The Portfolio Calendar features the best of Rick's recent work and contains stunning images from around the world. The Desk Calendar is free-standing and is ideal for the home or office.

Both calendars are available for company overprinting or individually - ideal Christmas gifts. All the photographs can be viewed on www.rick-tomlinson.com or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

MUMM 30 WORLDS
Miami Beach, FL: Erik Maris' Twins from France sailed into the lead after a second day of consistent sailing. Their finishes of 7, 9, and 1 put them in the lead. Their final race was textbook. They had a nice, clean start, clear air and tacked early to cross the fleet and never looked back.

Easterly winds ranged from 16-18 knots, with a few stronger puffs early in the day and lulls under the big black clouds rolling in from offshore. Bigger waves and "liquid sunshine" were the order of the day with ominous looking big black clouds dumping rain across the course, rinsing off the salt water at least temporarily, finished off with a rainbow over South Beach.

Nine boats were over the line early in the first race of the day, including top ten placed Sixx, Barking Mad and Cheyenne. Tom Ritter's Tramp from Detroit pulled to the front of the pack early in the race and led three quarters of the way around. Foreign Affair snuck past them just before the last run to capture the lead, followed by Tramp then Luigi Melegari's Matrix from Italy.

It was an up and down day for many of the sailors and tomorrow will likely see more changes in the leaderboard with wind predicted to get lighter throughout the day. Changing gears will be paramount to keep consistent results. The top ten boats are extremely competitive and the regatta is only half over, with four races remaining in the series.

Top five (provisional, protests pending)

1. Twins, Erik Maris, 27 pts
2. Foreign Affair, Richard Perini, 32
3. Mean Machine, Peter de Ridder, 41
4. Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, 46
5. Sixx, Tom Lihan, 52

www.mumm30.org

COMING UP ON SAIL TV IN DECEMBER
Live This Weekend! World Match Racing Tour - Stage 6, Monsoon Cup, Malaysia.

Following on from the success of Sail TV's live coverage of the Allianz Cup in San Francisco in October, the 24hr - on demand - internet sailing TV channel will be streaming live the final two days of the Monsoon Cup in Terrengganu, Malaysia (2nd - 3rd December). Tune in for FREE to Sail TV to watch highlights of the previous day's action.

Friday News Bulletins include:
* World Match Racing Tour - Stage 6, Monsoon Cup, Malaysia.
* ARC2006 - A report on the 21st edition of the World's premier cruising rally, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.
* 2006 Audi Etchells World Championships - Fremantle, won by American Jud Smith
* The Phuket King's Cup Regatta - Asia's largest and most popular regatta. We bring you the latest from this 20th Anniversary Regatta.
* The Velux 5 Oceans - news updates.

New features include:
* BMW Oracle Racing: Team Documentary 2006.
A look back over the team's progress and achievements this year.
*RNLI: Saving Lives at Sea - A documentary highlighting the work of the volunteers.

www.sail.tv

BLUE WATER SAILING MANUAL BY BARRY PICKTHALL *JUST PUBLISHED*
A must-have book for anyone planning to sail offshore or take time out to race or adventure sail around the world. With contributing editors Sir Chay Blyth, Mike Golding, Pete Goss, Anbdrew Roberts, weather guru David Houghton and sailing medic Dr Campbell Mackenzie, this book distils the lessons from 50 circumnavigations completed by Sir Chay Blyth's Global Challenge yachts and adds the experiences of the two winning Whitbread round the world race campaigns. Priced 25 pounds sterling from www.southatlanticpublishing.com

ALEX BENNETT PARTNERS WITH FUJIFILM
International yachtsman Alex Bennett is proud to announce a major new yachting campaign supported by a sponsorship deal with the Graphic Systems division of Fujifilm UK Ltd.

The new campaign is built around a new sponsorship deal involving the construction of a new racing yacht to compete in major oceanic shorthanded races such as the 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre and Single-handed Transatlantic race in 2009. The new yacht is being designed by the Owen Clarke Design Group specifically to conform to the new French Class 40 Rule (see http://www.class40.com for more info)

The boat is being built in the United Kingdom in the West-Country and will take to the water in June 2007 in preparation for an exciting three year campaign.

In 2001 Alex won the Open 50 division of the Transat Jacques Vabre race, setting a new course record in the process which he still retains.

In 1999 Alex competed in the Solo Mini Transatlantic race, achieving the best British Result in the 20 year history of the event coming 5th out of 88 competitors. Most recently he competed in the Oryx Quest Round the World Race onboard the 120 foot maxi Catamaran "Cheyenne".

Up to date news and information on Alex's campaign can be found via his website www.alexbennett.co.uk

HEAD SOUTH 'TIL THE BUTTER MELTS
Go South is the advice from the ARC meteorologists, and those yachts which opted for the longer southerly route are now in a position to benefit from this knowledge. A long cold front ridging from a deep depression off Ireland is running across the central Atlantic and giving an area of lighter winds on the rhumb line course to St.Lucia. Lead yacht, the Italian maxi Capricorno (at 26N/30W) is having to sail north, trying climb around the wind hole and into better winds beyond. However, to the south second placed Fantasticaa (at 18N/27W) and The Blue Pearl (at 17N/25W), the two yachts leading the charge south, are in stronger stable winds and can alter course towards St.Lucia, benefiting from the better trade winds down at lower latitudes.

A battle is also developing between leading Division II racing yachts, the 52 footers Brave (Farr 520) and Nisida (GY52) both heading south for wind, whilst the smaller DK46 Dark & Steamy, is slightly to the north of their track and pressing hard, hoping to catch the larger yachts.

For yachts north of the rhumb line, easing wind meant a night of rock'n'roll in the Atlantic swell, without the trade wind to keep their sails filled.

Away from the front pack, life at sea for the majority of cruising yachts has been mostly uneventful. One exception was for British yacht Flying Start, which was involved in aiding the Spanish Authorities rescue a rickety immigrant boat, in the early hours of this morning (Thurs 30 Nov). Having alerted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Las Palmas, Flying Start stood by the small fishing boat for 12 hours, until a Spanish hospital ship was able to evacuate the 15 souls onboard.

www.worldcruising.com/arc2006

CHARITY'S DIVIDED LOYALTIES OVER BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY AWARDS
As the shortlist has now been drawn up for BBC South Sports Personality of 2006, sailing charity Sail 4 Cancer find themselves in a dilemma over how to vote, as two out of the three finalists are connected to the charity. Round-the-world yachtswoman Dee Caffari recently became a patron for the charity, whilst Rhys Jones, the youngest person ever to conquer the "Seven Summits" challenge, is an ambassador.

Sail 4 Cancer, raises funds not only for cancer treatment and research, but also to improve the quality of life for people living with cancer, helping them maintain dignity and independence whilst providing respite from the relentlessness of living with cancer. This is achieved mainly through providing sailing adventures for people and their families living with cancer. From short gentle sailing trips through to water sports holidays, these experiences have a multitude of benefits not only for the cancer patients, but for all those affected.

To vote for Rhys, please call 09015 22 53 01 and for Dee call 09015 22 53 03. For more information about Sail 4 Cancer, please see the website at www.sail4cancer.org or call 0845 408 1849.

FINALLY! A HOLIDAY MOVIE RELEASE I ACTUALLY WANT TO WATCH
The extraordinary story of Donald Crowhurst, who competed with Robin Knox-Johnston in the first solo round the world race, vividly retold in the book 'A Voyage for Madmen', has now been made into a movie, "Deep Water", for release on December 15. Knox-Johnston went on to win the race (and this week, at 67, started as oldest competitor in the Velux) and Crowhurst, after falsifying his position for weeks, committed suicide in the Atlantic Ocean before reaching home. -- Sail-World.com

From Variety's review:
"Deep Water," Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell's carefully researched and well-written docu, covers a 1968 sailing race around the world, focusing on amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, whose story contains more than enough drama to keep the tale on course. As it explores the limits of human endurance, the pic should suck even landlubbers into a whirlpool of gripping adventure, overblown ambitions and sheer human folly in its theatrical dates before the pic sets sail for video islands.

The filmmakers had a big advantage in being able to incorporate some startling material: the original tape recordings and 16mm films made by the solitary navigators while they spent more than 10 months alone at sea. In these intimate self-portraits, a great deal is revealed about the hoaxer Crowhurst and the mystic French sailor Bernard Moitessier, the two great eccentrics of the tale. A pity the latter is relegated to a supporting role, because his experience of finding his soul at sea would have made a compelling equal-time counterpoint to Crowhurst's prosaic concerns as his dream unravels.

Tech work is top quality throughout, with a special nod to the music by Molly Nyman and Harry Escott (who together scored "The Road to Guantanamo") and to production designer Jane Linz Roberts for her detailed reconstruction of Crowhurst's ship cabin.

Read the full review at
www.variety.com/review/VE1117931957.html?categoryid=1270&cs=1

The film won Best Documentary at the 2006 Rome Film Festival. There was until recently a website devoted to the boat at teignmouthelectron.org, but that site's now just a placeholder, there are some pics of what's left of the boat on Cayman Brac at www.caymannetnews.com/2005/06/860/sister/wreck.shtml

SHORT TACKS
* The documents needed to participate to the Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia 2007 are already available at the downloads page at www.classemini.com

You have two possibilities to subscribe to the Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia 2007

1. At The Paris Boat Show
on the Grand Pavois's stand - Hall 1 / # M-91 2006 December, from 2nd to 11th , from 11:00 am till 7:00 pm. All the necessary documents will be supplied on the stand.

2. By Post Mail
If you are not able to come to the Paris boat show and prefer receive the registration form and other documents by e-mail, please ask : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

* Voting underway now for SeaSailSurf.com's sailor of the year: Don't forget to vote : www.seasailsurf.com/sondage/sondage.php

* Ger O'Rourke's successful international campaign in his Cookson 50 'Chieftain' saw the yacht awarded 'Boat Of The Year' at the Irish Cruiser Racing Association Conference in Galway on Saturday night.

Limerick based O'Rourke and his crew clocked up wins in seven major international events in 2006, including first in class in the gruelling Sydney to Hobart Race last January.

In accepting the award, the Western Yacht Club member paid tribute to his mainly amateur crew who have raced almost 5,000 offshore miles this year.

A short 4 min clip of some good footage of Chieftain ride downwind in the RBI is now available for all to see at Google video at this link: video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-978868956375060319&hl=en-GB

* A reader sent in this link to a video on YouTube.com, which rather clearly shows that Mirabella doesn't need a full main to sail well.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUY4CaLjsPE

FEATURED BROKERAGE
Farr Yacht Sales - An uncommon Brokerage for uncommon yachts

Farr Yacht Sales, in Annapolis Maryland, is an international yacht brokerage firm for grand-prix, racing and performance cruising yachts. The brokerage specializes in yachts designed by its parent company, Farr Yacht Design, but also yachts of other designs. Our design and building experience combined with years of industry knowledge establishes Farr Yacht Sales as the premier brokerage for grand-prix, racing and performance cruising yachts.

Owners and buyer of Farr designed yachts can benefit from a close working relationship with Farr Yacht Design. In most cases, design history, sailing performance, construction methods and racing prospects are available to assist owners in making informed choices.

With Links to Yachtworld.com we give your listing immediate exposure to over 2,000 brokers worldwide to ensure the listing has the best prospects of finding suitable buyers.

Visit Farr Yacht Sales at: www.FarrYachtSales.com

THE LAST WORD
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three. -- Alice Kahn

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 inquiries to Graeme Beeson: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/content/view/7/6/