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

SAP 505 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The fourth day of the 2007 World Championship being sailed out of Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club, in Adelaide, South Australia. Race 6 and the forecast was to be a 15-20kn sea breeze.

The winner was again Jan Saugmann and Morten Ramsbaek from Denmark, but they had to work hard to do it, digging themselves out from 14th at the first mark.

Their win gives them an 11 point lead at the front of the field. Howie Hamlin and Fritz Lanzinger pulled second after being ninth at the first mark and Boris Herrmann and Julien Kliener picked up third place.

Beyond that there were some huge horror stories. There were plenty of shifts during the race, with the race committee moving the top mark at every bottom mark rounding.

But it was the last beat that was the doozy. The wind had weakened and had bent a little to the left, but there was slightly more pressure to the right and direction was WSW. However as the leaders approached the finish, the wind died and a south easter formed on the shore.

The first two boats crept over the line, and then we had boats coming from the right in a Westerly and boats running from the left with their kites up. In the end the Sou' Easter kicked in, but a lot of damage was done.

Tomorrow, there are two races and the forecast is again for a 15-20kn sea breeze. We can only hope. -- Jordan Spencer

Top ten after 6 races:
1. Jan Saugmann / Morten Ramsbaek, DEN, 18
2. Mike Martin / Jeff Nelson, USA, 29
3. Howie Hamlin / Fritz Lanzinger, USA, 35
4. Nick Adamson / Steve Bourdow, USA, 36
5. Sandy Higgins / Paul Marsh, AUS, 39
6. Ian Pinnell / Steve Hunt, GBR, 39
7. Jens Findel / Johannes Tellen, GER, 54
8. Martin Goerge / Hans-Heinrich Rix, GER, 54
9. Chris Nicholson / Darren Nicholson, AUS, 55
10. Robin Deussen / Jordan Spencer, AUS, 55

www.505worlds2007.com

UK FASTNET 6.5 SANCTIONED BY CLASSE MINI
It gives us great pleasure to be able to announce that the UK Fastnet 6.5 race running this August has been officially sanctioned by Classe Mini. What this means in simple terms is that the miles completed in this race will count towards the Mini Transat qualification process.

The UK Fastnet 6.5 is a race for Open 6.5 yachts, aka minis, starting from Plymouth on the 5th of August at 12:00 racing around The Fsatnet Rock and back again.

To the best of our knowledge there has not been a Classe Mini sanctioned race starting and finishing in the UK for a number of years now. In fact if our history serves us right, the last time was the Mini Transat itself which last ran from the UK in 1983. The mini class has been growing at an incredible pace in recent years. Last year saw 100 starters to the French Mini Fastnet with even more entries, this year the Mini Transat has been extended to 84 starters and on the first day of opening entries there were over 100 people entered.

This news puts the UK Fastnet 6.5 on an equal level as all of the French Mini races, only now, you can gain race miles without leaving the UK. This promises to make the race extremely popular and with an entry limit of only 50 you should be sure to get your entry in soon. There are over 35 known boats in the UK so it doesn't leave much room for everyone else and we have already had interested from as far afield as South Africa.

The notice of race and entry procedure is due to be published by the end of the week. We will also shortly be announcing the exciting news about our title sponsor and revealing the new name of this years race.

The UK Fastnet 6.5 is being organised jointly between The Royal Western Yact Club and The UK Mini Association. We are extremely proud to be working together and extremely excited at the prospect of seeing Minis in the UK grow to numbers that truly reflect on just how exciting they are.

Any questions on the race can either be directed to The UK Association - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or RWYC - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it -- James Tingle (UK Association) and Chris Arscott (Race Director, RWYC)

LIFE AT THE EXTREME
Life At The Extreme, the official book of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, chronicles over eight months of relentless competition in the world's most menacing of oceans.

Author and broadcaster Rob Mundle together with the world's best sailing photographers have captured every angle of the world's top offshore sailors doing battle over 31,500 nautical miles. The highs, the lows, the hardships in the quest for the overall prize - the Fighting Finish Trophy.

With over 150 pages of words and pictures, Life At The Extreme is available to buy online at www.volvooceanrace.org/booksanddvds or from leading high street book stores.

UBS DUBAI DEFENDER TRIALS
Round 1 of the "UBS Dubai Defender Trials" begins: Holmberg (SUI91) 2 - Baird (SUI64) 0 Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi syndicate head, and Brad Butterworth, team skipper, kicked off Round 1 of the UBS Dubai Defender Trials this morning at a press conference in Dubai. Both helmsmen, Ed Baird and Peter Holmberg, attended the event.

Race results:

Race 1, with just one windward-leeward, got away with a slight delay in 9knots, Holmberg, helming SUI91, won the first start against Baird on SUI64, held the lead to the first mark and extended downwind to finish four boat lengths ahead. It was a light air race and the boat coming in from the right had an advantage that they kept.

Race 2, started in 10-12 knots with the boats starting together on starboard tack. SUI64 had to tack away as the wind split between the two boats, lifted them both and took them to opposite sides of the course. SUI91 came out ahead and finished 1 minute ahead of SUI64.

Brad Butterworth, team skipper and tactician : "The reason for this regatta is that we are trying to nail down an afterguard and a crew that will sail the America's Cup in June in Valencia. We have a sailing team of 36 sailors and each man wants to be on the boat in June.

"We rotate our team and we are looking for the best combinations in the afterguard, but also among the trimmers, the bowman, the pitmen and the grinders. They all have a way of communicating and we try to get the best out of them and put the best 17 together so that we wind up with a formidable crew to defend the Cup. Obviously there is a lot of emphasis on how the boats are steered. Peter Holmberg and Ed Baird are some of the best helmsmen in the world and there are really only six guys in the world who can sail these boats at this level. So Alinghi is quite spoilt for choice. It will be a tough decision to decide who will sail the boat, but that's a good thing for us as our in-house racing is really close and of a high standard and I'm hoping that we'll get to the Cup and win it with a team where any one of the guys could be on the boat and achieve that goal."

www.alinghi.com

1720 EURO CHAMPIONSHIP
The 1720 Sportsboat Class Association is delighted to announce that the 2007 1720 Euro Championship will be hosted by the National Yacht Club of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire between Sunday 8th of July and Thursday 12th of July. Racing will take place in Dublin Bay.

The decision to hold the 2007 Euros in Ireland represents a spiritual homecoming for the 1720s which are built by O'Sullivan Marine under licence in Tralee.

Traditionally the 1720 Euro Championship has been held in the first week of September but a July date has been chosen for 2007. The reasoning behind this move is because the event will now lead very smoothly into Volvo Dun Loaghaire Week which starts on the evening of the 12th of July and where there will also be 1720 Class racing.

It is expected that many of the thirty or so 1720s which will be competing at the 2007 Euro Championship will stay on to compete in Volvo Dun Loaghaire Week, a self-styled mini Cork Week.

The Notice of Race and Entry Form for the 2007 1720 Euro Championship will be available online very soon at www.1720sportsboat.co.uk and will be mailed to all current 1720 Owners.

ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS!
Congratulations to Flash Gordon on their great success at KWRW! Team Flash Gordon is wearing the new Camet Silkweight Technical Shirt that helps increase movement and has moisture management elements inbedded into the fibers. Available March 2007. They are also sporting Molokai Vests and Rio Shorts. For more information, please see www.camet.com

SOLO SAILING CONFERENCE
60 Single-handed sailors will be gathering in Southampton on March 17th for the first Solo Sailing Conference organised by Racing at Petit Bateau Ltd.

The agenda will include the latest developments from the Class 40 scene with presentations from top designers and builders with feedback from the skippers on how these awesome boats perform on the race course.

All the forthcoming amateur solo races will be represented with news from the Mini class in UK on their events, Jester Challenge looking ahead to 2010,and Petit Bateau's own races in 2007 and 2008.

The exciting new class 9.50 proposal by JM Vidal will be show-cased for the first time in the UK by the design promoters.

This is the first such gathering of solo racing enthusiasts in the UK and promises to be a landmark pre-season event in the solo scene.

The conference is being held at Southampton from 2pm to 7pm on Saturday 17th March 2007, tickets are 25 pounds in advance and are available from This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

FROM THE "WELL, DUH, I KNEW THAT" DEPARTMENT...
When it comes to setting the right mood for an evening of romance, would-be lovers go to all sorts of lengths to woo their mate. But a recent survey found that if you're looking for love, the best preparation might be heading out on your boat.

According to a survey conducted by Discover Boating and Russell Research, boaters expressed a greater level of satisfaction with their sex life than non-boaters. While making waves in the bedroom may be reason enough for many to chart their course, the survey found boaters enjoy plenty of other lifestyle benefits over their land-based counterparts.

The survey polled more than 1,000 boaters and non-boaters and compared their viewpoints on several quality of life aspects. Specific to intimacy, participants were asked if they agreed with the statement 'I am satisfied with the quality of my sex life.' Two-thirds of boaters (67 percent) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, while only 58 percent of non-boaters held the same opinion. Of boaters who agreed with the statement, nearly a quarter (24 percent) strongly agreed with the statement.

Boaters also expressed greater satisfaction with their marriage. Seventy- five percent of boaters agreed or strongly agreed with the statement 'My spouse and I are happy with the state of our marriage,' compared to 70 percent of non-boaters.

www.sail-world.com/cruising/index.cfm?nid=30581

PAN AMERICAN GAMES
The Organizing Committee of the 2007 Pan American Games (Co-Rio) decided on Tuesday to back away from building a boathouse at the pier on Rio de Janeiros bayside, which will prevent sailing events from being ranked as the Olympic level.

Following a meeting of Co-Rios President Carlos Arthur Nuzman with representatives of the local Public Prosecutors Office, the committee decided to accept the plea from the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), which objected to the construction of the boathouse on the pier at Marina da Gloria, a famous sightseeing point of the city.

According to the meetings resolutions, one of the losses will be the fact that the competitions to be held at the spot will only reach a Pan American operational level, instead of the previously pursued Olympic level.

Iphan argued that a permanent boathouse would visually affect the Parque do Flamengo, a 1.2 million square meter leisure area built in the 1960s to host museums, sports facilities and parks and gardens specially designed by landscaper Roberto Burle Marx. The place is protected by a federal law, aimed at preserving its original features, and the reforms for the Pan American Games, which will take place in July, have been paralyzed since Sept. 2006.

english.peopledaily.com.cn/200701/31/eng20070131_346318.html

SHORT TACKS
* The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Cowes today confirmed that it will hold the 2007 Vice Admiral's Cup Regatta from Saturday 2nd to Monday 4th June inclusive. The regatta will be sponsored by three day sponsors, Boat Sales International, North Sails UK Ltd and Musto Ltd. As usual the event will combine fast and furious short course Solent racing with a great social programme hosted at the RCYC's beautiful Cowes clubhouse.

This year the Club expects around 10 Swan 45's, considerably swelling the already popular 44-46ft class which includes the Farr 45s and DK46s. The Swan 45's have their World Championships in Cowes this summer and will use this event to tune up. In addition to the 44-46ft class, there will also be a big boat class for 50-52 footers, with a maximum IRC rating of 1.36. Already 4 TP52's have indicated they will participate which will be the first time that this exciting new class will be seen as a fleet in the Solent. The third class will be for the increasingly popular Quarter Tonners, whose revival has been spearheaded by the Royal Corinthian. The two big boat classes will level race, retaining the "first past the post" format so popular with the competitors, whilst the Quarter Tonners will race under IRC. Upwards of 40 boats are expected to take part in this year's competition. -- www.rcyc.co.uk

* The Notice of Series for the 2007 Solent Cruising & Racing Association (SCRA) IRC Solent Series is now on the SCRA website at : www.scra.org.uk

The IRC Solent Series is designed to encourage large fleets of IRC rated boats to participate in close racing during the summer months.

Led by the SCRA, a total of seven member clubs organise the Series. It consists of seven days of racing from May to September and each day has a character of its own. Further details are available in the Notice of Series.

* Howth Yacht Club invites all sailors to a free presentation by Damian Foxall on his past experiences and future plans. Monday 12 February 2007 at 20:00

Damian, who has over 25 years of ocean and dinghy racing experience, will co-skipper Paprec Virbac with Jean-Pierre Dick in the Barcelona World Race, starting in November 2007.

www.hyc.ie/home/damianFoxall.doc

* Bonnier Magazine Group and Time Inc., a Time Warner company has announced that Bonnier will acquire Time Inc.'s Parenting Group and Time4 Media titles. Through this transaction, Stockholm-based Bonnier and its U.S. magazine partner, World Publications, will become one of the largest consumer publishing groups in America, with 40 titles and annual revenue of more than $350 million.

The acquired magazines are as follows: Parenting, Babytalk, Popular Science, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Yachting, MotorBoating, Salt Water Sportsman, Skiing, SKI, TransWorld SKATEboarding, TransWorld SNOWBOARDING, TransWorld MOTOCROSS, TransWorld SURF, ride bmx, QUAD, SHOT BUSINESS and TransWorld business. Editorial, sales and marketing staff will remain in New York, California and Colorado. -- www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1582185,00.html

THE LAST WORD
I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief. -- Gerry Spence

OC Events, www.ocevents.org , 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) plus the Extreme 40 Sailing Series for The iShares Cup.

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

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