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

ALINGHI DOMINATES, KIWIS WIN THE CHALLENGER RANKING
On a day [Saturday] that dawned with torrential downpours and fickle winds, by race time the skies had cleared and the wind soon stabilised to the point where the Race Committee could start the races after only a short delay. On the water, Alinghi continued its dominant performance in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, posting a second place to go with a fourth race victory, to win its fourth consecutive fleet racing Act.

The home team, Desafio Espanol, pleased the holiday weekend crowds by winning the first race of the day, whilst Shosholoza accomplished its goal for Act 13 - the South Africans finished seventh in Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13, which was good enough for Shosholoza to overhaul the French Areva Challenge on the Louis Vuitton Ranking, snatching a bonus point.

* With Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13 completed, the final opening act has been sailed, and the Louis Vuitton Ranking for challengers is complete. Based on this ranking, the challengers have been assigned bonus points which they'll carry with them into the Louis Vuitton Cup. This ranking will also be used to complete the pairing list for the challengers and determine who sails whom on which day, including start line entry.

At the top of the table is Emirates Team New Zealand who won the ranking by 11 points over BMW ORACLE Racing. The Kiwis will now take four bonus points with them into the Round Robin portion of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Luna Rossa Challenge, BMW ORACLE Racing and Desafio Espanol have earned three bonus points.

Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia, Victory Challenge +39 Challenge and Shosholoza have earned two points, with the South African team making a late charge in the last few Louis Vuitton Acts to move up the standings. +39 Challenge was awarded the two bonus points as redress by the Jury, following an incident in Race Three of Act 13.

Areva Challenge, United Internet Team Germany and China Team settle for one point, the French having dropped in the ranking following a 10th place finish in Act 13.

* The Challenger Commission met on Saturday morning to deal with an issue arising from a request for redress by +39 Challenge. The Jury had earlier ruled the fairest solution for all boats was to allow +39 to accept the offer of the use of a Version 5 mast from United Internet Team Germany. The Jury acknowledged that this would require a Protocol amendment which it recommended.

Protocol amendments require the consent of the Defender, the Société Nautique de Genève and the Challenger of Record, the Golden Gate Yacht Club. The Challenger of Record acts on the will of the Challenger Commission, representing all 11 challengers.

Following their meeting on Saturday, the Challenger Commission published the following statement:

"The proposed +39 Protocol Amendment in connection with use of Version 5 mast designed and built by another Competitor was not supported."

+39 Challenge will not be permitted to use the mast offered by United Internet Team Germany. The Italian team is attempting to fix its broken mast and can sail in the meantime with older masts in its arsenal.

Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 13 Final Scoreboard
1 - Alinghi (SUI 91) - 78
2 - Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL 84) - 64
3 - Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team (ITA 99) - 63
4 - Luna Rossa Challenge (ITA 94) - 60
5 - BMW Oracle Racing (USA 87) - 57
6 - Desafio Espanol 2007 (ESP 97) - 55
7 - Team Shosholoza (RSA 83) - 43
8 - Victory Challenge (SWE 96) - 35
9 - AREVA Challenge (FRA 93) - 31
10 - United Internet Team Germany (GER 89) - 29
11 - +39 Challenge (ITA 85) - 17
12 - China Team (CHN 95) - 15

Challengers' Ranking - Louis Vuitton Ranking
1 - Emirates Team New Zealand, 4 points
2 - BMW Oracle Racing, 3
3 - Luna Rossa Challenge, 3
4 - Desafio Espanol 2007, 3
5 - Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, 2
6 - Victory Challenge, 2
7 - Team Shosholoza, 2
8 - AREVA Challenge, 1
9 - +39 Challenge, 2
10 - United Internet Team Germany, 1
11 - China Team, 1

www.americascup.com

* Excerpt from Bob Fisher's commentary in Sail-World.com:
Lessons have been learned, the first of which is that the defender will be difficult to depose. Using the first of its new boats, SUI-91, it demonstrated that it had speed to burn. The only saving grace for the challengers was that it was using new sails - and they looked superior in every respect.

The defender will have three months to develop its two boats without the distraction of racing and that bodes ill for its opponents. In 2003, they continued developing the boats in a leapfrog manner throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup and that wrought dividends. Doubtless, without distraction, Alinghi can do more than any of the challengers, and they have a boat in hand.

Bruce Farr, better than most, knows the value of development time and claimed that the alterations that were performed on BMW Oracle Racing's USA-87, in which almost the maximum of 50% of the hull was changed, effectively gave them a third boat. That option is still available to Alinghi. -- Full article at www.sail-world.com/nz/index.cfm?nid=32454&rid=6

LIVING THE 32ND AMERICA'S CUP FROM THE INSIDE
Moor your boat in one of the exclusive marinas located just next to the race course and within the venue. Enjoy the show, see the ACC yachts passing through the canal, be part of this unique nautical event in Europe.

Apart from the regattas, the 32nd America's Cup will offer continuous activities, from gourmet restaurants, sight-seeing bars, parties, games, night-club and other sail related events.

You can see it with your own eyes. Will you miss it?

Port America' Cup Marina: in the heart of the passion.

Tariffs and booking are available on www.portamericascup.com

PRINCESS SOFIA TROPHY
The excellent weather conditions of the Bay of Palma arrived for the last day of competition and set the scene for a series of spectacular Medal Races at the 38th ISAF Grade 2 Princess Sofia Trophy - Mapfre. It turned up to be a great day for the Kiwis, with a double gold medal haul in the RS:X events and three other podium finishes.

Apart from New Zealand's victories in the two windsurfing events, the gold medals in the nine other Olympic Classes went to nine different nations - Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal and the USA - a reflection of the competition with the fleets as the ISAF Sailing World Championships approaches.

On Friday the focus was on the battle for the podium, with the top ten crews in each Olympic Class progressing through to the Medal Race. Scores counted for double points and results were non-discardable. With the highest quality fleet ever assembled in Palma, very close competition throughout the week and tight standings before the Medal Racing began, there was a definite sense of tension in the air as the top competitors prepared. A southerly wind of 12-14 knots gave the sailors the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and they did just that.

The Princess Sofia Trophy will be included in the first running of the ISAF World Cup series for the Olympic Classes.

Top three by class:

470 Men
1. Alvaro Marinho/Miguel Nunes, POR, 33
2. Gabrio Zandona/Andrea Trani, ITA, 44
3. Leboucher Pierre/Garos Vincent, FRA, 45

470 Women
1. Marcelien De Koning/Lobke Berkhout, NED, 23
2. Lenka Smidova/Veronika Fenclova, CZE, 38
3. Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving, USA, 44

49er
1. Stevie Morrisson/Ben Rhodes, GBR, 8
2. Peter Hansen/Soren Hansen, DEN, 49
3. Rodion Luka/Georgii Leonchuk, UKR, 51

Dragon
1. Markus Wieser/Sergei Pugachev/Thomas Auracher, UKR, 27
2. Thomas Mueller/Vincent Hoesch/Max Scheibmayr, GER, 44
3. Georgy Skayduko/Sergey Kuznetsov/Marat Nevlutov, RUS, 46

Finn
1. Marin Misura, CRO, 35
2. Jonas Hogh-Christensen, DEN, 40
3. Pieter-Jan Postma, NED, 43

Laser Radial
1. Evi Van Acker, BEL, 26
2. Tania Elias Calles Wolf, MEX, 28
3. Jo Aleh, NZL, 35

Laser Standard
1. Julio Alsogaray, ARG, 33
2. Andrew Murdoch, NZL, 42
3. Michael Blackburn, AUS, 54

RS:X Men
1. Tom Ashley, NZL, 21
2. Przemyslaw Miarczynski, POL, 26
3. Piotr Myszka, POL, 31

RS:X Women
1. Barbara Kendall, NZL, 24
2. Charline Picon, FRA, 27
3. Marina Alabau, ESP, 29

Star
1. Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada, BRA, 42
2. Marc Pickel/Ingo Borkowski, GER, 50
3. Hamish Pepper/Brao Nichol, NZL, 56

Tornado - see following story

Yngling
1. Sally Barkow/Carrie Howe/Debbie Capozzi, USA, 64
2. Sarah Ayton/Pippa Wilson/Sarah Webb, GBR, 75
3. Ulrike Schuemann/Julia Bleck/Ute Hoepfner, GER, 87

www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/dinghy/index.html

TORNADO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Palma, Mallorca, Spain: The top ten boats met in the final medal race for the top 10 shoot out on a short course off the El Arenal Harbour in Palma Mallorca. The Tornado class was the luckiest of all 10 Olympic classes as the seabreeze kicked in ten minutes before the scheduled start time and faded out once again as the leaders crossed the finish line.

The majority of the fleet elected to work the left hand side of the course and it was Roland Gaebler/Gunnar Struckmann that had the best start at the bottom end of the starting line and went the furtherest left. Roland and Gunnar lead bundock/Ashby into the first mark with the Greek team of Pashalidis/Trigonis in a close third.

Bundock/Ashby was able to hold off the Russians on the final downwind to the finish. The Greeks finished third and then the breeze started to fade out and mixed up the results on the finish line.

Bundock/Ashby were awarded the Mats Nyberg Trophy as the overall leaders but it was the Greek team of Iordanis Pashalidis and Kostas Trigonis that are the European Champions.

Top ten Overall Results for the Mats Nyberg Trophy

1. Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby, AUS
2. Pashalidis Iordanis/Trigonis Konstantinos, GRE
3. Kirilyuk Andrey/Ushkov Valery, RUS
4. Revil Xavier/Espagnon Christophe, FRA
5. Tino Mittelmeier/Niko Mittelmeier, GER
6. Billy Besson/Arnaud Jarlegan, FRA
7. Leigh Mc Millan/Will Howden, GBR
8. Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle, CAN
9. Roland Gaebler/Gunnar Struckmann, GER
10. Johannes Polgar/Florian Spalteholz, GER

NEWPORT BERMUDA RACE ROLL OF HONOUR
Six extraordinary sailors from the Newport to Bermuda Race's 100-year history will be honored on November 13, 2006 at the Bermuda Race Centennial Gala at New York City's University Club. The world's oldest regularly scheduled long-distance ocean sailing race, the biennial 635-mile Bermuda Race has hosted more than 4,500 boats and 46,000 competitors since the first race in 1906. The centennial race in June 2006 boasted the largest fleet in the race's history: 265 boats. The race is organized by the Cruising Club of America (CCA), which is the gala's sponsor, and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

A highlight of the gala is the induction of six sailors to the new Bermuda Race Roll of Honour, created in 2006 by the two clubs to recognize extraordinary achievement in the race.

- Carleton Mitchell, a writer and photographer from Key Biscayne, Fla., set the most famous record in sailing history when he and his 38-foot yawl Finisterre won three straight Bermuda Races in 1956, 1958, and 1960. Nobody else has won even two races in succession.

- George Coumantaros, a shipping executive from New York, N.Y., is also a member of the initial class of inductees to the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour. He holds the record for the most elapsed-time victories in the race -- four, in 1984, 1990, 1992, and 1996. In 1996 Coumantaros and his 80-foot sloop Boomerang not only were first across the finish line but set a speed record of 57 hours, 31 minutes, and accomplished a rare double victory by winning on handicap. This was Coumantaros' twenty-third Bermuda Race.

- Besides Mitchell and Coumantaros, the initial class of the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour includes the race's founder, Thomas Fleming Day, who created the race in 1906 on the then-revolutionary premise that amateur sailors could race boats smaller than 40 feet on the ocean.

- Two other members of the Roll of Honour's inaugural class of 2006 are the race's greatest heroes. In 1932 English yachtsman Bobby Somerset and Clarence Kozlay, an American, teamed up to courageously rescue ten sailors from a burning schooner. Kozlay, sadly, stayed at the helm of the schooner a moment too long and was lost. He is the sole fatality in the Bermuda Race's 100-year history.

- Also honored is Sir Eldon Trimingham,one of Bermuda's most successful sailors and a key figure in the race's management for many years.

For more information on the Bermuda Race Roll of Honour, visit www.bermudarace.com/roh/

LOW START FAST FINISH
Fresh 25-35 knot winds and foam crested 3 metre waves provided Brisbane to Gladstone race sailors with career best rides across Hervey Bay last night.

This was the bonus after the sailors struggled with light winds in Moreton Bay before the fresh South East trade wind gusted in.

Unfortunately the strong wind blew in too late for Matt Allen's Ichi Ban to challenge the race record but the crew was happy completing a 2-1-1 line honours result in the Sydney-Hobart, Sydney-Southport and the Brisbane to Gladstone race.

However while Ichi Ban completed the 306 n/ml race with a fast 13.6 knot average speed it was not fast enough to feature in the overall corrected handicap honours.

Ray Roberts Quantum Racing posted the handicap time to beat when she finished just before noon yesterday, they too were happy but the mood progressively changed with each fleet report which monitored the progress of the champion Brisbane sloop Saltash II.

The Quantum Racing crew looked set to add the 59 year old THE COURIER-MAIL CUP to their impressive collection of major race wins including the Audi Sydney to Gold Coast Race.

But the possible celebration was spoilt when Ian Wright steered Saltash II over the finish line just before midnight to provisionally claim her 8th Brisbane to Gladstone Race win by the narrow margin of 33 seconds or .107 seconds per mile. -- Ian Grant

LAUNCHINGS
* Mumbai-based Classicraft Marine Works is well advanced in building what must be one of the largest wooden boats in the world, a 49.4m (162ft)-long replica of a 15th Century Chinese Junk. The boat has been ordered by a German client who will use it for charter business in the region.

According to BS Bhandarkar, owner of Classicraft: "To build this boat is the fulfilment of a vision I have had for a long time to construct a replica of the large Chinese Junks that were built in the Ming Dynasty and used during the seven expeditions of the famous Admiral Zheng He in the period 1405-1433. I have done a lot of research into the construction of the Junks used by the Chinese for long-distance voyages and this Junk will be as original as possible with the addition of twin Volvo D16 Diesel engines, three generator sets and air-condition cabins for the guests and for ease of operation by the owners."

The Junk, when completed, will weigh an estimated 700 tonnes with 500 tonnes of Malaysian hardwood being used in its construction. The Junk is being built to Class under the International Shipping Register in New Orleans USA and will have nine guest cabins. Total cost of the project is approximately 10 million Euros and completion is scheduled for 2008. -- International Boating Industry (IBI) news, www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20070223105237ibinews.html

* Commissioned by a passionate and experienced yachtsman, the new Wally 100 is a further development of the 100 footer Y4K that will be launched in the next few days. She combines the lines of German Frers with the styling and interiors of Wally.

As requested by the owner, the new 30-meter (100-foot) sloop is designed to feature all the characteristics of a round-the-world high performance cruiser that can comfortably accommodate his family with little children.

The result is a "family friendly" blue water sailing yacht that features on deck a social cockpit where the young kids can safely enjoy open-air, and inside the children and the nanny cabins.

The deck of the new Wally 100 combines some design and styling elements of Indio's with some of Tiketitan's. The layout features two separate cockpits: the social one amidships and the Terrace on the sea aft giving access to the main salon. A central skylight runs from the mast foot all the way to the Terrace on the sea, while the aft coamings are teak covered to camouflage with the rest of the deck thus making the yacht lines even sleeker.

The yacht is being built at WallyEurope facility in Fano, Italy, and the delivery is scheduled for April 2009.

* SAFRAN Group company Aircelle officially handed over the keel beam for the SAFRAN Open 60 class monohull racing boat to skipper Mark Guillemot. Aircelle was responsible for curing and machining of the keel beam on this brand-new boat, and also assists the Larros shipyard in work on composite materials.

The first curing operation took place in an autoclave in February. Machining of this rough cured blank then commenced, using a 3D design file supplied by the naval architects.

A dozen people were involved at Le Havre, including a specialized CAD-CAM (computer-aide design/manufacturing) team, a seasoned technician from the composites center of excellence, an expert in tooling, and others.

The christening of the new SAFRAN boat is already scheduled for June 30, 2007, in Le Havre. -- http://www.safransixty.com

* The future 60' Groupe Bel mono comes to life in Tuscany.

With the Vendee Globe 2008-2009 getting closer every day, the IMOCA class competitors are currently fighting tooth and nail to get their projects up and running. Groupe Bel and Kito de Pavant have entered this competition with serious ambitions. For the skipper, it is time to find the right people and to build the team. Boat design has been trusted to the firm Van Peteghem-Lauriot Prevost and the architect Guillaume Verdier with the Italian shipyard Indiana Yachting to build the racing machine.

A lot has been done since the countdown started last September. The first hurdle : build the new 60 ft monohhull to be launched in July. First goal to be scored : the Transat Jacques Vabre in November (Le Havre - Salvador de Bahia, Brazil).

Construction of the Van Peteghem-Lauriot Prevost & Guillaume Verdier design got underway in December at the Indiana Yachting yard. A short distance from the island of Elba, at a yard founded just four years ago by Lorenzo Puccini. The founder has been involved in boat building since the 1980's and spent five years working on the construction of the four AC class yachts for Team Prada in the America's Cup 2000 and 2003.

Groupe Bel's hull is being produced from a female mould. Indiana Yachting started by building a wooden pre-form on which the carbon mould was made. The boat's hull is currently being made in this carbon mould.

* The route to the Vendee Globe has begun, and Sam Davis is now skipper of the Open 60 ROXY. A big step up from the Figaro, but the dream to race around the world solo, non-stop is becoming reality and Sam is working hard to learn how to harness the power of her new machine.

On Saturday 31st March, Roxy slipped gracefully into the water at the Submarine Base in Lorient! As her new paint gleamed in the setting sun, it was a super moment to mark 3 months of hard work by the team!

The last week has been pretty hard, with the finition on the keel, the measurement, the fitting... nothing goes completely smoothly in our world of prototypes, but the "Roxy boys" have been outstanding and we have at last got Roxy back together in one piece!!! Better than ever before.

Now, all we have to do is a couple more measurement checks, then we can put the sails on and hopefully we will be sailing by Wednesday, to start checking out the modifications and repairs...

www.samdavies.com

THE LAST WORD
Take away paradox from the thinker and you have a professor. -- Soren Kierkegaard

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

Scuttlebutt Europe is available via email:
To subscribe 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/