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

LOUIS VUITTON CUP
BMW ORACLE Racing and Desafio Espanol faced 'must win' races on Sunday at the Louis Vuitton Cup. The Spanish won and live to race another day. The Americans lost and have been eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The American team took to the water with a new skipper in Gavin Brady and new helmsman in Sten Mohr as previous skipper/helmsman Chris Dickson stepped off the boat. But it didn't change the result - Luna Rossa Challenge led around the race track again, sealing the series win.

The Spanish, in contrast, made no crew changes, apart from regular crew rotations. Helmsman Karol Jablonski started the boat to the right of the NZL 92 and eked forward by just a few metres with a tiny right shift. They managed to lead into the top mark by just 12 seconds and protected that tiny margin the rest of the way around the track.

Racing started in a building 10 knot Northeasterly breeze. By the top mark, the wind had increased, topping out near 15 knots. An enormous spectator fleet, numbering in the hundreds took in the action, supporting the home side, Desafio Espanol, who earned a terrific victory.

Racing will resume at the Louis Vuitton Cup on Tuesday, with Emirates Team New Zealand against Desafio Espanol 2007.

www.americascup.com

* Chris Dickson fronted up to answer the media's questions this evening. He congratulated Luna Rossa and paid tribute to his own team BMW Oracle Racing.

"We've had a very strong team with a huge amount of depth in the sailing team, in every area. I look back on this week, on Round Robins 1 and 2, we had no glaring weaknesses. We were outclassed by Luna Rossa in a number of areas this week. If there was something glaringly obvious we'd have done something about it."

He also thanked Sten Mohr for stepping up to the helmsman's job today, a job which he said was a thankless task for the Dane. "We call it a 'hospital pass' in rugby, when the ball is coming your way but you know you're going to get hammered."

So why offload the job to Mohr? It turns out it wasn't Dickson's choice. "The decision to take me off the boat today was Larry's decision and that was his call to make, he's the owner. "Nobody did a bad job on our team. Our friends across the fence, at Luna Rossa, did a much better job." Asked what advice Dickson would have the Italian finalists, Dickson replied with a smile: "I don't think they need a lot of advice, and they certainly don't need it from me."

So, what future for BMW Oracle and what future for Chris Dickson? "The future for the team is that Larry is committed to having the team continue. That was decided some time ago. The future for myself is I signed up for this campaign and we've got a bit of wrapping up to do for a few weeks, then I'll be quietly heading back to New Zealand and taking my family to Disneyland on the way home, probably. And life goes on." -- Andy Rice, www.sailjuice.blogspot.com

* At the end of the race James Spithill said: "It is bloody fantastic and it's amazing. The whole team has worked so hard it's great to win a series and do it in style. We know we could go out there and match those guys and knew we could pull it off. To lead at every single mark is a true sign of strength." -- Luna Rossa www.lunarossachallenge.com

* Italy is going nuts this evening as James Spithill finished off the job of eliminating Larry Ellison's money-no-object challenge with all the sympathy of a hooded executioner standing on the gallows.

I'd like to say that Oracle threw everything at the Italians but in reality, Luna Rossa powered away from the start, sailed the conditions, raced their opponent when they needed to and simply applied stoic professionalism to their course management. This boat is seriously quick and with an afterguard that backs themselves on the weather conditions. It's a formidable package. -- Magnus Wheatley in www.rule69blog.com

* Our weekly America's Cup Quiz (delayed a few days to get our second winner).

Last week's question:

Which was the longest boat overall to compete in the cup?
Answer: Reliance in 1903 - she was 202 feet from the tip of her bowsprit to the end of her overhanging boom.

This week's question:

When was there last a reaching leg in the America's Cup course?

First correct answer wins a 32nd America's Cup DVD, the 32nd correct one wins a 32nd America's Cup Official Book, and all entries get a shot at winning a Louis Vuitton Cup poster.

Cast your vote at scuttlebutteurope.com

* Photos from the last few days of racing in Valencia, courtesy Thierry Martinez ( http://thmartinez.com ), in the Scuttlebutt Europe Photo Gallery: scuttlebutteurope.com/photos/

* Sail TV, the world's internet sailing TV channel, working as an AmericasCupAnywhere licensee of Alcatel-Lucent, the Official New Media Provider for the 32nd America's Cup, is pleased to announce that its successful coverage of the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia is to be further expanded.

Beginning on Monday 14th May, Sail TV will begin broadcasting the Semi-final stages of the Louis Vuitton Cup Live on the internet.

This will be offered as part of a subscription package to viewers, which will include live coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals and Finals, and the 32nd America's Cup Match by Louis Vuitton. The offering will only be available to viewers where there is no exclusive TV Rights holder agreement in place, and unfortunately viewers within these countries will not be able to subscribe to the package.

Sail TV will be broadcasting coverage through their specially produced America's Cup TV player at www.sail.tv accessed by clicking on the 32nd America's Cup 'logo' of the launch page. The Live coverage will include access to the racing as it happens out on the course, complete with English commentary, but if sailing fans miss the live coverage, they can always watch later 'On Demand', when it's more convenient. Additionally, there will be a live camera showing activity in Port America's Cup, and a chat show is planned from the semi-finals onwards where the action, news and gossip will be debated by a team of experts…

If viewers are unable to subscribe due to TV territory restrictions, they will receive a message informing them of this on the screen. However, other America's Cup broadcasts are still available free of charge to most of the world, available 24-hours a day through the internet, including the daily news edit reporting on the action, and the 26-minute TV Highlights programming, press conferences and specially produced Sail TV features from the 'Cup'. -- www.sail.tv

THE 32ND AMERICA'S CUP FROM YOUR BOAT
The America's Cup is in Europe for the first time in 156 years. And you can see it with your own eyes. Be on the front row and moor your boat in one of the 636 berths at Port America's Cup Marina.

Not only will you be able to watch the ACC boats passing along the canal, but you will also be at the heart of this unique nautical event.

Enjoy the regattas, parties, restaurants, bars. Enjoy the 32nd America's Cup continuous show!

Port America's Cup: at the heart of the passion.
Tariffs and booking are available on www.portamericascup.com

VOR CONFIRMS GALWAY PORT STOPOVER
The west coast Irish port of Galway will be the stopover for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race following the Irish Government's announcement this week that it had agreed to make funding available to help bring the race to Ireland for the first time.

Race organisers welcomed the Irish commitment of up to eight million Euros to secure the stopover.

Negotiations have been under way since late last year with a Galway-based group, "Let's Do It Ireland", aimed at making one of Ireland's fastest growing cities the first European port of call.

The race has consistently reaped economic benefits running to millions of Euros for the ports of call. The 2005-06 start from Vigo in northwestern Spain generated 61 million Euros for the Galicia region, according to a Deloitte's report on economic impact.

Both Boston and Galway have been excited by the historic connection linking the two cities.

Race organisers are predicting a possible 24-hour speed record between Boston and Galway as the boats race along the Gulf Stream in the late spring of 2009.

In announcing the eight million Euro funding, Arts, Sports and Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue, said in a press release that independent analysis of the potential benefits of the race showed a significant economic impact on the local West of Ireland region and for Ireland as a whole.

In the past month, port stopovers have now been confirmed in Galway, Boston, India and China.

This week Valencia's regional government confirmed the participation of two Spanish entries in the race bringing the number of confirmed entries to five. The others are Mean Machine (The Netherlands), Ericsson (Sweden) and PUMA (United States).

www.volvoocceanrace.org

A CON CUP BREAKTHROUGH FOR FRANCE'S RICHARD
Long Beach, California, USA: Parlez-vous Francais? The Long Beach Yacht Club's 43rd production of the Congressional Cup, presented by Acura, was bound to go bilingual Saturday when Mathieu Richard met Johnie Berntsson of Sweden in the best-of-three championship match.

The tri-color republic prevailed as Richard, the No. 2-ranked match racer in the world, finessed his way past his Scandinavian rival, 2-1.

Conditions were ideal on the Long Beach outer harbor, blessed by sunny skies, flat water, winds to 15 knots and spectators on Belmont Pier wildly cheering their favorites---on this day, Richard and Berntsson on their sail-bys between races.

Each reached the final by dispatching semifinal opponents in straight sets. Richard displayed no mercy against countryman Damien Iehl, especially in their decisive second race when Iehl drew two pre-start penalties before crossing the line early. By the time he re-started and did one mandatory penalty turn, Richard was on his way to a two-minute victory.

Berntsson had a more difficult time with New Zealand's Simon Minoprio, but he won the decider by 17 seconds after doing a penalty turn at the finish line to burn off his error of entering the starting box a moment too soon.

In the consolation match, Iehl then came back from losing the first race with back-to-back wins against Minoprio for third place overall in the regatta.

Meanwhile, the six teams that failed to reach the sailoffs sailed a long fleet race to the far corners of the harbor. Russia's Eugeniy Neugodnikov collected $1,000 for finishing first in front of the pier, just ahead of Poland's Przemek Tarnacki and Long Beach's Scott Dickson.

Video highlights produced by http://t2p.tv are available on the event website www.lbyc.org/concup/

BE IN THE FRONT ROW OF THE SPECTATOR FLEET IN VALENCIA!
Our Shosholoza team spectator boat still operates - every race day until the end of the America's Cup Match. Morning briefing on our rooftop terrace overlooking Alinghi and Luna Rossa. Official "event flag" puts us in the reserved area closest to the start box and laylines. Live AC TV on board. Full buffet lunch with drinks. Expert commentator. All the fun you would expect from "The Soul of Sailing". Many hotels available, we can help. GROUPS WELCOME.

Reserve tickets online at www.cupexperience.com or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

ROLEX CAPRI SAILING WEEK
Capri, Italy: The fourth and final day of the Rolex Capri Sailing Week, organized by the Yacht Club Capri in collaboration with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with Rolex as title sponsor, saw the competing fleet set out accompanied by bright sunshine and a 5 to 6 knot breeze from approximately 250 degrees, increasing to 10 knots. The Race Committee set a windward-leeward course of approximately 8 nautical miles for the Farr 40 and Swan 45 divisions, while the Mini Maxi and Comet divisions also sailed approximately 8 nautical miles around the marks positioned in the Gulf of Naples.

In the Farr 40 fleet Jim Richardson's Barking Mad (USA), overall leader since Day Two, won the series by a clear margin over Massimo Stefano Leporati's Kismet (ITA) and Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone (ITA). The sixteen competing boats completed one windward-leeward race today, bringing them to a total of seven regattas for the event.

The final outcome of the series for the Swan 45 division was decided in today's race with Carlo Perrone's Atlantica Racing (ITA) building on yesterday's fine lead to take overall victory. Dick Weismann's Vixen (USA) took second place while Paolo Scerni's Kora 3 (ITA) came in third. This division had everything to play for as the top three competitors were separated by just one point going into today's race.

Overall victory in the Min Maxi division went to Massimo Violati's Ops 5 (ITA) over Carlo Puri Negri's Atalanta II (ITA) and Antonello Morino's Sei Tu 2 respectively. Atalanta II (ITA) dominated once again in today's regatta bringing the Italian team to a total of four consecutive firsts. Eight points gained after disqualification in the first race of the series, however, meant that Violati's second place of today was sufficient to secure an overall win. Sei Tu 2 came in third on corrected time in today's regatta and in the overall classification.

Maurizio Biscardi's Libertine claimed first place in the Comet division over last year's winner Nur, owned by Guido Morisco. Alberto Franchella's Aria TX Active, with a crew composed of members of the Italian Airforce, took third.

The Rolex Capri Sailing Week represents the first leg of the Farr 40 European circuit that will conclude at the Rolex Baltic Week in Neustadt / Germany before the top event of the Class, the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship (29th August - 1st September) in Copenhagen.

Final Results (top three)

Farr 40
1. Barking Mad, USA, Jim Richardson, 32 points
2. Kismet, ITA, Massimo Stefano Leporati, 41
3. Nerone, ITA, Massimo Mezzaroma, 43

Swan 45
1. Atlantica Racing, ITA, Carlo Perrone, 17
2. Vixen, USA, Dick Weismann, 23
3. Kora 3, ITA, Paolo Scerni 24

Mini-Maxi
1. OPS 5, ITA, Violati Massimo, 10
2. Atalanta II, Puri Negri Carlo, 12
3. Sei Tu 2, ITA, Morina Antonello, 17

Comet S
1. Libertine, ITA, Biscardi Maurizio, 9
2. Nur, ITA, Morisco Guido, 13
3. Aria TX Active, ITA, Franchella Alberto, 23

www.regattanews.com

* Photos of Libertine and TX Active courtesy James Robinson Taylor ( www.jrtphoto.com ) scuttlebutteurope.com/photos/ in the Launchings section

32ND AMERICA'S CUP - THE GAME
Just released to universal acclaim, 32nd America's Cup - The Game is the latest installment from the producers that brought you Virtual Skipper. Using a brand new Virtual Skipper 5 graphic engine, 32nd America's Cup puts you in Port America's Cup helming any of the 12 teams currently in Valencia. It's as close to reality as it is possible to be - unless you are expecting a call-up for helming duty any time soon.

Designed for PC, the game features many different modes of game play as well as a tutorial functions teaching sailing basics, networked gaming capability and a film-making function. Playable from ages 3-103.

boutique.gamesplanet.com/campagne/promo.html?partenaire=9&jeu=VSK5&affilie=23

A WARNING TO MINI 'PIRATES'
The board of the Classe Mini strongly wishes here to warn the members against any temptation to take the start of an official Mini race as a "pirate".

Indeed, besides the problems of sportive equity it may cause to the race and the problems of safety and assistance it may cause to the organisers and competitors of the event, this behaviour could lead to a large discredit for the Classe, ruin all the credibility we have to the maritime and sportive authorities and dissuade organisers.

That is why, as a result of such of a behaviour during the race of the Mini Pavois, the competitor who did so has been sanctioned with a one month suspended banishment of the Classe Mini. We have opted for a suspended sanction because it is the first time this year. Anybody who would do it again would suffer heavier sanctions. Regarding the Transat itself, the sanction will be a banishment of the Classe for life.

We perfectly know that everybody has the right to sail, and nothing in the current law can forbid someone from leaving a harbour, but it is completely different when someone knowingly interferes in a race, and this could damage badly our story that has lasted for 30 years now.

We also are perfectly aware of the problems of the waiting lists and hardly work to try to find a solution for the future. Please don't waste all this with irresponsible acts. -- Classe Mini Secretary

* Apparently the class association didn't find the saga of New Zealander Chris Sayer and his "pirate" entry in the last Mini Transat all that amusing ( he placed an unofficial third after starting 8 hours behind the fleet in both legs... and it's a long story, by no means one-sided...). You can read about what happened here: www.southernspars.com/index.cfm?sector=4&shownews=6

ABN AMRO NORTH SEA REGATTA
After the starting gun at 10.30 hours on Friday morning May 18 (local time) off the coast of Harwich, Mean Machine was smoking with up to 20 knots in the direction of Sea Land, where after the press boat left her pretty soon. The wind picked up quickly and the VO 70 took her revenge. It has never happened before, but the 'beast' finished the 180 nautical miles North Sea Race on the same day in Scheveningen. She crossed the line at 21 hours, 35 minutes and 50 seconds English time. Skipper Peter de Ridder and his crew have smashed the old record of 19 hours, 14 minutes and 38 seconds, set by Piet Vroon onboard Formidable 3, a Lutra 56, in 2006. The new record is historically fast and will definitely remain unbeaten for a while…unless more Volvo Ocean Race teams decide to participate in the offshores of the ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta. It is for sure a good training.

* The Royal Ocean Racing Club has posted the IRC results of the North Sea Race 2007. Mean Machine of Peter de Ridder takes it all...they smashed the record, took the line honours and the overall victory. Last year's winner Piet van Vroon and his crew onboard Formidable 3 are second in the IRC overall results, followed by Roark of skipper Kees Kaan, who also won the Vuurschepenrace 2007. Pleomax finished fourth and the student team van Uden - TU Delft - Van Oord fifth with their Mumm 30. It has been an unbelievably fast race, as six teams broke the record time of 19 hours, 14 minutes and 38 seconds,so not only the 'beast'. Also smaller yachts like Roark Grand Soleil 43, Checkmate Swan 45, Holmatro Grand Soleil 44 and the Eclectic Dehler 44 smoked across the North Sea.

Complete resuls for IRC at www.rorc.org/content/view/220

* The ORC results of the RORC North Sea Race are also online now. The new Checkmate, a Swan 45, of Peter de Ridder won the ORC 1, followed by Phoenix of Mark Eriks (winner of the Vuurschepenrace). Rosetta from the rocks of skipper Radboud Crul finished first in the ORC. JimJams of skipper Paul van der Pol scored a double ORC 3 win this week: Vuurschepenrace and North Sea Race. Gambiet of Gert Vink was the best in ORC 4. (Editor: ORC results at press time not on event site or on orc.org , hopefully by morning).

www.nsr.nl

THE LAST WORD
A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. -- Nelson Mandela

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/