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

AMERICA'S CUP PROTOCOL STAND-OFF DEEPENS WITH TOP TEAMS
Within a fortnight of reaching stellar heights with the climatic finish to Race 7, the America's Cup event has crashed to one of its lowest points ever with a stand-off developing amongst the key players.

The shining star turned into a shooting star with the announcement of the controversial 33rd Protocol, which wiped out the Louis Vuitton Cup series and gave Team Alinghi the right to sail in both Defender and Challenger selection trials.

As the Challenger teams wind down, international pressure is mounting on a number of fronts to resolve the issues within the Protocol announced by SNG's appointed event and commercial manager, America's Cup Management (ACM).

Two regattas for the America's Cup class in Germany and San Francisco, which were to have been held later this year have been cancelled, making a difficult situation worse for sponsored teams seeking some interim exposure and revenue generation.

A quick trawl through the Protocol for the 33rd America's Cup, and comparison with the previous Protocols covering the 30th, 31st and 32nd America's Cups, reveals how much the game has been changed by SNG/Team Alinghi and their ACM tentacle – both to maximise financial advantage from the two events and to greatly enhance Team Alinghi's chances of defending the trophy.

The list of obvious differences is broad and deep, going right to the heart of the 150 year old sailing competition -- Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZL

See the full article with a list of all the 'differences' at www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=35777

EIGHT AMERICA'S CUP TEAMS REQUEST DISSOLUTION?
The reputable Spanish newspaper, El Mundo is reporting that it has information saying that at least eight America's Cup teams have joined together in a joint formal communication.

The letter requests America's Cup Management and Societe Nautique de Genevre (SNG) to dissolve the Protocol agreement with the Spanish Challenger and to make a new Protocol where all teams agree on the terms for the 33rd match for the America's Cup.

It is not known what the outcome will be if the request from the eight Teams is not met.

However the only way out of the impasse seems to be for CNEV/Desafio Espanol to withdraw and for SNG to accept the challenge from Golden Gate YC, and negotiate with GGYC as Challenger of Record and the eight Teams.

Sail-World also understands that ACM is close to reaching agreement with Valencia to be the host venue for the next America's Cup. However this is yet to be confirmed, but if so would set the scene for a 2009 Match.

Whether this would be sailed under the CNEV challenge terms; a basis to be negotiated with GGYC or a two-team match in multihulls under the terms of the Deed of Gift which apply in the absence of mutual consent, remains to be seen. -- Richard Gladwell in Sail-World.com, www.sail-world.com

PERFORM TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS!
All over the world you'll find Camet Padded Sailing Shorts. The leading teams are using the shorts in combination with our Code Zero shirts, made from a breathable fast drying fabric with a UVA certification (97.5%) for sun protection. With our closed cell foam inserts available for a variety of different styles of shorts, we've redesigned comfort, giving you the ability to hike hard without losing feeling in your legs. This will allow you to go longer and not suffer from fatigue, helping you to think clearly and perform to your expectations! www.camet.com

PYEWACKET LEADS BUT RECORD SLIPPING OUT OF REACH
Yesterday's rock stars are today's washouts in a Transpacific Yacht Race full of baffling twists and turns en route to Hawaii.

Just as Roger Sturgeon's new STP 65 Rosebud appeared to be lining up on Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket with a 297-nautical mile 24-hour run down south a day earlier, dying wind slowed it to only 167 miles before Wednesday's 8 a.m. roll call.

Philippe Kahn's Pegasus 101 was another classic example of how quickly it can change. His doublehanded Open 50, rated as the sixth fastest boat in the fleet, led Tuesday with a run of 299 miles in the south but Wednesday made only 146 miles---one less than Bill Myers' Cirrus, a 34-year-old Standfast 40 leading the Aloha B division with Lindsey Austin, 22, as skipper and four other women as crew.

The south was still good for Cirrus and a few others. Tom Garnier's Reinrag2, a J/125 in Division 4 that at one time was the farthest boat south of all, tied into breeze that swept it 232 miles---second only for the day to Mag 80's 237 and Fred Detwiler's 233 on the TP 52 Trader ---and into first place overall on corrected handicap time for the entire fleet.

Unless the winds increase dramatically, Pyewacket's hopes of reclaiming the elapsed time record of 6 days 16 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds set by Morning Glory two years ago are slim.

Seventy-three boats started the race and Ginny, Chris Calkins and Norm Reynolds' Calkins 50 in Aloha B, became the second to drop out Wednesday, following Gaviota earlier. The report was that Ginny "got stuck in a bad high pressure area, couldn't get out of out and was headed for San Diego."

Flagship's tracking program---introduced to Transpac for this 44th race---also ran into difficulties. The transponders it placed on all the boats were going dead after about five days, meaning that all of the earlier starters were not transmitting their periodic positions to satellites, and the big boats that started last were feared to follow suit.

Transpac has returned to its old system of an 8 a.m. PDT daily radio roll call to the boats for position reports. -- Rich Roberts

www.transpacificyc.org

BEN CRAIG-CAMERON JOINS COMPLETE FREIGHT
After spending the past 13 years as a Yacht Captain, Ben has decided to settle in the U.K. for the immediate future.

Having run a variety of pedigree yachts, such as the Maxi "Nirvana", the Huisman "Cyclos 3", the Wally " Wally_B" and the J-Class yacht "Ranger", Ben is familiar with the logistics involved with running high profile campaigns.

Ben's role with the company will be customer liaison and logistics, aimed at the Super-yacht and Grand-Prix racing yacht sector.

Please contact Ben with your enquires at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.completefreight.com

FIRST SCOTTISH STOP FOR GEOFF HOLT
Quadriplegic sailor Geoff Holt arrived in Port Patrick this evening, the first Scottish stop in his attempt to sail around the coast of Great Britain.

Holt left Peel, Isle of Man at 1300hrs in his 15ft Challenger Trimaran 'Freethinker'. The sea was much rougher than the team had anticipated and after just an hour Geoff was tempted to turn back. But, having been weather bound in North Wales for three weeks, Geoff is anxious to make up some miles, so he persevered despite the big waves.

Originally Geoff was due to stop at Port Logan, but decided to sail on to Port Patrick, nine miles south of Stranraer, where he and his team are spending the night.

The next stop on Geoff's round Great Britain voyage is Campbelltown. He will set sail as soon as weather conditions allow.

www.personaleverest.com

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH HELPS ADRIAN FLANAGAN HEAD FOR RUSSIA
Adrian Flanagan slipped his moorings from the Port of Nome last night and set sail for Chukotka, Russia after receiving permission from the Russian authorities thanks to the help of Roman Abramovich.

Adrian Flanagan leaves Nome on the final leg of his vertical circumnavigation Adrian's yacht Barrabas will be inspected in the north-eastern settlement town of Provideniya prior to completing his attempt to sail the first ever single-handed vertical circumnavigation of the globe via the Russian Arctic.

Adrian, and his ex-wife Louise who is the expedition's shore manager, contacted Roman Abramovich in May 2006 to ask for help is securing the necessary permissions to transit the Northern Sea Route.

Abramovich is governor of the Russian Far East region of Chukotka where the Northern Sea Route (NSR) begins and he generously agreed to help. Representatives of his administration were in the process of trying to obtain those permits when Adrian took the decision, as the ice started to close in, to put the expedition on hold for the winter.

Over the past few months, in preparation for the restart, efforts to get permission were renewed and Governor Abramovich's administration provided invaluable assistance in obtaining the necessary documents from the Transport Ministry's Northern Sea Route Administration as well as the national and local divisions of the Federal Security Service.

Just after departure from Nome, Adrian wrote: "I finally got away from Nome at 1430 local time, three weeks to the day and almost to the hour since I arrived back in Alaska to prepare for the Arctic Phase. I had allocated myself exactly that, three weeks, to prepare. I could have got going sooner but the time was as much for mental preparation as for the various jobs and procedures that Barrabas needed done. -- from Cowes Online, www.cowes.co.uk/cb/zone?p=story2;story_id=2978;cp=#

Adrian Flanagan's website: www.alphaglobalex.com

BE QUICK! THE SCORPION "SPORTS V" DEMO BOAT IS UP FOR GRABS
She's the fastest RIB on the Solent right now. The Scorpion "Sports V" was first shown at RIBEX 2007 and features many of the latest Scorpion innovations and designs. Built to Graham Jelley's exacting requirements, the 8.75m LOA "Sports V" undertook her maiden voyage to Cherbourg in under two hours and has proved to be fast and economical.

Full details and all the latest news at www.scorpionribs.com or contact Scorpion RIBs on +44 (0) 1590 677080.

NEW HUGO BOSS
Solo sailor Alex Thomson has had his first sail this week on his brand new state-of-the-art Open 60. Faster and more powerful than her predecessor, the innovative new HUGO BOSS looks like no other on the Open 60 circuit. She was designed by Finot-Conq over an 18-month period to be a top competitor in the Barcelona World Race 2007 and the Vendee Globe 2008. Project managed by Jason Carrington and built by Neville Hutton in the UK, she is guaranteed to turn heads when she competes in Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race this Summer.

Construction began on Thomson's new generation Open 60 in October 2006 at Hutton's Boatyard in Lymington. She was built from a female mould and is the result of extensive research, including a comprehensive campaign of tank testing, CFD and routing simulation, followed by 26,000 hours of building. Despite being notably lighter, the new HUGO BOSS is significantly wider and therefore more powerful than her predecessor. She has been engineered by a team from SP Technologies led by Paolo Manganelli, using Kevlar honeycomb and Corecell core materials with Gurit custom optimized pre-preg carbon. The concept of HUGO BOSS is 'powerful, simple and light'.

A key feature of the yacht's deck configuration is the twin coach roofs giving a unique stylish appearance. The two steering wheels sit behind the coach roofs and the satellite dome is located on the foredeck in front of the mast. This deck layout offers greater protection for the helmsman and excellent visibility while driving.

The new HUGO BOSS is equipped with an innovative carbon canting keel, which was built by Multiplast in France and is instrumental to her performance.

The mast is from Southern Spars and is a development of the mast on Thomson's previous Open 60. However, the British sailor has chosen Future Fibres to supply the standing rigging as it is a tried and tested product with less risk attached. For the sails Thomson and his team have selected North Sails New Zealand. Sail Designer Gautier Sergent has been involved with the project from inception and has been instrumental in developing the right sail plan for Thomson's sailing style.

Thomson was forced to abandon his previous HUGO BOSS Open 60 when she suffered keel failure in the Southern Ocean in November 2006. However his retirement from the VELUX 5 Oceans has enabled him to be involved throughout the decision process of the new boat build, ensuring that she is totally custom built to his style of sailing.

www.alexthomsonracing.com

PINDAR SPONSORS WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
The World Match Racing Tour is pleased to announce that Pindar, leading print and electronic media company and well known sponsor of international sailing campaigns, has joined the Tour as Official Sponsor.

As part of the sponsorship, Pindar will assist the World Tour in producing a new range of promotional and print literature to promote the Tour to its worldwide audience.

The sponsorship follows Pindar's partnership with World number one match racer and regular Tour competitor Ian Williams (GBR). Ian competes as 'Team Pindar' on the World Match Racing Tour and is currently third in the Tour rankings. Tour events take place worldwide and provide an ideal platform for us to entertain our own customers in a unique environment, as well as supporting Ian and his team at world class events"

Pindar is a family-owned printing company, founded in 1836 in Scarborough, UK, where its head office remains today. As a global player in the print and electronic media market, Pindar employs 2,000 people in three continents worldwide. Pindar has an enviable track record in sports sponsorship and successfully supports a number of initiatives that focus on helping individuals realise their sporting potential. Ambassadors include record-breaking round-the-world yachtsman, Mike Sanderson, recently voted ISAF World Sailor of the Year, World Number One Match Racer Ian Williams, Emma Sanderson MBE, and Olympic sailing hopeful, Hannah Mills. -- Kate Fairclough in BYM News, www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=12319

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR ROD STEPHENS TROPHY
The Cruising Club of America is seeking nominations for its annually awarded Rod Stephens Trophy for Outstanding Seamanship. It was presented to the CCA by 21 of Stephens' shipmates and friends as a perpetual trophy to recognize an act of seamanship that "significantly contributes to the safety of a yacht or one or more individuals at sea." Suggestions and candidates from all nations and in all aspects of boating are welcome. Deadline for nominations is October 15, 2007.

Last year's award was made to the crew of the ABN AMRO II for superb seamanship in carrying out the attempted rescue of an overboard crewmember at night in the North Atlantic during the Volvo Ocean Race while sailing in 25-30 knots of wind. While ultimately unsuccessful in saving his life, the crew located his body by acting quickly, following good, previously rehearsed procedures and using excellent judgment in carrying out search tactics.

To submit a nomination, contact Robert Van Blaricom, Awards Chairman, 679 Hawthorne Drive, Tiburon, CA 04020, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Owen Sharpe: It's great to hear about the wrangling for this huge commercial prize. It is itself a sport. It's just not as pretty to watch as sailing proper.

Pesonnally I like sailing small boats and I like to watch racing in big boats. I'd like to see an event for big boats that had rounds in Perth, Auckland, San Diego, Rhode Island, Cowes( was that the site of the race won by "America" in the 19th Century?) and Valencia, if those cities wanted to enough. I think Auckland would certainly want to. That would give a nod to history and time zones at the same time.

Alinghi's recent manouevres seem to require someone to take initiative outside the AC structure, now having the life and grace throttled out of it. Multihull events have their own, different apeal.

Maybe the boats should be slightly less rarified, because the conditions would vary. They could be designed to cope with a wider wind range and for bigger swells. Courses could involve more off the wind sailing, higher speeds and more spectacle.

I will certainly watch Coutts and Cayard's World Sailing League. I notice that Russell has said that he wouldn't want to challenge for a big event in Auckland again and he doesn't seem to plan to have a WSL event in Auckland. I can understand that and I apologise to him, as one Aucklander, for the horrible things that happened to him here in 2003. Nothing excuses them. But I hope one day he will reconsider and include us again in his plans.

* From John Harwood-Bee: What a disappointment. I and many other self confessed sceptics were beginning the think that, towards the end, the AC participants had perhaps 'grown up' and adopted a more sportsmanlike attitude. How wrong we were. Back some go to the same old bitching, backbiting self interested nonsense that was AC three years and more ago. On behalf of the many who find the whole process incredibly boring and the unsportsmanlike behaviour saddening, please may we be spared any further coverage of the circus until somebody comes to their senses, levels the playing field and behaves in a manner more becoming yachtsman than second hand car dealers. One thing that has been proven beyond doubt. Money obviously cannot buy you class. No wonder then that Louis Vuitton no longer wish to be associated . Hopefully they will now place their not inconsiderable funding with sailors more deserving of the support. As for the next AC venue, judged on current behaviour perhaps you should place your bets on Dubai or even Abu Dhabi both with enough funds to outbid anybody. Personally I think it should be Lake Geneva and round the cans.

* From David Barrow: My goodness what a strange world we live in. The America's cup has become controversial, never seen that before, the event's going to die, again!

Go back thirty years or so and the USA and NYYC were in total control of the Cup with all of us foreigners on the regular treadmill for some 138 years of popping over there to try and relieve them of a bit of silverware. Then the NYYC chaps were continually accused of changing the rules to suit them selves, then lawyers get called in, and lets all have break for a while, while they do their stuff and get paid lots of money.

Then the Aussies finally win it, bad boy Dennis, and by the way I am sure everyone thought they cheated because they had that funny keel. Then Dennis goes and wins it back, good boy Dennis, Hurrah, order is restored.

Next is the turn of the Kiwi's to win - disaster, no one is going to go down there the whole thing will fail, it's the end, New Zealand is in the middle of nowhere. Turned out OK actually!

Now those naughty Swiss are trying to manipulate the cup to their advantage and everyone is going to run off and play another game!!!

Hmmmm where have I heard all that before? I expect we will all be there when it sorts itself out. All good copy for Bob Fishers next book.

THE LAST WORD
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan

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/