Brought to you by Boats and Outboards 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

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
There's a new 'King of the Mountain' after Ian Williams and his Team Pindar nipped past Mark Mendelblatt's Team Kaenon in the fifth and deciding match at the St. Moritz Match Race. Williams made his passing move just metres from the finishing line to win the Swiss stop on the World Match Racing Tour.

The 'first to three' Final went down to the last race and indeed, down to the final seconds. The top two teams in St. Moritz put on a stunning display of match racing, showcasing incredible boat-handling skills and tactical nous in difficult conditions on Lake St. Moritz; the wind on Sunday was extremely shifty and gusty.

In the final race, two-time St. Moritz champion Mark Mendelblatt carried a narrow lead onto the last run to the finishing line, but a great spinnaker hoist by Williams and his crew brought Team Pindar into an overlapped position. Under the racing rules of sailing, Williams was obliged to sail a 'proper course' to the finish.

As he moved to make a quick double gybe, which would give him more rights, Williams fooled Mendelblatt into gybing himself. Now holding the starboard tack advantage, Williams watched as the Umpires penalised Mendelblatt just metres from the finishing line. Team Pindar crossed the line to win the match and the series.

This was the fifth edition of the St. Moritz Match Race and at the prize-giving ceremony, the organisers announced their intention to run a sixth edition of the event in 2008, where Ian Williams will have to come to defend his 'King of the Mountain' title.

Overall results, St. Moritz Match Race:

1. Ian Williams (GBR)
2. Mark Mendelblatt (USA)
3. Eric Monnin (SUI)
4. Paolo Cian (ITA)
5. Mathieu Richard (FRA)
6. Jochen Schuemann (GER) - (Peter Evans - NZL)
7. Sebastien Col (FRA)
8. Matthias Renker (SUI)
9. Michael Hestbaek (GER)
10. Matteo Simoncelli (ITA)
11. Staffan Lindberg (FIN)
12. Evgeny Neugodnikov (RUS)

www.stmoritz-matchrace.ch
www.worldmatchracingtour.com

FRANCIS JOYON AND IDEC SMASH CROSS CHANNEL RECORD
Francis Joyon has pulverised the solo Channel crossing record, today, with a time of 6 hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds. The skipper of maxi-trimaran IDEC covered the 138 nm course at an average speed of 21.58 knots, bettering the time set by Thomas Coville, on board the 60 foot trimaran Sodeb'O, by 1 hour 32 minutes and 11 seconds.

It was no walkover though. "I set out feeling a bit drained, because I left la Trinite-sur-Mer yesterday morning and had to sail hard to get to the Isle of Wight in time." said Joyon "On top of that, I had a lot of manœuvres to make during the crossing and the wind quickly got up to more than I'd been expecting, so I had to reef, and whilst I was in the Raz Blanchard it reached 32 knots, with the current against me."

"Never mind," Francis continued "the record is broken and it's a real feeling of satisfaction. It's also a great advancement in getting to know the boat. I've discovered that some of the things we've worked on for the last 18 months are super efficient; on the other hand, I've found things that can be improved. Overall though, the boat goes very well and gets up to a good speed with no trouble; it's really right for what it's designed to do. So, to sum up, this first record has proven the boat, shown what we've got right and where the ball needs to be thrown back into the architects court. It's been a very positive experience." -- From BYM News, www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=14053

www.trimaran-idec.com

LINE 7 MARINE SEEKING EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTOR(S)
To assist with Line 7 marine's expansion world-wide, Line 7 now seeks European distribution partner(s) to distribute the Line 7 Marine range throughout Europe.

The ideal distribution partner will have the following characteristics:

- Established distribution networks throughout Europe (or significant parts of), particularly in the Marine retail channel
- Ability to service the European marine retail market from a sales and after sales service point of view
- Resources available to assist growth for the Line 7 brand in Europe
- Previous experience in the clothing industry will be looked on favourably, but not mandatory.
- Experience and connections in the European sailing arena would also be advantageous.

If your business has the above characteristics and you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please forward an expression of interest and contact details to Pat Langley- Line 7 Marine Manager; email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or + 61 406 384 170

Further information at: www.line7.com/Line7/marine.aspx

LAST LEG: LA SOLITAIRE AFFLELOU LE FIGARO
The fourth and final leg of this year's edition of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro got off to a good start Sunday in La Coruna. Three of the 48 skippers competing, Pietro D'Ali (Kappa), Thierry Chabagny (Brossard) an Frank Le Gal (Lenze) received individual recalls for crossing the start line prematurely when the gun was fired at 15h00 today in the Ria de la Coruna on the northern tip of Galicia.

The traditional inshore course, just 3 miles long, was covered in less than an hour. Christopher Pratt (Espoir Credit Agricole) reached the windward mark first ahead of Nicolas Berenger on Kone Ascenseurs and Gildas Morvan's Cercle Vert and went on to round the Radio France offset mark gate in the lead.

The fourth leg should be a true sprint to the finish particularly as the conditions forecast should propel the small 10 metre Figaro boats speedily along the 355 miles course to the Bourgenay Mark, just south of the Sables d'Olonne. Winds of up to 35 knots, gusting 40 are forecast to sweep over the fleet tomorrow. So "It is going to be windy, but then it is on one tack and on a good angle" calculates the only Italian competitor, Pietro D'Ali (Kappa). Gildas Mahe (Le Comptoir Immobilier), currently in 4th place and 45 minutes behind Michel Desjoyeaux sees the route as "pretty much straight" but that it " will need careful handling. You never know beforehand and it is never as complicated as when it is straight over a long distance, minimal differences in degree headings can make for huge gaps at the finish."

The Figaro sailors need to cover some 35 miles North to clear Cap Ortegal on the Galician coastline before they hustle for the best position to cross the Bay of Biscay. The wind is forecast to hold at 15 knots and then ease overnight before backing round to the West and gradually build Monday.

It will be tempting to not sleep, to continue and push oneself right to the limits on a short leg, however, some rest and careful preparation will be important to maintain alert and in the right frame of mind to tackle the strong conditions that come in on Monday. -- Sabina Mollart-Rogerson

Top five going into the final leg:
1. Michel Desjoyeaux, Foncia
2. Corentin Douguet, E.Leclerc / Bouygues Telecom
3. Nicolas Troussel, Financo
4. Gildas Mahe, Le Comptoir Immobilier
5. Frederic Duthil, Distinxion

www.lasolitaire.com

CONCERNS FOR THE WIND
No racing yesterday means Ben Ainslie leads his class at the dress-rehearsal for the 2008 Olympic regatta in Qingdao, where the lack of wind ensured a third lost day out of five.

"It's just something you have to deal with," said Ainslie, hauling out his Olympic Finn single-handed dinghy.

However, the Chinese organisers were so prepared for the lack of wind that the rules permit medals to be awarded even if only one race has been sailed. Whether these conditions are carried into next year's Olympics is not known yet. advertisement

The Chinese are preparing for the worst, increasing the Olympic sailing event to 13 days, including two reserve days, from the nine allocated in Athens in 2004. The Olympic events are 11 races long, or 16 in the case of the windsurfers and 49er skiffs.

The Chinese have built superlative shoreside facilities but they realise Qingdao's reputation depends on the breeze. "We hope that journalists will not lose interest in this regatta," urged competition manager Qu Chan to a local media still coming to grips with the sport.

British team manager Stephen Park commented: "If we only have a few races in the series then the role that luck plays in the results could be increased dramatically.

"If the luck's with you then that's great but if it's not, then that means the results could look very different to what we anticipate." -- Tim Jeffery in the Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/08/20/sosail120.xml

Event site: www.2007qdregatta.com

THE FASTNET QUIZ...
Last week's question:
What was the first foreign boat to take part in a Fastnet race? (Bonus points for who designed her).

Answer: The Alden-designed Primrose IV, 1926

However... Harold Cudmore noted, correctly, that the answer could also be 'Gull' owned by Harry Donegan and raced in the inaugural Fastnet 1926 from Royal Munster YC (now incorporated in the Royal Cork YC) Cork, Ireland.

As County Cork is not part of Northern Ireland, in 1922 it would not have been part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Free State came into being in 1922 following the partition of the island two years earlier... although the name wasn't changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland until 1927.

And of course the English have regarded the Irish as foreigners since the dawn of time... and vice versa.

This week's question:
Which boat set a new course record in 1985 of 60 hours, 41 mins, 15 secs?

Two correct answer winners this week and for the following weeks of our contest: one will win a copy of the new Fastnet book "Beyond Endurance" ( see www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771057557 ) Another lucky sailor wins a Dubarry Knot Ur Dubes T-shirt. With its soft handle and made from 100 per cent faded cotton, it's ideal for on and off the water.

At the end of the competition, one entrant will win a pair of Dubarry Fastnet boots - with GORE-TEX breathable inner lining and Non-Slip Non-Marking sole. See the Dubarry Fastnet boot at dubarry.com

Submit your answer for this week's quiz question at:
www.scuttlebutteurope.com/index.php?option=com_philaform&form_id=5&Itemid=1

CONTROVERSIAL IMS WORLDS VICTORY
The IMS World Championship finished today with German winners both in Class 1 and 2. However there was some controversy over the winner in Class 1, the J/V Evento 36, "Beluga Racing Team" whose skipper Christian Plump persisted he had completed the proper course during the long ocean race, despite the electronic tracking system, witnesses and his own admission to a local sailing magazine suggested otherwise. It appears he sailed on the wrong side of a mark indicating course limits, which he and the skippers of "Fram XV", "Unique" and "Obnoxious Too" all mistook as being the rounding mark off the Norwegian South coast town of Kragero. As opposed to his competitors who were subsequently disqualified, Mr. Plump did return to round the proper mark correctly, thereby losing valuable time and distance, but apparently having sailed outside course limits, many of his competitors felt that Mr. Plump and his team also deserved to be penalized. Having said that, "Beluga Sailing Team" was clearly the fastest boat on the water, and therefore it seems a pity that the crew inflicted this situation upon themselves. Protests against the German boat were thrown out for formality reasons.

As turned out, "Beluga Sailing Team" was declared World Champions with one race to spare, and they did not participate in todays final race that was held in perfect sailing conditions 6-12 knots southerly breeze, off the island Hanko on the Norwegian South East Coast. In their absence the Czeck team of "Bohemia Express" won the race and the World Championship silver, while second in todays race and the bronze medals over all went to Finlands "Alfa Romeo" a sistership from the design office of Botin & Carkeek, Grand Soleil 42R, as was the best Norwegian boat in the fleet, "Team Bergen". King Harald of Norway had to count his DSQ from the long ocean race and ended 6th over all, after having dominated the heavy air sailing on Wednesday.

"Chinook", Johann Friedrichsen GER dominated class 2 and won deservedly the Gold medals, followed by compatriots "Westwind", Peter Sueselbeck and "Cala Ventinove", Uwe Wenzel. Thereafter came four Norwegian boats "Felicia IV", "Aiming First", "Xtreme" and "Hyak".

The Championship turned out to favor the heavy weather experts as it blew strong South Westerlies throughout the regatta, yesterday short ocean race even having to be cancelled mainly due to the heavy seaways that made it extremely difficult to lay starting line and marks without jeopardizing the health and safety of the race management at sea. -- Mikkel Thommessen

Final results
Class 1
1. Beluga Sailing Team, Christian Plump, GER,11.50 points
2. Bohemia Express, Evropska' Vodni Doprava, CZE, 17.06
3. Alfa Romeo, Jani Lehti, FIN, 23.00

Class 2
1. Chinook, Johann Friedrichsen, GER, 11.81
2. Westwind, Peter Sueselbeck, GER, 17.65
3. Cala Ventinove, Uwe Wenzel, GER, 31.25

ROLEX BALTIC WEEK
Jim Richardson from the United States is the first overall winner of the Rolex Baltic Week 2007. The owner and helmsman of "Barking Mad" and his team have won the Farr 40 competition on the Baltic Sea off Neustadt, Germany as well as the European Circuit, a grand prix series of this prestigious international class comprising five separate regattas. Richardson beat the Australian "Kokomo" by Sue and Lang Walker in both competitions and sent her down to place two. Wolfgang Stolz and his "Opus One" team from Frankfurt, Germany finished fourth overall and ranked as best German team. In the European Circuit, Stolz overtook Wolfgang Schaefer's "Struntje light" (sixth) and gained the "bronze medal".

In light to moderate winds with lots of shifts race officer Eckart Reinke (Kiel, Germany) had no easy job lining fair courses for the top field. "The very changeable conditions made it difficult, but he managed excellently," commented Wolfgang Schaefer, who is also the president of the co-organizing European Farr 40 fleet.

The final day once again was a demonstration of how close the races of this one-design class usually are. No discards are allowed in Farr 40 regattas. In three races three different boats snatched the victories - the "Siragusawa" owned by Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi from Finland, who finished overall third, Matt Allen's "Ichi Ban" and the Walkers' "Kokomo" (both Australia). -- Andreas Kling

Top five results of the Farr 40 regatta after nine races:

1. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson, USA) 33 points
2. Kokomo, Lang Walker, Australia) 46
3. Sirwagusawa, Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi, Finland, 48
4. Opus One, Wolfgang Stolz, Germany, 54
5. Ichi Ban, Matt Allen, Australia, 58

Final results of the Farr 40 European Circuit after five competitons:
1. Barking Mad, Jim Richardson, USA, 155 points
2. Kokomo, Lang Walker, Australia, 162
3. Opus One, Wolfgang Stolz, Germany, 225
4. Sirwagusawa, Olli-Pekka Lumijaervi, Finland, 237
5. Struntje light, Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany, 240

regattanews.com

FLAVIO FAVINI LEADS THE MELGES 24 EUROPEANS AFTER THREE RACES
The wind finally arrived for the second day of the 2007 Melges 24 European Championship being run in association with Rolex Baltic Week in Neustadt, Germany and the 78 teams were able to complete the first three of twelve scheduled races. Racing had been due to start at 1100 but it was a frustrating two and a half hours before the wind finally settled sufficiently to get underway. It was to be a very long day but the NRV's race management team did an excellent job of coping with the difficult conditions, but even with their best efforts the crews did not get ashore until mid evening.

America's Cup star and former Melges 24 World Champion Flavio Favini, helming for Switzerland's Franco Rossini aboard Blu Moon, managed to make the best of the conditions. He opened the day with a third, took second in the next race and topped it off with a win in race three to lead the championship with six points. This team were by far the most consistent performers of the day and Blu Moon is the only boat with an all single digit scoreline.

Britain's Jamie Lea, helming Team Barbarians for Stuart Simpson, won the first race then came third in the second, but they took a right hand flyer off the start line in race three which did not pay and left them buried in the fleet at the first mark, eventually finishing 11th to leave them with 15 points and second place overall. Lea is a long standing member of the Melges 24 fleet but has yet to claim a European title and clearly feels he has unfinished business to attend to. Perhaps 2007 will finally be his year?

IMS 600 World Champion and Melges 24 newbie Lorenzo Bressani from Italy is lying third and his day followed a similar pattern to Lea's with a second place in the opening race and a win in race two, but like Lea it all went wrong in race three where he too picked the wrong side of the first beat and then got badly caught up in a nightmare weather mark rounding as a large proportion of the fleet ended up rafted and making multiple attempts to round. They ultimately finished 17th putting him on 20 points overall. Bressani's crew is a very strong one and includes Federico Michetti, who won the 2000 Worlds crewing for the legendary Giorgio Zuccoli and the 2005 Melges 24 European Championship as part of the Joe Fly team, so whilst they may be new to the fleet they are certainly one of the hot favourites for the title.

Tomorrow's forecast includes possible thunderstorms and more light airs so the teams are anticipating another day of unstable conditions and hard racing with two races planned and an 1100 first start. -- Fiona Brown

Full results, daily reports and photos will be available from www.melges24.com and www.rolex-baltic-week.com

FEATURED BROKERAGE
2003 X-Yacht 412 Mk III. 120,000 GBP.

Class A ocean going high quality cruiser/racer launched in April 2003 in Slovenia. She spent a year in Frappa Marina in Rogozniza, Croatia and has been in Lefkas Marina for two years. Very little used, she has done about 1400 miles and is in superb condition.

Her price has been set at an attractive level to take into account the VAT has not been paid.

Brokerage through Willams and Smithells on BoatsandOutboards.co.uk

Complete listing details and seller contact information at
www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/WSM640/

THE LAST WORD
It has been said that the great events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place also. -- Oscar Wilde

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.

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