Brought to you by YachtsandCruisers.com 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

SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1361 - 16 NOVEMBER 2007

Brought to you by YachtsandCruisers.com ( www.YachtsandCruisers.com ) with the support of OC Events ( www.ocevents.org ), 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

GOLDEN GATE YC RESPONDS TO ALINGHI'S LAWYER
"We are still working hard to resolve this and have made some big concessions in continuing talks with challengers, but these recent claims are excessive and have to be addressed," Tom Ehman, GGYC's spokesman said.

"The claims that talks ended because of new GGYC demands are at odds with what was being said in the negotiations at the time. They also overlook the fact that Alinghi introduced significant new regulations at a late stage of the negotiations and invited us to discuss these new items," Ehman said.

Their claim relating to two-boat testing being a new issue is not correct as it was part of our "nine-point" settlement proposal of October 17.

The other points related to issues covered in that letter or to the Competition Regulations introduced on November 8th.

"The Regulations are a substantial document. Ernesto Bertarelli's lawyer, Lucien Masmejan, invited us to raise any concerns about the new regulations so that we could resolve them directly. We had scheduled a meeting to work through those few remaining points with Alinghi's sailing and design team on the day they abruptly cancelled talks.

"Several other claims, including one by Hamish Ross that GGYC sought to exclude the defender from the semi-finals format, are simply false," he said.

The letter from October 17 is on the GGYC site at www.ggyc.com/071017_letter_to_Alinghi.pdf

STILL BREEZY IN VITORIA
Vitoria, Brasil: The conditions of high winds and big seas which kept the SM 40's at their moorings and the sailors ashore yesterday afternoon at the Vitoria Brasil Sailing Cup did the same today, but not before allowing the six teams from Group B to complete three flights of morning Round Robin action. In this group, Paolo Cian (ITA) from Team Shosholosa remains undefeated on three wins, while Mathieu Richard (FRA), the second-ranked skipper on the World Match Racing Tour, has led his Saba Racing Team to two wins, as has fellow Frenchman Philippe Presti of Luna Rossa.

To earn his undefeated score, Cian defeated Presti, Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS), who at 21 years old is the youngest player on the Tour. Displaying an aggressive style of sailing reminiscent of his mentor Peter Gilmour, Mirsky ran into trouble early in the round, earning a black flag disqualification in his first match against Eric Monnin (SUI). Morvan also ran into trouble in his match against Monnin, where a collision between the two resulted in a half-point deduction notation which will be levied against Morvan if there is a tie-break needed to qualify to the next stage in the event.

Principal Race Officer Joao Pedro Cascais kept Group A ashore in the afternoon in the hope that the 30-knot winds and big waves would abate, but as late as 1600 there was no let up, so racing was postponed for the remainder of the day. Cascais feels confident the weather will be more cooperative tomorrow, and has called for the teams in Group A to meet tomorrow at 0700 local time.

www.worldmatchracingtour.com and
www.vitoriabrasilsailingcup.com

NOTHING BUT THE HIGHEST QUALITY AND SERVICE
From the European coast to Australia's Bass Strait, Ullman Sails is dedicated to providing unparalleled service and the highest quality sails to every customer. Whether racing in local one design regattas, competing on the international circuit or cruising the coastline, let the expertise of our world-class sailmakers give you the performance and reliability you expect. As 2008 approaches, now is the time to evaluate your sail inventory, check out our FiberPath technology, and contact your local Ullman Sails loft to make sure you have the "Fastest Sails on the Planet." Make an investment in your performance.

Visit www.ullmansails.com

OLYMPIC HOPEFUL BARKOW BLASTS INTO THE LEAD
Shoreacres, Texas, USA: Three...two...one...blast off! That familiar sound from nearby NASA Johnson's Space Center is also the scoreline of Olympic hopeful Sally Barkow's (Nashotah, Wis.) race results today at US SAILING's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship. With a total score of 11 points, Barkow and her team - Debbie Capozzi, Annie Lush and Amanda Callahan - lead the 39-boat fleet racing out of the Houston Yacht Club in Shoreacres, Texas.

Yesterday's leader Cory Sertl (Rochester, N.Y.) slipped into third-place overall, a mere eight points behind after discarding a seventh place result from day one. The regatta's sailing instructions allow competitors to throwout their worst result once six races are completed in the series.

Of the focus needed to excel in today's challenging conditions - a marked change from yesterday's hot temperatures and moderate wind - local sail Julie Goetschius said, "It was a lot more exciting for those who can drive through the chop. The starts were pretty exciting."

Racing continues through Saturday and is hosted at the Houston Yacht Club. -- Dana Paxton

Day 2 Preliminary Results: Top 10 of 39 teams

1. Sally Barkow, USA, 11 points
2. Derby Anderson, USA, 17
3. Lucy, Cory Sertl, USA, 19
4. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA, 28
5. Nicole Breault, USA, 32
6. Devonvale, Dominique Provoyeur, RSA, 40
7. RIFT, Dana Bethancourt, USA, 46
8. Sundog, Kathy Parks, USA, 49
9. Black Socks, Jo Ann Fisher, USA, 51
10. Lynette Edenfield, USA, 54

For results, please visit the websites www.ussailing.org/riwkc and the Houston-specific www.riwkc.com . Daily racing videos will be available each evening at 9pm (CST) on www.t2p.tv

CLIPPER RACE: SALVADOR DA BAHIA - DURBAN
The excitement of the final few hundred miles is still building and the fleet is pairing up for some boat on boat match racing. The leading pair, New York and Hull & Humber, briefly swapped position last night and have been sharing the top spot ever since, polling jointly with 111 nautical miles to go at 0600 GMT. By 1200 GMT New York had taken the lead again, putting a mile between them and their closest rival. Both skippers report some great racing, but on an already difficult coastal race this brings added pressure. The light winds overnight made any mistake a costly one.

The chasing pack has also paired up, Liverpool 08 now just one nautical mile to the finish ahead of Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper, and Qingdao and Durban 2010 and Beyond separated by the same margin.

The changes to this formation happened last night when the wind dropped and Durban 2010 and Beyond was forced to anchor for five hours. They were in 86 metres of water and, as all the local sailors will no doubt tell Ricky upon his arrival, Durban 2010 and Beyond was too far offshore and unable to use the light winds to make progress against the effects of the Agulhas current. Qingdao managed to keep moving that little bit longer but in the end also anchored for a few hours.

The main topic of conversation in Durban Marina at Point Yacht Club and Royal Natal Yacht Club who are jointly hosting the Clipper fleet is: when will they arrive? This is never an easy one to answer and is especially tricky on this coastline. Despite numerous predictions of a favourable wind shift and a Thursday arrival, the lighter winds have prevailed and the fleet's 12-hour runs remain short.

The latest predictions show the first boats will not arrive before early evening today (Thursday 15), but it is more likely to be an overnight finish. The weather forecasts show the wind filling in from the south west over the course of the day, so the back of the fleet will feel the benefit first, which means this race is by no means over yet!

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

DOLDRUMMED!
Safran has hit the doldrums running, enabling them to get back with the Open 60 frontrunners in the Transat Jacques Vabre. At 1600 hours, Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier were back up to 5th place with just a 15 mile deficit on the new leader, Cheminees Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm/Tanguy Cariou). Yesterday morning, they had a 95 mile deficit! An incredible battle rages...

Eight competitors within 50 miles of each other! This 8th Transat Jacques Vabre is quite simply incredible... With 1,400 miles to the finish, the last four days of racing are likely to be particularly tense for these eight crews, all legitimate pretenders to victory. In the middle of this group, Safran has sailed a blinder by being systematically the fastest boat at every position report today. Clinging firmly to Cheminees Poujoulat and Foncia (Desjoyeaux/Le Borgne), Safran is catching up with everyone. The doldrums are currently in the process of reshuffling the cards.

* In crossing the finish line opposite the lighthouse of Salvador de Bahia port on Wednesday at 10:51:06pm (French time) Lionel Lemonchois and Yann Guichard concluded a rapid transat done and dusted in 10 days 9 hours 49 minutes, shattering the record for the event set in 2003 by over 36 hours. The final day was frenetic, followed by a more gentle finish, the blue trimaran owned by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild having achieved an average speed of 27.4 knots over the last 24 hours' racing and covering over 658.5 miles: another record to go down in the annals of Gitana history.

Despite a broken foil around Madeira which fatally compromised their chances of victory in this edition, the Gitana Team crew gave their all throughout this race and were rewarded for their excellent endeavours with a fine second place.

* After 10 days 16 hours 57 minutes and 57 seconds of racing at a theoretical average speed of 16,89 knots, Pascal Bidegorry and Yvan Ravussin on Banque Populaire crossed the finish line in the Transat Jacques Vabre at 04h59'57" (CET) or in other words 1h59'57" (local time), Thursday, 15th November. Banque Populaire finished the race 16 hours and 19 minutes after the winner, Groupama 2.

Finishing in fourth position was Brossard, sailed by Yvan Bourgnon and Jacques Vincent. Antoine Koch and Gregory Gendon on Sopra finished in fifth place to complete the ORMA fleet.

www.jacques-vabre.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php

SAIL FASTER AND SMARTER
If you want to improve your results on the race course, you should read Speed & Smarts. This bi-monthly newsletter, written by winning America's Cup tactician Dave Dellenbaugh, has been praised by racing sailors worldwide for more than 12 years. Each colorful issue has 16 pages full of race-winning tips on boatspeed, tactics, strategy, rules and more! Whether you are a skipper or crew, on a one-design or big boat, Speed & Smarts will improve your performance.

To see a sample issue or sign up for a subscription, visit our website at www.SpeedandSmarts.com

PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 FIRST TO GIBRALTAR
Paprec-Virbac 2 led the Barcelona World Race fleet into the Atlantic overnight on Wednesday night, winning the first stage of the race in the process.

The opening leg carried a prize of 60 cases of Estrella Damm beer for the first boat to reach Gibraltar, and the Franco-Irish duo of skipper Jean-Pierre Dick and co-skipper Damian Foxall were just able to squeeze past PRB to claim the stage win, crossing through the gate at 02:25 GMT.

PRB has since regained the lead, taking a more direct route south towards the Canaries, while Paprec-Virbac 2 elected to head further west initially.

Happiest among that trailing group were likely to be the lads on Veoli a Environnement and Mutua Madrileña who snuck past Delta Dore and Hugo Boss overnight.

The passage into the Atlantic doesn't mean things immediately get easier. The trade winds the fleet would normally expect to pick up over the next few days simply aren't there and the weather situation remains complex over the coming days. Next up - the Canary Islands.

Note - the winner of the Barcelona World Race is the first to return to the finishing line off Barcelona - on elapsed time - regardless of number of stage wins.

A total of eight gates will break the course down to nine portions, but the overall result will nevertheless remain on elapsed time - the prizes awarded at each gate will have no bearing on the final result overall result. The winner of the Barcelona World Race is the first to return to the finishing line off Barcelona - on elapsed time - regardless of number of stage wins.

Day 5 - November 15, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien Josse - 0.0
2. Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean Pierre Dick / Damian Foxall - 2.0
3. Estrella Damm - Guillermo Altadill / Jonathan Mckee - 50.9
4. Temenos 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele Paret - 64.9
5. Mutua Madrilena - Javier Sanso / Pachi Rivero - 83.9
6. Veolia Environnement - Roland Jourdain / Jean Luc Nelias - 84.0
7. Delta Dore - Jeremie Beyou / Sidney Gavignet - 90.6
8. Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson / Andrew Cape - 100.2
9. Educacion Sin Fronteras - Servane Escoffier / Albert Bargues - 176.6

www.barcelonaworldrace.org

OC VISIONARY
A brief excerpt from an interview in TheDailySail.com with Mark Turner:

While the Velux 5 Oceans competitors had the stuffing knocked out of them within 48 hours of the race start, there hasn't been a race since the Vendee Globe in 1996 when competitors have been severely hammered in the Southern Ocean. Part of the issue back then was that Open 60s had a very low angle of vanishing stability (AVS) and showed a tendency to invert and remain upside down, profoundly stable on their wide flat decks. While their class association IMOCA was quick to legislate against that (resulting in narrow boats with rounder decks and bigger cabins tops for the 2000-1 Vendee Globe) modern day Open 60s potentially have another issue over their 'dynamic stability' ie how far they go over when they are being rolled.

Turner acknowledges that the present generation of Open 60 are not better than the older boats in terms of this. "Fortunately everyone has spotted that and there is a backstop in the rule with a dynamic AVS number, but in reality it is probably not high enough. There was a minimum put in place that corresponded to the worst case boat three years ago. That number can move independently of the static AVS. People acknowledged that maybe we had let that line go too far. So that is fairly concerning going forward."

The other potential issue is over keels. In the Vendee Globe keels fell off Ecover and Skandia, while Roland Jourdain's Sill et Veolia retired with 'issues' over her carbon foil. The reason for these failures still seems less than 100% certain. "If it were a rule thing IMOCA would have done something about it, but it is not that simple," says Turner. "As Volvo found out - it is not necessarily about a rule protecting it, because if there's a rule people will try to find ways around it."

Full interview on www.thedailysail.com

ANEN/HEEMSKERK WIN 17TH ARUBA HEINEKEN CATAMARAN REGATTA
On Thursday morning November 15th, three possible winning crews sailed off Palm Beach for the final race of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. After a long course with three sausages and two triangles, Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (NED) took the bullet and the overall victory. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij (NED) managed to finish third just one spot ahead of Wouter Samama and Sam Frank (NED). Both teams are tied on points, but Larsen/Tentij became second overall on count back. Thomasch and Hankart (AUT) won in the small class of slower catamarans.

This year's class of slower catamarans (8 entries) was dominated by good old participant Manfred Thomasch from Austria and Henk Hankart from Aruba. They took all ten bullets with their Dart 18. -- Diana Bogaards

Top five fast catamarans after 10 races and two discards:
1. NED - Zanen/Heemskerk, F18 Nacra Infusion, 17 points
2. NED - Larsen/Tentij, F18 Nacra Infusion, 20
3. NED - Samama/Frank, F18 Hobie Tiger, 20
4. NED - Pols/Veenstra, F18 Nacra Infusion, 29
5. GBR - Gummer/Bogaards, F18 Capricorn, 35

Top three slower catamarans after 10 races and two discards:
1. AUT - Thomasch/Hankart, Dart 18, 8 points
2. ARU - Grijpma/Ren, Sil & Mark, Prindle 19, 19
3. ARU - Valize/Hoek, 32

www.arubaregatta.com

GIPSY MOTH IV: STAR OF THE WHYTE & MACKAY EARLS COURT BOAT SHOW
The all-new Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show isn't just about exciting shows andChristmas shopping, it's shining with stars from sailing past, present and future. See Sir Francis Chichester's world-famous Gipsy Moth IV; watch Dee Caffari live by satellite in her first Transatlantic race; Michael Perham - the Transat Kid - auctions Cheeky Monkey; Gigi, the Cape Horn-rounding Contessa 32 takes a newly restored bow. There's the National Maritime Museum's Hall of Fame, the Steve Curtis Power Boat Display, good food, Guinness and much, much more. The all-new Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show: you can't beat boating in the heart of London!

www.earlscourtboatshow.com

TRANSATLANTIC MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP
Porto Cervo, Italy: An international fleet of maxi yachts, representing seven nations - Barbados, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Monaco and Norway - is preparing to head to Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain) for the start of the Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2007, which ends in St. Maarten. The event, promoted by the International Maxi Association (IMA) and organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) with the collaboration of Real Club Nautico de Tenerife and St. Maarten Yacht Club, is open to monohull sailing yachts of 18 metres (59 feet) and above racing under IRC handicap.

Racing is due to start on 26th November while most of the fleet will arrive in Tenerife four to five days earlier in order to complete registrations and make their final preparations prior to the start. The Spanish island is preparing to give owners and crews a fitting send-off with a series of receptions, parties and activities in addition to more technical appointments such as the skipper's briefing scheduled for 25th November.

A wide range of maxis will be competing: from the largest boat in the fleet, the 35 metre (115 foot) Sojana (GBR) owned by Peter Harrison, to the smallest, the 21 metre (70 foot) Mini-Maxi Blue Pearl (GBR) skippered by Anders Johnson, and from the brand new 2007-launched Fado (ITA), chartered by Bernd Kortuem and skippered by Marcello Iacuzzi and Julie Marie (GER), to the 13-year-old Nariida (NOR), owned by Morten Bergesen.

The participating yachts will be battling it out for a variety of trophies including the YCCS Trophy for the first yacht across the line in real time and the IMA (International Maxi Association) Challenge Trophy for the highest-placed IMA Member on corrected time. The Rolex Trophy and timepiece will go to the overall winner based on IRC handicap.

A satellite tracking system will monitor each yacht's progress for the duration of the regatta and can be accessed for viewing at www.yccs.it

LETS DO IT GALWAY - VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2008-2009 - PORT STOPOVER MANAGER
Company : Lets Do It Galway
Type of Employment : 18 month contract - start date Jan 1st 2008
Remuneration : Salary + Bonus - executive level
Location : Galway, Ireland

LDIG require a Port Stopover Manager to lead a senior team for the Galway stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009. You will provide direction and leadership to management team and understand the dynamics of the Volvo Ocean Race & shore side requirements.

Key experience required:

Have a proven track record of delivering complex sporting events including the liaison with government bodies.Have worked for more than three (3) years in a senior management capacity with a major international sporting event, working with the local government and event stakeholders.

To apply for full job spec and details please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

HONOUR ON THE LINE
The script has been written for an epic battle in the 63rd Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race with four titans vying for line honours, a "turbo-charged'' Aussie boat chasing history and a former Wallaby gearing up to tackle his most formidable opponent - the infamous Bass Strait.

Heading the fleet is dual winner Wild Oats, which has its sights set on repelling a pair of foreign raiders and winning the race for a record-equalling third time, in record time.

Skipper Mark Richards yesterday revealed the high-tech 98-footer - which has hit a top speed of 37 knots - will be significantly faster than in her two previous campaigns thanks to 20 per cent more sail area.

"We are fully turbo-charging the boat for line honours,'' said Richards, who steered Wild Oats to its 1day 18hr 40min 10sec record in 2005. "The spinnaker alone will be 200sqm bigger and all in all we'll have 20 per cent more sail area.

"I can see the record being smashed. If we had a dream run like Nokia did in 1999 we would knock 10 hours off the record.''

Wild Oats must hold off the UK glamour Leopard of London, the New Zealand super maxi Maximus and the Victorian 98-footer Skandia to match Morna's 1946-1948 feat in claiming three successive wins.

Wild Oats will make a late dash for the line with her new mast - a replacement for the one which toppled over the side in a recent European regatta - to be fitted later this month and the boat to be back on the water in race mode just three weeks before the race start. -- Amanda Lulham

More at: www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22752985-5001023,00.html

PRIZE WINNING CONCEPT BOAT
A futuristic concept boat has won first prize in the IDA 2007 Design Competition. Volitan is designed to be as eco-friendly as possible, using a mixture of sails, wind power and podded engines, the latter driven by solar powered batteries.

Drs Hakan Gursu & Sozum Dooan from Turkish design bureau Designnobis said operation of the boat would be computer controlled throughout. It would be able to operate safely in up to 60-knot winds, and would live up to its name which means 'flying fish'. -- Motor Boat Monthly

www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20071015185657mbmnews.html

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 David Taylor: The sailors of Ballyholme YC, best cat venue in Europe, fully support Digby in his challenge to join the Olympic blazer brigade. His main qualification apart from being one of the good guys is that he looks cool in double breasted jackets. He will one day reach the summit when wearing silly hats becomes an Olympic Sport as we have film of him at his sartorial best. From the disappointed cat sailors of BYC, hey we were never going to the Olympics but we could dream.

THE LAST WORD
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. -- Nelson Henderson

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 Artemis Transat 2008 (ex-OSTAR) plus the Extreme 40 Sailing Series for The iShares Cup.

www.YachtsandCruisers.com the new place to buy and sell prestige boats, the website has been designed to showcase high-end boats. People looking to buy prestige boats will be able to easily navigate their way around the site quickly. The portfolio of thousands of boats can be viewed by category, make, location and price. Alternatively the 'Advanced Search' facility will benefit those buyers who have a specific boat in mind.

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