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FIRST... A NOTE TO READERS
A number of weeks ago we began publishing Eurobutt in both HTML and Text, with the weekday version still plain vanilla while the Weekend Edition went fully graphic. Starting next week the weekday edition will have photos and graphics. If there was ever a visual sport, sailing is it, and now that broadband is nearly ubiquitous, it's time.

However, many of you have expressed a desire for pure text-only. "If I want a webpage I'll visit a website" is a sentiment heard a few times. And for those who venture offshore or otherwise have bandwidth reduced, text is preferable.

If you want text-only delivery, go to scuttlebutteurope.com/htmlortext.html and change to text.

If you want an HTML format all the time, do nothing, that's by default. Coming soon...

SWEET VICTORIES AND SMILING FACES
Acura Key West 2008, presented by Nautica, was among the strangest and most challenging in the 21-year history of the regatta. However, what the sailors, especially the winners, will remember is a spectacular final day of racing and the final results.

Things didn't look good on Wednesday night after two of the initial three days of the regatta were cancelled due to bad conditions. Making matters worse was the fact the forecast for Thursday was for a second straight day of light, fickle breeze.

However, Mother Nature did an about face and brought a solid 12-knot northerly that enabled organizers with Premiere Racing to get in two races on Thursday. Things got even better on Friday with a northeasterly bringing 16-20 knot winds that allowed for three more races to be held.

"This was a classic Key West day. It was breeze on with warm weather and sunshine. You couldn't have asked for a better final day," Melges 24 winner Dave Ullman said.

Competition was also extremely close in Melges 32 class, which saw a significant increase in entries and caliber of competition at Acura Key West 2008. Star, skippered by Jeff Ecklund of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, finished fifth or better in six of seven races that counted in edging New Wave by two points and capturing the Midwinter Championship.

Dave Ullman put together a tremendous final day to fourth to first in Melges 24 class, largest of the regatta with 46 boats. The California sailmaker steered Pegasus 505 to a stellar line of 1-2-1 on Friday to finish three points ahead of week-long leader Blu Moon (Franco Rossini, Switzerland).

IRC 1 class was comprised of the 10 largest boats in the regatta and Meyers' new Judel/Vrolijk 66-footer proved the most consistent of them all. America's Cup veteran Hamish Pepper called tactics for Meyers, who won five of eight races in compiling a low score of 10 points – four better than runner-up Flash Glove, a TP52 owned by Colm Barrington of Ireland.

* It could hardly be closer. After eight races Jim Richardson's Barking Mad and Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino were tied on points. Each had scored 29 points, but the final race win, his second victory in the 25-strong Farr 40 class, gave the overall victory to the class President, Richardson, over the reigning world champion, Onorato.

It may well have been the instruction Richardson's tactician gave him before the eighth and final race that inspired the Barking Mad skipper to complete his first-ever Acura Key West Race Week victory. "If you win this one, we will win," said Hutchinson, who had obviously properly completed his unofficial points score as Mascalzone Latino led Barking Mad by a single point.

Racing started an hour earlier than scheduled in order that three races could be completed and the awards ceremony take place ashore at 1800. It is only the second time that three races have been sailed in the day in the Conch Republic's annual regatta - the first time was on Tuesday! It was a masterstroke by Event Director Peter Craig and his team of race officials and with near-perfect conditions - 15-20 knots of north-easterly breeze - to give the competitors as much racing as possible. -- Bob Fisher

Top five
1. Barking Mad, 29 points
2. Mascalzone Latino, 29 points
3. Twins, 37 points
4. Nerone, 42 points
5. Fiamma, 57 points
6. Mean Machine, 61 points

Full results for all classes at www.premiere-racing.com

MARC PAJOT AT THE HEAD OF A NEW FRENCH AMERICA'S CUP CHALLENGE
The AFP news agency announced last Friday that a new French syndicate has lodged a challenge to compete in the forthcoming 33rd America's Cup. Marc Pajot is acting as CEO of the "French Spirit" challenge based in the city of Saint-Tropez.

The "French Spirit" syndicate is confirming this information.

The founding members of the new French challenger have been working for quite some time gathering talents and putting together the essential structures to set up a performing team.

However, given the state of uncertainty regarding the immediate future of the next match, the management of the challenge wish to refrain from giving any further information about the development of the operations until the current litigation between BMW Oracle/GGYC and Alinghi/SNG is settled.

TEAM GERMANY TO PART WAYS WITH SCHUEMANN
Team Germany, the proposed German challenge for the next America's Cup, will reduce its operation costs and not extend the contract of sport director Joechen Schuemann.

Team Germany's owner Michael Scheeren told Monday's edition of German magazine Focus Schumann's contract is one of several which will not be extended, partly due to the cup's legal dispute in an American court.

"A certain number of contracts, including Jochen Schuemann's, expires on March 31 and we will not be extended," said Scheeren.

"We cannot continue to finance a large team without knowing more about where the America's Cup will take place in 2011," added Scheeren with the venue for the 33rd America's Cup currently under dispute.

Team Germany had carried out an ambitious recruitment drive by acquiring the services of Polish cox Karol Jablonski and Schuemann, as sports director, after two victorious campaigns at Alinghi.

Car manufacturers Audi and Porsche have committed themselves to heavy investments in the team which counted on an annual budget of 20 million euros (29 million US dollars).

afp.google.com/article/

ACCBANK CORK WEEK ONLINE ENTRY
Drawing on years of experience, both as a competitor at and organiser of events, Dave Meagher, Chairman of the ACCBank Cork Week Race Committee, has designed an on-line entry system for this year's event, which takes place from July 12th to 18th 2008. "Effectively, all you need is your Sail Number and a credit card and you're on your way to competing at the world's friendliest Regatta," says Meagher. The on-line system automatically picks up boat details from the IRC Database.

For those entering before February 1st 2008 , the Organising Committee have decided to maintain the 2006 Entry Fee. "Many of our competitors have been coming to ACCBank Cork Week for many years and we see this as a way of recognising their loyalty to the event," Dave continued, "as a Committee, we are always looking for ways to facilitate our visitors and as an added bonus this year, we have decided to offer FREE entry to the 100th on-line entrant. "

Check out www.corkweek.ie for on-line entry and we also invite you to register to the ACCBank Cork Week 2008 Newsletter in order to receive future updates.

BISCAYNE BAY TROPHY
You could sure tell that the Star Worlds 2008 are coming to Miami in April by looking at the results of the Biscayne Bay Trophy. There were 68 boats from 24 nations. Twenty of them will be trying to qualify at the Worlds for the last four open Olympic slots. The winners of this weekend's regatta were Germany's Robert Stanjek and Markus Koy followed by Luca Moden and Sergio Lambertenghi from Italy. Bermuda's Peter Bromby and crew Lee White came in third. The top Master (over 50) skipper was US sailor Carl Buchan with son, James crewing. They finished 6th overall.

On Saturday, it was a "Qingdao Day" with the same light winds the sailors will face in the 2008 Olympics in Qingdao, China. The first weather leg was 2 miles long and with the weather dying, the second weather leg was shortened to 1 mile. The 2 ½ hour long race was the only one of the day. Sunday was a San Francisco day with shifty winds building to 20 and a little rain. By the end of the day, it was a sunny Miami afternoon, no one lost a mast and everyone had a great time.

Results will be found at www.coralreefyachtclub.org/index.cfm?menu=7564

470 WORLDS
A stunning mid-race collision has potentially cost British pair Nic Asher and Elliot Willis a serious tilt at their second world title at the 470 Men’s championships at Mordialloc Sailing Club today.

Asher and Willis, who started the day in overall second position, collided with Aussie No.2 team Mat Belcher and Nick Behrens in Race 8, and have slipped to sixth with Willis carted off to hospital for precautionary chest x-rays.

Willis, 24, was knocked off his trapeze after he and Asher, on starboard, bore away fearing the Australians would not attempt to avoid a collision.

“We thought they weren’t going to get out of the way so we tried to they bore away hard and hit me off the wire,” Willis said.

“We capsized and we hit them hard enough to take their shroud out it was pretty bad,” he added.

While Willis was the only one injured, Belcher/Behrens capped off an horrendous day on the water, unable to complete Race 8 due to major boat damage sustained in the collision, which backed up an OCS is Race 7, leaving them flailing at the tail end of the gold fleet.

The Aussie crew sustained a broken mast, shroud and severely bent boom.

At the pointy end of the fleet were racing was much cleaner, Gideon Kliger/Udi Gal (ISR) relished the tougher conditions and winds up to 22 knots, to elevate themselves from 11th to third place overall with a win and third in today two races.

The Israeli crew finished third at the past two world titles and is not prepared to settle for anything less this time.

Avoiding all of the carnage, Athens silver medalists and Beijing hopefuls Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield (GBR), have slipped under the radar and into overall first place on 30 points after a steady fourth and ninth place finish today.

470 Women

Dutch world champions Marcelien De Koning/Lobke Berkhout moved into outright first position today following two outstanding victories in 12-22 knot winds.

Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol (ITA) slipped to outright second, two points behind the Dutch crew on 25 points.

Asia Pacific Regatta winners Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving (USA) have moved up from seventh to third on 29 points, with Australian’s Elise Rechichi and Tess Parkinson losing two places on the fleet today.

The slightly built Aussie girls finished 14th and 19th respectively and in fifth position on 39 points.

The finals series continues tomorrow with another two races, scheduled to begin at 1pm. -- Jodi Kelly/Clare Murray

www.sailmelbourne.com.au

ROGERS YACHT DESIGN REQUIRES FULL TIME DESIGNER
An immediate vacancy has arisen for a full time Designer based at Rogers Yacht Design, Lymington, UK. The successful candidate must have at least 5 years experience in design offices and boat yards and be familiar with standard marine software packages and preferably with Catia.

Rogers Yacht Design projects include grand prix race boats, power and commercial projects, ultimately offering our design team varied briefs and exciting challenges.

To apply, please e.mail CV and any relevant references to Rebeca Rogers: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.rogersyachtdesign.com

RACE 6 OF CLIPPER 07-08 GETS UNDERWAY
Marina at Keppel Bay, Singapore: Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper crossed the line ahead of the rest of the fleet as the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht restarted at 0610 UT (1410 local time) on Sunday after a spectacular send-off from the new Marina at Keppel Bay, Singapore.

The ten yachts motored to the start line off Nongsa Point, Batam, Indonesia, where Race 5 from Fremantle finished prior to the fleet’s choreographed arrival in Singapore on 19 January to coincide with the opening of the new marina.

In the sweltering heat and just 5-8 knots of breeze from the east, the ten crews struggled to maintain some boat speed. Less than a minute after the start, the heavens opened and the crews were afforded some temporary relief in the form of a tropical downpour.

The start of Race 6 to Qingdao will prove challenging for the teams as they race in the restricted waters of the Singapore Straits. With one of the world’s busiest shipping channels penning them into a tight area, they are being forced to tack in light airs to make it to the first mark, Middle Rock, which lies approximately 30 miles east of Singapore.

The crews now face a 2,600-mile race north to Qingdao, the host of the sailing events in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where the fleet will be berthed at the Olympic Sailing Marina. The first boats are expected to finish on 15 February.

With just two points separating the top four boats, the pressure is on at the top of the Clipper 07-08 leader board. Durban 2010 and Beyond is currently leading overall with 33 points but the trio of British boats, Hull & Humber, Liverpool 08 and Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper will all be fighting to close the two-point margin to knock the South Africans off the top spot

clipperroundtheworld.com

WORLD ARC BOAT SAVES FISHERMAN
World ARC yacht Tillymint, an Oyster 82 taking part in World Cruising Club's round the world rally, has been involved in the dramatic rescue of a stranded Caribbean fisherman whilst on route to Panama.

The small open fishing vessel, the Vegas from St.Lucia, had been drifting for 20 days without a serviceable engine. In the early hours of Saturday 26 January (local time), at position 13˚28N 67˚23W approximately 80 nautical miles off the island of Aruba, the on-watch crew of Tillymint heard faint cries for help from close by, though they could not see another vessel. In the time it took the crew to drop sails, turn the yacht around and get back upwind against 25 knots to the incident position, the crew of the Vegas had started a small fire to attract attention. The fishermen were in a desperate situation, since despite passing close to other vessels they had been unable to raise a distress call.

Unfortunately, their signal fire got out of control and before Tillymint reached their position, the crew had to abandon the vessel and jump into the sea to escape the fire. One crewmember was rescued and taken onboard Tillymint. However, in the darkness and weather conditions prevailing at the time, they were unable to locate the remaining three fishermen.

Under the direction of MRCC Curacao, Tillymint conducted a search of the area around the wreckage, joined at first light by other World ARC yachts - Southern Princess, Grey Lady, Harmonie, BlueFlyer and Strega, and a Coastguard SAR aircraft. The Netherlands Coastguard ship, the Jaguar was also sent to the area to co-ordinate the search.

The survivor, Sherwin John, from St.Lucia has been evacuated onto the Jaguar. Despite the best efforts of the search vessels, MRCC Curacao called off the search at 18:30 local time on the 26 January, having failed to locate the three missing crew.

All World ARC yachts have now resumed their course for Panama.

www.worldcruising.com

BRITISH TEAM WINS SB3 AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
British Olympic Tornado sailor Leigh McMillan and his UK bowman Chris Kerrison have upset Geelong locals, Brendan Garner's Home Team, by taking out the Vectrix SB3 Class Australian Championship by just 1.5 points.

With two new female crewmembers who were picked up amidst the post-race festivities at Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) last night and who were "excellent at applying sun cream", McMillan and Kerrison enjoyed toying with the local favourites in today's final races.

"We had calculated that as long as Home Team finished below fourth place, we'd win the series so on the final upwind leg we took them right out wide. The two of us rounded the final top mark around three minutes behind the lead boats," Kerrison said this afternoon.

As well as high profile McMillan, a number of other 'name sailors' featured in the top placings including British world class sailor Andy Hazell and two-time Hong Kong Yachtsman of the Year, Mark Dagge

The SB3s are well established in Europe and so far a fleet of 24 has been imported into Australia with six sold and the majority of the remaining SB3's chartered out for this regatta. -- Lisa Ratcliff

Results:

1. Leigh McMillan, GBR, 10.50
2. Brendan Garner, AUS, 12.00
3. Jon Shelley, GBR, 14.50
4. Guy Bancroft, AUS, 24.00
5. Andy Hazell, GBR, 26.50
6. Mark Dagge, AUS, 33.00
7. Kai Timm, AUS, 35.00
8. Phil Crawford, AUS, 41.00
9. Sean ORourke, AUS, 46.00
10. Mike McLean, AUS, 49.00

www.geelongweek.com

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 Michael J Dailey: Is it just me or does E.Bertarelli just really NOT get it? Justice Cahn has already ruled CNEV as not a valid Challenger. EB and his best of the best lawyers can revisit it all they want but they will not gain any ground against his previous ruling. First they said they understood (in court) what GGYC meant when they said 90'. Now they are saying (again in court) that they do not understand? Might the justice just not ask which is it, and why did you lie to the court on the other?

Please pass on this little tidbit to EB and the rest of the landlubbers involved in this case, "even flat bottom barges have keels".

FEATURED BROKERAGE
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Complete listing details and seller contact information at www.yachtsandcruisers.com/boat/Vision/26988/

THE LAST WORD
Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. -- Mark Twain

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