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Brought to you by Yachtworld.com Europe and boats.com Europe, 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
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Capsize Off New Zealand
Whilst sailing off New Zealand, Groupama 3 capsized following the breakage of her port float. The ten men were very quickly airlifted via helicopter by the New Zealand rescue services and taken to Dunedin (South Island). They will do everything they can to salvage the trimaran once the conditions on zone have improved.
At 2343 UT on Sunday night, the giant trimaran turned over 80 miles to the East of the New Zealand town of Dunedin (South Island), the crew having gybed two hours earlier in a thirty knot SW'ly breeze on big seas. Groupama 3 had around a day's lead over the round the world reference time set by Orange II and had begun its entry into the Pacific Ocean over the weekend. The crew was unable to do anything to prevent their capsize and was very rapidly picked up by the New Zealand rescue services, which rushed three helicopters onto the zone.
Franck Cammas: Groupama 3 is salvageable, even though the port float is highly damaged: we'll need the weather forecast to become milder as there were six to seven metre waves at the time. Conditions will improve and we'll go to the zone with a diver to free as many of the parts as possible, which are loading down the platform, prior to righting the boat and bringing her back to the coast, which is only 80 miles away.
It's hard to take it all in! We've sailed on this boat a lot and some of the crew were surprised at the impact she was absorbing, especially in the Indian Ocean, but we were beginning the 'simplest' section in what were improving conditions and we had a 24 hour lead. We were very lucky in our misfortune: if it had happened 40 hours earlier, it would have been at 55 degrees South with the water at 3 degrees C! It was the only point in a circumnavigation of the globe, other than Cape Verde, where we could pass within fifty miles of a coast. We were pretty lucky!
www.cammas-groupama.com
Knut Frostad Named VOR CEO
Photo by Johan Wildhagen/onEdition
Portsmouth, England: Norway's Knut Frostad (40) has been appointed as Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race. Frostad, who has taken part in the Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race four times, twice as skipper and manager of his own projects, will take up his position at race head quarters in Whiteley, UK, on 3 March.
With background in business management and administration, Frostad has also been a board member and industrial advisor to leading companies as well as a sought after business speaker in Europe.
Knut Frostad said that the Whitbread/Volvo has been a big part of his life for 15 years and that this would be a dream job.
"My immediate focus is the present race. The 2008-09 race is pretty much laid out. My job is to ensure that the race is organised expertly and that we have the most successful and exciting race possible as we continue the event's evolution. The team in place in race headquarters is experienced and professional which will ensure a seamless transition."
The 2008-09 event will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain on 4 October 2008, it will for the first time, take in ports in Asia. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at around 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews.
volvooceanrace.org
Recoding Your Vessel Under MCA Code of Practice?
Email the RYA to find out about the savings you can make!
If you own a boat, which is registered in the UK and is used for commercial activity, then it may well need recoding or annual inspection during the early part of 2008 prior to commissioning.
The RYA are able to offer a considerable saving on the cost of coding a vessel to MGN 280 (M) for commercial use as an appointed MCA Certifying Authority throughout the UK.
The RYA, as a Certifying Authority, administers the scheme for ribs, motor vessels, bareboat and skippered sailing charter vessels and motor charter vessels, including dive and angling boats.
Prices are currently held at the 2007 rates, until 6th May 2008.
Please visit www.rya.org.uk/KnowledgeBase/technical/mcacodes.htm for further information.
Spanish Team Mutua Madrilena 4th in the Barcelona World Race
Spanish skippers Javier "Bubi" Sanso and Pachi Rivero jubilantly crossed the finish line early this morning, 19th February, in Barcelona onboard Mutua Madrilena at 00:18:40 GMT making them the fourth boat to race home in the Barcelona World Race.
A fabulous welcome for the national team as they sailed into the Olympic port on home waters surrounded by spectator fleet, supporters, friends and family after 99 days 12 hours 18 minutes and 40 seconds trip around the world.
"We feel we have accomplished our mission," said Bubi, "competition-wise I think we have done a very good job and we are proud of what we have achieved. It would have been excellent to get a 3rd; and we were so close - but Dominique and Michele did a great job! Next time first place!"
"I will miss the boat," admitted Pachi, "I personally wanted to get back to shore and see my family a nd friends, and each race has to come to an end. But I feel a little sad, looking around at the boat and having to leave it all."
The 2003 Owen-Clarke Design Mutua Madrilena was built in New Zealand and has a vast track record; winner of the 2004 Transat and 3rd in the Vendée Globe 2005 as Mike Golding's Ecover 2, the Spanish team were confident but realistic to their level of competitiveness against the newer generation boats on the fleet.
A rough passage through Gibraltar and into the Alboran Sea, Mutua Madrilena continued to gain on the Swiss-french boat ahead of them but had to battle the elements with Force 6 and 7 conditions up to 24 hours of the finish.
www.barcelonaworldrace.org
The Route de L'Or
The Route de l'Or stretches along both sides of the American continent, where unusual sailing conditions are the norm. Lionel Lemonchois and his nine-man crew will have experienced similar weather phenomena only weeks apart. As suggested by its slowing speeds, Gitana 13 is readying for its second tangle with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and its second equator crossing.
The maxi-catamaran is located at 4 degreesS, where the sailing is made difficult not by rough seas but by very high temperatures: "The sun is blazing hot. What a contrast... five days ago we were wrapped up in oilskins, wearing gloves and hats! To protect themselves during watch duty, the guys have rigged a system of sheets to lessen the impact of the sun and heat," said Dominic Vittet.
The men of Gitana 13 have also made the most out of the relatively stable southeasterly breeze - meaning few maneuvers - to get some R and R. Their goal is to hit the always tricky and unpredictable doldrums in top form. For once they cross the equator, the maxi-catamaran's deck will come alive: watch duty will be filled with frequent sail and direction changes and a greater level of concentration.
Gitana 13's strategy and the point at which it will enter the ITCZ will become clearer in the coming hours, and will depend on the doldrums' activity. Lemonchois and his crew will have spent nearly 27 days in the southern hemisphere (they crossed the equator on the Atlantic side on 23 January at 8:24am). Their equator-to-equator time could have been five days shorter had the weather been more cooperative when Gitana 13 rounded Cape Horn.
www.gitana-team.com
Chartering with OnDeck
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Feel the thrill of high-performance yacht racing in the clear waters and warm trade winds of the Caribbean!
For more information www.ondeck.co.uk
Bellissima and Orion Winners at Casa de Campo Regatta
Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic: On yet another perfect day of Caribbean sailing, the final race of the three-race inshore series was held today to determine the final IRC and PHRF class winners in the Casa de Campo Regatta for the Presidente Cup. In IRC Class A Gianfranco Fini's Comet 51 Bellissima finished as runner-up in this race to last year's winner Pepe Rodriguez on his Frers 45 Celtic V, but that was good enough to stay five points ahead of the pack to win the class. And in PHRF Class B, Sven Holmbo's Hunter 301 Orion scored only third today, but that too was good enough to stay one point clear of Rafael Roldan's Beneteau 400 Wolfgang for the class win.
In having excelled in both the 23-mile Round Catalina Race held yesterday and in the total scores from the inshore series, Bellissima also wins the Deutsche Bank Trophy for the IRC entries, and Orion wins the Presidente Trophy for the PHRF entries.
Winds today were 10-16 knot easterlies, and with a windward mark positioned within metres of the shoreline, there were some interesting shifts and currents to challenge both fleets even over the relatively short .75 mile legs.
Just as in the first day of course racing, reigning World Match Racing Tour champion Ian Williams acted as guest helmsman on Bellissima today, and despite a broken vang suffered only moments prior to the start of the race, the multinational team of Dominicans and Italians led by a Briton managed to keep the pressure on the leaders, finishing only 35 seconds off the winning time.
Margins in PHRF Class B were even closer, with Frederico Penzo's Beneteau Idyle Tranquilo (which is also the local expression for "no worries" or "take it easy") winning today's race by a mere 19 seconds over Wolfgang, with Orion only 22 seconds behind in third. Scoring in the PHRF class this week was done by race manager Pete Lawson based on time-on-time TCF ratings. Ramon Prieto's Jenneau 45 Cecile would have won the race by over 5 minutes were it not for a port tack crossing incident with Tranquilo on the first leg that was deemed too close by the protest committee, resulting in Cecile's disqualification for the race.
Complete results at www.casadecamporegatta.com
La Solitaire du Figaro 2008: 79 Skippers Entered to Date
79 skippers of which 25 are rookies, 6 are women and 8 from outside France, have registered to take part in La Solitaire du Figaro in 2008. For this 39th edition of the race, the competitors will follow in the footsteps of the original "Course de l'Aurore" race, a race made up of three stages, amounting to a new record 1,880 nautical miles.
La Solitaire du Figaro, one of the Summer's highlight events in the Figaro sailor's calendar, will take place between the 19th of July and 17th of August 2008. To date, seventy-nine have registered for this new edition and all are determined to be on the start line in La Rochelle on the 25th of July.
The notice of race does stipulate however that the number of competitors is limited to 55 and that those confirming their registration must do so before the 31st of May 2008.
After a few years off the scene, Alain Gautier returns to try and win the event yet again; Erwan Tabarly comes back sailing under new colours, while also entered are Ronan Guerin, Antoine Koch and Sebastien Audigane, who was sailing on Groupama 3 during their Trophee Jules Verne attempt.
The invincibles... such as Jean-Paul Mouren (22nd participations), Gildas Morvan, Nicolas Troussel (winner in 2006), Eric Drouglazet (winner in 2001), Thierry Chabagny, Jeanne Gregoire, Nicolas Beranger and others will fight it out to the bitter end for the best places.
The 25 rookies entered to date confirm once again that La Solitaire du Figaro attracts new talent each year. Others have proved themselves in other offshore areas. The 2007 favourites on the Mini 6.50 circuit enter: Isabelle Joschke and Adrien Hardy.
From the dinghy and windsurfing worlds come Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, the Champion de France in F18 in 2007 and Arthur L Vaillant who finished 3rd in the windsurfing World Championship in 2006.
La Solitaire 2008 will have the pleasure of welcoming 8 international sailors: Antonio-Pedro Da Cruz (Cape Verde Islands), Pietro D'Ali (Italy), Andy Grenwood (Great Britain), Isabelle Joschke (Franco-German), Nigel King (Great Britain), Juan Merediz (Spain), Paul O'Rian (Ireland), Liz Wardley (Papa New Guinea).
www.lasolitaire.com
Lindauer Classic Yacht and Launch Regatta
Photo by Richard Gladwell
Over 110 years of New Zealand's boating heritage took in the 6th Annual Classic Yacht and Launch Regatta held on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour from 16-18 February.
Coming from as far away as Mahurangi, these beautiful ladies, cherished like antique pieces of furniture by their loving owners, made a spectacular sight when they left the start line off Orakei Wharf.
The first Classic Yacht Regatta took place in Auckland in 2001, offering the opportunity for visiting classic yachts, whose owners were here for the America's Cup, to pitch their paces against those built in New Zealand. The event was such a success, that today it is an eagerly awaited event in the classic yachting calendar.
Over the three-day regatta the 113-year-old Waitangi, a famous winner in her day and 82 year old Tawera, today's line honours champion, sailed accompanied by around 70 yachts and launches of various sizes and designs. -- Joyce Talbot
www.classicyacht.org.nz
www.boatingoz.com.au
The Mother of All Southern Ocean Storms
Fedor Knoyukov, the Russian adventurer trailblazing a record-setting course around the Antarctica Cup Racetrack, is preparing himself for the mother of all storms to hit him later today. Fedor's 85ft (27m) yacht, Trading Network Alye Parusa, which crossed the International Date line yesterday, is deep in the Furious Fifty latitudes sailing with heavily reefed sails in preparation for the force 10-11 winds and 50ft seas that are forecast to sweep across his position later today.
After crossing the 180 degrees longitude yesterday that marks Ross Gate, the 4th of 14 gates within the Antarctica Cup Racetrack, Fedor reported: "I am already getting the breath of the storm to come: cold winds of 30+ knots from the SW and a confused sea. I tried to sleep tonight for at least two hours, but could only nap for 30-40 minutes as the wind was gradually increasing and shifting from SSE to SSW. I have had to spend many hours in the cockpit. To sleep here means I'm in the navigation station bunk fully geared up with sea boots, hat and harness on, ready to run into the cockpit. I set the alarm clock every 20 minutes in order not to fall into a deep sleep."
Weather router Lee Bruce has already brought Konyukov up from 55 degreesS to be sure that Trading Network Alye Parusa is north of this extreme Southern Ocean Low pressure system and in the favourable wind flow sector, but can do nothing more to save the 56 year old Russian from what will the severest test so far during this 14,000 n. mile circumnavigation attempt.
The American weather router also predicts: 'Waves should gradually increase, with max of 12-13m (40 feet), occasional 14-16m (53 feet) from about 18th Feb /0900 -19th Feb /1200 UTC.'
Unflustered, Fedor cooked himself a bowl of rice with dried fruit today. 'This was my hot meal for today and perhaps the last one for 48 hours. I filled both Thermos flasks with hot water which should be enough for today. The rest is business as usual. I will talk with you again after the coming storm has abated." -- Bob Williams
www.antarcticacup.com
'Fujifilm' to Compete in The Artemis Transat
Fujifilm today announces that 'Fujifilm', the 40-foot racing yacht sponsored by the company will compete in the 2008 Artemis Transat yacht race - the 13th edition of the demanding transatlantic contest. Skippered by international yachtsman Alex Bennett, 'Fujifilm' will be among the Class 40 entrants racing from Plymouth to Boston, USA, starting on 11 May 2008.
Dating back to 1960, the Artemis Transat is held every four years and brings together some of the world's elite sailors in a challenge to cross the demanding Atlantic Ocean along the 2,800-mile northern route. Up to 40 racing yachts are expected to take part in this tough race, which will take approximately 20 days to complete.
Built in Totnes, Devon, 'Fujifilm' has been prepared for a major three-year campaign. Class 40 is a racing rule which promotes top level ocean racing without the major financial budgets necessary to campaign larger boats, making yachting more accessible than ever before. The new class has been so well received within the yachting community that there are already well over 50 yachts at various stages of construction around Europe.
www.alexbennett.co.uk
Letters To The Editor
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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 Redfern: I was on the last leg in 1990 I think, (age blurs the memory) of the wave-piercer iLan Voyager which had a FIAT diesel truck engine, I think of about two litres. It broke the round Britain record on one 'tank' of fuel. This was a very exiting boat, but it had an open cockpit and was quite the wettest ride you could ever have. Every wave slid perfectly up its Concorde type nose and drowned all in the cockpit..!iLAN Voyager was the 21.3m prototype built to demonstrate the advantages of the concept. She gave a comfortable ride at up to 28 knots with a single main engine of just 180kW. She went on to prove her speed, economy and range capability by making a record-breaking un-refuelled voyage around Britain. The 1,568-mile trip was completed in 72 hours at an average of 21.5 knots and required just 2,000 litres of fuel.
The vessel has since worked as a filming platform, able to follow racing yachts at high speed whilst giving a ride smooth enough for still and video photography. She was operating as a tourist transfer vessel in the Cape Verde islands where she fulfilled the need for a small, economical inter-island vessel which can operate in the prevailing rough sea conditions.
See more on www.nigelirens.demon.co.uk/FRAMEpower.htm
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The Last Word
Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth. -- Peter Ustinov
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