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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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Laser Masters Worlds
Day 6 racing at the Laser Masters Worlds, sponsored by Crowne Plaza, where the prize giving dinner will be held this evening, got underway with the Standard fleets shortly after 10.00am in light flicky south and south-easterly winds on the course off Terrigal.
Brett Beyer (AUS) was the first winner announced today, successfully defending his 2007 World Championship crown in the Standard Apprentice Master finishing the final day with a win and a second place.
After leading the fleet all week and going into day with a five point lead, Brad Taylor (AUS) was done out the Master world title today when Jan 'Clogs' Scholten (AUS) steamed home in third place to Taylor's fifth in Race 8 and won Race 9 in which Taylor finished sixth, to claim the Standard Master Worlds title.
Mark Bethwaite, a 1972 and 1976 Olympic sailor today retained his Stand Grand Master crown following sixth and second places in the final two races. Second place has gone to Wolfgang Gerz from Germany who was only one point behind Bethwaite going into racing today.
Peter Heywood (AUS) the reigning Radial Grand Master world champion has won his second world crown this afternoon after winning four of the nine races sailed, including the final Race 9 this afternoon.
The Sydney sailor's worst result was a fifth in the one race drop series.
Gill Waiting from New Zealand was the only female competitor in the Grand Master fleet and so wins the Women's world championship. Waiting finished the regatta 23rd overall from 33 competitors with 173 points.
American sailor Peter Seidenberg did not need to start today's one race in the Radial Great Grand Masters to win, but he did. "The conditions were too beautiful not to," he said. The 70 year-old American has won the past two world titles from Australian Kerry Waraker - and that's exactly how it stacked up today too.
Seidenberg finished on nine points, 11 clear of Waraker with an amazing seven wins from nine races, including the final Race 9 - the best score of anyone in the series.
An excited James Liebl (USA) has won the Apprentice Radial word title on his first attempt at Terrigal today.
From the Florida east coast town of Titusville, the likeable Liebl won the last Race 10 of the series for a final tally of 12 points, beating second placegetter John Jagger (AUS) by a massive 18 points following two race drops. Richard Bott (AUS) was third on 41 points.
Another newcomer to the Masters Worlds, Alison Casey (AUS) finished an impressive eighth overall in the Radial Apprentice to cart off the Women's world crown.
A bit of Kiwi magic came to the fore today when New Zealander Mark Orams won a tight three-way battle for the Radial Master World Championship.
The quietly spoken Orams came home strong with a third and a win to claim the trophy on 12 points from his two greatest rivals, British sailor Stephen Cockerill (17 points) and defending champion and 2006 winner Greg Adams (AUS) on 25 points.
Christine Bridge (AUS) an Olympian from the 1990's and mother of three overcame six-time world champion and fellow Queenslander Lyndall Patterson to win the Women's Radial Master World Championship.
In all, 367 sailors competed at the Laser Masters Worlds.
Results are provisional pending protests and ratification by the organisers. -- Di Pearson
For all information on the Gosford Sailing Club hosted Laser Masters Worlds go to: aus08.laserinternational.org
Following In His Father's Wake
Photo by Christophe Favreau, www.christophefavreau.book.fr
His father sailed at the Sydney Olympics and to Sydney to Hobart victories, but yesterday Sydney skipper Seve Jarvin claimed a piece of sailing history after leading the youngest crew to victory in one of Australia's oldest regattas, the JJ Giltinan 18-foot skiff international.
After just two years sailing together in the class, the fast-learning Jarvin and crewmates Robert Bell and Sam Newton, all 21, were crowned the 2008 JJ Giltinan champions.
Battling a fleet boasting sailors who have contested the America's Cup and the Olympics, Jarvin and his crew were so dominant in the regatta they didn't even need to sail yesterday's final heat to secure the title.
So, after a night of early celebrations, a "seedy" Jarvin and crew on Gotta Love It 7 yesterday claimed the famed 18-foot skiff trophy after the final race of the championship on a picture-perfect Sydney Harbour.
Jarvin's father Steve sailed to numerous line honours and overall victories in the Sydney to Hobart, including two race records on Nokia (1999) and Wild Oats (2005).
Michael Coxon steered Fiat to a one-second win in yesterday's final race to secure second overall in the championships. Hugh Stodart and his crew on Asko were third overall.
The JJ Giltinan championships were first held in 1932. -- Amanda Lulham in The Daily Telegraph, www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23268574-5014066,00.html
Z-System Ultra Rigging -
Higher Performance Through Lower Weight and Windage
Navtec has taken PBO rigging to the next level with Z-System Ultra - fully continuous fiber rigging that allows all shrouds to pass over the spreader tips without termination. That means fewer parts, 10% weight reduction over traditional PBO, 20% less windage and a lower chance of failure when you're out on the water. According to designer Alan Andrews, "In the case of It's OK, Navtec continuous rigging has 10 fewer end fittings than discontinuous rigging, making installation, tensioning and maintenance of the rig a lot easier." To find out more about Z-System Ultra, call + 1 203-458-6200
More on Z-System Ultra at en.lewmar.com/news/index.aspx?newsid=329
Alinghi Sailing Team Starts Training
Seven months after winning a second consecutive America's Cup, the Alinghi sailing team is back on the water and training in Valencia.
Fifteen sailors were out racing the Alinghi Extreme 40s on Saturday including Ed Baird, Dean Phipps, Yves Detrey, Warwick Fleury, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza, Francesco Rapetti, Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen, Juan Vila, Nils Frei, Curtis Blewett, Rodney Ardern, Nicolas Texier, Luc Dubois and Pierre-Yves Jorand.
This is the first in a series of training sessions that herald the beginning of the summer sailing season and kick off team preparations for an America's Cup, whether in an AC90 in 2011 or on a multi-hull. "We are preparing for all scenarios, both with the X40s and the D35s on one hand and with the Farr40 on the other. We have a busy summer sailing schedule lined up," team skipper Brad Butterworth said.
The current sailing team schedule is to campaign the Decision 35 multi-hull on Lake Geneva, to compete in the iShares regattas with the X40 and to do various Grand Prix events onboard the Alinghi Farr40. -- Daphne Morgan Barnicoat
www.alinghi.com
Clipper 07-08 Bids Farewell To Asia
Qingdao, China: At 1530 local time (0730 GMT) on Sunday a horn sounded across Fuschan Bay, Qingdao, signalling the start of Race 7 of the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race to Hawaii. The race restart marked the end of a successful stopover in Qingdao's Olympic Sailing Centre, which acted as a dress rehearsal for the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The ten-strong international fleet crossed the start line in approximately ten knots of breeze from the south west, flying their Yankee One headsails at the start of the 4,400-mile race across the Pacific from China to Hawaii.
Following an extremely close and challenging upwind race from Singapore to Qingdao, the next stage of the race to Hawaii is expected to deliver some strong downwind conditions. Race 7 is the longest race of the Clipper 07-08.
The fleet's stopover in Qingdao marks the second time the Clipper Race has visited the city, giving the Olympic Sailing Committee further experience in hosting large-scale sailing events ahead of organising the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
www.clipperroundtheworld.com
Lang Walker Takes the Double Back to Back
After three very different days of sailing both on Sydney Harbour and off Sydney heads, Lang Walker and his team on Kokomo have defended their double crown - the 2008 Hamilton Island Farr 40 Australian Championship and the 2007 -08 Australian Farr 40 Circuit.
For the last day the 10 boat fleet again headed outside Sydney heads to the Macquarie circle to line up for the last three races in the series. After Saturday's tough conditions offshore the fleet raced in a shifty breeze that swung from the south west to the east all in the last leg of race seven.
The large swell that had provided many surfing opportunities yesterday had reduced dramatically and the lighter fluctuating breeze tested the mettle of every tactician's strategy.
Ivan Wheen's Sputnik and Guido Belgiorno Nettis's Transfusion, who overnight were placed second and third respectively, switched places overall after Transfusion finished the last day with two first places and a fourth.
"It's fantastic to see the local fleet so strong and we are already looking forward to next season starting with the annual Port Stephens regatta", said Wheen.
The 2008-09 Australian Farr 40 season will kick off in October with it hoped for a Farr 40 class division to also be racing at the Audi Hamilton Island Race week in August. -- Sam Crichton
www.farr40.org
81st Annual Bacardi Cup
"Drinking from the Bacardi Cup is as good as drinking from the Fountain of Youth," quipped John Dane III, who won the prestigious Star Bacardi Cup Regatta in 2006.
The 57-year old, Dane who will be the oldest of 400 sailors at the 2008 Olympics, returns for what he believes is his 10th Bacardi Cup with his tried and true team that includes son-in-law and Olympic crew, Austin Sperry; hull # 8230 and the Manhattan Project team.
All of the winning Bacardi Cup skippers dating back to 1994 and many of the winning crew will be racing in this year's regatta. They will be competing against this year's crop of Olympians from Brazil, Great Britain, China, Portugal, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Germany and Sweden and Olympic hopefuls who will use the regatta as a tune-up event for the 2008 Star World Championships that will be held in Miami in April.
So far, 107 boats are registered.
March 2nd marks the start of six days of racing on Biscayne Bay in Miami. The winner of the 81st Annual Bacardi Cup Regatta will be presented the Trofeo Bacardi on Friday afternoon, March 7th during a traditional Asado Tropical Cuban buffet.
What started out in 1927 as a three-day event with less than 10 boats in Havana, Cuba, now attracts more than 200 sailors each year from some 25 countries and remains one of the few sporting events in which weekend enthusiasts have the opportunity to compete head on with Olympian and World Champion athletes. -- Lynn Fitzpatrick
www.BacardiCup.com
New Rapide Trailer Distribution Centre on the South Coast
In order to assist dinghy sailors in the UK, Rapide Trailers have established a distribution outlet where fully finished trailers can be collected, ready to drive away. The distribution outlet is located centrally and with easy access to South Coast motorway networks at Eastleigh, Southampton.
Rapide are now able to offer massive price reductions on trailers for the RS dinghy range. If you are buying a new RS boat from Racing Sailboats, Chandlers Ford, you to collect your new trailer just two miles away and save up to 219.00 GBP!
Details of the new Rapide Trailer distribution point can be found at:
www.dixonbate.co.uk
www.syksolutions.com
100 Years for the Square Metre Rule
In 1908, the Square Metre rule was founded. This year marks a 100-year celebration in sailing history. With the International Swedish Championships for 22 Square Meters, including the Skerry Cruisers Cup, we will show the uniquness of this sailing class still live and kickin'.
Boats from beginning of the 1930´s still compete with modern designs of today on the same scene and on the same level. Since 1933, the A22 class has been sailing for the Skerry Cruisers Cup, one of Sweden's most attractive, spectacular and oldest prizes, which puts its winners in the history books of sailing forever!
Hosted by KSSS (The Royal Swedish Yacht Club), the 100 year Square Meter event in Saltsjobaden, outside the capitol city Stockholm in Sweden, will be the highlight of a centennial of yachting with skerry cruisers.
A short summary of the Square Metre Rule
The square metre rule, which was accepted in 1908 and revised in (1916, 1920 and) 1925, comprises the following nine classes: 15, 22, 30, 40, 55, 75, 95, 120 and 150 sq m. The figures stand for the maximum measured sail area, the principle being that while sail area is limited the hull dimensions are free within certain parameters.
The rules for the hull govern four of the important dimensions which determine boatspeed; i.e. displacement, keel length, width and freeboard height. These dimensions are set in relation to waterline length, which is measured a few cm. above the real waterline. Waterline length determines a boat ́s hullspeed, and an increase here will result in a faster boat. The idea is that you may increase thewaterline and thus produce a faster boat, but then you must increase the speed-reducing dimensions in proportion. In each class these minimum dimensions are clearly set out. If you design a yacht with a waterline longer than the minimum then you must also increase the other four dimensions. A case of swings and roundabouts.
The Skerry Cruiser is Sweden's contribution to the world of sailing. It is a fast and elegant boat of which over 1200 have been built since the advent of the rule in 1908. Most of the yachts are still sailing today despite the fact that they ave long ago passed retirement age.
Date: Aug 6-10, 2008.
Place: Stockholm/Saltsjobaden, Sweden.
See:
www.sk22.nu
jubilee.smry.org
Maktoum Challenge Attracts Foreign Boats
Dubai: A strong fleet of more than 35 boats are set to compete for the Maktoum Sailing Trophy off the Mina Seyahi waters near the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) from February 25-29.
Sponsored by Emirates, the annual event has attracted a lot of interest from foreign boats, prominently a strong one from Australia, South Africa, France and Germany.
The event, to be held under the patronage of Shaikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will be under the auspices of the ISAF, the UAE Marine Sports Federation and the DIMC.
The boats will be categorised in three division as per their specifications, namely Division 1, 2 or 3.
The event will have a fleet racing format with two races held every day over the five days of action. The UAE is being strongly represented with at least ten teams from the region. These include Division One winner Yo!, Le Meridien Mina Seyahi in Division 2 and Eureka in Division 3.
The Maktoum Sailing Trophy is being held as a curtain-raiser for the Dubai RC 44 Cup - the brain-child of former America's Cup skipper Russell Coutts. The opening round of the event is scheduled to be held at the same venue from March 3-7.
www.gulfnews.com/sport/Sailing/10191682.html
* The Dubai RC 44 Cup will start on Monday March 3 with the match racing event. The winner of the contest will be celebrated Tuesday night, before the owners take the helm for three days of fleet racing.
A coastal race - the DHL Trophy - will take the fleet into The Palm for an exciting discovery trip. The winner of this race will be awarded with the DHL Trophy, whilst the points of the regatta will be incorporated in the fleet race ranking.
The Dubai RC44 Cup will reassemble Chris Bake's Team Aqua (with pro sailor Cameron Appleton), Russell Coutts' Team Omega with Patrick De Barros helming the fleet races and Miroslav Reljanovic's Cro-A-Sail (who now sails with Morten Henrikson): the top three teams of the Championship Tour 2007.
Team Ceeref (Igor Lah / James Spithill) and Team Hiroshi - Citta di Milano (Armando Giulietti and Sebastien Col ) will lead the opposition, whilst Sea Dubai, the local team from DIMC, will join the RC 44 fleet for the first time with Markus Wieser at the helm.
www.rc44.com
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 Adrian Morgan: I admire Magnus for his outspoken, shoot from the hip, safety off before engaging brain style of journalism, and have told him so many times. But this "Ernesto bad Larry good" mantra is getting on my wick. In fact I can't help feeling a little sorry for Ernesto. Call me perverse, but why do we fondly think that good 'ol Larry has any purer motives, or that he can be regarded as anything other than another America's Cup predator, with a cleverer legal team? To muscle in to the D35 competition strikes me as being provocative and if I were among those elite Swiss bankers I too would vote to exclude a blatantly commercial spoiler entry from a competitor against whom I was fighting a legal battle. It would sour the contest and spoil the fun. Thank god the ISAF have no jurisdiction in the matter. You can't beat them over the head, Magnus, with that one. This is a private matter between (wealthy) gentlemen and, as the old shellback remarked, "yacht racing is a sport of gentlemen, and in dealing with gentlemen you can't be too careful." And I note that Ernesto was not among those against the Oracle entry. So give the man a break.
* From Manolo Bunge: It is obvious that the "vibratory phenomena" was there before any event leading to the closure of the float/beam. I´ve been on board yachts (usually monohulls) that once at certain speed, the keel would start to vibrate, sometimes barely noticeable, on others, it was like a propeller airplane.
Usually, giving the keel a fair amount of time, fairing, sanding, checking the simetry and most important, a perfect trailing edge, the problem would be solved.
The same solution was given to rudders with similar behaviour.
I guess at the (much) higher speeds a boat like Groupama III goes, vibratory phenomena happens when crossing similar thresholds. I would think that the collateral effects of this vibrations accumulates and with time it grows to a point were it collapses? Explodes?
Who's to blame? Surely not the crew.
* From Maja Kise: Further to various information published on several websites, let me give you some clarification from inside the D35 meeting held late last week.
'During the meeting to ban Russell from the D35 circuit, a skipper who has competed for three years in the class,'
The above information is partially correct however the subject was not to ban Coutts but to talk about Gonet's role in the class. The main goal was to ban highly paid professionals and also to avoid an inside race between BOR and Alinghi.
Gonet's dream was the other owners's nightmare.
Eight out of 9 owners were in attendance and the last one had given his proxy to the president. Apparently he was the only support for Gonet's case.
'Apparently one delegate stood up and proclaimed like that he would 'lower his sails' if Coutts showed up!!'
One boat owner effectively said that, however he was only talking about doing it if Coutts showed up during practice and it was not Mr Bertarelli.
It is worth mentioning that the multihull community is very small on the lake. A very tight group of 15-20 years old friends. It can be concluded that Gonet is the victim of a bunch of very good friends.
Gonet is not a sailor and neither a founder of the D35 class. He mentioned several times during the meeting that he was only involved in this proposal from a PR standpoint. Gonet called Coutts during the meeting to let him know what was going on.
The Last Word
If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it! -- Jonathan Winters
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