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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1566 - WEEKEND EDITION 19-20 JULY

Brought to you by Boats.com Europe ( http://www.boats.com ) and Yachtworld.com Europe ( http://www.yachtworld.com ) 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 editor@scuttlebutteurope.com

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND THE RUMOUR MILL...

IF THE WEED DOESN'T GET YOU... Word back from China from Dan Slater, a Kiwi teenage friend of Ben Ainslie from their Laser class days. Their friendship won't stop Dan giving his all to try and beat Ainslie to the Finn class Gold medal however.

Slater's just back off the water from a training session. Weed remains a problem, not because there is a carpet of it on top of the water, but because the clear-up operation has left countless single strands still out, just wating to drape thesmelves around any passing rudder blade or dagger board. The Kiwi had to reach over the transom repeatedly to clear it off.

But it was the visibility which really opened Slater's eyes. It was so bad he said he wouldn't have found the harbour without the assistance of the handheld GPS receiver. And though he could hear the engine and voices of the some of the fishing boats and their crews still picking the weed out of the water, he couldn't see until he was almost on top of them.

Having moved heaven and earth to clear up the Green Sea, aka the Yellow Sea before the seaweed and algae invasion, the Chinese are still having to put up with complaints about water quality.

Now that the weed's nearly all gone, it seems visitors are not happy with what's left. It's mildly surprising that sailors should be the ones that are complaining. For a start, experience will have shown them that the sea off any major city is not pristinely clear. And secondly, they might have noticed that major international competitions can actually be an agent of influence.

Ask around the America's Cup teams who were in Valencia. Many were laid low with stomach bugs and upsets over the three year period even though the Valencian city officials did something about about their waste water management.

It was the same story at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona were the effluent issue was tackled. Not solved, but want one example of the Olympic legacy? Better water quality is one of them.

And so it is with Qingdao. It has got better. Nothing's going to change the sediment laden brown/yellow water into gin-clear azure. The waters of Qingdao are more like the Seine estuary at Le Havre than the piercing blue of the Med.

But there's less rubbish in it now, so progress is being made. -- Tim Jeffery in his blog, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/Tim_Jeffery

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH 22,000 SQUARE FEET OF SAIL? Chris Sinnett, Captain of the US Coast Guard training barque, Eagle, says, "It's basic sailing, just a lot of it."

Eagle is the grandest of the tall ships that have been calling on Pacific ports since late June as part of the American Sail Training Association's West Coast Challenge. They will arrive soon in California. The last time Eagle sailed down the Pacific Coast I was aboard, Portland to Frisco, and being a small-boat sailor, I had my epiphanies.

Best of all, it was a race.

Imagine a medium breeze near or forward of the beam. You will see the square-rigger crew "fanning" the uppermost sails-trimming them farther aft-to account for higher wind speeds aloft. (Maxi and America's Cup crews have a different tool kit but similar challenges.) In light air the uppermost sails of a square rigger are again trimmed farther aft than lower sails, to act as telltales and warn the driver if it's time to fall off. Aboard the Eagle, however, you will not hear too-cool-for-school racer lingo like "driver." Before we pulled out of Portland town, the crew was mustered on deck and the cadets were told, "Learn all you can. This is how you become a Coast Guard officer."

I don't know what may have been going through the minds of young cadets as they stood straight, listening to those words, but I have a notion of what they were thinking, three days later, as the light failed and the wind rose and there was a bite to that wind, and the ship was flying too much sail and came the call, ALL HANDS!

All eyes were aloft, up up up to the rigging. There's this other saying aboard the Eagle:

If you don't let go, you don't fall.

One of the fundamentals of going through the Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut is sailing the Eagle. Most cadets do not come from a sailing/voyaging background. Most have never been to sea when they walk aboard the Eagle for the first time, and on any voyage there is a mix of upper-form students who know the drill, plus raw recruits.

They are required to learn every sail and every line. You might see them of a mid-day, in a meandering trance, or so it seems, but in fact they're tracking slowly around the deck, classroom pamphlets in hand, touching first this line or that and reciting the names to themselves.

Again.

Again.

Two hundred+ lines.

Six miles worth.

The journalist in me decided that I was going to write out a prescription for how to tack the Eagle. I went to the book, and how-to-tack ran twenty-three pages. The end of that... -- Kimball Livingston, the full article on his blog: http://sailmagazine.blogspot.com

MY OLYMPICS: RALPH ROBERTS The New Zealand Herald talks to Ralph Roberts who competed in the sailing at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Games, was sailing manager in 1984, and chef de mission in 1992.

Friendships ... are the Olympics. On the water, you are racing for your country and there are no friends. But once the regattas were finished I met many sailors who are still great friends of mine today nearly 50 years later. In 1960 Prince Constantine sailed for Greece winning gold and in 1964 Prince Harald sailed for Norway. During the 1964 opening ceremony, Harald was holding the flag for Norway and in the marshalling area they were right behind our New Zealand team. I was pretty popular with the girls in our team because they wanted to meet a real live prince. They were both very nice people, very quiet. In the early 1960s, I started racing against a young Belgian called Jacques Rogge. Of course, he's now the IOC president and he came out to New Zealand to lay the foundation stone for the Takapuna Boating Club in 2002.

I started dreaming about the Olympics ... in 1954 when I heard about the coming 1956 Olympics. I remember thinking I'd have to get fit enough and mentally prepared enough and make sure my sailing tactics were up to scratch. The Olympics are for everyone. It doesn't matter where you sit in the socio-economic scale, if you have the desire and the skills you can put your mind and body to it and you can make it.

My worst Olympic moment was ... in the third race of the Olympic regatta in 1960. I was involved in an incident at a mark and was disqualified. On my way back to the hotel that night I went past the royal palace where the results were posted and saw: "Finn Class, New Zealand, disqualified". It dawned on me that it wasn't me who was disqualified, it was New Zealand. I lay in my room feeling I'd let the country down. It was my worst moment but it was also a great learning moment. I realised I was really there representing my country and now I had to have the resolve to get on top of my sailing for the last four races if I wanted to be on the podium - and that's what the Olympics are about.

The full article at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=106&objectid=10522141&ref=rss

ROCK UP AND RACE WITH ONDECK! Anyone can get involved in Skandia Cowes Week 2008

Simon Hedley, business development manager at Ondeck commented "Having lived in Cowes all my life, I got tired of hearing how you could not get involved in this event without either having very deep pockets or enormous amounts of sailing ability. With Ondeck, you need neither... just an appetite for adventure!.

We have 300hp Rigid inflatable Powerboat Rides & Helicopter rides for the ultimate in spectating through to racing days, weekends or whole weeks on Farr 65s, 40.7s and Dehler 39s. We even have Team Pindar's Volvo 60 for some Class 1 action or the ultimate experience with Brian Thompson aboard arguably the most powerful Open 60 in the world today."

For further details see http://www.ondeckshop.com/cowes-week-2008-1-c.asp or phone Katy on +44 1983 612642.

BREST 2008 - AN INTERNATIONAL MELTING POT OF MARITIME HERITAGE The departure of boats is always laced with nostalgia but when it consists of nearly 2,000 craft, each with their own maritime heritage, culture and tradition, amidst an atmosphere resounding with sirens and horns in thanks to the whole of Brest for its warm welcome, the emotion as they cast off for new horizons is tangible. It is warm though, with blue skies and fluffy clouds to provide the procession with enough breeze to tease them out to sea. As they disappear from view under the flags of around 30 countries, perhaps one of the most intriguing things about the Brest Maritime Festival is that you can really appreciate the significance and the privilege of what it is to play host to international maritime heritage.

500,000 visitors have flocked to Brest 2008 in NW France over the past six days and the majority of the locals have come down to the port everyday and every year since the festival began, eager not to miss out.

On the water, around 500 local spectator boats from the pretty little coastal villages of Conquet, Camaret and Moulin Blanc and elsewhere have come out to give their historic counterparts the send off they deserve. A third of the Brest 2008 fleet will head for the 3 day event at Douarnenez, whilst a number of the tall ships will make for Liverpool, UK for the big tall ship festival. The remaining craft will slowly wend their way home, to horizons far and wide, their minds already thinking ahead to Brest 2012.

As well as being an inspiration to a host of other events, the Brest Maritime Festival has also proved to be an inspiration for a vast number of projects, including the Matthew, based in Bristol, UK, a replica of Italian John Cabot's journey across the Atlantic to discover Canada.

>From historic replicas to large yachts and coasters, fishing boats and working boats, classic boats, small traditional craft and skiffs, classic motorboats from the 'belle epoque', exotic boats such as Asian junks, pirogues and boats from the West Indies, the Southern Ocean and Polynesia, adventure boats which have made incredible journeys around the globe, fishing boats, crab boats, trawlers, as well as modern day offshore racing boats from Figaro Beneteaus, to Mumms, to Imoca 60 footers and ORMA and Maxi trimarans, the Brest Maritime Festival has certainly had it all.

Brest 2008 has welcomed crews from France, Spain, Holland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Vietnam, Switzerland, Croatia, USA, Madagascar, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Madagascar, USA and New Zealand to name but a few, and the result is a delightfully international melting pot of maritime heritage.

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12 METRES RULE THE DAY Newport Rhode Island, USA:- It was all about 12 Metres today when 13 of the boats -- known for their role in America's Cup history during the "Twelve Era" (1958-1987) -- raced on Narragansett Bay to set in motion the New York Yacht Club's (NYYC) sixth biennial Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex. The 12 Metres will be joined Saturday and Sunday by another 40 classic yachts, many of which are Sparkman and Stephens designs gathered in celebration of designer Olin Stephens's 100th Birthday Celebration, being held in conjunction with this first half of Race Week. (The second half picks up next Thursday with four days of racing for 123 boats in One-Design, IRC and PHRF classes.)

In the Modern Division, two of the most famous S&S-designed 12 Metres -- Courageous, skippered by Stephen Glascock (Middletown, R.I.) and helmed by Jamie Hilton (Newport, R.I.), and Intrepid, skippered by Jack Curtin (New York, N.Y.) -- are tied on points, each holding on to a first- and second-place finish from today's two races. Looking as sleek and youthful as in the days when they each successfully defended two America's Cups (Intrepid in 1967/'70 and Courageous in 1974/'77), the two historic Twelves have had a "great rivalry for the better part of 10 years," according to Curtin.

In other action, USA 61, skippered by Ralph Isham (New York, N.Y.) and helmed by Andy MacGowan (Middletown, R.I.), posted two bullets in Grand Prix division. Alain Hanover's (Newport, R.I.) 1958 Cup Winner Columbia leads Traditional division, while Elizabeth Tiedemann's (Newport, R.I.) Northern Light is 1-1 in Classic division to lead.

This September marks the 25th Anniversary of Newport, and America, losing the Cup. It also marks the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Twelve Era. Stephens designed six other 12 Metres in addition to the eight sailing here.

"It's the celebration for Olin that makes this regatta so special," said Curtin. "We feel strongly about our connection to Olin and the history that he is part of; it was our obligation to the sport to be here."

On-demand video will be available after 9 pm each evening of Race Week at http://www.nyyc.org , where complete results also can be found.

http://www.regattanews.com

CLASSIC YACHT PROJECTS AVAILABLE Traditional Boat Works in San Diego, California has three interesting classic yacht projects looking for new owners: ALTAMAR, #3 of the legendary Cal 32's, designed by Nick Potter and launched in 1937; VANJA VI, a 30 Square meter, designed by Knud Reimers, launched 1944; LAUGHING LADY, a rare Luders designed and built powerboat launched 1949. Take advantage of the weak dollar to take over the restoration of any or all of these classic boats. TBW - the very highly qualified and experienced wooden boat yard on the west coast who restored COTTON BLOSSOM II - will provide detailed specs and estimates.

Contact Doug Jones about these and other wooden boat projects, including hull work and spars. doug@traditionalboatworks.net , http://www.traditionalboatworks.net , or 1-619-542-1229.

LAUNCHINGS * After a spell of spring sailing, Temenos II is back in her cradle once again at the heart of the nautical platform in the old port of La Rochelle. Following a set timetable, the month of June has been largely devoted to working on a set of sails for the next Vendee Globe. Though the skipper is entirely satisfied with the new upwind sails, a lot of thought has been going into the downwind sails throughout the past few weeks.

"The sail trials have gone very well, and it's been good for the team to get away from the yard for a bit and get a dose of sea air again. We've had a few outings offshore, which have enabled us to trial the new upwind sails and come to a decision about the choice of downwind sails, which still had to be designed for the Vendee Globe. We were able to decide on the surface area and the geometry, and we have performed a certain number of trials to compare the various foresails, in order to obtain a precise inventory. As usual, we have returned from these sail trials, our notebooks full of scribblings, and the sail loft is ready to set to work. The sails are likely to be delivered in around ten days' time" explains Dominique.

As a result, work has begun on Temenos II again over the past week and although the majority of the optimization desired by the skipper on his return from the Barcelona World Race were completed early in the year, there was still a sizeable modification to the programme. Following the problems encountered with the steel appendage during the round the world race, Dominique decided to opt for a carbon keel on his return. And it is this delicate task that the shore crew set to work on almost a week ago in La Rochelle.

This change of keel contributes to the global lightening of the boat, which a lot of work has already gone into during the winter jobs list. A direct result of these modifications is that the monohull's technical characteristics have evolved and Temenos II will have to be remeasured. "We've saved some more weight, which is always appreciable in the boat's performance. The shape of the bulb has been optimized thanks to CFD studies. In ten days' time, Temenos II should be entirely emptied and will undergo the necessary scrutineering after these latest alterations. After that we will head out to sea for some offshore sailing in order to validate the new keel and get back down to training." -- Kate Jennings

* Neville Crichton's new Alfa is smaller but just as spectacular as his Super Maxis. The conventional keeled, single rudder Reichel/Pugh 69 has given the McConaghy team the opportunity to shine. The interior custom fabrication of Nav area, saloon table, engine cover and even floor boards is remarkable - stunning all who attended the boats build completion party at McConaghy's in late June. More photos at http://www.johanpalsson.com/sean/ For more go to http://www.mcconaghyboats.com then Projects list.

* Behind its restrained and uncluttered lines this innovative 90 foot catamaran offers space that has, until now, been reserved for much larger yachts. The overall line of the Z90 is very restrained and from the initial sketches onwards, we tried to make the fittings as totally integral as possible.

Boarding the boat from the stern, one first finds the stern transoms freed from all devices. The stern doors reveal the swim platforms and the stairs leading to the deck. In the centre, between the transoms, an original and discrete tender housing accommodates a 4.2m RIB. Forwards of this the cockpit, housed under the fly bridge, is particularly clear and is furnished with sofas and armchairs.

A large bulwark protects the bridges and allows fully safe movement around the boat. Forwards of the mast, one discovers a discrete deckhouse housing the huge owner's cabin.

The fly bridge, a true nerve centre, houses all the sail controls around the central wheelhouse. Just astern, a relaxation area with benches, tables and sun deck welcomes guests. A bar/kitchenette/BBQ area, directly accessed by a hatch from the galley, allows meals to be served here.

The starboard hull houses two identical, spacious guest cabins. The port hull is reserved for the chef and crew. -- http://www.berret-racoupeau.com

* Wicklow, Ireland yacht designer, Mark Mills has enjoyed incredible success, creating numerous winning yachts; Tiamat, Blondie IV and Mariners Cove. However, his latest yacht is by far the biggest and most hi-tech creation to date.

The lines and technical systems of the Mills 68, Alegre, can only be described as one of the most hi-tech examples of racing yacht in the world today. She was built in the United States and whilst Mills designed her, many of the boats systems also had input from America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race navigator, Jules Salter. Alegre is competing at ACCBank Cork Week for the first time and whilst her deck lay out and rig is as advanced as America's Cup boats, the gleaming grey hull houses bunks for 12, a full galley and shower and heads combination. One very unusual feature is a lifting propeller, designed to increase performance but also allowing for a significant cruising speed under engine. -- Photo and report by Louay Habib

* More than 2,500 years after the first circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians, a brand new replica ship with 20 paying crew is preparing to follow in the footsteps of these ancient mariners.

According to the Greek Historian, Herodotus, in 600 BC, Phoenician mariners achieved the first circumnavigation of Africa in a 21-metre square-rigged ship with around 10 rowing stations on each side.

Philip Beale, a City fund manager turned adventurer, arranged for a team of Syrian boat builders to begin construction of a replica Phoenician ship in 2007. The 17,000 mile historical voyage will begin from Syria on 1 August with 20 paying crew aboard. After navigating down the east coast and tackling the Cape of Good Hope, the boat will return up the west coast, through the straits of Gibraltar and across the Med back to Syria, followed by a trip to the UK in summer 2009.

Philip Beale has previous experience with such a journey. In 2003, he set sail aboard the Borobudur, a recreation of another historical voyage from Indonesia to Africa. -- YBW.com, http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20080611150353pbogeneral.html

For more information about the Phoenicia Expedition, please visit: http://www.phoenicia.org.uk

MARK RUDIGER On Thursday July 17th, 2008 Mark Rudiger, one of the best and most sought-after ocean racing navigators in the world has lost his battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Lori and his son Zayle. He will be greatly missed. Your family will always be in our prayers.

Mark's wife Lori sent out the following message to the sailing community: Dear beloved sailing family, Thank you all for your good thoughts and well wishes. After a very tough battle, Mark chose to trade in his defective body for a beautiful new form and left us this afternoon. At his son Zayle's suggestion, we are going to light candles tonight to remember him and his amazing life energy. If you can, please join us by lighting a candle for Mark. Mark and I were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and healing energy from all of you around the world. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we love you all. -- Zayle and Lori Rudiger

A non-profit emergency fund has been set up by Jim Swartz, owner of Moneypenny.

Donations can be made as follows: Christian Center of Park City, P.O. Box 683480, 1100 Iron Horse Drive, Park City, UT 84060 (attn: Emergency Assistance Fund, for benefit of Mark Rudiger).

FEATURED BROKERAGE 2002 Bakewell White Fast Cruiser, 1,100,000 Euros, Located in TIrreno Centro, Italy.

Built in Carbon / Kevlar composite.

Brokerage through Boats Diffusion Punta Ala: http://www.yachtworld.com/boatsdiffusionpuntaala/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at http://uk.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatFullDetails.jsp?boat_id=1932951

THE LAST WORD Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? -- Batman

The opinions expressed in Scuttlebutt Europe do not necessarily reflect those of its editors or sponsors.

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