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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1571 - 25 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

50 SOLO SAILORS FOR FRIDAY FIGARO START Fifty sailors will set off from La Rochelle tomorrow at 13:00 on the first of three legs of La Solitaire du Figaro, they key event of the Figaro solo sailing calendar.

The 2008 edition will cover 1,880 miles over three legs: La Rochelle to Vigo in Galicia, then a return leg to Cherbourg in France before the final marathon leg of 826 miles (the longest leg in the 39 year history of the race) to L’Aber W’rach on the northern tip of Brittany, by way of the Isle of Man in the north Irish Sea.

Race Director, Jacques Caraes has formulated a course that is long, tactical and testing in offshore sailing skills. “The decision to provide longer and further offshore legs comes down to popular demand from the sailors, and I see the standard as high and capable of dealing with the challenges the course will provide” explains Caraes on the eve of the start. The 465 mile leg from La Rochelle to Vigo “will be a warming up session for the sailors” continues Jacques, “crossing the Bay of Biscay is never without it’s problems, and do not be fooled, because it may be the shortest leg, in terms of distance, but it could well end up taking longer that you expect.”

11 rookie sailors join the competition together with four highly experienced women sailors, another record in the race history. Jeanne Gregoire on Banque Populaire and Liz Wardley on Sojasun will be joined by two new aspiring Figarists, Elodie Riou (KPMG) and Isabelle Joschke (Synergy), both successful Mini sailors.

The growing international following the event is currently enjoying is reflected in the arrival some new faces on the circuit. There are five non-French sailors in all, some familiar to the scene; Italian, Pietro D’Alì returns for the 4th consecutive year flying the colours of his new sponsor, Mc Cool, Antonio Pedro da Cruz, from the Cape Verde Isles, but truly settled in the France for years, returns for the third time on Baiko, Liz Wardley originally from Papa New Guinea, but now ensconced in the heart of the sailing mecca that is Brittany, returns for her 5th participation with her green boat, Sojasun. New to the Figaro scene, but familiar to sailing enthusiasts, Isabelle Joschke, joins the Solitaire for the first time with Synergy. Isabelle, born in Munich and now settled in France, made a name for herself in the Mini 6.5 Transat and will be one of the rookies to watch closely. Last but not least, Andy Greenwood from the UK comes to try his hand and gain some Figaro experience. At 26, he is young and experienced in other areas of sailing, but the Figaro is new and a challenge he is ready to tackle.

Gildas Morvan, participating for the 13th time, won crossed the finish line first in the Suzuki Prologue on Cercle Vert yesterday. Francois Gabart on Espoir Région Bretagne was the first rookie with a well-earned 7th place. -- Sabina Mollart-Rogerson

The skippers are expected to arrive in Vigo on Monday, the second leg to Cherbourg-Octeville starts on Thursday

http://www.lasolitaire.com

INTERNATIONAL OPTIMIST WORLDS The Optimist Worlds - 250 sailors from 53 countries - finished today in Cesme, Turkey with the final three races of the 15 race series.

In general opinion his has been one of the great Optimist championships with four races in lighter winds and eleven in heavier being an excellent test of all-round skills.

2008 was the year of Caribbean sailors, even more than 2007 belonged to New Zealand. Raul Rios (PUR), already North American champion, won with two races to go and good results in all wind conditions. Ian Barrows (ISV), still with two years left in the Class, can be proud of his silver. Puerto Rico won the exciting team-racing final and USVI took bronze. To cap it all Puerto Rico also won the Miami Herald Trophy for the team with the lowest cumulative points of the best four sailors. Bronze was taken by Kristien Kirketerp (DEN) just one point ahead of Mathias Derren.

The girls' podium was very much of an Asian affair. Tomoyo Wakabayashi (JPN) was top girl in 5th place over-all, while Rachel Lee (SIN) had a superb last day to take silver ahead of Lu Yu Ting (CHN). Noppakao Poonpat (THA) was fourth. Shelley White of Australia posted the best Worlds result ever from her country which only recently started to participate.

The leaderboard showed again the diversity of the Class with nine countries in the top ten. -- Robert Wilkes

Final top ten: 1. Raul Rios, PUR, 57 points 2. Ian Barrows, ISV, 95 3. Kristien Kirketerp, DEN, 120 4. Mathias Derren, FRA, 121 5. Tomoyo Wakabayashi, JPN, 128 6. Marten Jens, GER, 140 7. Jordi Xammar, ESP, 143 8. Balder Tobiasen, DEN, 159 9. Jolbert Van Dijk, NED, 159 10. Russell Kan, SIN, 172

Commentary: http://www.optiworld.org/08worldnews.html Results: http://www.optiworld.org/08worldnews.html Event site: http://www.optiworld2008.com/

SECOND AT FIRST EVER MARSEILLE ALGER CUP In the first ever Marseille Alger Cup, the French team of Laurent Bourguès and Nicolas Boidevezi finished second overall in the roundtrip race from Marseille, France, to El-Jazair, Algeria, June 29-July 9, 2008. The team competed with 100% Ullman Sails on Mini 6.50 “Adrenaline La Fete Bleue Marseille,” holding a podium position despite suffering keel damage 40 miles from the finish. “Adrenaline” finished the 1,000 nautical-mile race in 5 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes - just over 5 hours behind the winning boat “Soitec.”

For the “Fastest Sails on the Planet,” contact an Ullman Sails loft and visit http://www.ullmansails.com

STRONG WINDS ON DAY 4 OF THE 2008 BRITISH YACHT CLUB REGATTA The weather gods smiled once again on the 2008 British Yacht Club Regatta, providing bright warm sunshine and twelve to fifteen knot breezes, as the classic boats left the Cowes Yacht Haven this morning for day four of the event. One boat choosing not to race today was the 1914 8 Metre Class yacht Ierne so we took some time to find out more about this beautiful craft. Yorkshireman Huw Morris Jones told us that Ierne was built in 1914 by Fife for an Irish brewing magnate. Ierne was the earliest Bermudan 8 Metre and her rig was the first to be affectionately described as ‘Marconi’ due to her spar’s obvious resemblance to a large radio aerial. The non-gaff rig was not an immediate success however and Ierne broke two masts in her first season of racing. Morris Jones explains ‘We have some of the correspondence from the then owner, questioning whether the Bermudan idea was a good one and commenting that the cost of replacement masts was causing his bank manager some concern’. Out on the Class Zero racecourse the big boats were revelling in the freshening breeze. For the crew of Mariette this was a chance to show the true ability of their beautiful boat in conditions that suited her best. Enthusiasm got the better of some of the skippers at the start with Wings, Tuiga, Sceptre and Kelpie all adjudged to be over the line and consequently incurring a three minute time penalty. As expected, Mariette blasted around the course, eating up the twenty miles in just over two hours and forty minutes. Legendary yachtsman Harold Cudmore, sailing this week on Tuiga told us that it had been a marvellous day out on the water. ‘This week we are having great racing because we are so evenly matched with The Lady Anne. Today the race turned upon one decision - we chose not to gybe on the run because we were not sure how it would work out and they managed to pull it off meaning they beat us on the water. That is just how yacht racing should be’. When the final results were calculated, unsurprisingly Mariette took the corrected time win, with Wings in second and Tuiga placed third.

There was a special moment in Class Three today when Jamie Matheson’s Opposition claimed victory in the first race of the day. Better known as British Prime Minister Edward Heath’s most successful boat, Morning Cloud II, she has recently emerged from an eight month refit at the local Lallows Yard where she had originally been built. Echoing some of the many wins from her illustrious past, today Opposition took line honours and a corrected time win ahead of C van Rijckevorsel’s Sensa and Martin Thomas’s Charm of Rhu.

Aboard Swanilda Danny Brock was pleased with his fifth in class and told us that this result was a big improvement. ‘I am always at the back but we did well to day for two reasons. Firstly it was windy and Swanilda likes a bit of breeze but secondly we had our secret weapon Rosie Chapman on the helm. Rosie is a Laser radial sailor from Mounts Bay and she is in the British Olympic Squad for the 2012 Olympics. She was brilliant today and she whipped us all into shape.

Video from the start of the Class Zero boats on Monday and other images captured at the regatta can be found on the Offshore Rules website at http://www.offshorerules.com

http://www.rcyc.co.uk

BALTIC SPRINT CUP The first yachts home during the second leg of the record-breaking Baltic Sprint Cup 2008, the 4th annual edition of the race, have now arrived in Klaipeda. The yachts are expected to continue arriving through Friday afternoon - just in time for the annual Klaipeda Sea Festival.

Last night, overnight conditions were good, with fairly consistent northerly winds that kept the yachts speeding along towards Klaipeda. First past the line at 10:30 AM local time was Gerhard Clausen’s 82-foot Calypso, followed by Uwe Lebens’ RP56, SCHO-KA-KOLA, at 12:16, then Tilmar Hansen and his crew onboard Outsider, an Elliott 52ss, at 1:20.

The Baltic Sprint Cup 2008 began on July 19 with a picture perfect start from Travemunde in Germany, involving a short 2-mile beat into the wind and a turn of 2 marks, before the yachts set their spinnakers for Karlskrona, Sweden. A tough night of racing followed with squalls, shifting winds, and thunderstorms.

On July 20, Outsider, skippered by Tilmar Hansen past by the historic old fort 'Godnatt' and sped across the finish line at Karlskrona at 10:35:45, followed closely by the Lithuanian Ambersail and Gerhard Clausen’s 82-foot Calypso - the largest yacht in the race this year. The wind conditions meant it was a fairly compact leg, with just short of 13 hours separating the first boat in from the last.

>From here it’s onto the Polish ports of Gdynia and Gdańsk for the DnB NORD Offshore Regatta Days - including 2 Round-the-Buoys Races. The final leg will take the regatta to Rønne, on the holiday island of Bornholm in Denmark for the “Final Showdown” DnB NORD Prizegiving Party on August 1.

See http://www.balticsprintcup.com for full results from both the IRC and cruiser divisions, along with live race tracking and plenty of race images.

NEXUS PUTS THE CUSTOMER FIRST - IT’S OUR PRIORITY The Nexus Technical Support Helpline is a first-class service providing practical advice and product support to our customers right through to the end of September. Whether racing or cruising, Nexus is there for you when you need us the most. Dial +46 8 506 939 15 between 08:00-20:00 CET Monday to Friday and, extended for the Summer, from 09:00 to 15:00 CET at the weekends, and a Nexus Marine Technical Adviser will take your call and give you free advice. Our customers... our priority, seven days a week.

http://www.nexusmarine.se

A BUSY DAY IN PERFECT CONDITIONS Travemuende, Germany: It was a busy Thursday (24 July) for the race committee of the 119th Travemuende Week as 15 classes took off into a great day of sailing on the Bay of Luebeck. The warm wind peaked 20 knots from the East with a nice swell. The Czech Melges 24 “Bohemia Express” and “Radost II” are tied on points in the ORC Sportsboat Europeans. The Olympic 470 class was dominated by the Danish women’s team Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer who sailed unharmed in front of the mixed male and female fleet. On the 49er course Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessl from Berlin, Germany scored four bullets followed by the Dane’s Martin Due and Peter Keller. And European Junior Champion Jan Kurfeld (Wismar, Germany) led the very strong Finn Dinghy class. The wind change to an easterly gradient powered by the sea breeze brought a different setup for the sixth day of the Travemuende Week.

A race day could not have been more dramatic than in the ORC European Championship of the Sportsboat class. The first three teams divided the bullets and follow-up places between each others in all three races. After one discard is taken into account now, the two Czech Melges 24 teams switched places, despite a tie. Alexandre Tinoco is leading with his “Bohemia Express” followed by “Radost II” helmed by Milan Hajek. “When the two are fighting against each other we want to profit”, said the third placed Dutch helmsman Marco van Driel, sailing the Max Fun 25 “MYTC” who is trailing by just one point. The Eurocup of the Javelin class started also on Thursday. The British brother’s team Brian and David Earl scored three first places to take a clear lead. Their national comrades Richard and Kathryn Smith took second with a difference of eight points. After a long absence a good fleet of Finn Dinghies came together to sail Travemuende Week this year. But it was difficult to beat the German talent Jan Kurfeld (20). Only Andre Budzin (45) from Schwerin, Germany, the two times Masters World Champion could push his bow over the finish line in front of Kurfeld once. “Andre is very experienced, that’s why he is still dangerous”, said Kurfeld. Simon Grotelueschen from Travemuende Week organizer Luebeck Yacht Club is a brilliant Laser sailor but gave his promising debut in the Finn class. He became fifth after the first day of racing on his home waters. -- Andreas Kling

Full result lists on http://www.Travemuender-Woche.de

A DARK DAY FOR MEAN MACHINE Their best Coastal Race of the Audi MedCup Circuit 2008 season so far, winning both sections of today’s 34.2 miles passage back and forth across the Bay of Palma not only increased Quantum Racing’s lead at the top of the Circuit leader board to 23 points of clear daylight, but as erstwhile leaders of the 14th Breitling Regatta Mean Machine had a day they would rather forget, so the American boat also earned a lead of 11 points in the regatta standings.

After a delay of one hour and 35 minutes to wait for the light sea breeze to settle to a solid direction, the first start and first beat set the shape of the race.

While Terry Hutchinson (USA) made a well timed, confident start mid line on Quantum Racing (USA), Mean Machine (MON) were still three and a half boat lengths shy of the pin end of the start line on the gun, fighting to get their upwind Code Zero out.

Quantum hurt in an initial loss when the left did not pay but were able to use the wind shifts and better pressure on the middle of the first beat to best effect to round the first mark with a small lead Valars (RUS) and third placed Jochen Schuemann (GER) and the crew of Platoon Powered by Team Germany (GER). After the German boat overhauled Valars on the first downwind leg, the day belonged to Quantum Racing and Platoon.

Tom Dodson (NZL), Mean Machine"s strategist explained: " At the start we wanted the left side of the course and we wanted the Code Zero to get there, but unfortunately you lose a little bit of manoeuvrability, so we got buried there, pretty badly, but going the right way - we thought - and probably the fleet thought too, but when the breeze started going right then that was pretty much against anything that we had thought about, and that put us pretty deep. We fought our way up the second beat and then it went left and we were just on the wrong side most of the day. The shame is that this is a double points and races you can’t discard. And we had got so far back up the Circuit leader board, as well, but that’s harsh it about these Coastal Races, but that is the rules and we all know it. And then once you do get behind, after the first windward-leeward, it just gets to be a bit of a one way track. There is not a lot of coming back."

General standings, 7 races 8 results.

1. Quantum Racing USA, 29 points 2. Platoon powered by Team Germany GER, 40 3. Matador ARG, 42 4. Artemis SWE, 44 5. Mean Machine MON, 46 6. Mutua Madrilena ESP, 48 7. Bribon ESP, 61 8. Rusal Synergy, 73 9. Cristabella GBR, 73 10. Audi Q8 ITA, 75

http://2008.medcup.org

NAVAL ARCHITECT REQUIRED FOR SOUTH COAST YACHT DESIGN OFFICE SPECIALISING IN THE DESIGN OF SUPERYACHTS, BOTH SAIL AND POWER - The successful applicant will have a relevant qualification and good working experience within a superyacht/ship design office.

- A minimum of five years’ design office experience is considered essential for this position, with at least two years’ continual work using CAD.

- Experience with yacht structures and work with 3D modelling is a requirement.

- The salary is negotiable.

Please apply in writing to: Helen Erdbeer design@duboisyachts.com http://www.duboisyachts.com

O'ROURKE'S VOR BID TAKING WATER Ireland’s Second entry into October’s Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) is sinking before it leaves the dock, and a lack of sponsorship is to blame, according to its skipper, 2007 Fastnet race-winner Ger O’Rourke.

In a round-robin email sent yesterday, O’Rourke admits the project needs a “lifeline”. He is 2 million Euros short on a 4 million budget, and cannot proceed on his own.

A decision on the future of the campaign will be made in a week, and O’Rourke concludes that last-ditch efforts for sponsorship will be made up to next Friday. But he warns that the state of the capital markets means “it’s not looking good”.

The 2006 Sydney-Hobart class-winner bought the old ABN/Amro 1-winning boat from the 2005/06 race, and spent the last two months bringing it up to 2008 standard. The boat wiped the eye of the rest of the fleet in that race, and O’Rourke was quick to realise that, even after all the development work carried out by teams over the past two years, it remained the design benchmark for all new designs entered in the current race.

But having missed the Round Ireland race in July after a high-profile exit, when the boat was holed in harbour, the campaign started to take on water when it did not attract sponsorship.

The boat, now in Limerick docks completing a refit, has undergone costly modifications to bring it up to the required VOR Version 2 rule, including rewiring electronics, fairing and deck work, plus new engines and a modified keel.

To his credit, substantial work has been completed from a standing start, including the assembly of a professional crew who have agreed to put their salaries into the campaign, resulting in what O’Rourke says is the lowest-cost VOR project with a reasonable chance to make its mark. -- David O'Brien in The Irish Times, http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0725/1216917539310.html

6TH ANNUAL NEWPORT BUCKET REGATTA RACE Newport, Rhode Island, USA: The 6th Annual Newport Bucket Regatta was sailed on Rhode Island Sound, July 19-20 with a fleet of 12 magnificent yachts including two Perini Navi 148’ ketches, ANTARA and KLOSTERS, plus the 156’ Perini, PERSEUS.. The large end of the fleet was also joined by WHISPER, the 118’ Holland Jachtbouw Sloop, AVALON, 108’ Ron Holland Ketch, APACHE, 100’ Custom Ketch, CARMELLA, 92’ Custom Ketch by Vitter’s Shipyard and the elegant Classic Herreshoff 138’ Schooner, ELEONORA.

Sunday, the weather served up a true Bucket prank, dawning overcast but with a good breeze that promised another ideal race. A half hour before the first start, blanket of fog suddenly enveloped the fleet leaving all but zero visibility. A postponement was set in place then, having watched the fog ebb and flow for nearly an hour the RC poled the fleet as to willingness to carry on with the starts. In somewhat clearing conditions, all agreed to go racing. Then exactly as the first yacht started, the fog set in with a vengeance, leaving the fleet to sail the 20 mile course in zero visibility and a blustery 18 knot breeze.

Five yachts (wisely) withdrew from racing shortly after their start, which left seven yachts to sail the entire course in an impressively thick New England fog. These are eerie conditions in which each yacht becomes its own universe, surrounded by its own opaque curtain which removes all feedback from observing the competition. All yachts were handled safely to the extreme, with professional licensed crews at the radar, in the navigation station and on deck as lookouts - but it certainly added a dimension to the competition. Life was no easier for the Race Committee, which was required to position support boats at the finish to report finish times - from 200’ away on shore, the Committee only saw one of seven yachts cross the line!

At the end of the day, WHISPER found her way around the course fastest, to cross the line 52 seconds ahead of AVALON, with ELEONORA’s magnificent schooner rig looming out of the fog to cross the line three minutes later in third place. http://www.bucketregattas.com

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One double berth + 2 single berths. Interior lined in light grey.

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Complete listing details and seller contact information at http://uk.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatFullDetails.jsp?boat_id=1796116

THE LAST WORD The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible, but these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore. -- Ferdinand Magellan

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

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