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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1574 - 29 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

COLORFUL START TO LES SABLES-LES ACORES-LES SABLES Plenty of sun and light winds were present for the the start of the fourty-nine single handed competitors of the Mini 6.50 race Les Sables-Les Acores-Les Sables: the begining was slow but the wind has progressively increase and the boats offered a colourful show.

Competitors had to wait before the wind settled Saturday afternoon, and the Race Committe could finally declare the start of the Mini fleet at 1:33 pm local time for a course along the shore before they could spring offshore.

The forecast called for a progressive rotation of the wind from South West to West increasing up to 10 knots. The young skipper Marine Feuerstein (C20) took the best start un the middle of the line but Sebastien Picault (Kickers) was better situated windward of the fleet that was still at the degagement buoy before hoisting a spinnaker.

The Dingo of Sebatien Marsset (Association Veole) was the first production boat to round this last mark, he was fourth overall! The gap was not very important at this last mark (one hour) and Minis could at last go offshore. However, the first night was very slow as a big calm was over the Biscay bay.

On their way back : Sebastien Rogues (Solent) had to return to fix his electronic pilot compass. He went back to the race at 4:30 on Saturday. The Swiss skipper Mathieu Verrier (Zygomar) came back to Les Sables d'Olonne on Sunday night at 3:00 amto fix a problem with is automatic pilot. He left again the pontoon of Les Sables on Sunday at 5:30 pm local time, The fleet was then 80 NM ahead.

* On Monday there was a big change in the weather which completely modified the landscape, with strong gusts and rain. The fleet has begun to disperse, with some boats headed offshore to the northwest, others heading southwest to hug the Spanish shoreline. Another strong gale is expected on Thursday. -- Dominic Bourgeois

Top five prototypes at 28 July 13h00 1. Etienne Bertrand, Senior Blue, 1116 nm to first leg finish 2. Jaime Mumbru, Ulysses 65, 4.4 nm to leader 3. Stephane Le Diraison, Cultisol-Institut Curie, 11.5 4. Henry-Paul Schipman, Maisons de l'avenir-Urbatys, 11.5 5. Sebastien Picault, Kickers, 4.3

Top five series boats at 28 July 13h00 1. Pierre-Yves Lautrou, Altaide Moovement, 1122 nm to first leg finish 2. Sebastien Marsset, Association Veole, 3.9 nm to leader 3. Cecile Hoffart, Toud'Suite, 6.3 4. Benoit Sineau, Cachaca, 9.2 5. Damien Guillou, Demi-Cle, 11.6

http://www.lessables-lesacores.com

NICOLAS TROUSSEL WINS IN SPAIN The skipper of Financo crossed the finish line at Cape Ortegal at 15:50 and 46 seconds. Nicolas Troussel won the first leg of the 39th edition of the race after 73 hours, 32 minutes and 46 seconds of racing at an average 4.35 knots over the 320 mile shortened course.

"I managed to get away from the fleet in the light air (Nicolas Troussel first leads on the 26th of July on the 19:00 position report, and remains there to the end). Then it was always going to be better toward the head of the fleet. I had a bit of breeze and was just able to make the most of it so made gains without doing anything particularly extraordinary, it just all happened naturally. There was a little group of us quite tightly bunched together, Christian Bos, Fred Duthil and myself. Progressively the leader made more gains on the second and so on. I think that I also did quite well in the light wind with my spinnaker, which is really good. It the end it comes down to very little, small details. I have a feeling that quite a few people got rest and slept and I remained pretty much alert the whole time..."

Christian Bos (Region Midi Pyrenees) crossed the finish line of the fist leg of La Solitaire du Figaro in 2nd place

A well-earned second place goes to Christian Bos at the end of the first leg of La Solitaire du Figaro who crossed the finish line ahead of his fellow competitor, Frederic Duthil, at 21:24:30, 5 hours, 33 minutes and 44 seconds behind the winner, Nicolas Troussel.

Christian total elapsed time comes to 79 hours, 5 minutes and 30 seconds at an average boat speed of 4.05 knots over the 320 mile shortened course.

Frederic Duthil completes the podium: he takes the third place on the first leg of the race crossing the finish line in Cape Ortegal at 22:22:30, so 6 hours, 31 minutes and 34 seconds behind the winner (Troussel) and 57 minutes, 50 seconds behind second placed Christian Bos (Region Midi Pyrenees).

The skipper of Distinxion completed the couse in 80 hours, 3 minutes and 20 seconds at an average 4 knots of boat speed.

Unfortunately for the 47 remaining skippers at sea, the wind over the finish area has dropped down to below ten knots and is coming in from the South, South West, as opposed to the twenty knots felt just an hour ago.

http://www.lasolitaire.com

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT BEING A SPIDERTECH AUTHORIZED DESIGNER? A Spidertech Authorized Designer is not only a skillful craftsman who has chosen to use an integrated system software of the highest level of technology, but also a professional sailmaker who wants to follow a development path on fiber oriented sails designed in conjunction with us. After Spidertech other successful integrated software for the design of fiber oriented sails. And this is something the Spidertech research Team is proud of, since it demonstrates how the path we embarked upon five years ago was not so insane as it was originally considered. Spidertech software has been designed to be as flexible as possible and to make the productive system efficient. Each Spidertech Authorized Designer leads the path for the design of each sail independently, to search for the best performing product to satisfy the requirements of the individual boat owner, whether it is grand prix racing, club racing or performance cruising.

http://www.spidertechsails.eu

PERFECT OPENING DAY AT THE COPA DEL REY AUDI MAPFRE Palma de Majorca, Spain: One couldn't have asked for a better start for the 27 Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE. Throughout the afternoon, all three race areas had a stable southwestern breeze that started at 10 knots and gradually picked up to 15. All classes, except the GP42's and TP52's that were practicing, were able to sail two tight races.

The IRC 1 class saw the clear domination of the former TP52 Spanish AIFOS that scored two bullets. Tied at second place are French Moana and Stuart Branson's Spirit of Jethou. The Farr 54 CAM, helmed by HRH Don Felipe, stands 4th, 2 points from a possible podium place.

In the IRC 2 class, consistency paid off for Italian Give me Five. Two second places put them at the top of the score table, followed by fellow Italians Kora 4. Tony Buckingham's is third, after a 5th and a 1st.

In IRC 0 the two Telefonica VO70 boats are carrying out an exhibition race, within the Copa del Rey, giving the right to the City of Palma Trophy. The Blue yacht, helmed by Bouwe Bekking, won both races. The Black yacht, helmed Pedro Campos, had to abandon the first race after a spinnaker problem.

The ORC 570 leaderboard is an Iberian affair. Jose Manuel Mesquita's Luso-Roux is first after a 3rd and 4th place. Manuel de Tomas' San Miguel is second, just two points behind the Portuguese boat, tied with Gustavo Martinez' Hempel-Power.

In the X-35 fleet the first race was a British-Dutch battle. After a clear start, Thorkild Juncker's Cool Runnings stayed ahead despite the tough race against Quantum Racing and Just for Fun. A clear indication of the tight racing was the fact the 6 first yachts crossed the finish line within 15 seconds. The second race was won by Italian X-TRIFIX, but with a 3rd and a 2nd respectively, Cool Runnings and Quantum Racing are tied at the top.

In the SWAN 45 class German Earlybird, one of the favourites to win the Copa del Rey, had a difficult first day. Blue Nights, the sole Finnish boat in the regatta, won the first race after a close battle with the Italian DSK-Comifin and the Japanese Yasha. The Italians were ahead from the start of the race but Tea Ekengren-Sauren's yacht grabbed the lead at the second beat and crossed the finish line ahead of the fleet. In the second race, Earlybird had a clear start and lead from the start. Blue Nights lead overall after a fourth in the second race.

The GP42 class premiered in the Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE the practice race and for the first time ever all competing yachts had a journalist guest aboard. Near Miss, the Swiss yacht owned by Franck Noel and helmed by Bertrand Pace, once again showed her clear speed advantage over the other yachts while the local crowds had a reason to cheer with the Spanish Desafio finishing second. Close behind them were the two Italians Roma GP42.2 and AIRIS.

The TP52's also had their official practice race, won by Vasco Vascotto's Mutua Madrilena, followed by Platoon, helmed by Jochen Schuemann. Terry Hutchinson, fresh from two victorious events in the TP52 circuit, helmed Spanish Desafio to 3rd place.

http://www.copadelreyaudimapfre.com

GREEN DRAGON IN GALWAY The Green Dragon Volvo Ocean Race sailing team arrived into the port of Galway, Ireland Sunday, after a short delivery from their current training base in Cork. The Galway Bay Sailing Club greeted the Volvo Ocean Race team with a flotilla of boats in Galway Harbour. The team, who will be based in Cork until the end of August, are using Ireland as a training ground before the 37,000 mile Volvo Ocean Race which kicks off from Alicante in Spain on October 11th. The short delivery from Cork, allowed another opportunity for the Green Dragon crew to test some of the systems, skipper Ian Walker reported from onboard;

"It seems appropriate that the first report from onboard our new Volvo Open 70 "Green Dragon" should be as we round the legendary Fastnet Rock, at the southernmost tip of Ireland. This rock has a special place in sailing folklore and one can't help but think back to the tragic events in the 1979 Fastnet and of all friends and colleagues we know who have been lost at sea. It is also a stark reminder of the importance of safety and never is that more important than in these awesome boats. Fortunately we should have no problems today as we are sailing under full main and mast head zero in a 10 knot southerly breeze. We are leaving the Fastnet Rock to Starboard having sailed the 50 miles from Cork and we now head north for the future Volvo Ocean Race stopover port of Galway on the west coast of Ireland. This has been an amazing journey for this boat having started life on the mould in McConaghy boatyard in Zhuhai, China, then shipped to the UK, where the team commissioned and worked her up over a month in both Gosport and Cork.

Galway marks the end of this particular journey but the start of a new chapter. At only 220 miles this will be a short trip – estimated at 22 hours right now and we are not only breaking in some new systems but sail testing as we go. We are trying to learn how best to sail the boat but deadlines for ordering new sails are fast upon us and design decisions have to be made."

The Green Dragon Volvo Open 70 will be based in Galway until Thursday 31st July, after which they will return to Cork for a short re-fit before heading into the Atlantic for their 2000-mile race qualifier.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org

DECKMAN TACTICAL SOFTWARE FROM B&G - UPGRADE NOW AVAILABLE The next in a regular series of software updates is now available for the tactical navigation software package Deckman from B&G. Deckman v9.1 enhances the GRIB weather and routing functions, adding the options of displaying precipitation and wave height alongside the existing choices of wind speed and direction, barometric pressure and sea temperature. The wave height display interfaces with the optimum routing function, giving navigators the option to route their boats around areas of waves over a specific height, thereby avoiding seas that could significantly reduce performance or even result in damage.

Additional developments include the ability to animate the GRIB files, load multiple GRIB files at the same time, and a management system that allows the user to prioritise and control the files in use. The UGRIB weather download service has also been enhanced to supply precipitation data.

The upgrade is free for existing v9 users and can be downloaded from http://www.bandg.com

HELP NEEDED: EX-OPTIMIST OLYMPIANS May we ask for the help of your readers in completing our records of the Optimist history if any of this year's Olympians? The Optimist Class's own research at www.optiworld.org/olympicexops.pdf has already established that at least 60%, as in 2004, of boat helms sailed Optimists when younger and that over 70% of these did so at international level. We also know that 12% definitely did not. We would much appreciate it if your readers could give us this information about the missing 28%, identified on our list by being printed in lowercase (e.g. "provoyeur"). Any corrections would also be appreciated. Unfortunately our resources do not permit a full analysis of crew though we know that at least ten of the 470 male crew are former Optimist internationals.

This research is most important in persuading countries new to dinghy sailing to "start at the very beginning" if they have Olympic aspirations. We are especially proud to note that Barrows (ISV), Douglas (BAR) and Maegli (GUA) and possibly others "made it".

Information please to info@optiworld.org

SPLASH WORLD TITLE TO NZER BEN LUTZE Ben Lutze of Taipa in Northland is New Zealand's latest sailor to take a world title, crowned Splash World Champion over the weekend in Tavira, Portugal.

Kiwi team-mate, George Lane also made it to the podium taking third overall at the regatta which was contested by 100 sailors. A further five kiwis finished in the top ten at the championships giving them the Champion Team Trophy for having the most sailors in the top ten.

The final two days of this year's regatta really turned things on their head for much of the fleet with Ben Lutze coming from behind to take the title with a top performance on the final day. The lighter breezes from earlier in the regatta were replaced by stronger winds and big swells for the final two days, some relishing the more challenging conditions.

A popular youth class in parts of New Zealand, in Belgium and the Netherlands, the Splash is a single-handed dinghy typically sailed by up and coming talent between the ages of 14 to 18 years. The 2006 New Zealand team produced similar results when kiwi, Blair Tuke won the world title; Tuke went on to represent New Zealand in the 2007 ISAF Youth World Championships winning silver in the boy's 29er class.

It has recently been confirmed that New Zealand will host the 2010 Splash World Championships off Takapuna in Auckland. -- Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand

Final top ten: 1. Ben Lutze, NZL, 54 points 2. Gilles Cleeren, BEL, 63 3. George lane, NZL, 64 4. Anthony Pieters, BEL, 74 5. Scott Fyfe, NZL, 77 6. Karsten Pierik, NED, 99 7. Michael Cate, NZL, 107 8. Gil Cosyns, BEL, 112 9. Joshua Edmonds, NZL, 119 10. Jordan Coles, NZL, 124

Full results: http://www.nzsplash.co.nz/results-splash-worlds-2008-xidc44458.html

GOETZ CUSTOM BOATS WIN AT ACCBANK CORK WEEK Goetz Custom Boats congratulates Dan Meyers and his crew on Numbers for their victory in the IRC SZ class at ACCBank Cork Week 2008. With five bullets out of eight races, the speedy Judel/Vrolijk design pulled out the top spot in a tightly contested division. Another Goetz build, the 2006 TP52 Stay Calm of London also performed well, winning the first day's race. Stay Calm now heads to Skandia Cowes Week for a rematch with many of her Cork Week competitors.

For information on these boats as well as our ongoing builds, including an 82' racer from Reichel-Pugh, visit http://www.goetzboats.com

ATLANTIC REGATTA RACING AND OCEANIC TACTICS What a fine battle! In the North Atlantic, the fleets are in the middle of nowhere enveloped in fog and yet they're racing as if they're in a harbour. In steady winds in the open ocean, the 40 footers are contesting a race of rare intensity. Right across the fleet, from front to back, the 17 crews are getting the very most out of their steeds; smoking across the water at the cost of some at times perilous surfing. Flat out under spinnaker. In the other categories, this 7th Transat Quebec Saint-Malo has also turned into a gliding session. Given the poor visibility though, vigilance is the order of the day. Still the overall leader, trimaran Crepes Whaou! has eased off the pace slightly, a little scalded by the misfortune suffered by Laiterie de Saint-Malo, but envisaging an arrival in Saint Malo sometime between Thursday and Friday…

The damaged rudder suffered yesterday by Laiterie de Saint Malo (Victorien Erussard) has deprived Crepes Whaou! of its biggest threat. Just over 1,000 miles from the finish, Franck-Yves and his crew are still keen to take victory however. Faced with the negotiation of another low, generating further downwind conditions, they hope to make the 'pirate city' from Thursday onwards.

In the monohull category it is debatable whether the FICOs or Class 40s will be first to make the finish? After eight days of racing, seven of which have been at the mercy of capricious winds, often on the nose, to extract themselves from the Saint Lawrence, the first competitors in the 40 foot Class are still maintaining an infernal pace. The top players in the class are this Monday sailing virtually neck and neck with the leader of the FICO fleet, An Ocean of Smiles, testifying to a difficult night in 25 knots of breeze under spinnaker.

http://www.quebecsaintmalo.com

470 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Another day has passed, moew races are behind us. And not one, not even two (like today) but twelve races are done! So everything according to plan.

Today we had a bit of a replay of yesterday's weather, with light wind and small seas. Wind eventually increased up to 8-10 knots. Sailors were fighting so strenuously that general recalls in the Men's Gold fleet were being made one after another.

And then the persistent shift came from the east, so we had a small delay in Men's fleet and had to change the up wind mark on the 4th leg of Woman's race.

In results we have changes - after two days the leadership went back to The Netherlands - Steven Le Fevre, Steven Krol took the lead with 56 points, while yesterday's leaders - Israeli crew Lior Lavie, Yam Amir fall down on 3rd with 65 p. Italians - Luca Dubbini, Roberto Dubbini, between with 62 p.

The ladies are without changes - Hannah Mills and Katrina Hughes keep on leading, second place goes to Espana - Tara Pacheco and Berta Betanzos. Third - swedish team - Lisa Ericson and Astrid Gabrielsson.

The best Polish crew - Tomek Januszewski, Marcin Mickiewicz fell to 10th, but luckily they sail in Medal Race.

Tomorrow the signal for the fleet is at 11 am, and for those sailing in Medal Race at 1 pm. -- Kuba Pawluk

http://www.470.sails.pl/jwc2008/

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - editor@scuttlebutteurope.com 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 Stuart Quarrie, CEO Cowes Week Limited: Cowes Week Limited is looking forward to another incredibly successful Skandia Cowes Week, the last Cowes Week regatta with Skandia as title sponsor.

Skandia has been a fantastic partner to Cowes Week for 14 years and has worked hard with us to develop the regatta, and Cowes, in so many positive ways. A heart-felt thank you goes out to Skandia, and we will enjoy celebrating all that has been achieved during our 14-year relationship with them at this year's regatta.

Looking ahead to the future of Cowes Week and life after Skandia, our ideal scenario had been to announce a new partner in advance of this year's event. Although discussions are progressing well, we are not in a position to make an announcement before or during the regatta. However, we do have every confidence that Cowes Week will have a new partner in place in good time for the 2009 regatta.

Cowes Week is a superb event that has a huge amount to offer, and of course it's important to remember that the regatta has run very successfully for over 180 years, going from strength to strength; we are in no doubt that this will continue into the future.

FEATURED BROKERAGE 1999 Farr 40 One Design Angelic, $185,000 USD, Located in Michigan, USA.

The Farr 40 One Design was conceived as a high performance 40 footer that would gather the benefits of modern materials into an economic platform for short course racing that was demanding, exciting and not beyond the capabilities of relatively inexperienced and mature crew members.

Brokerage through Farr Yacht Sales: http://www.farryachtsales.com

Complete listing details and seller contact information at http://www.farrdesign.com/FYS/374_Angelic/listing.html

THE LAST WORD We all live in suspense from day to day; In other words, you are the hero of your own story. -- Mary McCarthy

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

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