2012-10-18

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, 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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The Recovery of AC72

Photo by Erik Simonson,
www.pressure-drop.us
. Click on image for photo gallery.

Following the dramatic capsize and rescue of its AC72 on Tuesday, ORACLE TEAM USA has shifted to recovery mode on Wednesday, as the team works to salvage its America's Cup boat.

The racing catamaran was towed back to the team base at Pier 80, upside down, arriving at 1:30am on Wednesday morning.

With the main element of the towering wingsail nearly "destroyed" according to skipper Jimmy Spithill, the team has been focused on recovering the catamaran itself, while boats have been sent out into San Francisco Bay to recover more parts of the wing.

The team has secured the platform to the dock is planning to lift it ashore in a way that minimizes further damage. This process should take place early in the afternoon.

"This is definitely one of the key moments in this campaign," skipper Jimmy Spithill said on Wednesday as he looked at the crew preparing the catamaran platform so it could be hauled out of the water.

"This is a setback. Obviously we didn't want this to happen. However this team has shown some real resiliency and been able to overcome challenges like this in the past. Champion teams have to overcome adversity and I'm confident we can do that. This is the team I want to be with in a time like this."

www.americascup.com

Bragging Rights

Photo by RMYC / Ben Borg. Click on image for photo gallery.

With a stiff breeze gusting close to 20 knots and a short sea state, today's Coastal Race was a lively affair. 30 yachts entered the race, far more than ever before, which bodes well for the expected record entry for the start of this Saturday's Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Two Maltese yachts enjoyed a tremendous battle, Elusive 2, skippered by Rolex Middle Sea Race veteran, Arthur Podesta crossed the finish line just seven seconds ahead of Jonas Diamantino's Comanche Raider II Gasanmamo.

Line Honours and victory in Class One went to Alessandro Rombelli's JV72, Stig. All carbon fibre and bristling with titanium, Stig is a highly impressive out and out race boat. Alessandro Rombelli spoke about his new yacht: "We are still getting used to the boat as Stig was only launched this summer, today was all about learning more about her. I am really looking forward to the Rolex Middle Sea Race, which will be a big test for us. In my previous boat, I have taken part in several offshore races but this will be the first long race for the new yacht and we are spending as much time as we can sailing in preparation for the race."

In Class Two, Eddie De Villiers' South African crew are enjoying their trip to Malta. In true South African style, Hi Fidelity prepared for today's coastal race with a South African braai (BBQ) and the meat feast obviously paid off. The South African team secured victory in Class Two today.

Volvo Ocean Race veteran, Mikey Joubert is part of the crew and has competed in the race several times.

In Class 3, Three Xp44s enjoyed a close battle over the 16-mile course, XP-ACT with Maltese 49er sailor, Seb Ripard on board ran a close second to Oleg Evdokimenko's Vikesha. Latvian skipper, Vadim Yakimenko was third with Amber Miles.

In Class 4, Russian skipper, Yuri Fadeev led his team to victory aboard Dufour 44, Ton Ton Kabestan. Sailing Logic's First 40, Lancelot 2 was second by just under two minutes on corrected time but Lancelot's Tim Thuberon was pleased with the performance

The Rolex Middle Sea Race will start this Saturday, 20th October at 1100 local time.

www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/index.cfm

Key West Delivers

Thoughts of sunshine, dependable breezes and world class competition is attracting top programs from around the world to the southernmost point in the continental US. The IRC 52s US Super Series begins with a Key West prelude to their World Championship in March. The Swan 42 class is back, Melges 24 numbers are growing, and the J/70 class will make their Key West debut. Top tier programs from Europe and the U.S. will be competing in IRC, High Performance, PHRF and other one design classes.

Don't miss the dual challenge of top tier international competition and renowned Key West nightlife! Quantum Key West 2013 January 20 - 25, 2013.

Entries and more:
www.premiere-racing.com

Nord Stream Race

Photo by onEdition. Click on image for photo gallery.

Tomorrow, October 18th, marks the official start of the highly anticipated Nord Stream Race in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Gathered at today's pre-start press conference the competitor lineup was intense for this inaugural year. With a prize fund of 100,000 Euros for the overall winner this is a serious yacht race to win.

Team Russia are heading into the Nord Stream Race with a series of high profile successes behind them; after taking first place in the Rolex Swan Cup Maxi Class and winning the Swan Maxi Class Circuit 2012 the team are on top form and well prepared for the race ahead. Within Team Russia there is Tommaso Chieffi, 17 times World champion and 5 times European champion and Francesco Rapetti who is a 4 times America's Cup winner. The team now have a wealth of experience racing and competing onboard a Swan 60 which will benefit them greatly during the Nord Stream Race.

Team Europe are also in a good position, with a highly experienced and professional crew, they have every chance of beating competition. Team Europe has the advantage of Skipper, Tim Kroger, an America's Cup sailor and Whitbread around the World Race competitor. There is also Mikael Lundh onboard, the Swedish sailor has competed in the Whitbread around the World Race and the Rolex Fastnet Race a number of times, both extremely challenging and demanding races.

Team France's skipper, Jacques Pelletier is a great sailor and a great skipper who has won many offshore races throughout his sailing career.

Team Holland are equally positioned to beat the competition and take the winning title. The crew have a wealth of sailing experience gathered from various yachting and racing events. Within the team there is Robert Schutte; the Dutch champion won Les Voiles de Saint Tropez last year and has won a number of regattas throughout his sailing career such as the Nord Sea Regatta.

Team Germany are also in prime position to win the Nord Stream Race. The team comprises of Skipper Thomas Jungblut, who is four times Maxi World Champion and has completed the Rolex Fastnet Race seven times. Alongside Jungblut are Match Race World Champion Jesper Radich and America's Cup experts Gregorz Baranowski and Jacek Wysocki.

www.nord-stream-race.com

Clipper Race to Support Youth Cancer Charity

British yachting icons Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Dame Ellen MacArthur launch charity initiative on world's longest ocean race.

Clipper Ventures has announced that it will support the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust as its official charity for the 2013-14 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. This will include a berth for a young person who has recovered from cancer and sailed with the charity with the aim to raise awareness and encourage hundreds of crew to support fundraising during the year long global challenge.

Sir Robin and Dame Ellen launched the initiative today aboard an ocean racing yacht together with Clipper Ventures CEO William Ward who selected the Trust as the races official charity.

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is a national organisation, based on the Isle of Wight that helps young people between the ages of 8-24 who are in recovery from cancer and leukaemia by taking them sailing to rebuild their confidence.

The Charity now works with every young person's primary cancer care unit in the UK. These primary care units deal with around 95% of young people being treated for cancer. The Charity's vision is to continue to increase the number of young people they work with.

Regional centres will be encouraged to develop relationships with each of the twelve yachts competing in the 40,000-mile Clipper Race, having the opportunity to meet with local crew members and follow them on the race.

In addition to the profile and fundraising partnership, Clipper Ventures is giving one young person who has been supported by the charity the opportunity to sail on the first leg of the next biennial Clipper Race from the UK to South America.

Any young person, who has previously sailed with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and has completed their treatment, can find out how to apply for the ambassador crew place on the first leg of the next Clipper Race by visiting the Trust's Facebook site at
www.facebook.com/EllenMacArthurCancerTrust

The successful candidate will be announced next March, before completing the full Clipper Race training programme prior to departing on the race in the summer.

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

www.ellenmacarthurcancertrust.org

Yacht Weatherly Listed on US National Register of Historic Places

Photo by Onne van der Wal,
www.vanderwal.com
. Click on image for photo gallery.

Newport, Rhode Island, USA: The 1958 12 Metre sailing yacht Weatherly has received federal recognition for its contributions to the history of naval architecture, engineering, and recreation. Edward F. Sanderson, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, announced in September that the National Park Service has listed Weatherly on the National Register of Historic Places.

Weatherly was the successful 1962 defender of the America's Cup, the most prominent trophy in the world of sailing. Weatherly is also significant as an early and notable example of both the 12 Metre class of racing yachts and yachts of wooden and laminate construction.

Measuring 69 feet overall, Weatherly is built of double-planked African mahogany over white oak frames. To America's Cup enthusiasts, her sail number, US-17, readily identifies her on the water and distinguishes her immediately from her stable mates--Nefertiti (US-19), American Eagle (US-21), Intrepid (US-22) and Freedom (US-30).

A.E. Luders, Jr. of Luders Marine Construction Company in Stamford, Conn. constructed Weatherly using the best materials and most current laminating techniques of the day.

Although Weatherly did not make it past the 1958 Cup Trials, the boat compiled several wins under skipper Arthur Knapp Jr. Few Cup contenders have ever been given a second chance, but Weatherly's steadily improving record led her owners to try again in 1962, when Australia challenge with Gretel. At the Luders boat yard, she underwent a series of changes to reduce weight above the water and increase ballast, plus other refinements.

The Americans fielded four boats to vie for the chance to defend against Gretel, and Weatherly prevailed.

The Cup match in September was closely contested, but Weatherly, expertly sailed by Bus Mosbacher and crew, won four of five races to defend the Cup. She remains the only vessel in the history of the Cup to win it after an unsuccessful first attempt. Notably, President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie were among the many spectators who watched the competition in Newport.

www.AmericasCupCharters.com

CYA AGM to Consider Change of Name

At next week's Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Yachting Association, members will vote on a proposal to change the name of the organisation to Sailing Canada (Voile Canada in French).

If approved, the proposal will align CYA with nine of the ten Canadian Provinces who use 'Sail' or 'Sailing' in their titles, with the International Sailing Federation, the International Olympic Committee and with neighbouring US Sailing. It also brings CYA into line with many other Canadian National Sports Organisations that use the format 'Name of Sport' Canada in their titles.

Adoption of the new name will enhance marketing opportunities for the organisation, while dovetailing well with the recently launched national sailing program, CANSail. It is intended that the name will be associated with the Maple Leaf sail logo, a registered trademark of the CYA. -- John Kerr in Sail-World.com

Full details of the proposals with rationale and the CYA's AGM schedule are available at
www.sailing.ca

www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=102976

Omani Women Recognised in Sailing with Excellence Award

The Oman Sail Women's Sailing Programme has been in place for just one year and yet three sailors on board Al Thuraya bank muscat became joint recipients this week of an excellence award for the highest achieving women in sport for 2012.

The novice Omani woman sailors, Intisar Al Tobi, Raya Al Habsi, and Tahira al Yahyai won the prestigious Al Mara Excellence Award in recognition of their participation in the annual Sailing Arabia - The Tour yacht race as members of the first ever all women sailing team on board Al Thuraya bank muscat.

They had only just started learning to sail when they joined the multi-national crew and finished an impressive fourth, just shy of a podium place after 15 days and 760 miles of intense racing down the Arabian Gulf from Bahrain to Oman.

The three award winners plus four new recruits form the Oman Sail national women's racing team are training hard for the upcoming Muscat regatta, match race championships in Bahrain and the 2013 Sailing Arabia - The Tour.

They were among the first 75 women recruits to participate in an Oman Sail women's open day in July 2011. The Oman Sail Women's Sailing Programme was officially launched on 10 October 2011 and in May this year 21 women successfully completed instructor sailing programmes accredited by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

Oman Sail's director of marketing and communications Salma Al Hashmi said celebrations held in Muscat this week in honour of Women's Day and the Women's Sailing Programme one-year anniversary represented a major milestone.

"We still have a long way to go in terms of building more women role models in sport to inspire more young girls to lead active healthy life styles. But this week's awards point to a promising future for women in Oman, not only for women in sailing, but for women in sport in general."

www.omansail.com

ISAF Publish the Equipment Rules of Sailing 2013-2016

The Equipment Rules of Sailing (ERS) for 2013-2016 has been made available to download online and for the first time, as an iOS application ahead of the worldwide date of implementation on 1 January 2013.

The official ERS iOS Application, available on all mobile Apple devices, allows the user to quickly find information about all aspects of the rules that govern the sport on the water.

It is available to buy now for £0.69 on the iTunes App Store.

Designed for easy reference whilst on the go the application allows the end user to bookmark specific pages, view diagrams up close and breaks down each part in an easy to read manner.

The new edition of the ERS is available to view on the ISAF Equipment Rules of Sailing page at
www.sailing.org/ers
and you can also order your hardcopy of the ERS 2013-2016 at
www.sailing.org/merchandise

The publication of the ERS on sailing.org marks their first release ahead of their worldwide date of implementation on 1 January 2013.

ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs) have already received the latest edition of the ERS to give them due time to prepare their own versions of the ERS 2013-2016 including the relevant national prescriptions and translations.

ISAF Classes have already received the latest edition of the ERS in a text version.

For the app:
https://itunes.apple.com

Top Windsurfing Stars Join 2012 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

Siriporn "Dao" Kaewduanggam. Click on image to enlarge.

Phuket, Thailand: The Phuket King's Cup Regatta is to reintroduce windsurfing as one of its competitive classes this year, representing an exciting 'roots' style rebirth of an early component of the classic race. The newly announced Windsurfing Class is held in cooperation with the Windsurfing Association of Thailand (WATH), with races taking place over four days from 2 to 5 December 2012.

In the early years of the Phuket King's Cup, the Regatta included a broad range of watercraft, yet over time it has developed into the foremost big boat race in Asia. In 2009, the organisers reintroduced dinghy sailing to the event, and last year saw kitesurfing added to a diversified competitive roster.

About 14 sailors from the Thai national team will join the windsurfing competition, including Ek Boonsawad, and Siriporn "Dao" Kaewduanggam. Ek recently represented Thailand at the 2012 London Olympics, while Dao won the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. There will also be six Thai sailors from the Royal Thai Navy Base in Satthip joining the event, in addition to 20 sailors from abroad.

The 2012 Phuket King's Cup Windsurfing Championships will gather top competitors from across the region, with racers using supplied Starboard 2013 Phantom Race 295 windsurfs provided by Starboard, ensuring a parity of equipment for close racing.

The Phuket King's Cup Regatta itself will run from 1 to 8 December, 2012

kingscup.com

Esimit Europa 2 Has Arrived In Malta

Departure time at Trieste: Approx. 15th October 2012 at 22:00 hours

Arrival time at Marsamxett Harbour: 17th October 2012 at 18:42:42

Elapsed time: 44 hours, 42 minutes, 42 seconds

This is a provisional time subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

The crew:

- Jochen Schumann (GER): skipper

- Juan Vila (SPA): navigator

- Alberto Bolzan (ITA): helmsman

- Jordi Calafat (SPA): tactician

Featured Brokerage

1989 Open 60 IMOCA. EUR 220,000. Located In Monaco.

Designed by Philippe BRIAND and built in 1989 by Jeanneau Techniques Avancees in carbon and kevlar, this 60' open IMOCA is a true legend!

She participated to the five first Vendee Globe Challenges (under the names Fleury Michon X, Votre nom autour du Monde, Aquarelle, and Roxy), successively handled by Philippe POUPON (1989,1993), Bertrand de BROC (1997), Simonet BIANCHETTI (2001) and Anne LIARDET (2005).

After having received a thorough refit in 1998 (at yard MAG under management by yacht designer Marc LOMBARD), and received a sloop rig (she was orginally a ketch) and equipped with a canting keel and two asymetric daggerboards, she established a east-to-west circumnavigation with French skipper Philippe MONNET (under the name Uunet)!

Legendary canadian skipper Mike BIRCH also took her in the 2002 Route du Rhum and the 2003 Transat Jacques Vabre.

Kept in an excellent condition throughout after her last refit in 2006, she is constantly updated and maintained. This amazing racer is still IMOCA-rule compliant and ready to race or easily convertible into a fast cruiser.

Brokerage through AYC International Yachtbrokers:
www.yachtworld.com/ayc-yachtbroker/

Complete listing details and seller contact information at

uk.yachtworld.com

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