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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1521 - 28 MAY

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

THE ARTEMIS TRANSAT Thirty-three year old Samantha Davies has become the first Briton to finish The Artemis Transat 2008 solo race in Boston, USA. Samantha sailed her 60-foot monohull Roxy across the finish line at 23:00:51 GMT (19:00 local time) yesterday (26 May) in a time 15 days, 10 hours, 00 minutes and 51 seconds. For the last 24 hours, Sam battled a biting and gusty 25 to 35 knot headwind, but crossed the line with a huge smile.

Out of the 13 IMOCA boats that started The Artemis Transat on Sunday, 11th May, only three Britons made the start line after Mike Golding, Brian Thompson and Jonny Malbon were forced, for different reasons, to withdraw from this famous solo transatlantic race at the last minute. Samantha Davies, Dee Caffari (Aviva) and Steve White (Spirit of Weymouth) were the only competing British competitors, and Davies has put in a fantastic solo performance to bring home Roxy in 5th place. Compared to the four IMOCA boats that have already completed the 2982-mile course, Davies was racing an older generation, if albeit famous, IMOCA boat. Roxy is the ex-PRB that won the last two editions of the solo Vendee Globe, and Davies performance in The Artemis Transat has reinforced her place in the premier league of offshore solo sailing.

Davies started The Artemis Transat in daunting circumstances having lost the use of her radar on the first night. A trip up the mast on day 4 of the race confirmed there was no chance of repairing the radar as the waterproof sealant had decayed allowing water to corrode the elements, at that point Davies knew she would be 'sailing blind' unable to identify shipping or the threat of icebergs on the other side of the Atlantic. Undeterred Davies raced on handling the diverse weather conditions of the North Atlantic from frustrating patches of no wind to full-on 40 knots of wind, and working her way into 5th place behind the leading pack of the latest generation IMOCA 60s.

Open 60 Leaderboard

1. Gitana Eighty, Loick Peyron, Finished 2. Brit Air, Armel Le Cleac'h, Finished 3. Generali, Yann Elies, Finished 4. Safran, Marc Guillemot, Finished 5. Roxy, Samantha Davies, Finished 6. Cervin EnR, Yannick Bestaven, Finished 7. Akena Verandas, Arnaud Boissieres, Finished 8. Aviva, Dee Caffari, Finished 9. Spirit of Weymouth, Steve White, 84.2 nm to finish

* Class 40 leaders close in on Boston:

Giovanni Soldini's torture in the high-pressure ridge off the coast of North America came to an end late on Monday night and as the 12 hour position blackout lifted, Telecom Italia had hooked into the new south-westerly breeze and was charging westwards with the finish in sight. 74 miles behind Soldini, Boris Herrmann in second place had changed down to staysail and first reef as the breeze began to build at around 0700GMT.

The 27 year-old German is uncertain about the weather ahead: "If I look at my routing, just before I arrive in Marblehead tomorrow, the wind will die, but it is difficult to predict." There is one scenario that Herrmann would like to avoid: "Several years ago, I spent my birthday floating around on my Mini Transat in the bay off St. Malo," he recalls. "Tomorrow is my birthday and I really don't want to spend the day drifting around just in front of the finish line." This afternoon, Beluga Racer trails Telecom Italia by 85 miles, a loss of 11 miles since dawn, as Soldini continues to deliver the highest speeds in the fleet at 10.6 knots with 188 miles remaining to the finish line.

Miranda Merron confirms that keeping 40 Degrees north was an unlucky call: "The others have found a lot more wind than was showing , they got picked up, so their route seems to have worked more than mine," she wrote this morning. Since 0600GMT yesterday, 40 Degrees has dropped from 4th place to 7th after committing to the northern option. "That's the annoying thing about this sport, one different 'take' on the weather and you are flung down the leader board!"

Class 40 leaderboard

1. Telecom Italia, Giovanni Soldini, 152 nm to finish 2. Beluga Racer, Boris Herrmann, 85 nm to leader 3. Mistral Loisirs - Pole Sante Elior, Thierry Bouchard, 166 4. Groupe Royer, Louis Duc, 189 5. Fujifilm, Alex Bennett, 198 6. Custo Pol, Halvard Mabire, 214 7. 40 Degrees, Miranda Merron, 248 8. Prevoir Vie, Benoit Parnaudeau, 258 9. Groupe Partouche, Christophe Coatnoan, 307 10. Clarke Offshore Racing, Simon Clarke, 359

http://www.theartemistransat.com

ICAP LEOPARD IN TRANSATLANTIC SPEED RECORD ATTEMPT At 00:01 GMT Tuesday 27 May, ICAP Leopard, the Farr designed 100 foot super maxi yacht owned by Mike Slade, officially began her transatlantic speed record attempt from Ambrose Light, off New York. In order to beat the current record of eight days, three hours and 29 minutes set by 246 foot yacht Phocea in July 1988, she will need to cross the finish line at Lizard Point Lighthouse before 03:30 GMT on Wednesday 4th June.

Chris Sherlock, Boat Captain aboard ICAP Leopard, commented: "We got off to a fairly quick start from Ambrose Light, passing it just after midnight (UTC), doing around 27 knots. It has been a very fast, wet and windy first 12 hours. We are all settling into our watch system, trying to eat the required amount of freeze dried food to refuel and then rest before getting drenched for another four hour stint on deck with the boat speed anywhere between 20 and 30 knots.

Due to ICAP Leopard's busy schedule, she was only graced with a five day weather window in which to begin the record attempt. Whilst owner Mike Slade is confident that ICAP Leopard can break the record, the crew will be hoping that the window they have chosen will provide them with consistent wind until the finish.

Sherlock continued: "The forecast for the next few days is for more of the same and from then on we are in the hands of the weather gods to get through a ridge with not a great deal of wind in it. We are hoping things will change by the time we get there."

Crew: 1. Chris Sherlock - Australia 2. Paul Stanbridge - UK 3. Mark Thomas - Australia 4. Tim Sellars - Australia 5. Zane Gills - Australia 6. Barnaby Henshaw Depledge - UK 7. Ross Monson - Ireland 8. Paul Quinn - New Zealand 9. Gian Ahluwalia - Argentinia 10. Ben Morrison Jack - Australia 11. Jonathan Carter - Bermuda 12. Matthew Richardson - UK

http://www.leopard3.com

NOW YOU CAN PHONE A FRIEND (EVEN ON A SUNDAY)! The Nexus Technical Support Helpline has been launched to provide you with practical advice and product support right through to the end of September.

Dial +46 8 506 939 15 between 08:00-20:00 CET Monday to Friday and 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. It's a racing certainty and could make the difference between whether you come first or second. Whatever, we're with you all the way to the finish line.

http://www.nexusmarine.se

SAIL OMAN IS THE 10TH ENTRY TO THE 2008 ISHARES CUP The Oman Sail Team should get off to a flying start in the 2008 iShares Cup, with a talented crew of professional British sailors opening the series. The Extreme 40 will be skippered by Pete Cumming, who relished the chance to take over the reins of fellow iShares Cup entry Holmatro for a couple of races at the recent training regatta in Valencia. Pete and his crew jumped into the catamaran and made a great early impression, getting the best start of the fleet in their first ever Extreme 40 race.

British Olympic bronze medallist Chris Draper will helm the Extreme 40, having moved into the fleet from the high performance 49er skiff class.

The rest of the initial crew also packs in plenty of experience. Mark Bulkeley, who represented Britain in the Tornado catamaran at the 2004 Olympic Games, will be mainsheet trimmer and tactician, with David 'Freddie' Carr - a familiar face on last year's iShares Cup circuit and former America's Cup crew - on the bow.

Over the course of the iShares Cup Sailing Series the Brits will be joined by members of the Oman Sail Team crew, selected after an arduous land and sea assessment and comprising members of The Royal Army of Oman; The Royal Air Force of Oman; The Royal Navy of Oman; The Royal Omani Police Force and The Sultan's Special Forces. They have been undergoing intensive sail training since February 2008 with the hope of becoming a competitive force in the iShares Cup over the coming year.

Oman Sail will be one of 10 teams contesting this year's iShares Cup Sailing Series, with the first event kicking off in Lugano, Switzerland, in just two days time.

http://www.iSharesCup.com

BRITISH BOATERS STUCK IN FRENCH PORTS A week ago, Motor Boats Monthly's first Cruising Club fleet of the year was tied up safely in St Vaast Harbour in Normandy. Fast-forward to this weekend and a fuel protest by French fishermen has turned this idyllic harbour, and many others like it across northern France, into a floating prison for the many British boats unable to break the blockade and return home.

The protest by French fishermen over soaring diesel costs and EU fishing quotas is already a week old, and union leaders last night rejected a Government offer of fuel aid, and voted instead to continue the blockade for another two days.

The French fishermen are also reported to be coordinating with fishermen from Italy, Portugal and Spain for further action on Wednesday.

One boater, trapped in St Vaast, told the BBC: "We tried to get out of the harbour this morning and there was a barricade across the harbour entrance, and they stopped us getting out, and that led to quite a confrontation and our boat got rammed and damaged

"We had flares - lighted flares - thrown at us, water poured at us, a right ding dong really, and there's about 30 boats here, all trying to get out and none of us can get out, so we're all stuck here."

http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20080427103330mbmnews.html

RC 44 AUSTRIA CUP They may be the best sailors in the world; they still have a lot to discover in the world of sailing. With its exceptional scenery, snow capped mountains and lovely thermal breeze, Lake Traunsee certainly delivers on this respect, to the delight of all the sailors involved in the RC 44 Austria Cup.

Will the lake conditions reshuffle the cards? The question raised last weeks is still open but the first practice brings initial clues. The winner was Team Beecom, from Japan; a team that often got very good results in light and flat conditions during the first RC 44 Championship Tour. Sailing with a genoa - unlike the other teams who opted for a jib, Beecom benefited from some light wind patches to make it to the top.

Organised by PROFS Marketing KG, the Austria Cup begins Wednesday with a match racing event. After a full round robin held in two days, the team owners will take the helm for three days of fleet racing. A long distance race - the DHL Trophy - will take the fleet around Lake Traunsee on Saturday.

Practice race ranking: (Name of team, owner, pro sailor)

1. Team Beecom, Isao Mita / Kelvin Harrap 2. Team Banco Espirito Santo, Patrick de Barros / John Kostecki 3. Sea Dubai, DIMC, Markus Wieser 4. Team Austria Cro-A-Sail, Miroslav Reljanovic / Christian Binder 5. BMW ORACLE Racing, Larry Ellison / Russell Coutts 6. Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki / Mateusz Kusznierewicz 7. Team Hiroshi - Citta di Milano, Armando Giulietti / Sebastien Col DNF: Team Aqua, Chris Bake / Cameron Appleton DNF: Team Ceeref, Igor Lah / James Spithill

RC 44 Championship Tour 2008 (after 2 events): 1. Team Hiroshi - Citta di Milano, 40 points 2. Team Banco Espirito Santo, 75 3. Ceeref, 78 4. Sea Dubai, 81 5. Team Aqua, 84 6. Cro-A-Sail, 112 7. BMW ORACLE Racing, 120 8. Team Organika, 136 9. Beecom, 138 10. Mascalzone Latino, 164 11. Magia Alike, 184 11. Jelik, 184

http://www.rc44.com

COMING SOON TO A RACE NEAR YOU Whether you're in the Mediterranean, Newport, or in the middle of the ocean, you'll be seeing a Goetz-built boat. PUMA's new Volvo 70, Il Mostro, will be prowling the waves at the NYYC regatta and the Newport-Bermuda race in the next month while preparing for the upcoming VOR. Platoon, the recently launched TP52 helmed by Jochen Schumann for owner Harm Muller-Spreer, has already begun a successful season on the MedCup circuit, and looks to build on her promising start.

Stay tuned to http://www.goetzboats.com for updates on these two speedsters, along with information on the ongoing builds of an 85 foot European racer by Reichel-Pugh and an 82 foot fast cruiser from Rogers Yacht Design.

SABLE ISLAND - THE GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC Trapped in fog for more than 150 days a year, Sable Island looks more like a fragile strip of sand awaiting to be eaten by ocean waves than a safe, sturdy rock upon which one could set foot. How many ships, forced to run before North Atlantic storms, have washed up on the shores of this gloomy bank? Sable Island is believed to have formed from large quantities of sand and gravel deposited on the continental shelf near the end of the last ice age ("Sable" meaning sand, in French).

Records seem to indicate that at least 350 wrecks haunt the island, and there were many speculations about treasures still dwelling undiscovered, tucked away in bilges that have long since been filled by sand. And how many sailors were buried in that "tomb that knows no sound", often referred to as the "graveyard of the Atlantic"? In order to avoid pillaging, the Canadian authorities forbade access to the Island in 1801, thus indirectly giving an even stronger air of mystery to this peculiar place lying some 85 nautical miles south east of Canso, Nova Scotia. Sable Island, very close to the Great Circle Route between Europe and North America, claimed its last victim in 1999 and still remains a genuine threat, despite the evolution of navigation techniques - strong currents, lack of visibility and frequent storms, hurricanes or northeasters indeed make the area a very perilous one. A life-saving station was established in 1801, and the crew became the first permanent inhabitants of the island — a first attempt at colonization carried out by the French in the 16th century having failed. Two lighthouses were erected in 1872, and became home to the lighthouse keepers and their families - the Canadian Coast Guards have since automated the towers, but an occupied observation station remains.

>From The Artemis Transat site: http://theartemistransat.com/60/article.asp?sid=15622

LA CLASSE FIGARO BENETEAU, HOW DOES IT WORK ? Other than the President and the administration staff who are permanent , four commissions each lead by an elected member of the executive council work during the season on key points for the good functioning of La Classe. Each commission is called after the subject it is concerned with, the Measurement commission chaired by Nicolas Troussel, the Security commission chaired by Corentin Douguet, the Race commission chaired by Christopher Pratt and the Communication commission chaired by Yannig Livory. Let's not forget to add the fundamental post of Treasurer which is assigned to Jeanne Gregoire. It is thanks to the complementary work of the commissions that La Classe can reach its goals every year and most of all accomplish its main mission : to manage the French Championship of Solo Offshore Racing as assigned by the French Sailing Federation.

For the year 2008, three events will be taken into account in the calendar of the championship: A technical event, La Course des Falaises which is relocated in Quiberon-Port Haliguen from 15th to 21st June (coefficent 2), the legendary Solitaire du Figaro from 19th July to 17th August (coef 1 per leg and 2 at the general) and a trans-Mediterranean La Cap Istanbul from 9th September to 11th October (coef 4).

http://www.classefigarobeneteau.com

FATHER OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIREBALL DINGHY HAS DIED Peter Milne, one of Britain's most prodigious designers of small boats, including the International Fireball, died at his home in Chichester on Friday 23rd of May.

In 1962, Milne took the prototype Fireball to Yachts & Yachting magazine and was asked to write a feature about the design. Editor Bill Smart was so impressed with both the boat and the write-up that he asked Milne to join the magazine as Assistant Editor, replacing John Westall, the designer of the 505 dinghy. He worked there for 7 years, taking over as Editor when Smart retired in 1965, as well as continuing with his design work.

While Milne produced more than 40 class dinghies, production cruisers and powerboat designs, it is the Fireball that he will be best remembered for.

After drawing the lines of the Javelin, another successful 2-man performance sailboat class in 1968, Milne resigned from Yachts & Yachting in 1969 to concentrate on boat design, and returned to live at Aldingbourne on the outskirts of Chichester where he set up a drawing office in the garden.

The designs flowed at a fast pace: The Mirror 14 Marauder; the Skipper range of dinghies designed for mass-production, the Nicholson 26, 27, 37 & 40 production cruisers, together with the 26.5ft Salty Dog, 23ft Salty Pup, 22ft Outlaw and 28ft Stag yachts were all successful. Throughout this time, Milne maintained a key interest in fast scows and developed an international Moth, which sold well in Australia, together with several prototypes including the 22ft Hurricane trapeze keelboat, and the Bullett, an innovative 4.42m junior trainer for the Fireball, for which he was awarded the Duke of Edinburgh Design Prize in 1975.

Peter continued with his design and build vocation until fairly recently, recreating the Beluga Class concept from 6 decades ago in the shape of Sundance, a 7.2m lifting keel cruiser built with his oldest school friend, Terry Turner.

He is survived by his wife Margaret, sister Judith two daughters Sue and Tessa, and three grandchildren. -- Barry Pickthall

To view a larger selection of images of Peter and his designs, please see http://www.covarimail.com/view.lasso?id1=191&id2=117964

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 Bob Fisher: In the "Launching" piece about Rainbow, there is reference to Windrose beating the Atlantic record, which is only partially correct. It states: "The 46 meter schooner Windrose of Amsterdam set the Trans Atlantic schooner record at 10.5 days in 2005, the previous record of 12 days was set by Charley Barr with Atlantic in 1905." On Sunday April 6th 1997, the Farr designed Maxi 80, Nicorette, skippered by Ludde Ingvall with a crew of 12 men and three women, completed the 2,925 mile crossing in 11 days 13 hours 22 minutes to break Barr's record to beat Barr's record by 14 hours 38 minutes and 50 seconds. It was ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council. I wrote at the time, "All fifteen who sailed the 80 foot Bruce Farr designed Nicorette are delighted to have succeeded, but they are also aware that their record is unlikely to survive for long." Bob.

FEATURED BROKERAGE 1996 Sydney Yachts BH 36, EUR 89,0000. Located in Medemblik, Holland.

Designed by Iain Murray.

Brokerage through Bach Yachting International: http://www.yachtworld.com/bachyachting/

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THE LAST WORD Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

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