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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1503 - 5 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

BRADY SWEEPS THE SAILOFFS FOR 4TH CRIMSON BLAZER Long Beach, California, USA: Gavin Brady joined a small, elite club of match racing sailors with a common problem Saturday: what to do with all of those Crimson Blazers in their closets.

Only Rod Davis and Peter Holmberg also own four of the traditional winner's wardrobe in Long Beach Yacht Club's Congressional Cup presented by Acura, now counting 44 years of consecutive competitions among the best in the world at their specialty.

After winning 15 of his 18 round robin contests, Brady drove through the sailoffs with a steady and steely determination in sweeping local pride Scott Dickson and Sweden's Johnie Berntsson---who was coming off seven consecutive wins---in two straight races each in the semifinals and finals, respectively.

Berntsson had swept France's Philippe Presti, 2-0, in the other semifinal, and Presti took the measure of Dickson in the consolation final.

Brady, a New Zealand native who has lived in Annapolis, Md., since the mid-90s, won his first two Congressional Cups in 1996 and '97 when he was only 22 and 23, then his third in 2006 after building a professional sailing career of America's Cups and various ocean races.

Brady collected $10,000 of the $41,000 prize pot. Simon Minoprio won $1,000 for winning the fleet race for those who didn't reach the sailoffs.

The 10 six-man crews are sailing Catalina 37s owned by the Long Beach Yacht Club Sailing Foundation, rotating boats daily. -- Rich Roberts

Video highlights of each day's racing at http://www.t2p.tv/viewers/lbeach/cc08.html

Final standings

1. Gavin Brady, New Zealand, 15-3 (14.5 points*) 2. Johnie Berntsson, Sweden, 13-5 3. Scott Dickson, U.S., 12-6 4. Philippe Presti, France, 10-8 5. Simon Minoprio, New Zealand, 10-8 6. Damien Iehl, France, 8-10 7. Dave Perry, U.S., 8-10 8. Andrew Arbuzov, Russia, 6-12 9. Pierre-Antoine Morvan, France, 6-12 10. Chris VanTol, U.S., 2-16 (.75 points*) *---Deduction for causing excess damage.

http://www.lbyc.org

DESAFIO WINS FIRST EVENT OF GP42 QUEBRAMAR CUP Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy: Desafio, the Spanish GP42 team, was crowned winner of the Trofeo Pirelli, opening event of the Quebramar GP42 Cup 2008, after yet another excruciatingly light and testing day on the waters of Santa Margherita Ligure. Just three boats managed to finish the fourth and closing race of the event

For the third consecutive day, Eolo, the Italian god of wind, was in a bad mood and put the 8 GP42 crews to test. Despite a breeze a barely 3 knots the race committee fired the starting gun just 15 minutes after the scheduled time. Seven of the eight yachts, as it has been the case throughout the event, rushed immediately to the right side of the course, as close as possible to the coast, in search of the slightest puff of wind.

Desafio, with Santiago L0pez-Vazquez calling tactics, having come to a virtual stop at the starting line, opted for the left and got off almost 1:30 behind the leader. Nevertheless, the tactical decision paid handsomely for the Spanish who managed to work their way up to the top after watching their competitors struggle a few meters from Portofino's rocks.

The green boat rounded the top mark ahead and despite the close attacks by Paolo Cian's Roma GP 42.2, the held on to their lead, crossing the finish line with a comfortable advantage, ahead of Roma GP 42.2 and Near Miss, helmed by Bertrand Pace.

The GP42 fleet will now head to the French location of St. Tropez for the second leg of the Quebramar Cup 2008 circuit. -- Pierre Orphanidis

Final Results of Trofeo Pirelli (4 races)

1. Desafio - 3, 1, 1, 1 - 6 points 2. Canarias Puerto Calero - 2, 3, 4, 9 - 18 points 3. Airis - 6, 2, 2, 9 - 19 points 4. Near Miss - 4, 9, 3, 3 - 19 points 5. Madrid - 1, 4, 6, 9 - 20 points 6. Roma 42.2 - 5, 9, 5, 2 - 21 points 7. MC Seawonder 007 - 7, 5, 7, 9 - 28 points 8. Roma - 8, 6, 8,9 - 31 points http://www.gp42.net

MAKING FIRST IMPRESSIONS LAST LONGER You know you're good at what you do, but it's important that your crew has immediate faith in your abilities too, especially when the going gets rough. When you turn up with Dubarry's new Dubliner crew bag, the job's done. Its design is based on the Shamrock boots trusted by generations of top sailors, which means it's tough, durable and protective, with a waterproof balloon pocket to give your valuables 100 percent safety. Built in to the base you'll find a trolley handle and inline wheels for easy movement through airports.

Dubarry's New Dubliner Crew Bag: Get Onboard.

http://www.dubarry.com

GREEN TEAM SAY 'THANK YOU' TO CHINA The Green Team celebrated the completion of their new Volvo Open 70 with a "Thank You China Event" at McConaghy Boats in Zhuhai China. Construction started in October and has been completed on schedule, with the boat due to leave on a ship bound for the UK on 8th May.

The boat has been constructed in a facility located approximately 60 miles north of Hong Kong. The mainly Australian led team at McConaghy's has been working alongside American designers Reichel Pugh and structural engineers Applied Structural Analysis Ltd (ASTA) from the UK, as well as a 90 strong Chinese build team. A total of 40,000 man hours have gone into the completion of this boat,

This is the first Volvo Ocean Race boat to be built in China; a region that has seen increased interest in the marine industry in recent years, most noticeably with its involvement in the 2007 America's Cup. McConaghy's has a strong international reputation, and they are one of the first professional build teams to have a facility in China.

With the build now complete the team will prepare the boat to be shipped back to Europe, with an anticipated arrival in the UK for the start of June. Once in the UK the boat will be assembled and tested for two weeks before heading to the team's homeport of Galway in Ireland, which will be the team's base before leaving for Alicante in September.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org

OLYMPIC SAILING COMPETITION MANAGER APPOINTED Rob Andrews has been appointed as the London 2012 Organising Committee's Sport Competition Manager for Sailing for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Rob will be responsible for all the planning, organisation and management for the Sailing events at the Games which will take place at Weymouth and Portland.

Rob's key responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of the Sailing competition and to be the focal point for liaison with the ISAF. He will ensure that the competition is organised in accordance with international federation rules and the Host City Contract. He will liaise with other functional areas to ensure the coordinated delivery of support services such as accreditation, venue operations, medical services and volunteers.

Rob will travel to the Beijing Games to see what lessons can be learned from the Sailing events there, and will initially take up his position on a part-time basis, becoming full time in October this year. The London 2012 Organising Committee is in the process of appointing competition managers for all sports in the Olympic Games and for most of the sports in the Paralympic Games.

Rob has spent a lifetime immersed in Olympic Sailing. He went to his first Olympic Games in 1984 as a coach for the British team in Los Angeles and has coached at subsequent Games through to Athens 2004. As part of this role he sits on Sailing's Olympic Steering Group devising the specific strategy that has brought sailing such a successful track record over the past two Games cycles. Since 2005 he has created the RYA World Class Sailing Events strategy, running such events as the ISAF Youth World Championship.

Rob lives with his partner Carole and two children on the south coast of England and when not running events or relaxing with his family, sails, plays golf and has recently rediscovered his mountain bike.

http://www.london2012.com

* Editor: Bravo! Proof that the organising committee has its wits about it. Rob is one of the very best, very much one of the Good Guys.

PROOF THAT SOLO INSANITY IS NOT JUST FRENCH Guadeloupe: Italian sailor and adventurer Vittorio Malingri arrived in Guadeloupe April 28, 13 days, 17 hours and 48 minutes after leaving Dakar, Senegal. What's remarkable about the non-stop, unassisted 2,545 mile trip is that he did it aboard Royal Oak, a 20-ft purpose-built, beach cat - alone!

"From a physical point of view, it was much less difficult than a leg on an around the world race in a larger boat," Malingri said upon reaching Guadeloupe. "Now I am going to sleep in a bed. See you later."

His attempt represented the first singlehanded beach-cat crossing on this route. The 47-year-old Malingri has a lengthy and varied resume that includes Orma 60 sailing with Italian sailing superstar Giovanni Soldini, a Vendee Globe Race attempt in 1992, the Dubai Motorcycle Rally, and driving 10,000 miles through Mexico in a '61 Chevy Malibu. At one point during this latest adventure, he was actually ahead of the outright reference time set by Frenchmen Pierre-Yves Moreau and Benoit Lequin in December of 11 days 11 hours and 25 minutes. Only a weakened Azores high and power generation issues prevented him from maintaining that pace.

Full story at Latitude 38: http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date 08-04-30&dayid=107

LEOPARD 3 ON THE MOVE COURTESY OF PETERS & MAY LTD Yacht shipment specialists Peters & May recently shipped the hugely advanced racing super-maxi Leopard 3 from Sydney to Antigua following her Sydney-Hobart debut. Leopard 3 needed assistance getting to Antigua both securely and speedily...something Peters & May were more than equipped to handle. Despite the obvious challenges involved in the shipping of a yacht like Leopard 3, Peters & May were able to find a suitable solution and project managed the entire shipment from start to finish.

Peters & May have also shipped other high calibre racing yachts such as the STP 65 Rosebud, Numbers, Rambler and many of the VOR 70's amongst others.

For further information on Peters & May's services see http://www.petersandmay.com

RYA COMPLETES LINE-UP FOR 2008 ROLEX COMMODORES' CUP A tough mix of inshore and offshore racing, the Rolex Commodores' Cup pits teams comprising one boat in three specified class bands against one another to accrue overall team points. The three-boat team with the lowest overall points total is crowned champions.

As in 2006, RYA Team GBR will have four teams, totaling 12 boats, entered in the event. And following previous announcements regarding the selections of the first two teams that will represent RYA Team GBR at this summer's Cup regatta, six more boats across the three event classes have been invited to complete the British entry.

Which boats will race in which three-boat team will now be considered by RYA selectors over the course of three Solent-based events, plus the RORC De Guingand Bowl offshore event, between now and the start of the Rolex Commodores' Cup on Sunday 29 June.

The final team combinations will be announced following the RORC IRC Nationals in mid-June. The latest Class One boats to be recruited to RYA Team GBR are Poppy of Portland Marina (John Dean) and Dark and Steamy (Nick & Anne Haigh), who recently finished second and first respectively at the Raymarine Warsash Big Boat Spring Championship.

Meanwhile, there will be a true family affair in Class Two as Jim Macgregor helms Premier Flair with daughters Skandia Team GBR Yngling sailor Lucy and Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme member Nicky among the crew. British Soldier (Mike Lawrence) is the other latest Class Two addition.

Prime Suspect (David & Gill Richards) and Jaguar of Burnham (Adrian Lower) have the nod to make up the Class Three entries.

Two years ago, the French team France Blue held off a strong challenge from Ireland to take the honours ahead of 12 other teams from a total of six nations.

But having relinquished the title they won for the second time in 2004, Great Britain will be hoping one of their four teams will be able to wrestle the silverware back this year.

The first team selected for RYA Team GBR comprises Fair Dos VII (John Shepherd) in Class One, Erivale (Jerry Otter) in Class Two and Quokka (Peter Rutter) in Class Three while a Northern-based team consisting of boats from Scotland, North West England and Northern Ireland is made up of Novus Arca (Kelly/Brammall-chartered) in Class One, Sail4Cancer (Nigel Biggs) in Class Two and Exaltation (David McFarlane) in Class Three.

All 12 British boats are now under the direction of RYA Commodores' Cup Team Manager David Atkinson.

http://www.rorc.org/comcup

STANFORD ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua: After a frustrating day in which light winds and overcast skies plagued the racecourse, order was resumed in the sailing universe today as the international fleet gathered here for the final day of racing at the 41st Stanford Antigua Sailing Week were greeted with ideal Caribbean conditions: steady easterly tradewinds building into the mid-teen range and a clear, blue ceiling above. Not surprisingly, in most of the 17 separate divisions, the top boats coming into the last day of competition found the perfect sailing weather much to their liking, wrapping up the regatta in fine, winning fashion.

Chief among them was Benny Kelly's TP52, Panthera, which closed out the series in Racing I today with yet another win to seal the overall class victory in the premier Big Boat class. Kelly's "heroes," led by former British America's Cup and Olympic sailor Andy Beadsworth on the helm, have posted an impressive string of results in the Caribbean this spring, having already won the Grand Prix racing division at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta earlier this year.

En route to their strong showing here in Antigua, Panthera vanquished George David's professionally crewed 90-footer Rambler, which took third today but second in the class overall. Sam Fleet's Swan 601, Aquarius, a runner-up today, finished third in class in the overall standings, with Mike Slade's 100-foot ICAP Leopard taking a fourth today and overall.

The Racing I, II and III classes, along with Performance Cruising I and the Multihull Racing fleets, dueled over a looping, 26.6-nautical mile course on the south coast of Antigua today, and clearly it was a route much favored by Stuart Robinson's Swan 70, Stay Calm. Robinson's big Swan sailed an exceptional series, easily holding off the advances of another Swan, Clay Deutsch's 68-foot Chippewa, to win the class by a relatively comfortable 5-point margin.

The margin of victory was much more substantial in Racing III, where Robert Swann's swift Marten 49, Yani - which seemed to have pace on the entire 13-boat class in heavy and light conditions, upwind and down - scored a second today to win the division by a solid 12-points. The battle for second was much tighter, but it was Richard Matthews's brand new 42-footer, Oystercatcher XXXVI, that ultimately prevailed in a tight tussle with today's Racing III winner, Barry Sampson's Club Swan 42, Long Echo, and Peter Peake's R/P 44, Storm.

Complete results of all classes at http://www.sailingweek.com

RS: X EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Joao Rodrigues (POR 75) was nothing if not consistent to day putting in a 2nd and a 1st to lead the men's European Championship.

2nd is Julien Bontemps (FRA 6) just one point behind with Nikos Kaklamanakis (GRE 9) two points further adrift. Nick Dempsey (GBR 1) makes up the top 4 with 9 points.

In the continuing story of the Dutch qualification struggle, it appears right now to be a one horse race. Remember that to qualify for the Games in China, either Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED 8) or Casper Bouman (NED 52) have to finish in the top 6 at one of 4 regattas during this European season. They both managed that in Hyeres.

Now at the Europeans. Casper seems to have already blown his chances to make the standard. Standing 32nd overall, having scored an 18th and a 14th today only a miracle will get him back into contention. Dorian on the other hand, is very much in line to do the business. 7th in the overall standing with a 5th and a 7th he must be pretty satisfied with his first day and looking forward to a late start tomorrow (1300hrs)

Overall a good first day's racing, if not a little on the long side for everyone!

For photos go to: http://www.rsxclass.com/euros2008/media.html Men's groups and results at: http://www.rsxclass.com/euros2008/livescores.html

ROUND BRITAIN SAILOR PROMOTES SAFETY FOR RNLI Paul Churchley (48) is a man on a mission for the RNLI. He's planning to circumnavigate Britain in a small motorboat, promoting sea and fishing safety while raising funds for the charity that saves lives at sea. He will also act as a voluntary ambassador for the RNLI's new and unique MOB Guardian man overboard and vessel locater alert system.

Self-employed Paul, who lives in Saltash (Cornwall), will set off from Plymouth in May onboard his Suzuki powered 21ft Jeanneau Merry Fisher 625 Stargate. Ahead of him will be a 1700 mile journey, which will take him clockwise around Britain stopping at 20 ports along the way.

Paul moved to Cornwall two years ago with a view to doing more sailing. He joined his local sailing club, developed a taste for motor boating and seized on the idea of going round Britain. His early planning led him to a meeting with the RNLI's sea safety representative who took Paul through one of the charity's SEA checks and cemented his determination to use the trip to raise funds:

'I wanted to make the trip something more than a sea based challenge and felt it was an opportunity to support the work of the RNLI. So I'm hoping to raise as much money as possible for the charity's Train one, save many campaign, which aims to secure funds for the training of the volunteer lifeboat crews. As a seafarer it is a huge comfort to know that the lifeboats are there if the worst should happen. This is my way of saying thank you.'

Sean Friday, RNLI Fishing Safety Coordinator, adds:

'Wherever he docks, Paul is welcoming fishermen onboard his vessel to look at a working MOB Guardian unit in situ. He's offered to do this as he recognises the major contribution it offers to fishing safety.

Paul is no stranger to adventure. A commercial flying pilot and instructor, he flew across America for six weeks, and he's also ridden a scooter from London to John O'Groats and back. If the weather is kind, he hopes to complete his challenge in around 60 days and backing him up will be title sponsor, Suzuki and from home will be his wife, Sally Buswell.

For full information on Paul's challenge, and to view his Round Britain itinerary, please visit his website at http://www.roundbritain.org.uk

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 Ted Jones: re. 300 Optis From China To Finland, Scuttlebutt Europe #1501: Let me get this straight: the Optimist Pram, which Clarke Mills turned out as a simple plywood box for the Clearwater, Florida Optimist Club so local kids could have access to the bay and learn to sail, is now a high-tech machine "with hulls of biaxial cloth, epoxy fins, stiff racing rigs, top of the range Harken blocks and radial cut sails designed by the Finnish WB-sails made in China with three alternative designs for sailors of different weight..." Clarke built the first one over a weekend and fitted it with an anachronistic, yet highly appropriate, sprit sail (so all the spars will fit inside the boat). Where have we gone wrong? Clarke is either rolling over in his grave in anguish or laughing uproariously from above at our folly. I'm sure he would have appreciated a royalty from 300 optis at 1,500 euros each. In fact, he neither asked for nor received a royalty if any kind for any of the hundreds of thousands of his progeny. If he has received his reward in Heaven, I would guess he would count it a mixed blessing.

THE LAST WORD Enjoy every sandwich. -- Warren Zevon

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

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