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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1807 - WEEKEND EDITION 2-3 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

Between human will and nature's forces since 1877 -- Helly Hansen

ENJOYING BEANTOWN Boston officially welcomed the Volvo Ocean Race and its teams to Fan Pier on Friday evening. On what had been a mostly dreary day, the skies cleared and the sun poked through just in time for the City of Boston Welcome Celebration.

Entertainment was provided by the Dorchester Symphony Orchestra, along with the city's poet laureate, Sam Cornish.

Mayor Thomas Menino pointed to the nautical heritage and history of Boston Harbor in welcoming the Volvo Ocean Race to the city. And he encouraged all of Boston to come down to Fan Pier to experience 'Life at the Extreme' through the interactive elements that make up the 'Volvo Ocean Race Experience' in the village.

Knut Frostad, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, thanked the city for the generous hospitality extended to the teams and the race organisers during the opening week in Boston and promised exciting competition when the in-port race takes place on Saturday 9 May.

The stopover race village at Fan Pier will be a hive of activity between now and the race start on Saturday 16 May, with concerts, college sailing regattas, an oyster festival and a cinco de Mayo celebration, among the draws.

* It seems wherever Ken Read goes the all-important question of PUMA's title credentials in the Volvo Ocean Race follows him.

This morning it was on a television set in New York where Read and crew-mates Shannon Falcone, Jerry Kirby and Casey Smith were appearing on NBC's Today Show.

For five minutes and in front of an audience of more than five million people - the show has been the most popular morning programme in the USA for 697 consecutive weeks - Read was grilled on subjects as diverse as crew relationships and whether or not the team runs a laundry service onboard.

Read once again was asked whether or not his third-placed team, 13.5 points adrift of Ericsson 4 in the standings, could still win. He was in a vastly different setting to normal, but was defiant as ever.

"One boat is a bit launched right now," he said. "It's been a battle from the start. PUMA Ocean Racing has only been around two years and we are racing against some teams who have doing this awhile."

"Third place is amazing," replied the interviewer, but Read was having none of it. "It's okay, but we have our goals high."

http://www.volvooceanrace.org

OUR TEST LAB IS THEIR RACE TRACK Winning the Volvo Ocean Race is not about being lucky. It's about attention to every detail. No surprise then, that we are the official clothing supplier of the Ericsson Racing Team in the 2008/09 Volvo Ocean Race. For the world's toughest sailors, there's no such thing as almost perfect. That's why we've been a part of the offshore racing circuit for almost 30 years.

Be sure to experience the pulse and action surrounding the best team in offshore racing at http://www.hellyhansen.com/perspectives

BELUGA RACER TAKE THE SCORING GATE Shortly after 0520 GMT Friday morning, Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme crossed the Leg 4 scoring gate south of Recife, Brazil, in first place on Beluga Racer. This mid-leg victory gains the German duo two points, bringing their overall race score to 36 points. In second place, Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz on Desafio Cabo de Hornos are currently 46 miles behind the German team and will cross the scoring gate in the next few hours in second place, taking 1.5 points and increasing their points total to 31 points.

Meanwhile, 140 miles south of the German race leader, British duo of Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson on Team Mowgli are back up to speed making the highest average in the fleet at 10 knots after their inshore pitstop to fix a wrapped spinnaker. "Sailing through the night has been hard work with heavy cloud cover and no moonlight and wind being very variable in direction," reported Salvesen late yesterday. "We have cut our watches down to one and a half hours each as it is difficult to concentrate on the helm for much longer than this, thereby increasing the risk of broaching." Fortunately, the conditions have recently stabilised. "This morning, however, after a series of heavy squall clouds and rain, the wind has settled once more," reports the British skipper. "We finally have the autopilot on and are making good progress towards the scoring gate to our NNE."

While the leading boats now have the option of heading away from the coast after the scoring gate, Salvesen and Thomson have to remain inshore. "Shipping traffic has died down and nothing has been seen since yesterday afternoon," continues Salvesen. "Thankfully this includes fishing boats! These tend to be very badly lit - a single white light doesn't tell you which way they are headed and avoiding them can be very tricky when you are doing 15 knots with the big spinnaker up! During daylight hours some of them trail incredibly long floating lines marked only by occasional white floating markers. Crossing over the top of one of these lines would spell disaster for both us and the fishermen!"

Leaderboard at 08:20 UTC Friday, 1st May 2009

Double-handed class: 1. Beluga Racer - DTL 0.0nm Spd 7.7kts 2. Cabo de Hornos - DTL 46nm Spd 6kts 3. Team Mowgli - DTL 140nm Spd 10kts

Single-handed class: 1. Roaring Forty - DTL 0.0nm Spd 6kts

http://www.portimaoglobalrace.com

NOMINATIONS FOR ISAF ATHLETES' COMMISSION MEMBERS The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) is inviting athletes to nominate candidates to represent their Olympic event on the ISAF Athletes' Commission.

The ISAF Athletes' Commission represents the interests of the sailors in the Olympic events and reports directly to the ISAF Executive Committee. The Athletes' Commission is composed of athletes representing each Olympic event (one athlete representing each event), and is elected by the athletes themselves.

The elections for the members of the 2009-2013 Athletes' Commission will take place online via the ISAF website http://www.sailing.org from 25-31 May 2009, concurrently with the Delta Lloyd Regatta, event five of the ISAF Sailing World Cup. ISAF is now inviting athletes to nominate candidates to represent their Olympic event on the ISAF Athletes' Commission. The final date for candidates to put their name forward is 20 May 2009.

Candidates can be nominated in each of the 10 sailing events selected for the 2012 London Olympic Games:

Equipment - Event

RS:X - Men's Windsurfer RS:X - Women's Windsurfer Laser - Men's One Person Dinghy Laser Radial - Women's One Person Dinghy Finn - Men's One Person Dinghy Heavy 470 - Men's Two Person Dinghy 470 - Women's Two Person Dinghy 49er - Men's Two Person Dinghy High Performance Star - Men's Keelboat Elliott 6m - Women's Keelboat Match Racing

Details on eligibility and voting at http://www.sailing.org/athletes

DUBARRY'S NEW CYCLONE: KICKING UP A STORM The old moccasin look is a classic and undeniably classy - as comfortable on deck as a gents' brogue on the pavements of Pall Mall. But when you're after a bit more performance, support and style, you need something built for purpose. The new Cyclone from Dubarry has award-winning grip, quick-dry soft leather, a TPU toe guard that will outlast your knees, quick release Gillie lacing and a removable, breathable antimicrobial sole to make sure that a Storm is all you'll ever kick up.

LiveLoveGoSailing http://www.dubarry.com/marine.cfm

60TH WILSON TROPHY A clear blue sky and a chilly ten knot breeze greeted the forty two team racing squads competing in the 60th Wilson Trophy at West Kirby Sailing Club this morning. With the 2009 British Open Team Racing Championship title at stake there was a subtly serious edge to the otherwise convivial atmosphere which prevailed over the sailors' alfresco breakfast of coffee and bacon sandwiches. With perfect team racing conditions on offer, the highly efficient West Kirby Sailing Club moved smoothly into gear and racing commenced bang on time.

With no clear favourite to take the title and the general clubhouse consensus being that this year's event is one of the most open Wilson Trophies ever, there are a number of teams who must be thinking that, with a little luck, this might just be their year. Certainly it seems that in the 60th Anniversary year there are several teams making an appearance here after an absence of quite some time. Andy Green who won the Wilson Trophy ten years ago is back this year sailing for the Imperial Poona, explains the attraction 'There is simply no other event like this. The organisation and the quality of the racing are second to none. The club put a huge amount of effort into getting this right and it shows. Primarily though we are here this year because the Wilson Trophy is just tremendous fun.'

Also making a welcome return to the regatta are the Castaways Sublime, whose helms Jeremy Vine, James Grogono and Richard Keith were highly successful team racers back in the 60's and between them are responsible for no less than four Wilson Trophy victories. At three hundred and thirty eight, the combined age of the entire team is almost certainly an event record. With the host club having such a proud reputation for producing great team racers it is no surprise that there are several West Kirby teams competing this year. Understandably, with twelve months of bragging rights up for grabs, there is fierce rivalry between the local sailors making up the WKSC, Hibre Highlanders, Waders and the Hawks squads. It is a clear indication of how seriously the WKSC team in particular is taking this event that one of their helms, Chris Cameen, flew in from Australia yesterday especially for the regatta.

When racing ended today and after one hundred and forty seven matches had been sailed there were no teams who remained undefeated. The US entry Woonsocket Rockets top the leader board along with Royal Thames, Larchmont, WKSC and the Lions as the teams with only one defeat from seven races.

Saturday brings more round robin racing for the forty two teams who are battling to make the cut for the knock out stage of the 2009 Wilson Trophy.

http://www.wilsontrophy.co.uk

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY The Ellen MacArthur Trust Skandia Round Britain Voyage of Discovery mirrors Ellen MacArthur's first solo round Britain voyage in her 21ft yacht, Iduna in 1995. Starting from Cowes on 3rd May, 85 young people will sail the 48 foot Scarlet Oyster the 2000 nautical miles around Britain on a four month voyage stopping at 17 ports around Great Britain including Dover, London, Ipswich, Hull, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow (Largs), Belfast, Douglas, Liverpool, Holyhead, Cardiff, Torquay and Southampton.

The Voyage provides a unique opportunity for young people in recovery from cancer and leukaemia to return to the paediatric oncology wards of the hospitals they were treated in and communicate their experiences and recovery path to those currently undergoing treatment for cancer. Throughout the course of the Voyage the Trust is aiming to raise 100,000 GBP.Trust Patrons Dame Ellen MacArthur and double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Roberston will both be taking part in the Voyage. Ellen MacArthur will be giving a series of public talks at venues across Britain in conjunction with the Voyage.

http://www.roundbritain.org

IRCRATING.ORG -- CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME Advertise your IRC boat designs or events for free, and specifically target the right customers: The new IRC website welcomes contributions from boat builders, designers and race organisers - and it will cost you nothing except the time to write a few words, and possibly dig out a photograph! Take a look at some examples on the site at http://www.ircrating.org, and click on the 'Submit an Article' link at the bottom of the homepage for details of how to get your free advertising.

SUPERYACHT DESIGNER JONATHAN RHOADES BADLY INJURED One of the UK's leading superyacht designers has had to have his foot amputated after it was crushed by a hydraulic winch during a yacht race in Slovenia.

Jonathan Rhoades of the Rhoades Young Design Group was a guest on board a 70ft sailing yacht taking part in the Shipman Regatta last weekend when the accident happened. A doctor was immediately transferred from a nearby yacht to assist but it quickly became apparent that Jonathan needed to be evacuated by air to Ljubjana University hospital.

Despite the best efforts of the hospital specialists, it was not possible to save his foot. Jonathan's family immediately flew out to be with him and we understand that Jonathan's spirits are improving.

Jonathan is one of the founding partners of the Rhoades Young Design Group along with Dick Young.

Together they have helped create some of the world's finest yachts including the interiors for the 43m Vitters sailing yacht Mystere and the 23m Baltic Yachts Black Pearl as well as the exterior and interior styling for the 42m Chantier Naval Bystander.

http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20090330170409syw.html

18FT SKIFF OPEN, RUTLAND SAILING CLUB A good fleet of 7 boats turned out for the 18ft skiff fleet's first event of the 2009 UK season at Rutland Water Sailing Club, the usual suspects being joined by two local crews sailing older B18 designs.

They were greeted with deceptively calm conditions under a clear blue sky - a perfect start to the season.. However, the offshore breeze made itself felt once the boats were on the course with a typically gusty, shifty Rutland wind off the south shore. Gusts of up to 17 knots or so making it very challenging for the teams and shaking out the winter cobwebs quickly. It was Jamie Mears, Stuart Mears and Matt Gill on PICA who took the first race from Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Jocki Christophers on Gill Wild Graphics, with Mason Woodworth, Ben Clothier and Simon Hamilton on Investec taking third place.

PICA repeated the feat in both the second and third races. However, the shifty gusty conditions made this a lot harder than it seemed with the lead changing frequently between PICA and Gill in both races. PICA having to come from behind to take the last race on the final run. Investec took third in both races.

Sunday's racing was held in gentler but possibly even shiftier conditions. PICA again looked to be making the early running, but this time it was they who were pipped at the post by a matter of feet when Gill came through on a gust, with stand in helm Ian Martin ably substituting for Ed Brown. Third was Ronstan, (Dave Hall, Paul Constable and Alec Mckinlay) who had stayed ashore on the Saturday to catch up on some overdue winter maintenance. In the second race Gill came home the runaway winners followed home by Pica and Ronstan. The final race was lead from start to (almost) finish by Ronstan until much to their frustration Pica managed to catch a gust on the final gybe to the finish to take the race by a couple of boat lengths.

The event ended with Pica the deserved winners, counting four 1sts and one second place, from Gill and Ronstan.

http://www.uk18footer.org

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 Paul van Os: Further to Elaine Buntings Blog on this topic. Exciting racing it would surely be - however as regards the SPORT of sailing and the RULES of sailing it would be interesting to see the outcome of a BMW Oracle MEGA MACHINE meeting a highly manouverable traditional AC style boat. At the speeds a few really close dial ups and P&S incidents on the start line and one or other boat will be sliced and diced.

Given a highly competent Composite repair crew and plenty of spare sections to allow repair / rebuilding and the classic boat could end up with a string of default races all won in the Protest room. The DOG merely requires that the defender Boat fits the Challengers envelope which provides Maximum parameters.

Makes for interesting prospects.

* From Daniel Charles: According to John Waugh: "Sailing (...) remains a sport for participants not "the public". (...) There is no duty to the public". The mind boggles. In which century are we? Certainly not in a century where the participants paid for their boats. Today the sponsors pay for the boats, and for the crews. Why do sponsors bring so much money in? Does one believe, for example, that in the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup Viagra sponsored Dennis Conner's challenger out of concern for the erectile function of Stars and Stripes' crew? Of course not: it was to lure the public. Then the sponsors reinject the cost of their sponsorship into the price of their product, which the public buys. So eventually the boats and crews are paid for by the public. If such a debt does not creates a duty, what does?

There is nothing dishonourable in being paid - but it is damning to act as if one is not! One of the major ailments which afflicts our ailing sport (losing participants at a rate of 6-8% per year, down 61% in 16 years in the US!) is that there is no direct linkage between the sport and those who pay for it. In the other professional sports, those who pay - the sponsor, the public - have an input in the political decisions; on the contrary, the professional side of our sport is exclusively run by the professionals themselves, whose vision is limited to their wallet (see the America's Cup mess, the PRB-Vendee Globe lawsuit, the collapse of the ORMA class...). In the 1980s the whole racing community jumped into the professional band-wagon, closing their minds on the consequences and on the duties it would imply. I see with more sadness than surprise that the minds are still closed and that, while Rome burns, we're still dancing in our ill-fitting amateur disguises, wearing Tartuffe's masks.

* From Kirt Simmons: How many weekend sailors match race?? Those that do race generally fleet race, and there are many examples of that done in multihulls.

Just as most of the public drives a car, most of the public is interested in racing, particularly Formula 1 where the technology of "cars" gets to be carried to the extreme, just as in the America's Cup. It is a showcase of sailing technology besides being a racing event. I would venture to say most weekend racers are about as in tune with the latest nuances in match racing strategy as they are with sailing multihulls at 30+ knots, and neither has too much relevance to their own "participation" in sailing, but one is certainly more entertaining than the other IMO.

* From Eddie Mays: I have finally realised that I am a traditionalist at heart, not a Luddite, a traditionalist.

Over the past year I have tried to follow the ramifications of the court battle over the next America's Cup and failed. Tis.a very complicated matter for a simple Dorset man. The Americica's Cup has always been a matter of overpowering egos and 'fat cat' lawyers. That I can understand. Jonathon Crinion asks in today's column why the court in New York is involved. Again that is simple. It is hereditary in the Deed of Gift and since the demise of the two superpower balance America has been looking for other challenges, without a great deal of success. But I digress.

When the final outcome comes, if it ever comes, I pray that it will not be for a multihull challenge. I looked in wonder at the images that appeared earlier this week and marvelled at the technologies involved and if you are looking for a way to get from A to B as quickly as possible I will book a ticket but as a boat to match race in - NO!

Imagine a 15 mile windward / leeward course. Anything less and it would be over too quickly and also the boats need that much space to tack. Remember Tracey Edwards couldn't tack her cat in the Solent a few years ago. No doubt the boats could only race in winds up to perhaps 20 kts. There are already too many classes, both big & small, where racing is not countenanced in winds above 25 kts. Where do our future sailors learn the skill of heavy weather sailing ? Match racing is about the skill of helm & tacticians in getting the better of their opposite number. A five minute warning that you are about to tack lacks something of an edge.

So if it does go that way please accept my apologies but I won't be amongst the spectators. Netley Abbey Rovers are playing Hamble Old Boys at football on that day and that is likely to be technically more interesting.

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TEMPEST was launched in 1974 at the yard of Palmer & Johnson in aluminium. Temperst is a near sister to Jim Kilroy's KIALOA III. She was 1st to Bermuda in 1976 and held Vineyard Race record for 20 years.

With the second owner she won her class in Transpac. In 2000 TEMPEST was relaunched as a new 1974/2000 yacht.

She has the performance of the old TEMPEST with all the beauty and comforts of a new modern performance cruiser.

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THE LAST WORD Without doubt the greatest injury of all was done by basing morals on myth. For, sooner or later, myth is recognized for what it is, and disappears. Then morality loses the foundation on which it has been built. -- Lord Herbert Louis Samuel

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

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