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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1458 - 11 MARCH

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

A LABORATORY FOR SPORTSBOATS The team running the Grand Prix de l'Ecole Navale are currently busying themselves with organising their event. From 8th to 11th May, over 130 'latest generation' one design yachts are expected at the Naval College situated in the community of Lanveoc in Brest harbour, beside the Crozon peninsula. For its seventh edition, the Grand Prix de l'Ecole Navale has again raised the bar in terms of participants and is this year positioned as the largest gathering of sportsboats in Europe.

Already 7 years have passed since the Naval College, the officer training institution for the French Navy and one of the top 10 engineering colleges in France, first took the gamble of placing the sportsboats centre stage. With the notable purchase of numerous J80's as the official craft for sail training at the Naval College and the 'sponsoring' partnership of an Open 750, the Naval College wanted to set themselves the challenge of a new one design sailing in France and Europe. The gauntlet was fairly quickly taken up with over 100 yachts registered on the 2004 start lines, set in the cove of Poulmic, a fantastically tactical race zone in Brest harbour. Efforts by the College in and around Sportsboats haven't stopped since then.

Loick Peyron, Marc Guillemot, Bertrand de Broc, Glenn Bourke, Gery Trentesaux, Jimmy Pahun and Yann Elies have come to the Naval College in order to taste the pleasures of the Sportsboat. The Open 5.70s have made the Grand Prix one of their flagship races with 30 craft registered each year. The Naval College has just acquired two Open 5.70s within the framework of the 'young' French Sailing Federation (FFV) network. There have also been a host of long distance events organised for the Open 750, the very epitome of the Sportsboat.

This year, two new, long awaited sportsboats will come and do battle for the first time at the Grand Prix. The 'China Team' Crew from the America's Cup will be coming along to the Grand Prix de l'Ecole Navale with 3 to 4 'Longtze Premiers'. The first 4 one design boats, including that of the China Cup, have been sailing since last October and the production boats are coming out of the yard now. They will be equipped with new rudders, a carbon boom, a new keel designed in France, a refined deck plan with deck fittings positioned 'to the millimetre' by Pierre Mas and Luc Gellusseau as well as a wealth of new additions, which are the fruit of intense work performed on the prototypes. The sail plan is impressive and reacts like a 'cinquo' dinghy" says Luc Gellusseau, one of the designers of this stylish yacht.

The K 6.50 will also be one of the major attractions of the Grand Prix 2008. Designed by Juan Koujoumdjian, designer of the US version of the America's Cup Yacht, Team Oracle, the K 6.50 is an ultra-powerful sportsboat with the ability to plane from 10 knots of true wind. Its rotating carbon wing mast, its flat-headed mainsail enabling it to power up and its 'Volvo Ocean Race' style hull at the height of sophistication, should make this new one design a beast on the racecourse.

http://www.gpen.ecole-navale.fr

COMEBACK Clearly the teams working on Groupama aren't hanging about. Three weeks after its capsize off New Zealand on 18th February 2008, Groupama 3 has been loaded onto the Eglantiersgracht, a Dutch cargo ship measuring 140 metres, which is transporting fruit and vegetables to Europe.

Under the expert eye of Jean-Marc Normant and Olivier Mainguy, the crew has craned the maxi-trimaran aboard, along with the pieces of mast and the float. Strapped down firmly to the deck, Groupama 3 will take about five weeks to get to France, where it will be unloaded around its home port of Lorient or in Quiberon bay in Brittany, depending on which yard is chosen for the reassembly.

During this crossing, construction of a new mast will begin at Lorima, along with the construction of a new float at Multiplast in Vannes.

However, conclusions still need to be drawn by the two teams working together to determine the cause of the damage suffered in the Pacific Ocean. These conclusions will enable the structure of the new float to be altered and the relevant modifications to be made to the starboard float, which was spared.

Whilst the shore crew managed by Stephane Guilbaud prepares for getting Groupama 3 back into shape, Franck Cammas is sailing. Attending the winter training sessions in La Trinite sur Mer aboard an Open 7.50 in the colours of Groupama, Franck is getting ready to defend his title in the infamous Spi Ouest France, which he won in this same series last year.

http://www.cammas-groupama.com

ASSISTANT COMMERCIAL MANAGER Due to continued growth of the business our Commercial Manager requires assistance to operate a busy department that is responsible for technical and sales specifications, procurement and costing.

The successful applicant will possess excellent communication and IT skills (particularly working with complex spreadsheets) and needs to be able to deal with suppliers and sub-contractors in a confident and commercial manner. Attention to detail and pride in your work, together with a willingness to learn are essential.

Sailing experience and a knowledge of yachts and their systems is advantageous but not essential.

If you are interested in this vacancy, please apply by email to recruitment@oystermarine.com

ORC INTERNATIONAL MURTER CUP CROATIA The ORC International Murter Cup finished today with two ore windward/leeward races under similar conditions like on the first day of 10-12 knots of southern wind. Czech Grand Soleil 42R "Bohemia Express" (Richard Vojta) left the fleet far away with second and first place making seven points advanatage in total score. While the question of winner was easily solved, there was big fight for the second place where 5 boats finished with just 2 points difference and some races were decided by the seconds what showed up how much excitment on the racing area brough new ORC International rule. Slovakian "Quebramar" (Peter Mosny) placed second, one point ahead of X-cite (Tonko Rameša, CRO, X 41), while (Robert Sandalić, CRO, A 40) and Squalo Blanco (Frane Barbieri, CRO, J/V 37) followed them with same number of points.

Just after Murter Cup finished, the whole fleet proceeded to Hvar where the Easter regatta, another important Croatian ORC event will start on Wednesday.

http://orc.org

RNZYS WOMENS MATCH RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS Claire Leroy (FRA) the current world ranked #1 womens match racer won the RNZYS Womens Match Racing Championships 'sailed' which started on Thursday and ran through to Sunday.

A lack of wind for much of the regatta prevented it progressing beyond the end of the second round of the Round Robin phase - and the results were declared based on the final standindinfs at the end of the round robin.

Top New Zealand competitor was YNZ President, Jan Dawson who ranks around #70 in the ISAF rankings, she and her crew neat meany of the higher ranked international competitors to take second overall on a tie-break with Nicky Souter (Royal Prince Alfred AUS).

Leroy finished the regatta with nine wins, with Dawson and Souter finishing with six apiece.

Final Results

1. Claire Leroy, FRA 2. Jan Dawson, NZL 3. Nicky Souter, AUS 4. Jess Smyth, NZL 5. Katie Spithill, NZL 6. Lucinda Whitty, AUS 7. Sam Boyd, AUS 8. Sam Osborne, NZL 9. Annemarie Waugh, NZL 10. Liz Baylis, USA

>From Sail-world.com: http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=42542 Event site: http://www.rnzys.org.nz/Sailing/Regattas/NZWomensMatchRacing/tabid/248/Default.aspx

EXPEDITION TO SMITH ISLAND CANCELLED On September 9, 2007 Angus Cater set sail from the Hamble to sail his 45 ft yacht Harrac to Smith Island in the South Shetlands to climb Mount Foster in memory of Bill Tilman and Simon Richardson who attempted the same feat in 1977. Simon Richardson was Angus' friend. It is anticipated the trip will last 8 months.

After being beset by a long list of problems including leaks and crew availability, Angus finally called the expedition off. He is now sailing home and due back on 2 May. More on this in Classic Boat, April issue. A Tilman weekend will be held this May, see http://classicboat.co.uk/auto/newsdesk/20080210160704cbnews.html

More at http://www.smithisland.co.uk/da/49073 and http://www.classicboat.co.uk/auto/newsdesk/20080210171026cbnews.html

JUSTICE CAHN TO ALSO JUDGE TEAM NEW ZEALAND'S LAWSUIT AGAINST ALINGHI Justice Cahn, the NY State Supreme Court judge in charge of the lawsuit brought by BMW Oracle against Alinghi, will also judge the lawsuit Team New Zealand filed against Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi and ACM on Thursday, as the official documents from the NY Supreme Court show.

Team New Zealand filed two lawsuits against Alinghi on Thursday. The first action, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, "claims damages for breach of contract arising from an agreement made as a pre-condition of ETNZ's entry to the 33rd America's Cup". The second action has been filed in the Federal Court under United States anti-trust legislation. Justice Cahn will obviously judge the first case.

One of the first things Justice Cahn did right after Grant Dalton and the team's lawyers filed their papers on Thursday was to issue an "ex parte order to compel preservation of records" (see attached PDF file at the top of the article). I'm not a lawyer, far from it, but just a quick web search is enough to find other cases with such orders. This order basically means that Team New Zealand (the Plaintiff) and Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi and ACM (the Defendants) are "restrained from destroying, erasing, mutilating, concealing, altering, transferring, writing over, or otherwise disposing of in any manner, directly or indirectly, any documents or records of any kind that relate to the case".

One is to assume that Justice Cahn will thoroughly examine all these documents in order to judge the case and it should be fair to suppose that this particular case will take much longer to resolve than the one facing BMW Oracle and Alinghi. -- Pierre Orphanidis

http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com

ROLEX CHINA SEA RACE The biennial Rolex China Sea Race, organised by the Royal Hong Kong (RHKYC) with Manila Yacht Club and run under the auspices of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, will start in Hong Kong on Thursday 20 March 2008. The 24th China Sea Race will finish 565 nautical miles from Hong Kong at Subic Bay, northwest of Manila in the Philippines.

To date, 25 entries have been received, with 20 boats entering under IRC ratings. The late entry deadline is 12 March.

The 2008 list of competitors combines returning race veterans with new faces. The Race has attracted several overseas entries including the two Australian crews, Jon Wardill's Australian Maid and Geoff Hill's Strewth. Chris Meads' Full Metal Jacket is sailing under the New Zealand flag and the race is joined by Fidel/Echauz's Subic Centennial and Martin Tanco's Challenge from the Philippines. Defending her 2006 winner's title, the Kinmonth/Burns owned Fortis Mandrake will face stiff competition from the overseas entries whilst continuing the local rivalry with Hong Kong boats such as Sam Chan's FfreeFire 52, Neil Pryde's Hi Fi and the Leon Chan/James Lau owned Tipsy Frenz. All will be chasing the 2000 Race Record of 47h 43m 07s set by Karl Kwok on Beau Geste.

The 2008 Rolex China Sea Race will continue to offer shore-based fans the opportunity to follow the action online ( http://www.rolexchinasearace.com ) using PurpleFinder technology to provide satellite-based positional data from each boat, which will be updated every two hours during the race.

http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/rolexchinasearace.htm

VOLVO OCEAN RACE IN HDTV FleetBroadband has been chosen to provide essential voice and data connectivity for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 as well as sending high-definition television (HDTV) and rich multimedia content from the Volvo Open 70s while they race across the world's oceans.

Inmarsat returns again to the event as official satellite communications provider; Stratos Global is official sponsor of mobile satellite services; and Thrane & Thrane is official sponsor of satellite and radio communications equipment to Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009.

Inmarsat's new maritime broadband service, FleetBroadband, will be delivered to the yachts by Stratos mobile satellite services via Thrane & Thrane SAILOR satellite equipment, and will allow an expected global audience of more than 1.8 billion people to follow the race on high definition television (HDTV), radio and the internet.

FleetBroadband, supplemented by Inmarsat Fleet 33 and Inmarsat C services, will not only be used to deliver navigational and weather updates, position reports and course headings, but will also provide the essential safety communications for the crews as they compete in a 37,000 nautical mile race which lasts over nine months.

All 39 weekly half-hour TV shows and all nine one-hour summary programmes will be shot in HDTV. It is estimated that 90Gb - the equivalent of 20 DVDs - will be sent from the boats to race headquarters over FleetBroadband. This will be supplemented, as with previous races, by radio interviews, still photographs and text written by the crews - also sent via FleetBroadband and other Inmarsat services.

The 2008-09 event will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain on 4 October 2008, it will for the first time take in ports in Asia.

http://www.volvooceanrace.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 Henderson: ISAF and Tornado: Let me first state my bias: I like Cats as they are a unique disciplne and they must be sailed as Kinetics are of minimal advantage.

Having said that I fully understand the militancy of the Tornado class but their attacks on the ISAF Executive and especially the President Goran Petersson are unwarranted.

The voting held in November 2007 by the 39 Council members was open and transparent with how each delegated voted published and they are the ones who are responsible.

The ISAF President must support positively the results no matter what his personal position maybe and he has. With regard to reopening the issue at the mid-year meeting, this is not the forum so to do as it is not an urgent decision at this time and the mid-Year meeting is mainly for financial subjects and not major policy discussions. The AGM in November is the proper and Constitutional time to address the classes for 2012. The Executive is right.

Many times the November meeting has reversed decisions previously made after due diligence especially listening to the sailing community and that is when the real indepth decisions will be made. November 2008 is when the final and binding decision on the 2012 events will be held.

The Tornado has a very good case to remain Olympic and they should make their case in a positive manner forgetting the personal attacks.

The solution should be to positively lobby IOC President Rogge (Belgium) and his IOC sailing colleagues who are still IOC Members like Peter Tallberg (Finland), Ng Ser Miang (Singapore), Fernando Lima Bello (Portugal), Prince Albert (Monaco), Barbara Kendall (New Zealand) to delay the deletion of the 11th Event until 2016 as the reason for doing so is now not relevant with the deletion of Basball and Softball. This coupled with the fact that the 2012 Games will be in London, the home of the now #1 sailing nation, makes this request sensible. It is a positive solution to a very disruptive problem. I personally support the other RYA positions also.

FEATURED BROKERAGE Volvo 60, 330,000 EUR, Located in Croatia.

In 1997, the boat was built as "CHESSIE RACING" according to Bruce Farr's plans at "Eric Goetz Custom Sailboats" shipyard (Bristol, USA). In 1999, a Hong Kong businessman, Karl Kwok, whose aim was to gather the team for the next Whitbread, purchased the boat. The boat was renamed "BEAU GESTE". Competing at the China Sea Race, a 575-mile-long regatta between Hong Kong and Manila, "Beau Geste" set a new record for the China Race at 47 hours, 43 minutes and 7 seconds. In 2000, "Semcon", a Swedish company, purchased it as a training boat for the team"ASSA ABLOY". The boat was thoroughly reconstructed and completely modernized in Sweden. It was refitted with new equipment and a new carbon-fibre mast was installed, thus bringing the boat up to the level of class VO60 standards set in 2001. "Assa Abloy" team came in second at Volvo Ocean Race in 2002.

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

Complete listing details and seller contact information at http://uk.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatFullDetails.jsp?boat_id=1846228

THE LAST WORD One more reason why your humble narrator is proud of his Scottish heritage: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/opinion/09mccallsmith.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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

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