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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1469 - 24 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

ALINGHI AND BMW ORACLE PREPARE AMERICA'S CUP SUMMIT A roadmap summit to try and settle the next steps in the war-torn America's Cup is to be held in Europe, probably Valencia or Geneva, next week.

Representatives of the Swiss holder, Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi, and the now challenger of record, San Francisco-based Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle, will try to hammer out a deal on the timing of their one-on-one battle.

Speaking to a legal analyst in the United States, Bertarelli said that if Oracle were to insist on October this year he would default, which would see the 157-year old trophy automatically fall into the hands of the Americans.

Later he said he did not mean he would walk away from the competition and that he was speaking in the heat of the moment.

Time has already run out on the choice of venue for this year, especially if a boat is to be designed specifically to suit the conditions of an autumn series that could be in Europe but could also be in a Middle East venue like Dubai. The insider joke is that Bertarelli should play a US anti-Castro card and choose Cuba.

It is not expected that Bertarelli, Ellison or even Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts would be at the talks next week. If Oracle wants to play hard ball then it could even insist on a series in early July this year. -- Stuart Alexander, full article in The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/sailing/alinghi-and-bmw-oracle-prepare-americas-cup-summit-799412.html

STRONG BREEZE FOR MEDAL RACES The Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia offered the sailors a beautiful last day with strong breeze, waves and sun for the Medal Races.

The Yngling, Finns and 49ers were the first three classes to hit the water with south-westerly wind ranging from 16 to 25 knots across the bay. Finally the opportunity had arrived for some teams to show their expertise in the breeze and close the gap on their opponents.

It is especially the case for Dutch 470 sailors Marcelien de Koening and Lobke Berkhout. The triple World Champions had already proven they are unbeatable in the breeze. They led the Medal Race from start to finish and defend successfully the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Title they had claim last year. Among the top five all week, the Dutch pair has peaked at the right time.

After battling all week against their team mate, the Russian Yngling team of Anna Basalkina, Vlada Ukraintseva and Ekaterina Maximova has sailed away from their rival after winning the Medal Race. Ekaterina Skudina, Diana Krutskikh and Natalia Ivanova finish in last position in the Medal race but managed to stay on the podium on third overall. The World Champions from England, Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson enjoyed the breeze to sneak in second position.

The regatta trophy changed hands during the 49er Medal Race. The Italians Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello were leading the race and the classification at the first mark but the Ukrainians Rodion Luka and Geogy Leonchuk passed the Italians on the first run to take the lead. The second run could have seen the 2005 World Champion’s hopes for the title disappear when they lost control of their boat and capsized. They were just quick enough to restart and cross the line in fourth position. With the Australians finishing between them and the Germans, the Ukrainians have won the regatta on equal points with the German brothers.

Rafael Trujillo is the second Spanish Medal Race winner. The Athens Silver medallist had not yet sailed to his full potential with a slow start in the regatta. A victory in the Finn Medal race will comfort the Spanish who is working hard to find his pace again. Ben Ainslie (GBR) who had already won the event yesterday placed fifth in the Medal Race. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) added another good performance (second in the Medal race) to his results to conserve his second position and increase his lead on Zach Railey to 30 points. The American takes Bronze.

Zofia Klepacka (POL) adds another victory to her results with a bullet in the Medal Race in the RS:X. She takes bronze in the regatta behind Alessandra Sensini (ITA) in first position and Marina Alabau (ESP) second. The Italian who had won the “Absolute winner trophy” last year is conserving her title.

The podium is unchanged in the Men division after the Medal race won by Richard Stauffacher from Switzerland. World #3 Nick Dempsey (GBR) has crossed the line in third place to win the title behind Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL), second in the regatta and overall. Fabian Heidegger (ITA) places sixth in the Medal Race and third in the ranking.

With only seven boats, the Tornados have sailed an ultimate race won by Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola (ARG) in third position overall. The French are victorious with only top five results. Second place goes to the German Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz.

Petra Niemann is the “Absolute Winner” Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE. The German scored the least points over the classes with 10 points overall. The prestigious Trophy was awarded to Petra Niemann by H.R.H. Queen Sofia of Spain. -- Corinne McKenzie

Top three final results by class:

470 Men 1. Gabrio Zandona / Andrea Trani, ITA, 22 points 2. Gideon Kliger / Udi Gal, ISR, 41 3. Sven Coster / Kalle Coster, NED, 41

470 Women 1. Marcelien De Koning / Lobke Berkhout, NED, 42 2. Natalia Via-Dufresne / Laia Tutzo, ESP, 51 3. Christina Bassadone / Saskia Clark, GBR, 54

Finn 1. Ben Ainslie, GBR, 27 2. Ivan Kljakovic, Gaspic, CRO, 47 3. Zach Railey, USA, 77

RSX Men 1. Nick Dempsey, GBR, 31 2. Przemyslaw Miarczynski, POL, 44 3. Fabian Heidegger, ITA, 54

RSX Women 1. Alessandra Sensini, IRA, 29 2. Marina Alabau, ESP, 43 3. Zofia Klepacka, POL, 47

49er 1. Rodion Luka / Georgiy Leonchuk, UKR, 52 2. Jan Peter Peckolt / Hannes Peckolt, GER, 53 3. Pietro Sibello / Gianfranco Sibello, ITA, 59

Laser 1. Paul Goodison, GBR, 25 2. Nick Thompson, GBR, 32 3. Rasmus Myrgren, SWE, 38

Tornado 1. Xavier Revil / Christophe Espagnon, FRA, 20 2. Johannes Polgar / FLorian Spalteholz, GER, 24 3. Santiago Lange / Carlos Espinola, ARG, 36

Dragon 1. Poul Richard Hoj Jensen, GBR, 45 2. Vassily Senatorov, RUS, 54 3. Antonio Mardel Correia, POR, 65

Laser Radial 1. Petra Niemann, GER, 10 2. Franziska Goltz, GER, 40 3. Cathrine Gjerpen, NOR, 40

Yngling 1. Basalkina Anna / Ukraintseva Vlada / Maximova Ekaterina, RUS, 29 2. Sarah Ayton / Sarah Webb / Pippa Wilson, GBR, 39 3. Ekaterina Skudina / Diana Krutskikh / Natalia Ivanova

http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org

BRISBANE TO GLADSTONE RACE Matt Allen steered his modified Volvo Ocean racer Ichi Ban to another impressive Brisbane to Gladstone line honours win.

Ich Ban which completed the 308 n/ml coastal passage race with a course time of 23 Hours 34 minutes 10 seconds mastered a mixed range of light to moderate winds to claim successive line honours titles in Queensland’s premier blue water classic.

However while Ichi Ban dominated the battle for line honours her course time will not be fast enough to feature in the contest against the smaller older and lower handicapped yachts for the fastest corrected handicap.

* Corrected time:

Sydney skipper Ray Roberts added the 60 year old Courier-Mail Cup to his impressive collection when he steered Quantum Racing to a resounding win in the 308 n/ml Brisbane Gladstone race.

The Quantum Racing crew excelled in a testing range of winds to out sail a very competitive fleet when she logged an average speed of 11.76 knots to win the IRC class by a commanding margin.

They were tactically smart in the light winds in Moreton Bay then capitalised with a faultless strategy over the more important 250 nautical mile open ocean sailing leg between Caloundra and Gladstone Harbour to build an unmatched speed which ultimately paved the way for their 1hour 1 minute 15 second win over the equally well sailed Brisbane sloop Wedgetail.

* Multihulls:

Victorian catamaran skipper Martyn Riley wrote another chapter in the 44 year history of Brisbane to Gladstone multihull races when he steered Raw to the Core to an impressive line honours win earlier today.

Riley looked almost certain to miss this race when his power sailing maxi-cat Raw Nerve was dismasted in the Adelaide to Port Lincoln race earlier this year.

Raw Nerve the Brisbane to Gladstone multihull class record holder which set an amazing 16.28knot average over the 308 n/ml course in 2004 remained in the Melbourne boatyard when the smaller Stuart Bloomfield designed sprint machine Raw to the Core showed her class to retain the unbroken record of five major trophy wins for her proud owner.

They were easily the star performers in yet another overnight sprint where Raw to the Core expressed her spinnaker sailing speed to improve from a poor start to take the lead from APC Max at the half way mark off Indian Head.

“It was an interesting and enjoyable race for us with no real problems apart from the start and the slow sail out of the bay”

“But that all changed when we sailed into the fresher breeze off the Sunshine Coast on Friday night”.

“The little cat proved to be a joy to sail and we held good numbers reaching a peak of 17.4 knots just prior to passing APC Max”. Stuart Bloomfield said.

Her lead was dramatically extended when APC Max capsized near Indian Head. -- Reports from Ian Grant

http://www.brisbanetogladstone.com.au

NEIL PRYDE'S HI FI TAKES LINE HONOURS WIN IN ROLEX CHINA SEA RACE An increase in wind strength off the West coast of the Philippines overnight gave the lead boats exactly what they needed to close in on the finish line off Grande Island at the entrance to Subic Bay, Philippines on Easter Sunday. Neil Pryde's Wellbourn 52 Hi Fi crossed the finish line just before noon local time with an elapsed time of 71 hrs 35mins 42 secs.

Hi Fi held off Fortis Mandrake, 20 miles behind, which had a shot at the overall corrected win. In the end, Mandrake finished at 1438hrs today, missing the win by a mere 13 minutes.

That leaves only a few suspects who could upset Hi Fi for the overall corrected win if the wind in fact holds, the first of which, Full Metal Jacket, would need to cross at 1819hrs tonight. Others include Subic Centennial, Australian Maid, and Moonblue II, which are due in by 2000hrs tonight.

Hi Fi completed the course with an average speed of 7.6 knots over the 565-nautical mile course from Hong Kong to the Philippines.

The Rolex China Sea Race line honours win was a first for Pryde, who has previously won the race before on overall corrected time. Hi Fi is a completely new boat, though it was born from the ashes of a previous boat he owned.

Pryde described the process: "We couldn't sell the boat for a realistic price, so I figured out that the residual value in hardware, equipment, electronics, and everything else, was worth more than I could get for it second-hand. We decided to take a chain saw to it, literally cut it up and salvage all the equipment out of it and start all over again."

"We got Hugh Welbourn in the UK to design the hull, fin, keel, rudder. Hugh's a non-conformist designer anyway, he pushes the edges, so when you give him a freehand to come up with a pretty radical boat, he did that. The boat is pretty radical! It's a totally new hull, keel and rudder. The front part of the deck is the old deck, but the aft end is totally new. It's a meter narrower in the middle and a lot, lot wider in the back, so it's like a wedge. So it's a very different boat from a Farr one-design.

Talking about the innovative hull shape, Pryde said, "We've got hard chines which control the water flow over the side of the boat, making it theoretically drier. It's got very big flare in the aft sections of the boat, which means you can get the crew a l! ot further outboard, so you can get a lot of leverage. It's actually a very efficient setup.it looks a little radical, but it's actually very practical."

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

AMERICA'S CUP SAILOR'S COCAINE CASE REOPENED The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has reopened the case of New Zealand sailor Simon Daubney, cleared after testing positive for cocaine during the last America's Cup in Valencia.

WADA's director general New Zealander David Howman last week lodged papers appealing Daubney's case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland,

Auckland-based Daubney was suspended after becoming the first sailor in America's Cup history to fail a doping test after providing a sample containing two metabolites of cocaine during Switzerland's Team Alinghi's successful defence of the America's Cup in 2007.

The yachtsman subsequently resigned from Alinghi but had his suspension lifted in January by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

The federation said it had based its decision on a ruling by the Swiss Olympic Association, whose disciplinary chamber ruled Daubney had not infringed any anti-doping rules.

Announcing the decision to reopen the case Howman said: "At the end of the day, WADA has a mandate to look at all such decisions internationally to see whether they have been consistently applied.

"If we feel there are some inconsistencies to discuss, we have the ability to put the case in front of the court."

Papers are being served on Daubney, and he and the ISAF have 21 days to lodge a response or a defence.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=531&objectid=10499695&ref=rss

CORK DRY GIN SAILOR OF THE YEAR Ger O’Rourke’s clear-cut victory in the Fastnet Race was rewarded on Wednesday 19th March when against stiff professional competition he was presented with the Cork Dry Gin Sailor of the Year award by Emma Donnellan, Brands Director Ireland, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard and William Nixon of Afloat magazine and the Sailing Correspondent of The Irish Independent.

Twenty three leading names from dinghy and offshore circuits, were in the running for the big prize after individual and crew performances that had already earned Cork Dry Gin awards from Irish watersports magazine, Afloat, and the Irish Independent. The presentation ceremony was hosted by the Morrison Hotel.

Cork Dry Gin “Sailor of the Year” for 2006, Ger O’Rourke of Limerick had an even better year in 2007, and in August he crowned it with an overall and clear cut victory in the Fastnet Race with his superbly-campaigned Cookson 50 from Limerick.

O’Rourke’s epic win has been hailed as one of the most important offshore results ever achieved by an Irish sailor.

STATEMENT BY JACQUES ROGGE, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE The lighting of the Olympic Flame in Olympia tomorrow is a time to reflect on the role of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The main responsibility of the IOC is to deliver the best possible Olympic Games to the athletes, who deserve it. We do this in a close and intense collaboration with the Beijing Organising Committee. Awarding the Olympic Games to the most populous country in the world will open up one fifth of mankind to Olympism. We believe that China will change by opening the country to the scrutiny of the world through the 25’000 media who will attend the Games. The Olympic Games are a force for good. They are a catalyst for change, not a panacea for all ills. NGOs and Human Rights’ activists want to leverage the Games and ask the IOC to act along by their side. The IOC is undoubtedly respectful of Human Rights. The IOC respects NGOs and activist groups and their causes, and speaks regularly with them - but we are neither a political nor an activist organisation. As I stated last weekend, the events in Tibet are a matter of great concern to the IOC. The IOC has already expressed the hope that this conflict should be resolved peacefully as soon as possible. Violence for whatever reason is contrary to the Olympic values and spirit. The IOC will continue to respect the cause of the Human Rights. The IOC will work tirelessly with China for the welfare of the athletes and the success of the Olympic Games.

http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/media_centre/press_release_uk.asp?release=2520

SHORT TACKS * The America's Cup syndicate Oracle, determined to up their game for the next contest, have taken on the fiery Australian skipper James Spithill.

Having won the latest round of their court battle with the Cup holders Alinghi, the Californian-based syndicate have added Spithill to their accomplished afterguard which includes the New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts and the American tactician John Kostecki.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/200803210624/16bcf840

* Canadian Derek Hatfield is the fifteenth person to sign up officially for the Vendee Globe 2008. By confirming his entry, the former Mountie completes the first half of the fleet to satisfy the requirements to be there at the start in Les Sables d’Olonne on 9th November. Spirit of Canada, his Owen Clarke design, which is easily recognisable with her maple leaf, will have a lot of support on the other side of the Atlantic: following the idea of a campaign of ‘Your name around the world’, Derek Hatfield has already received 5000 signatures from people wanting to see their name written on the hull of his Open 60. -- http://www.vendeeglobe.org

* In less than six weeks the Kieler Yacht-Club (Kiel, Germany) starts into the sail season 2008 with the MAIOR (May Offshore Regatta). From May 1st to 4th up to 100 yachts and 500 sailors are expected in Kiel. Interested sailors in the ORC-International and the one design classes Beneteau/Platu 25, X-79, X-99, X-35, J80 and Melges 24 can register at http://www.maior.de. There you can also get the Notice of Race and further information about the Regatta. The Kieler Yacht-Club is pleased to welcome in particular international participants.

* French lifeboat crews are likely to get legal protection against claims from those they rescue. Three people rescued last year in the Mediterranean took legal action against the French lifeboat service SNSM, claiming that their boats had been damaged while being towed to safety.

An SNSM spokesman said that while only a tiny minority of boat owners have this mercenary attitude, lifeboat crews have voiced their concerns about the trend. As a result it will set up a legal commission to ensure the crews get the protection they require. -- Motor Boats Monthly http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20080125183154mbmnews.html

* The America's Cup syndicate Oracle, determined to up their game for the next contest, have taken on the fiery Australian skipper James Spithill.

Having won the latest round of their court battle with the Cup holders Alinghi, the Californian-based syndicate have added Spithill to their accomplished afterguard which includes the New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts and the American tactician John Kostecki.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/200803210624/16bcf840

THE LAST WORD I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it. -- G. K. Chesterton

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