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SCUTTLEBUTT EUROPE #1543 - 23 JUNE

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

MOTHER NATURE PULLS THE PLUG After 36 hours of near-perfect sailing, Mother Nature did what she does best: upset the applecart. An email Saturday night from Puma Racing skipper Ken Read said simply "drifting in the Gulf Stream": an exaggeration perhaps, but not by much. His Volvo 70 Il Mostro is a rocketship with almost any breeze, but even the fastest boats in the world need some wind to keep moving at a rational pace. Read reported the course to Bermuda as 175 magnetic, and the wind direction as 175 -- when it registered. This is a deadly combination when the windspeed is in single digits, and shrinking.

Alex Jackson's Speedboat was faring little better, and the two fastest boats in the fleet went from looking extraordinary to looking like just another couple of sailboats struggling hard to get from point A to point B.

What Read did manage to accomplish was get past his old offshore ride, Rambler, to go one-up for now on his bet with her owner/skipper George David.

At 1600 EDT on Sunday, Speedboat was making 10 knots, with 143 miles to go. Il Mostro lurked only 34 miles behind, and had a 25 mile lead over Rambler.

The Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Division is a showcase of new boats this year, and they seem remarkably evenly matched. The new 69-foot Bella Mente was only four miles astern of the 90-foot Rambler, and she seems to excel in the light going. Just behind, Numbers, Blue Yankee, Rosebud, and Moneypenny were all less than 30 miles behind Rambler, which seems a little underpowered in the light stuff with her relatively small headsails. All these big boats average eight to nine knots over the last two-hour reporting period.

For boats further back in the fleet - and that means almost everybody - Bermuda seems little more than a distant dream. When you see more than 350 miles to go - and all of them dead upwind - that first dark n' stormy is a long, long time in the future.

Ken Campbell's forecast calls for light winds from to S to SSE in the vicinity of Bermuda Sunday night, with winds increasing the further up the course you go, and veering back into the SSW at 20-25 knots north of 35N on Monday. This could bring the smaller boats home in a big rush, making for another small-boat corrected time year. Well up the race course, the smallest boats in the St. David's Lighthouse Division are licking their chops at the potential opportunity to stick it to the big boys on corrected time for two races in a row.

http://www.bermudarace.com

BMW ROUND IRELAND YACHT RACE FINALLY STARTS AFTER A 20 HOUR DELAY The starting gun for the 2008 BMW Round Ireland Yacht Race was sounded at 1200 hours today to signal probably the most exciting and competitive contest in the 28 year history of Ireland's premier offshore sailing challenge.

With a westerly breeze gusting 40 knots, Alburn, Leopard and Galileo were the first over the line followed closely by Lee Overlay Partners and Cavatina.

41 boats started this year's race and three yachts have officially retired. This includes, from the Class Super Zero, Alegre and McConnell's Chieftain and Voador from Class Two. The Kerr 10.7 sailed by Glen Ward did not make it to the start line as did Ulula.

The first boat to reach the Wicklow Head was Leopard quickly followed by Alburn as the big racing machines separated themselves from the smaller boats.

Can Mike Slade's super maxi, current holder of the record for the Fastnet Race and the Trans-Atlantic crossing, and the other competitors in Class Super Zero beat Colm Barrington's record? With the first yachts expected to check in at the Tuskar Rock within 4 hours this record could easily be broken.

You can follow all the action this year with our tracking system, supplied by RORC and powered by OC Technology at http://www.roundirelandyachtrace.ie

DUBARRY'S NEW GENOA T-SHIRT: PERFORMANCE THAT WON'T LOSE YOU FRIENDS A strong performance usually means a strong smell because most anti-microbial T-shirts have a nasty habit of hanging onto to odour, no matter how many times they're washed. So does maximising VMG always mean maximising BO? Not any more. Dubarry's new Genoa T-shirt has fast-drying, anti-microbial fabric that leaves the memory of a good race in your head, not in your armpits. It's SPF40 too, so you don't need to grease up. And after racing, you might not create so much space at the bar, but you'll definitely get served quicker. Dubarry's Genoa T-Shirt: Same Rules. New Collection.

http://www.dubarry.com

TORNADO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP / MATS NYBERG TROPHY Thessaloniki, Greece: Local heroes Iordanis Pachalidis and Kostas Trigonis have triumphed on home waters. The Greeks were treated to horns and sirens from the spectators as the crossed the finish for the last time ahead of the French teams to seal victory.

It was a tough day on the water with top 4 all having there worst race on the final day.

Racing got underway after a postponement of 1 hour 40 minutes on the water as the seabreeze was late to fill in and settle down. The first race of the day started in 6 knots of breeze and it proved to be more pressure on the right hand side of the course. Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher lead from the right corner with the Italians Marcolini/Bianchi in second place throughout the race.

The real interest was between the Pashalidis (GRE), Guichard (FRA) and Besson (FRA) who finished 6,8,9 respectively to bring the 3 within one point for the overall lead.

In the fight for the European Championship the Greeks fended off the French for the final lap to clinch victory.

Final top ten: 1. Iordanis Pashalidis / Kostas Trigonis, GRE, 32 2. Yann Guichard / Alex Guyader, FRA, 36 3. Billy Besson / Arnaud Jarlegan, FRA, 36 4. Darren Bundock / Glenn Ashby, AUS, 45 5. Francesco Marcolini / Eduardo Bianchi, ITA, 50 6. Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher, AUT, 53 7. Santiago Lange / Carlos Espinola, ARG, 54 8. Leigh Mcmillan / Will Howden, GBR, 56 9. Francois Morvan / Mathieu Vandame, FRA, 57 10. Tino Mittelmeier / Niko Mittelmeier, GER, 62

http://www.tornado2008.gr

RECORD SNSM The start of the 4th edition of the Record SNSM saw the fleet power away late this Sunday afternoon off Saint Nazaire on France's Atlantic coast. As usual this event, in honour of the lifeboatmen and women, provided a fantastic spectacle, with a mix of monohulls and multihulls, professionals and amateur yachtsmen on a single race zone. In the end it was at 1735 UT, a few minutes after the amateurs participating in this 2008 edition, that the fleet of Imoca monohulls set off from the eastern jetty in the port of Saint Nazaire. Heading offshore with the second group of racers, the monohull in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group quickly shot towards the front of the fleet.

This morning, during the official skippers' briefing, the organisers of the Record SNSM announced a modification to the course for the 60 foot monohulls. Indeed, initially, Gitana Eighty and her six rivals were supposed to round a mark off Saint Malo before returning to Saint Nazaire. However, given the light winds forecast in the Channel, the decision was taken to reduce the course to enable competitors to make it back to Saint Nazaire within the allotted time. As a result the course will now consist of two return trips between Saint Nazaire and Sainte Marine (port of Finistère in NW France at the entrance to the River Odet), which is a total distance of 360 miles. This new course will certainly be shorter, but also more tactical.

For the five crew of Gitana Eighty, the upcoming 360 miles will very likely resemble a sprint entailing very few moments of respite... According to the latest forecasts at the start, Loick Peyron estimated that the monohull in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group could well be back at the entrance to the Loire estuary during the course of the day on Tuesday. The crew of Gitana Eighty: Loick Peyron (skipper), Cyril Dardashti, Antoine Mermod, Sebastien Thetiot, Didier Le Vourch. -- Translation by Kate Jennings. See http://www.gitana-team.com * Mike Golding's ECOVER 3 returned to the race track this past weekend after a six month re-fit in Palma and Cherbourg, as the British solo skipper sails with a five-man crew on the annual SNSM race from St Nazaire north up the Breton coast.

Golding, who held the course record in 2006, and his team reached St Nazaire early this morning after a slow passage from Southampton, which served to confirm that the boat is in good shape to start racing.

If the team can keep to a tight schedule and the weather proves agreeable Golding aims to the complete the SNSM race here, measuring ECOVER 3 against many of the best French IMOCA Open 60's, including recent Artemis Transat winner, Gitana 80 (Loick Peyron); last year's Transat Jacques Vabre winner, Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux); and Barcelona World Race winner, Virbac Paprec (Jean Pierre Dick). He is then set to return 'a tout vitesse' to compete in next Saturday's JP Morgan Round the Island race from Cowes, against the best of the Anglo Saxon fleet, Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson), Artemis (Jonny Malbon), Pindar (Brian Thompson)..

"It is a relatively short race with lots of rocks, and navigational challenges, a strong tidal situation. We should be completing it within 48 hours and so we'll not have any structured watch system." He continues, "We have a good calibre of IMOCA Open 60 fleet and so it is going to be good to get back racing again.! I am really looking forward to it and feel like we are in good shape. To be able to race against the best of the French boats here and then the best of the Anglo Saxon fleet next weekend, if we can make it, will be a good indicator for us."

This is not an IMOCA recognised race so some Open 60's are sailing with seven crew and some six. Mike has a strong crew, mainly built around the shore team of Gilles Campan (FRA), Nick Bubb (GBR) and Dan Gold (GBR), along with North Sails France's Bruno Dubois (FRA), who sailed with Mike on the TJV transatlantic, and special guest Thomas Coville (FRA), adding local knowledge.

http://www.recordsnsm.com

SPAIN VICTORIOUS AT THE SARDINIA ROLEX CUP Porto Cervo, Italy: The Sardinia Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, came to a close today after a long wait for a breeze which did not materialize. The Race Committee waited until the final time limit of 3 p.m. before admitting defeat while Team Spain breathed a sigh of relief as the overall results after eight races became definitive and Spain claimed the title of ISAF Offshore Team World Champion for the third time (2000, 2004).

Each of Spain's boats - Massimo Mezzaroma's Farr 40 San Miguel telefonica Nerone helmed by Antonio Sodo Milgliori with Vasco Vascotto on tactics; Marco Salvi's Swan 45 Telefonica Vertigo with Francesco Bruni on tactics; and Jose Cusi's Bribon Telefonica with Campos at the helm and tactician Ray Davies - took four victories over eight races. Aside from Team Germany's brief spell at the top of the classification on day one prior to the results of protests, Spain led for the duration of the event.

Team Italy placed second, eleven points behind Spain. All three of the Italian owners are YCCS members and both Riccardo Simoneschi's TP52 Audi powered by Q8 and Danilo Salsi's Swan 45 DSK placed well but it was Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino that really shone collecting two victories, five second's and one third place leaving her top of the Farr 40s. Team Germany finished in third place despite the best efforts of the United Internet Team Germany sailors on board the TP52 Platoon who tied down three victories in the first three days of sailing. Teams Southern Europe and Russia took fourth and fifth place respectively.

The Sardinia Cup Challenge Trophy was awarded to Team Spain by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, President of the Board of Directors of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, during the prize giving held on the Club's Piazza Azzurra.

Sardinia Rolex Cup 2008 - Team Summary Results

1. Spain - 54 2. Italy - 65 3. Germany - 69 4. Southern Europe - 89 5. Russia - 95

http://www.yccs.it

FOG-SHROUDED TAHITI FLEET SAILS OUT OF SUMMER Four boats started the Transpacific Yacht Club's 13th Tahiti Race Sunday in a dense offshore fog off the Point Fermin bluffs. To further disorient observers, the onshore breeze was only 3-6 knots and the Los Angeles Yacht Club's race committee boat, Warrior, was pointing downwind toward land into a favorable current.

The competitors had it figured out, especially Bob Lane's Medicine Man. With Keith Ives driving, the bright blue Andrews 63 ducked Magnitude 80's transom seconds before the horn and hit the line steaming on a strong port tack, closely followed by Chris Welsh's Spencer 65, Ragtime.

Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Mag 80, and Jim Morgan's Santa Cruz 50, Fortaleza, started and stayed on starboard tack and disappeared into the fog, presumably to tack to port before too long to clear the west end of Catalina, the first mark of the 3,571-nautical mile course.

The elapsed time record for the race, first run in 1925, is 14 days 21 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds set by the late Fred Kirschner's Santa Cruz 70, Kathmandu, in the most recent race in 1994. Magnitude 80 is projected to break it by two or three days and, in good conditions, all four boats could eclipse it.

But there could be a snag in the plan. The trickiest part when crossing the equator is traversing the Intertropical Convergence Zone---the "Doldrums"---where the northeast and southeast trade winds meet and tend to rise, which is good for ballooning but lousy for sailing.

That's an unlikely occurrence in the 21st century, but here's the bad news from Magnitude 80 navigator, Ernie Richau, as of two days before the start: "Just in the past week the Doldrums have expanded from 80 miles to 320 miles." -- Rich Roberts

http://www.transpacificyc.org

BOAT INTERNATIONAL SUPERYACHT REGATTA Porto Cervo, Italy: Twenty three of the world's largest, fastest and most luxurious sailing superyachts grace the quays of Porto Cervo Marina today, ready for the start of racing tomorrow in the inaugural edition of the Boat International Superyacht Regatta. The event, which takes place from June 22nd to 26th, is organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in collaboration with Boat International Media and forms part of the celebrations for Boat International's Silver Jubilee. Each one of the yachts participating is unique, making the fleet -- which ranges from all-out racing machines to opulent cruisers --one that "has to be seen to be believed." A few facts and figures, however, give an idea of the size, speed and sheer charisma of these sailing giants. Lulworth is the oldest competitor, having originally been launched in the 1920s and completely refitted and relaunched in 2006 after a meticulous five-year restoration. At just over 46 metres long, her sail inventory boasts an MPS (Multi Purpose Sail) of 900 m2 (9688 ft2) and a flying top jib of 400 m2 (4306 ft2). Heritage, at 45 metres long, is the largest and newest of the three participating Perini Navi yachts, having been consigned in June 2006, and has a total sail area of 1,187m2 (12,518 ft2), while the owner and guest cabin area is as big as a decent sized apartment at 94 m2 (1,012 ft2 ). Senso One, formerly called Mari Cha IV, currently holds the Transatlantic record for a monohull, crossing from New York to Lizard point in just over six days. Capable of reaching speeds of over 40 knots, the boat was designed and built especially for breaking ocean records and as such will certainly be one to watch, although Neville Crichton will be competing with Alfa Romeo, fresh from breaking his own record in the Giraglia Rolex Cup, completing the 243-mile offshore race in just over 18 hours. The competitors will be divided into Cruising and Performance divisions before tomorrow's start. Both divisions will race under IRC handicap with a fleet start for Performance and pursuit-style racing for the cruisers. The forecast for Monday, 23 June, is for 10 to 12 knots of easterly wind. Racing is scheduled to start at 12 midday. Three days of racing are scheduled with a lay-day or re-sail on Wednesday.

http://www.yccs.it http://www.boatinternationalsuperyachtregatta.com

SPIRIT OF MYSTERY HITS THE WAVES After months of building, the waiting is nearly over for sailor and adventurer Pete Goss MBE, who launched the 37-foot Cornish lugger 'Spirit of Mystery' this past Saturday in Millbrook, near Torpoint, South East Cornwall. The full crew was also afloat together for the first time as they stepped aboard Spirit of Mystery and felt the history beneath their feet. Like the original crew, who were all related by either blood or marriage, it will be a family affair with the crew comprising: Pete Goss; his younger brother Andy; Pete's youngest son Eliot (who will be 14 when they set sail; and Pete's brother in law Andy Maidment.

Pete has built Spirit of Mystery to shine a light on the bravery of the seven Cornishmen who made the heroic journey to Melbourne to escape poverty and seek out a new life in Australia. Leaving Newlyn on Saturday 18th November 1854, the Mystery travelled about 11,800 nautical miles in 116 days before arriving in Melbourne on 14th March 1855. Pete will follow in their wake in a boat that has had history literally built into it, as Pete has sourced wood from Nelson's Victory and the Cutty Sark, and a part of the rigging from the SS Great Britain. The project will also be a useful tool for the Cornwall Playing for Success charity, of which Pete is a founding trustee. Not only will it raise awareness of the out of school hours education initiative, the children will also follow the adventure and therefore learn about local and social history, boat building, navigation and a host of other subjects as part of the 'Sense of Place' program.

http://www.petegoss.com

VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT'S NEW MAST RATIFIED Last week, Roland Jourdain accompanied by Jean-Luc Nelias, Guillaume Soubranne and Luis Guervos headed out to sea to cover the 1500 miles required under Vendee Globe rules for Veolia Environnement's new mast to be accepted. They took advantage of this first major outing to carry out a general check-up on the boat and on the skipper. The four men began by setting sail on a return voyage across the Bay of Biscay, "just to pick up some wind," according to Bilou.

In steady 25-knot winds, the conditions were ideal for carrying out some adjustments and checking the sail configurations. They noted down every little detail, which in the coming weeks will be looked at to do some fine tuning on the boat. Back in Concarneau, Roland made a pit stop to drop off his mates, before setting off again immediately for five days of solo training. "Obviously, it's not the same as being in a race. I managed to get a bit more rest. However, you do need to remain vigilant and it does allow you to get used to maneuvres and try out the onboard computer system." After reaching a point 450 miles south west of Brittany, Bilou then turned off westwards, before turning around and coming home. In the end, I covered a little more than the 1500 miles required by Dr.Vendee. It was a short week of sailing that was not very fast, but highly enjoyable! It's nice to be back on board my boat."

http://www.vendeeglobe.org

THE LAST WORD The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury. -- Charlie Chaplin

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