Update
Struntje Light. They started out slow on day 1 with a 13, 13, 5. But from there Struntje Lightwon the rest of the regatta. Tactician Ray Davies slotted in well with an already well-established team that included main trimmer Massimo Bortoletto and Jason Currie. As I said earlier, 2014 will be one to remember. I know I speak for the entire team when I say thank you to Alex for allowing this to happen.
From San Francisco it was straight back to Annapolis for a 35-boat J/70 regatta, because in my spare time I go sailboat racing. At home that went down like a fart in church… But my inaugural event in the boat and class was an absolute hoot. The fleet was treated to seven races over two days in 10-28kt of wind with the Eastport Yacht Club delivering consistently high- quality race management in tough conditions. Having not really raced the J/70 except on a day event, it was good fun and solid racing. There is an element of ‘grass roots’ and yet excellent competition that comes from well-sailed, well-prepared teams. Much like the J/24, this class is providing high-level racing at a great entry point into the sport. Hard to say that J-Boats have not nailed it with this little rocket. Again!
Final event of the month was with Alessandro Rombelli and the Melges 32 Stig. The Melges 32 Gold Cup was held out of the Miami Beach Marina over three days and was again charac- terised by light air! Can only mean that the worlds are going to blow its ring out. The event served as a pre-world championship and was won by Robertissima with Pierre Casiraghi filling in as helmsman for Roberto Tomassini and Vasco Vascotto calling tactics as usual. Onboard Stigwe had a bit of a clanger on the first day going 6, 14. Day 2 was quite a bit different and we turned it around to finish with a 4, 1, 1… managing our way onto the podium in second. A promising start to a new Stig team. Reflecting back on the 32 and 40 classes there are a lot of similarities to both and yet the 32, like the 40, has gone through its growing pains. Recently, though, Argo owner Jason Carroll has taken the bull by the horns with support from Alec Cutler and other key Melges 32 owners, working on building and devel- oping consistent class leadership and management. I have not spent a lot of time on the 32 so it is hard or unfair to comment. I can say, though, that the racing is extremely competitive, the boats challenging to sail well, and like the Farr 40 it attracts some of the best competition. The 40 class had previous ISAF Sailor of the Year Tom Slingsby sailing with Trans- fusion and the 32 current ISAF Sailor of the Year Jimmy Spithill (congrats) sailing with Volpe. On top of the usual suspects, it is great to be competing with and against these guys on the course as inevitably all teams get better when the level is higher. Other happenings: big, cold front getting ready to blow through Annapolis (first one of the year), a good fire in the fireplace and planning on finishing the season strong on the RC44 Nika in Oman and the Melges 32 World Championship in Miami. 2014 has
been a good year and next month probably a bit of reflection on the season with lessons learnt and preparing for the future. Standing by in Harwood, Maryland watching Sunday night football with Elias, listening to the thoughts of a 15-year-old at the close of another year
q
SNAPSHOTS Aiming high… Far East Boats in Shanghai are looking ahead from being the world’s largest supplier of Optimists with hopes for an all-Chinese America’s Cup programme Well… Dongfenghas certainly got them off to a cracking start Interestingly… Dongfeng’s only real major drama on Leg 1 was when a padeye let go, firing a loaded Code 0 sheet through the starboard wheel, a pushpit, stanchions and lifelines… Extraordinary… after decades of dominance there really are only five New Zealand sailors competing in the current Volvo Ocean Race Shock… not! Following a ‘weak’ performance on Leg 1, Jean-Luc Nélias will replace Nico Lunven as Iker Martínez’s navigator on Mapfre Also… stepping aside for Leg 2 at least is one M Desjoyeaux Makes… you wonder a little about Franco-Spanish dynamics Closeness… indeed, the VO65 fleet has at times been so compacted that race HQ was forced to recalibrate its online race tracker One and a half metres… that’s how close Thomas Coville reckons he was to missing the freighter that ended his Route du Rhum on Sodebo Watch out for… the ‘rise’ of Multiplast, which has just recruited a new operations manager from Airbus Industrie Not unimpressive… during Les Voiles de St Tropez the intrepid Blue (Robinson) timed one of Magic Carpet3
’s powered spinnaker hoists at
So has anyone seen the keys for the blue RIB: a corner of the coaches’ parking area at Santander during the 2014 ISAF worlds. And we promote Olympic sailing as being such a green activity…
10 SEAHORSE
six seconds from start to finish… or deck to masthead On a… hoist of some 46m Bravo… to designer Giovanni Ceccarelli and that foxy Neo 400 which took a strong third overall and also won its class under IRC in a tough Rolex Middle Sea Race Ceccarelli’s designs… also won IRC Class 5 and topped the double-handed division After… two years largely spent refloating the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, Gio is back! Bravo also… to sparmakers Lorima for extending their Route du Rhum winning streak to four consecutive editions of the solo classic Every race… in fact, since the company first came into being some 15 years ago Final bravo… to disabled kitesurfer Chris Ballois who has set a new world speed record of 42.94kt in the trench at Luderitz Thank… the lawd. Sir Ben Ainslie has recruited his domestic Finn nemesis and current world champion Giles Scott to his America’s Cup programme Scott… will, however, be taking a little time off in 2016 when he hopes to have pressing business amid the murky waters of Rio By the by… Ben Ainslie Racing is said to be well on the way to its £80million America’s Cup funding target Certainly… well past the point of no return Meanwhile… Ainslie’s buddy Iain Percy has recruited GBR Laser gold medallist Paul Goodison to Artemis So… there! While… US rivals Oracle can claim 2014 ISAF Sailor of the Year with their skipper Jimmy Spithill Keeping it… in the family. The women’s world sailor award went to Martine (daughter of ) Grael and Kahena Kunze Sold… to Peter Dubens and Oakley Capital. Future Fibres join Southern Spars under the North Technology Group umbrella Among… a handful of wise changes being considered for the exploding J/70 class is a rule to prevent crew being ‘invited’ below decks in light airs Odd… Pierre Antoine had to be airlifted off his trimaran Olmixafter a lightning strike burned through his wooden hull during the Rhum Something… wasn’t properly grounded, we suspect Farewell… it’s been a tough month for great sailing names… as well as Bill Green and David Thomas, we also lost former Whitbread skipper and delightfully chirpy chap Joe English Not only that… but the father of the modern International Moth Class, Major Tony Hibbert, passed away at the age of 96 after a quite extraordinary career both in and, in later life, out of the military Hibbert… his leadership was largely credited with keeping Kiel under the control of the West (since you were wondering) when things got a little tricky up there a few years back… Please do now check out… ScuttlebuttEurope and RaceboatsOnly at
seahorsemagazine.com
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