SCUTTLEBUTT No. 626 - August 15, 2000

AROUND ALONE

Giovanni Soldini on his 60 foot yacht Fila won the 1998/1999 Single-handed Around Alone Race with a complete inventory of Ullman Sails manufactured by Sergio Fabbi in Rapallo, Italy. Ullman Sails is extremely proud of the fact that there were NO failures in the entire sail inventory that carried Giovanni Soldini around the world in 116 days, 20 hours, 7 minutes and 59 seconds. While you may not be planning to race in the Southern Ocean, wouldn't it be nice to have the speed and reliability that Soldini enjoyed? It's more affordable than you think.

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ROLEX COMMODORE'S CUP 2000- DAY 3
(Cowes, Isle of Wight)- Roaring Meg's mast collapses at The Needles

Rough seas in the Western approaches to the Solent brought down Roaring Meg's brand new rig less than two hours into the Offshore Race of the Rolex Commodores' Cup 2000. This disaster brings to an end an electric run of results - three 1st places and a 2nd in the inshore races - which had seen the brand new IRM 10.7 Metre leading the 21-boat fleet in the fight to be top individual boat this week.
Pounding into enormous seas just a mile west of The Needles, the carbon rig which had been stepped barely a week before gave way six feet above the deck, leaving the crew with a tangled mess of carbon, wire and sailcloth to unravel before they could be towed back to Lymington some four or five miles away. A despondent helmsman, Rob Greenhalgh, said the dismasting spelt the end of their participation in the Rolex Commodores' Cup.
Roaring Meg was not the only one to suffer misfortune in the opening stages of a race that is scheduled to take 24 hours or more. After a crowded startline next to the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, the fleet short-tacked their way up the Isle of Wight shore - risking grounding on the bottom to avoid the worst of the tide. Inevitably someone was going to come a cropper, and in the end it was Warlord, the Farr 40 helmed by the young and talented Ian Williams, that got stuck on the rocks. With the crew all swinging off the leeward side of the yacht, it eventually took a filled spinnaker to provide the power and leaning moment to pull her clear.
The grounding will be a serious setback to the Commonwealth Team which, going into this high-scoring race, was joint leader of the event with the Channel Islands. With the navigational skills of Fastnet winner Ian Moore and Whitbread veteran Steve Hayles, the Channel Islands Team should expect to do well in this race. Hayles's boat, the Farr 40 Dignity, was notable for being the only boat not to fight for pole position at the Cowes end of the start line, but instead made a break for the mainland shore. Initially, Dignity's lone move appeared suicidal as the shore-hugging fleet stretched away from her.
But some yachts chose to follow her strategy, including two other Farr 40s, Victric 5 and McWolf. Two of the French boats, the J125 Magic Wind Yota and Sydney 40 Blan, also made a break for the far shore to discover considerably more wind in the North Solent, clear of the wind shadow from the Isle of Wight which was now hampering the main body of the fleet.
Leading the breakaway fleet up towards Lymington under clear skies and a glorious Force 4, it became clear that Hayles's strategy was beginning to come good. Tony de Mulder and the Victric crew which includes Olympic medalist Ossie Stewart tacked back across towards The Needles and past Hurst Castle to discover just how fruitful their brave split from the main fleet had been. They were leading Chernikeeff by half a mile, beating Peter Harrison's Farr 50 which had led the rest of the fleet up the Isle of Wight shore.

Not far behind, also coming from the Lymington side, was Kevin Sproul's McWolf which just the previous evening had survived an eventful day that had involved being wrongly called back from the start line and a near sinking when she lost the speedo off the bottom of the hull. McWolf, the Farr 40 in the Scottish Team, should expect to do well with a strong crew that includes a number from the team who recently won the longest race in the gruelling Tour de Voile around France, aboard the Mumm 30 Easy Oars. With a 155-mile course for the big and medium-sized yachts, and 139 miles for the smallest in the fleet, the fleet can expect to finish the race in a fast time as they negotiate the predominantly windward/leeward course in Poole Bay, between Poole and The Needles. If all goes to plan, the biggest boat Chernikeeff could arrive at the finish near Hurst Castle around dawn tomorrow. Judging by their performances as they departed the Solent today, the top three contenders - Channel Islands, Commonwealth and England Blue - can expect to extend their lead over the other teams. But the Commonwealth Team will be praying that Warlord can make up the valuable ground she lost during her grounding earlier today.

RECORD OF PARTICIPATION AT MUMM 30 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
A fleet of 35 yachts will take part in 2000 European Mumm 30 Championshp that will be held in Saint-Raphael (South of France) from 21 to 26 August: a true record of participation for the one design International class growing more and more in Europe.
Seven countries will be represented: Italy (with the largest fleet of 15 boats sailing), France (12 boats racing), Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kindom and Monaco.
It seems that the fight for victory will be very tough between Italian and French fleeet: Mumm 30 class association in very active in Italy and in France as well where the Tour Voile with 34 Mumm 30 taking part. Both the country will count on very good teams including sailors as Italian Tommaso Chieffi (tactician on board "Seven"), Vasco Vascotto (sailing on "Malinda Invicta"), Lorenzo Bressani (on "Gettone Madina Milano") or French Jimmy Pahun (Region Ile de France), Sylvain Chtounder ("Cassis Belvedere") and Pierre-Yves Lambert ("France Explorer").

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U.S. INDEPENDENCE CUP / NORTH AMERICAN CHALLENGE CUP
(CHICAGO) - The North American championship for sailors with disabilities, the U.S. Independence Cup/ North American Challenge Cup, took place on Lake Michigan off Chicago's Belmont Harbor Aug. 5 - Aug 7, 2000. Peter Benson (Middletown, RI)/ Matt Sullivan (Coventry, RI) won US SAILING's Chandler Hovey, Jr. Trophy and the NACC Eagle Trophy. The Benson/Sullivan team won four races and finished second in the fifth on their way to the championship, which was sponsored by Rolex. The Chicago Yacht Club, in cooperation with the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program and the Chicago Park District, hosted the event. See full story at http://www.ussailing.org.