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In This Issue
Alinghi Wins Extreme Sailing Series Title
2019 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race Forms Part of the RORC Calendar
Come to Sail, Stay to Play! St. Thomas International Regatta
Eight New Challengers?
Star Sailors League Finals
The Royal Thames Yacht Club Job Vacancy
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Golden Globe Day 155: The Race is On!
Industry News
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Robert Anton Wilson

Brought to you by Seahorse magazine, 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

Alinghi Wins Extreme Sailing Series Title
For the fourth time in their eight-year history of competing in the Extreme Sailing Series, Swiss team Alinghi took the coveted championship title after a remarkable final in Los Cabos, Mexico. This phenomenal feat makes them the joint most successful team ever to participate in the world-class, globe-trotting foiling circuit, level with former competitor, The Wave, Muscat.

Following ten months of touring around the planet, competing in some of the world's most iconic locations, Ernesto Bertarelli's stand out squad: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothe Lapauw, Nils Frei, Bryan Mettraux and Yves Detrey, closed the grand finale in first place on the double points Act leaderboard - their incredible five Act wins this year cementing them as victors in the overall rankings.

Alinghi's shore team also won the award for the best shore crew of the season, a new prize created by Extreme Sailing Series logistics partner, WTC Logistics.

SAP Extreme Sailing Team won the Zhik Speed Machine Trophy for the fastest speed achieved in the final Act of the season - an insight provided by Series technical partner, SAP.

Los Cabos rounds off an exceptional twelfth year of the Series that captivated audiences all over the world. Visiting seven countries across three continents, the ultimate Stadium Racing championship once again delivered a truly unique, unparalleled sailing experience for fans and teams alike.

Extreme Sailing Series 2018 Los Cabos, standings after Day 4, 12 races
1. Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothe Lapauw, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey: 141 points
2. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Dan Morris, Rhys Mara, Micah Wilkinson: 130
3. Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Stewart Dodson, Nasser Al Mashari: 126
4. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Køstner, Adam Minoprio, Julius Hallström, Pierluigi de Felice, Richard Mason: 123
5. INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Giles Scott, Oli Greber, Mark Spearman, Joey Newton: 110
6. US Team Extreme (USA) Taylor Canfield, Riley Gibbs, Matt Woodworth, Scott Ewing, Brian Porter: 97
7. Team Mexico (MEX) Erik Brockmann, Tom Buggy, Alex Higby, Tom Phipps, Yanic Gentry: 92

Extreme Sailing Series 2018 overall standings
1. Alinghi (SUI) 92 points
2. Oman Air (OMA) 83 3. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 83
4. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 72
5. INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) 70
6. Team Mexico (MEX) 56

extremesailingseries.com

2019 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race Forms Part of the RORC Calendar
The 2019 Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle "D2D" Race will start from the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire on Wednesday, June 12th 2019. The 2019 edition of D2D brings with it some important and exciting changes while retaining the spirit and ethos of the race as a 300-mile coastal racing challenge for Cruiser/Racing boats racing under the IRC rule.

Firstly, the 2019 race forms part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club "RORC" calendar for the season. This is in addition to the race continuing as part of the ISORA programme and much of the fleet participating in ISORA using the same race tracking technology. The association with RORC has been growing over the past few years and we expect this to further develop for future editions. What this association brings this year is the superb race management team from the National Yacht Club is further enhanced with international racing best practice in terms of the RORC offshore racing standards, and it is expected that boats campaigning in RORC will look towards the D2D race as a great workout for crew and equipment in advance of the RORC Fastnet Race in August 2019.

Secondly, the course for the race has been amended for 2019 in that the course is defined as "Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Dingle Harbour leaving the Mainland of Ireland to Starboard". This change means that navigators and skippers can plot courses to hug the coastline, and to go inside Islands and lighthouses as part of their strategy to get from the start to finish lines in the quickest (and safest) times. This innovation has occurred as a result of the experience of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet earlier in 2019, where the fleet could take a similar approach on the leg around Ireland. It can make a great spectacle as the fleet get close inshore, even if some of the towns and pubs along the way are difficult to pass late in the evening!

afloat.ie/sail/

Come to Sail, Stay to Play! St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) - March 22-24, 2019
St. Thomas International Regatta Set sail in STIR, the 'Crown Jewel of Caribbean Yacht Racing.' Enter by December 31 to win customized long-sleeve high-performance team shirts! Register at and the name of your vessel may be randomly drawn to win this prize. The drawing will take place on January 1, 2019. There's an early entry discount too! Pay US $150 until January 31, 2019. Entry fees increase to US $300 between February 1 and March 20, 2019. Registration for IC24s: US $200, Beach Cats: $200. Register in CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association-handicap) Racing or Cruising; IRC; ORC; Multihull; Beach Cat or One Design classes with a minimum length of 20-feet. Register too for the Round the Rocks Race on March 21.

Getting here is easy! American, United, JetBlue, Delta and Spirit all fly direct to St. Thomas from cities such as Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. Stay and play. Hotels, B&B's, resorts, villas, condos and Airbnb's are open.

BYOB or charter! Several companies offer charter yachts for STIR 2019: stthomasinternationalregatta.com/regatta/charter-companies/ Or, charter an IC24 from the St. Thomas Sailing Center ($2200 for boat with good sails; $2700 with new sails; (https://stsc.styc.club) for the 3-day STIR, practice day and 30-day Bluewater Membership at the regatta host, St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC).

World-class racing, the chance to trade tacks with America's Cup, Volvo Ocean and Olympic crews on the water and off is what earns STIR its motto, 'We Love It Here' You will too! For information, Email: , Call (340) 775-6320.

stthomasinternationalregatta.com

Eight New Challengers?
On Friday 30 November, the window for late challenges closed. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron then announced they have eight new challenges in hand, but only one meets the requirements to be accepted immediately. The other seven have conditions, such as requiring an AC World Series regatta in their country. Acceptance of conditions would mean changes to the Protocol, over which the Challenger of Record has veto power.

RNZYS also indicated that some of the late challenges might be invalid. Presumably this means they do not meet the requirements of the Deed of Gift or the Protocol. For example, the Protocol requires a challenging yacht club to have existed for more than five years, to have at least 200 members and to be financially supported by a majority of the members on a pro rata basis. The Deed of Gift requires a challenging club to hold its annual regatta on the sea or an arm of the sea.

Who might these challengers be? In the past there have been rumors and announcements about:
Team France - but they announced last week that they have not been able to find enough sponsorship and will not challenge.
Team USA 21, led by Mike Buckley and Taylor Canfield.
Another US syndicate - no details
Adelasia di Torres - from Sardinia, led by Renato Azara.
Columbus 2021 - from Liguria, led by Aldo Cingolani of Bertone Design.
Norwegian challenge - no details
Chinese challenge - no details
Dutch challenge led by Simeon Tienpont

We may need to wait until January for the official announcement. But unofficially... USA21 has received pledges from private backers to cover part of their budget. Another country, not in the above list, is talking with Iain Percy about leading their team.

Potential problem - team base allocations
ETNZ has pointed out that if only one or two of these potential challengers materializes, there would be no need to extend Hobson Wharf - a major cost savings. There is room for five bases on Winyard Point, in the space marked "Other Teams" below. But Luna Rossa has been planning "spectacular and innovative" structures including their own base on the planned Hobson Wharf extension. They might be very unhappy if they are assigned a location on Winyard Point.

From Jack Griffin's Cup Experience news:
cupexperience.com

Star Sailors League Finals
Nassau, Bahamas: Racing starts tomorrow for 25 of the best sailing teams in the World! The Star Sailors League, which includes Olympic Champions and World Champions from various classes, is hosting its annual "Finals" Championship in Nassau, Bahamas. The forecast for tomorrow during the racing period is for winds from the South Southwest 4 groping to 2 knots. -- Paul Cayard, cayardsailing.com

Racing will begin tomorrow at 13,00 local time (-5 GMT) and will be broadcast live online: Star Sailors League Facebook Page Starsailors.com

Download the Star Sailors League Application to keep in touch with news from the SSL Finals in Nassau and WATCH THE LIVE FEED:
Apple IOS
Android

The Royal Thames Yacht Club Job Vacancy
The Royal Thames Yacht Club Job Vacancy Sailing Office Events Coordinator

The role of the Sailing Office is to deliver the Club's Sailing Programme and all the supporting communication and administration.

The role is primarily office based at 60 Knightsbridge but also involves running events both in Cowes and at Queen Mary reservoir in West London. A certain amount of flexibility is required such as occasional weekend working and evening events/meetings (for which appropriate days in lieu are given).

The sailing office at Royal Thames is a busy small team and the role requires:

- Good oral and written communication skills
- Ability to cope under pressure in a wide variety of situations both in the office and at events maintaining a friendly and effective demeanour.
- Tolerance to different working styles within the office to ensure good teamwork.
- Good creative skills to ensure the best communication to a wide diversity of members.eg creating the weekly newsletter to members.
- Managing social functions that are sailing related
- Keeping the website up to date.
- A knowledge of sailing is desirable as is a willingness to learn more about the different disciplines within sailing such as fleet racing, team racing and cruising.

The role is varied and requires the ability to get involved in a wide variety of tasks where a friendly, constructive attitude to the members of the club are key.

Send CV to include current salary and covering email to .

Closing date 10thDecember.

Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar Supported by Latitude Kinsale and Seahorse magazine

Today's featured bar: Admiral's Inn, English Harbour Antigua

Here's what makes it so great...
Cool, Calm, Beautiful and Historic.

Good enough for Lord Nelson and good enough for me. It's the home of Gig racing in Antigua Classics and it feels like a private club at other times. Since my first visit in 1968 it's been my favourite place in the Caribbean.

Tonight's vintage Vodka cocktail:

The Tucc' Of Class
Created and named for the superb actor Stanley Tucci.

Fill a tumbler with ice - the larger the cubes, the better. Add 20ml Wight vodka, 20ml Cynar*, 20ml triple sec and stir together until very cold. Add 2-4 drops of orange bitters. Stir again. Garnish with an orange slice and serve. Stylishly.

* Your humble narrator had to look this one up:
An Italian bitter liqueur made from 13 herbs and plants. Predominant amongst these is the artichoke (Cynara scolymus), from which the drink derives its name.

Care to win your favorite bar a custom, 2000Euro 3D map from Latitude Kinsale? Or yourself a book or Seahorse subscription?

Prizes for best submissions.... Tell us your story:

scuttlebutteurope.com/sailors-bars

wightvodka.com
latitudekinsale.com

Golden Globe Day 155: The Race is On!
Mark Slats rounded Cape Horn just before 06:00 UTC on Saturday 2nd December, 8 days behind race leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, having narrowed the lead by 351 miles over the past 7 days. The 2nd placed Dutchman is now within 1022 miles and needs to average 0.75knots faster to finish back in Les Sables d'Olonne at the same time.

This takes account of the 18-hour penalty that Van Den Heede must serve before crossing the line for using his satellite phone for non-safety purposes after suffering mast damage to his Rustler 36 Matmut four weeks ago. Since then, the 73-year old Frenchman has climbed the mast five times to check repairs, which he says are holding up well. But while he has no qualms about pushing the boat when the wind is aft of the beam, Jean-Luc says he must 'nurse' the rig upwind to avoid the boat from slamming and sending shockwaves up the mast.

Shortly before rounding the Horn, Slats said he is now going all-out to win, pushing his Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick as hard as he can. Van Den Heede can only push as hard as he dare, hoping his lead will be sufficient. He says his priority is simply to finish without breaking his mast. The gap is likely to narrow further during the next 24 hours as Mark enjoys good favourable winds and current up the western side of the Falklands and Jean-Luc has to deal with a small intense low pressure system that has formed 65 miles ESE of him. His challenge is to stay in the favourable WNW quadrant as the storm heads NNW generating 50-55 knot winds.

Positions at 08:00 UTC 03.12.18
1. Jean- Luc VDH (FRA) Rustler 36 Matmut, 5794 nm to finish
2. Mark Slats (NED) Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick, 1022 nm to leader
3. Uku Randmaa (EST) Rustler 36 One and All, 3327
4. Susie Goodall GBR) Rustler 36 DHL Starlight, 3694
5. Istvan Kopar (USA)Tradewind 35 Puffin, 4413
6 Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) Gaia 36 Asteria, 5919
7 Mark Sinclair (AUS) Lello 34 Coconut, 7939
8 Igor Zaretskiy (RUS) Endurance 35 Esmeralda, 9002

Retired:
Ertan Beskardes (GBR) Rustler 36 Lazy Otter
Kevin Farebrother (AUS) Tradewind 35 Sagarmatha
Nabil Amra (PAL) Biscay 36 Liberty II
Philippe Peche (FRA) Rustler 36 PRB
Antoine Cousot (FRA) Biscay 36 Metier Interim
Are Wiig (NOR) OE32 Olleanna
Abhilash Tomy (IND) Suhaili replica Thuriya
Gregor McGuckin (IRE) Biscay 36 Hanley Energy Endurance
Francesco Cappelletti (ITA) Endurance 35 007
Loic Lepage (FRA) Nicholson 32 Laaland

goldengloberace.com

Industry News
Groupe Beneteau and Delphia Yachts Kot sp. j. reached financial closing of the acquisition by Groupe Beneteau of its operations designing, building and marketing sail and motor yachts under the Delphia Yachts and Maxi Yachts brands in Warsaw, Poland on Friday.

The acquisition was made through a dedicated Polish entity called Stocznia Jachtowa Delphia sp. z.o.o. in which the group's Polish subsidiary Ostroda Yachts sp. z.o.o. holds 80% of the share capital, while Delphia Yachts Kot sp. j. retains 20%.

Beneteau first announced plans to acquire the Polish yard back in July.

www.ibinews.com

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Swedish boat owners can scrap their old boats for free this year, courtesy of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management

Swedish boat owners are able to scrap their old boats for free this year, thanks to subsidies worth more than €300,000 from the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM).

Owners can scrap their boats at no charge until 31 December 2018. That means almost 500 boats will be taken out of the market and scrapped this year.

All boats under three tonnes can be scrapped, but owners will have to pay the transport costs to the scrapyard, which is managed by Stena Recycling.

According to SwAM, Sweden has some 64,000 abandoned or unseaworthy boats out of a total fleet of around 900,000 boats. Just a fraction of these have been scrapped prior to the new initiative. The scrapped boats will all be recycled.

www.ibinews.com

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Wakatere Boating Club is proud to announce Symonite as the title sponsor for the 2019 OK Dinghy World Championship, to be sailed from Wakatere on Auckland's North Shore, in New Zealand, in February 2019.

Since confirming the event will be held in New Zealand, WBC has been in discussions with many local Auckland businesses and it was the enthusiasm of Symonite, and its owner John Cobb, for the club, the OK Dinghy Class and the World's concept, and their strong support for sailing in New Zealand, that shone through.

2019.okworlds.org

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Swedish sail hardware manufacturer Rutgerson has signed a three-year supply contract with Elvstrom Sails, one of the world's largest sail-makers.

Rutgerson is a leading manufacturer of yacht equipment, including super rings, battcars, pressure absorbing slides, batten receptacles, head boards, clew boards and clew blocks, and low friction rings. All products are designed and manufactured in Rutgerson's own facilities in Marstrand on the Swedish west coast.

Elvstrom Sails is one of the largest sail-makers worldwide and a standard supplier for many leading boat brands, including Bavaria, Hanse, Dehler, Hallberg-Rassy, Dufour, Beneteau, Catana and Bali. The company also produces custom cruising, racing and grand prix sails for larger yachts over 70ft.

www.ibinews.com

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The Greek Government announced on November 16, 2018 that it had implemented the TEPAH, commonly known as the Greek Cruising Tax. Initially it gave vessel owners just 10 days to pay the tax, but thanks to intervention from the Cruising Association (CA) this date has now been delayed to April 2, 2019.

To date there is no information on how the tax will work, other than it will run under the TAXISnet system - part of the Greek tax system. It is supposed to be an E-tax and conducted online.

The CA understands that all vessels will have to register at the http://www.aade.gr website and pay the tax online. The website is in Greek and the CA believes it is not yet set up for this tax.

The CA has submitted a 9-page document to the head of the Indirect Taxation Implementation department, laying out the necessities for the registration and payment process, so that the implementation can be clear and easy to do online. The Swedish and German Yachting organisations are also working with the CA.

theca.org.uk

Featured Brokerage
Raceboats Only 2013/1995 Custom Corby 36 - "Kylla" (ex-YES!). 99000 GBP. Located in Ramsgate, UK.

Corby 36 1995 / 2013 - Arguably the most successful IRC racing yacht in the modern era, with 3 OVERALL Cowes Week trophies to her name since 2013. Wonderful condition, a very complete inventory and thoroughly recommended if you want a chance of silverware on IRC or ORCi.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+64 277733717
+44 2380 016582

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Raceboats Only 2006 Grand Soleil 50 - CYRENE. 270000 EUR. Located in Greece.

Good-looking Grand Soleil 50 cruiser/racer by German Frers et al - superbly equipped for med cruising, the yacht has also enjoyed continuous maintenance. Significant updates in recent years include detailed engine overhaul, new coppercoat, recent generator, batteries, new gori prop. The list is extensive. The detailed particulars are well worth a read through. For anyone looking for performance cruising she is a strong contender.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ben Cooper
Telephone: +44(0) 1590 679222

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Raceboats Only Ocean Pearl Maxi Catamaran. 3500000 EUR. Located in Spain

OCEAN PEARL is the ex Club Mediterrannee winner of the Race in 2001 (around the world regatta) with New Zealand skipper Grant Dalton. She had a fantastic track of records and prize list before she undergone similarly to her sistership ex Swift, a complete refit and conversion project into a fanta

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
An inward-turning spiral, I decided, is the shape of our galaxy. Oddly, it is also the shape of the DNA molecule, the code of life, seen from above. The ring thus suggests the old Hermetic notion of the macrocosm in the microcosm, 'That which is above is contained in that which is below.' -- Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger II

Editorial and letter submissions to

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.scuttlebutteurope.com/advertise.html

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