In This Issue
• L30 adopted for World Sailing Offshore World Championship
• 2019 Season Preview - J/70 UK and Ireland Class
• Positions Vacant With A+T Instruments
• Transpac 50 Offers New Storm Trysail Team Scoring Trophy
• Transpac Tactics and Strategy Talk with Stan Honey
• Second Life - 44 Cup
• Margaritaville Named First Presenting Partner of 2019 Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week
• Mick Marshall
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Brokerage
• The Last Word: Stephen Fry
Brought to you by Seahorse magazine and YachtScoring.com EuroSail News 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 [AT] eurosailnews [DOT] com
L30 adopted for World Sailing Offshore World Championship
Click on image to enlarge.
World Sailing is pleased to announce that the L30, a 30-foot one design keelboat, has been selected as the supplied equipment for World Sailing's Offshore World Championship from 2020.
First tested in November 2015, the L30 boat concept was drawn up by Olympic medallist and Volvo Ocean Race competitor Rodion Luka. Andrej Justin, designer of RC44, brought the L30 to life, combining all round offshore performance, ease of logistics, a strict one-design model and global, ready to race, affordability.
The Championship will be a two-person mixed competition (one man, one woman) between nations, featuring 20 boats. The boats will be chartered by the national teams and allocated to sailors one week ahead of the Championship via a boat draw before sailors have time to test and prepare for the challenge that lays ahead of them. Held alongside the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the competitors may be required to sail the full course or a reduced course depending on the weather conditions.
The Offshore World Championship will engage countries new to double-handed offshore sailing by providing a full fleet of L30s that are ready to use at the event venue. L30s will also be available to charter in Europe for training from the summer of 2019.
Kim Andersen, President of World Sailing, commented, "The L30 Class share our ambition to grow double handed offshore sailing globally. The boat is well designed to cater for the demands of offshore sailing and will provide the sailors competing in Malta next year with a stern challenge.
"The boat has been trialled by some of the world's leading sailors including Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Ian Walker (GBR) and Abby Ehler (GBR). Their feedback has been crucial in the development and progression of the boat following the first concept.
Rodion Luka, CEO of L30 One Design, said, "Our team is proud to be a technical partner of World Sailing's and to support the Offshore World Championship. I have no doubt that this event will bring our sport to a new level, engaging a wider audience and opening new horizons for offshore sailors around the globe.
The 2020 Offshore Sailing World Championship will be organised in collaboration with the Royal Malta Yacht Club and World Sailing.
Originally earmarked to be held in 2019, World Sailing postponed the hosting to 2020 to allow a full qualification system to be developed, allowing ample opportunity for Member National Authorities to qualify and prepare for the event.
2019 Season Preview - J/70 UK and Ireland Class
The 2019 season is expected to be bigger than Ben Hur for the J/70 UK and Ireland Class, with ten regattas in the Grand Slam Series, and the first ever J/70 World Championships to be held in the UK. There are over 50 teams racing in British waters, and over 100 international teams are expected for the 2019 Darwin Escapes J/70 Worlds, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. Racing for the Grand Slam Series starts 13 April and concludes 27 October.
Scoring for the J/70 Class Grand Slam Series is calculated by the best five events, with the J/70 UK Nationals as compulsory. Two fabulous trophies, for Open and Corinthian teams, will be presented at the end of the season, and the top teams for the series will be allocated places for the 2020 J/70 World Championships. The Grand Slam Series events are all based around weekends with a schedule of racing over no more than 2-3 days, except the UK Nationals, which runs for four days. The Notice of Series has been posted and can be downloaded here.
The 2019 Grand Slam Series kicks off next month with two weekends of racing at the Warsash Spring Championships (13-14 April & 27-28 April). Cowes is the centre of attention for May and June, the RORC Vice Admirals Cup (10-12 May) is followed by the Southern Championships (01-02 June), hosted by the Royal Thames YC. The UK Training Event (18-22 July), will run alongside the J-Cup hosted by the Royal Southern YC. A full race series will be complimented by practice starts plus coaching and video analysis from the expert term at North Sails. Lendy Cowes Week is the venue for the J/70 mini-series (10-13 August), before the J/70 fleet head to the Royal Torbay YC in Torquay for the J/70 UK National Championships (23-26 August), a compulsory event for the Grand Slam Series. Two weekends of racing at the Hamble One Design Championships (05-06 October & 19-20 October), hosted by the Hamble River SC, will be followed by the final event of the 2019 Grand Slam Series, the Solent Championships (26-27 October), hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes.
The highlight of the season is the 2019 Darwin Escapes J/70 World Championships (30 August-06 September). This will be the first J/70 World Championships to be held in the UK. Professional and Corinthian teams are expected from all over the world. The J/70 UK and Ireland Class welcomes new members and chartering opportunities are available from boat owners and yacht clubs. -- Louay Habib
Positions Vacant With A+T Instruments
A+T InstrumentsA+T are the rapidly growing designer and manufacturer of very high-quality instruments for the Superyacht and race boat markets.
Offering upgrades and complete systems, A+T are suppliers to some 250 of the world's largest and fastest yachts. Key to A+T's business is the provision of excellent support.
Year on year growth has been 40% and now A+T are looking to expand their sales team with three appointments:
Technical Sales and Support
Preparation of proposals, drawings and dealing with technical enquiries. Liaison with captains, engineers, high-end electronics installers, project managers and yards. Mostly office based with some travel to visit yachts, dealers, yards and attend trade shows.
Outbound Sales
Office based outbound sales activity primarily around installer/dealers, refit and new-build yards.
Regatta Sales and Support
An upcoming or established professional sailor/tactician/navigator who can add a part-time role around sailing. Providing support, networking and direct sales at regattas and assisting with office- based testing, documentation, product feedback and improvements between events.
Great communication skills and a passion for excellent customer service are essential for all roles. A+T are a friendly team based in comfortable offices in Lymington, UK.
For detailed job description or to apply please email gemma [AT] AandTinstruments [DOT] com
Transpac 50 Offers New Storm Trysail Team Scoring Trophy
Los Angeles: The Board of the Transpacific Yacht Club, organizers of this year's 2225-mile Transpac 50 race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, has accepted an offer from the Storm Trysail Club to award a new team scoring trophy: the Storm Trysail Club Trophy.
This new trophy is designed to promote camaraderie among offshore sailors from the same club, region, or other affiliation, and will be awarded to the 3-boat team which compiles the best score, as determined by using the total of each team member's percentage placement in its respective class.
Affiliations may be self-defined, but teams shall not have more than two boats sailing in the same class.
"Everyone who enters offshore races will be first focused on their own performance," said AJ Evans, Commodore of the Storm Trysail Club. "Yet we have found this team scoring idea to be popular in other races such as the quadrennial TransAtlantic Race, the annual Block Island Race and the biennial Newport Bermuda Race. There will also be an STC-sponsored team competition in this year's Chicago-Mackinac Race. We're thrilled to develop this relationship with TPYC and to help promote blue water racing in the Pacific."
Once class splits are determined, each proposed team must submit a Team Application to the Entry Chairman prior to 1700 on July 7, 2019 in order to be scored for this trophy. This form will be posted on the official online Notice Board.
"Our clubs are very similar and compatible," said TPYC Commodore Tom Hogan. "Our memberships are both composed of serious offshore sailors, and we both help organize offshore races that celebrate and promote the sport. The new Storm Trysail Club Trophy is therefore a welcome addition to Transpac 50, and we hope there are many teams that take advantage of this new opportunity to celebrate achievement in offshore sailing."
The first class start for Transpac 50 is July 10th, 2019.
www.stormtrysail.org
2019.transpacyc.com
Transpac Tactics and Strategy Talk with Stan Honey
Stan Honey won the 2010 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award for his role in routing the 103-foot trimaran GROUPAMA around the world to set a new course record of just over 48 days. Prior to this he helped get the Volvo 70 ABN AMRO around the world to win the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. Closer to home in the Pacific he has also been the navigator for teams that have set seven course records and eleven first-to-finishes in 22 Transpacs and Pacific Cups, and was overall Pacific Cup winner with wife Sally Honey on their Cal 40 in 1996.
In the last edition of Transpac in 2017, Stan helped guide the 100-foot COMANCHE to her Merlin Trophy win and a new monohull course record of 5 days 1 hour 55 min 26 sec, and a Transpac 24-hour distance record run of 484.1 miles.
As navigator, Stan has also helped set numerous other records, including TransAtlantic monohull, TransAtlantic multihull, 24 hour monohull, 24 hour multihull, Sydney-Hobart, and Newport-Bermuda race records.
Suffice to say, Stan is one of the world's outstanding talents in offshore navigation, and it's with pleasure that TPYC is offering a special Transpac Tactics and Strategy Seminar on Saturday, May 11th from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM at Newport Harbor YC in Newport Beach. Cost is $50 per person and includes lunch.
Second Life - 44 Cup
Or more accurately Act Two? Either way the new 44Cup takes a great boat that is already acknowledged as perfect for the task and fires in a whole heap of fresh energy...
Classes of raceboat tend to die prematurely once they reach a certain age. Ironically this seems to have less to do with the boat and more the marketing or having the correct driving force behind it. Witness Peter Morton miraculously breathing life back into the Quarter Ton class, a boat on which many sailors cut their teeth - and can now afford to own. Compare that with the premature demise of the much-loved Mumm/Farr 30.
Attempting to ensure it is one of the success stories is the newly rechristened 44Cup, formerly the RC44 Championship Tour. This year it starts its 13th season with staunchly faithful owners resolute in prolonging the life of their beloved circuit.
Those involved are experienced, level-headed individuals who have been through many classes before finding their home with RC44s. They include Artemis Racing's Torbjörn Törnqvist, a former Audi MedCup TP52 champion and the 44Cup's reigning champion Nico Poons, who previously campaigned a Farr 40 and a Swan 45. Aleph Racing's Hugues Lepic also came from Farr 40s, while Peninsula Petroleum's John Bassadone went through a J/109 and a GP42 before arriving at the 44Cup, where he has remained for nine years. Then there's Vladimir Prosikhin, enticed into the circuit while having a cruising boat built, who in 2018 became RC44 World Champion for a third time. Others like Team Aqua's Chris Bake and Team CEEREF's Igor Lah have stayed with the class since its outset.
Full article in the April issue of Seahorse
Margaritaville Named First Presenting Partner of 2019 Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week
Storm Trysail Club and Margaritaville Holdings today announced that Margaritaville, the global lifestyle brand synonymous with fun and escapism, will be the first presenting sponsor for Block Island Race Week, one of the premier regattas in the U.S. In addition to Margaritaville's participation in the tent each day during the June 23-28th event, the final race day of the regatta will officially be named "Margaritaville Race Day."
Margaritaville will transform the race tent, transporting sailors into the brand's laid-back lifestyle. Live entertainment, the centerpiece of the Margaritaville brand, will take place on-site each day, along with exciting Margaritaville-inspired activities and promotions.
Over 115 boats have already registered for a variety of racing - from "Solent Style" (a combination of short course and distance racing) to cruising and one design - the 2019 Block Island Race Week presented by Margaritaville is shaping up to be an exceptionally lively one.
"We are thrilled to bring the Margaritaville state of mind to Block Island Race Week, a famed sailing event already known for its exciting competition and community spirit," said Tamara Baldanza-Dekker, Margaritaville's chief marketing officer. "Margaritaville's partnership with the Storm Trysail Club will bring added relaxation, fun, and camaraderie to competitors, family, and friends on the island."
Sailors can register and learn more at blockislandraceweek.com
Mick Marshall
In Britain's febrile world today of what option is right and what's wrong; what is a good course and what is a rum choice, you might be forgiven for thinking that life was always like that.
But there was a time when those who sought out potentially fickle winds and were prepared to challenge others' reading of a situation, emerged true champions in the war of the waves.
The Soputh Coast sailing regattas of the 1960s and early '70s attracted huge entries, unthinkable today for week-long events and, more often than not, one man stood out above all others: Mick Marshall.
The South East Cornwall yachtsman not only sailed a good race (Did he ever sail a bad one?) but also built his own winning boats. In partnership with Alan Pape - coincidentally his often indomitable racing opponent - Marshall ran the long-gone Curtis and Pape boatyard at West Quarries, high up in the woods on the West Looe river.
Famed for its war-time efforts to stave off the unthinkable, and then for its pedigree racing yachts - including Sir Chay Blyth's much-feted 1981 catamaran, Brittany Ferries GB - and the cruisers still found in every nook and cranny across the globe, Marshall and Pape were legends in their own waterlines.
Marshall's death, at the age of 88 after a long illness, will naturally be mourned by his family and close friends. But his life will also be celebrated, and quite rightly so, by those of a certain vintage who always appreciated the seamanship and shipwright skills of a modest and quietly-spoken man.
I have to admit that he could be difficult to interview, almost reluctant to talk. In those days, of course, I was young and green and he was lean, older, wiser and a focussed skipper of a racing machine with his own hand-picked crew. He seldom sought publicity and probably viewed a young reporter as something of an inconvenience. But, boy, was he good. You cannot argue with the results ledger. Hard to believe today, I know, but newspaper reports of daily sailing regattas from Falmouth, all along the West Country to Torquay, in the late 1960s summers were full-page news, and the name of 'Marshall' was always a common denominator in the fathoms of lineage that covered a sport, then still believed to be somewhat eliteist but nevertheless a necessary fabric of coastal village life for the masses.
If renowned naval architect Pape, who died in 2004, or more often than than not, his trusty lieutenant Marshall, won at, say, Fowey Week or Dartmouth Regatta, the speculation was rife that one of the two yard-stormers would be back next year with a brand new racer and a suit of sails to match.
But it wasn't only fully-crewed big boats in which Marshall excelled.
He was part of the 1960-70s pantheon of Enterprise dinghy sailors from South East Cornwall - Paul Martin, Robert Newton, David Pengelly among them - and didn't those Looe boys rock the national establishment - in Marshall's case, always in his own boat built to the strict design regimes of the class association.
So, with Mick Marshall's passing, sailing has given up a pacesetter and a game-changer; his family, including son, Francis, himself a European and National yacht and dinghy champion respectively, have, of course, lost much more. But we are all the better for having known a great and talented man.
Mick Marshall's funeral will be at Glynn Valley Crematorium, Bodmin, on Friday, April 5 (4.30 pm). I am compiling a full tribute for the local media, so if you raced against the white or blue-sailed warrior, or have a particular memory of him you would like to share, please let me know at: jc [DOT] collings [AT] btinternet [DOT] com -- John Collings
Letters To The Editor - editor [AT] scuttlebutteurope [DOT] com
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.
* From Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
Kim Jeffries got it right. This forthcoming Clipper Race will not have a female skipper, which is unfortunate, especially after the success of Wendy and Nikki in the last race. We have had five female skippers over the years and all have been excellent without exception. I would happily take on more provided they had the experience and ability but we did not receive any applications from suitable candidates this time around. Part of the problem is, I think, that in the past fewer women took up sailing as a sport so there is an imbalance of availability amongst the genders. Hopefully this will be corrected in time as some 30% of our Clipper Race crews are now women. And through our courses at the Hamble School of Yachting and our new Mate position within the Clipper Race we hope to be able to encourage more women to take their sailing career to the next level.
So if there is anyone who wants the satisfaction of taking on one of the toughest challenges in yachting, skippering a large boat and managing a mixed crew in a race around the world, please get in contact with us. We are now looking towards to the 2021-22 edition.
Featured Brokerage
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33 High Street
Poole, Dorset
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2009/2012 J/V 62 - "Chinese Whisper". 850000 EUR. Located in
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2005 Frers 57 Day Sailer - SASKIA TOO. Located in South Coast, France.
Drop dead gorgeous day sailor, a mini Wally in every sense.
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The Last Word
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