In This Issue
• Williams Leads Quartet Into Quarterfinals of Argo Group Gold Cup
• Bermuda Bound!
• Playing smart in the money markets
• 470 Europeans in Marina degli Aregai, Italy: ready to roll
• A taste of Antigua at the Royal Southern YC
• Mega-schooner match race on the Bay of Naples
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• IMOCA : What is at stake in the Bermudes 1000 Race
• Battling for basic needs at Tokyo 2020
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Botin 40 - "BLACK"
• • RIO 52
• • Hitchhiker Fast40+ MK III
• The Last Word: Hunter S. Thompson
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
Williams Leads Quartet Into Quarterfinals of Argo Group Gold Cup
Hamilton, Bermuda: Ian Williams and his Team GAC Pindar crew from the U.K. won the initial round robin stage of the 69th Argo Group Gold Cup and advanced to the Quarterfinal Round as the No. 1 seed.
Williams’s crew posted a 4-1 record today after yesterday’s 5-1 mark to advance with the top score of 9 points from 11 races. After yesterday’s racing Williams said it was important for the crew to advance to get some needed rest. After today’s tight racing, the day off will be a welcome respite.
Williams is joined in the quarterfinals by Australians Torvar Mirsky and Harry Price and Johnie Berntsson of Sweden. Mirsky finished the round robin at 8-3, the same record as Price, while Berntsson advanced with a 7-4 record. Mirsky wound up the No. 2 seed because he beat Price in their match yesterday.
The conditions today were in contrast to yesterday. Instead of a northwesterly wind blowing across Hamilton Harbour the wind was out of the east, meaning it was blowing the length of the harbour. There were still shifts of up to 30 degrees but the strength was a bit steadier at 8 to 14 knots.
The on-water umpires issued 14 penalties today, nine less than yesterday, and while Mirsky mostly excelled he stubbed his toe against Bermudian Kelsey Durham, who defeated Mirsky for his first victory in a professional match racing regatta. Durham and crew won the start and fended off Mirsky around the first lap, and then extended around the second lap for what turned out to be an easy win.
Racing resumes tomorrow at 0930 hours with the Repechage Round. Principal Race Officer David Campbell-James is scheduling five and a half hours to complete the round, which will then be followed by the Pro-Am. Northeasterly to easterly winds are again in the forecast, between 10 and 15 knots.
Provisional Round Robin Standings
1. Ian Williams (42, Lymington, England, U.K.) - 9 points
2. Torvar Mirsky (32, Sydney, Australia) - 8
3. Harry Price (23, Sydney, Australia) - 8
4. Johnie Berntsson (48, Stennungsund, Sweden) - 7
5. Chris Poole (30, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., USA) - 6.33
6. Eric Monnin (43, Immensee, Switzerland) - 5
7. Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE) - 5
8. Maxime Mesnil (30, Le Havre, France) - 5
9. Lucy Macgregor (32, Poole, England, U.K.) - 5
10. Pauline Courtois (30, Brest, France) - 3
11. Ettore Botticini (23, Porto Santo Stefano, Italy) - 2.67
12. Kelsey Durham (25, Smiths, Bermuda) - 1
Bermuda Bound!
The 2019 Antigua Bermuda Race fleet set off on Wednesday 8th May off Fort Charlotte, Antigua. A perfect start saw brilliant sunshine and 20 knots trade winds combining to produce spectacular conditions for the international fleet. Close to a hundred sailors from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, and the USA are taking part in the 935nm offshore race from Antigua to Bermuda.
A highly competitive start featured a yachts hugging the rugged coastline of south Antigua, making gains from the lifting pressure rolling down the cliffs. The 100ft canting keel flyer SHK Scallywag (HKG) got away to a cracking start, as did Gilles Barbot's Volvo 60 Esprit de Corps IV (CAN). At Green Island the fleet eased sheets, hoisting downwind sails and accelerating into a power reach that should last for at over 300 miles. According to weather forecasts, they are in for a spectacular treat of superb sailing on a beam reach in tropical heat, surfing through the Atlantic Ocean.
Three hours into the race all of the yachts were hitting double-digit speed, blasting through two-metre waves in 29 degrees air temperature. Sun glasses on, lapping up the sunshine and relishing the prospect of a first night at sea under a carpet of stars.
Supermaxi SHK Scallywag skippered by David Witt (AUS) passed Barbuda to starboard, covering over 50 miles in the first three hours. Afansay Isaev’s Maxi Weddell (RUS), and Esprit de Corp IV (CAN) split paths to round different sides of Barbuda and were 20 miles behind the leader. On corrected time, Lombard 46 Pata Negra (GBR) was the early leader in the IRC Division and Carlo Falcone's 1938 yawl Mariella was going well in the CSA Class.
All of the teams racing in the 2019 Antigua Bermuda Race are expected to pass Barbuda before dusk; the next land they will see is likely to be Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in Bermuda, after close to 1,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean Racing.
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470 Europeans in Marina degli Aregai, Italy: ready to roll
After two days dedicated to registration and measurements, everything is ready for the action to begin at the 470 European Championship in Marina degli Aregai, on Italy’s Ligurian Riviera.
On Tuesday, at sunset sailors, coaches, organisers, judges and authorities gathered in the Marina degli Area for the opening ceremony and an informal dinner. But, done with the formalities snd the protocol, the 100 plus male and female teams are now focusing on racing, that will debut tomorrow. The first race is schedule for 12:00 for a maximum of three races for the day. The male fleet will be split in two groups while women will have a dedicated one. The weather forecast is for a westerly of around 15 knots, possibly reaching 20 knots later in the afternoon with a sunny to partly cloudy sky. Ideal conditions for this fast and technical Olympic one-design.
All the best athletes from the class will be on the water, leaders of the ranking list, several European and World champions and Olympic medallists, including top ranked Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan from Australia, reigning European champions Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström from Sweden and Spain’s Jordi Xammar Hernandez and Nicolás Rodríguez García-Paz and local heroes Giacomo Ferrari and Giulio Calabrò, currently in tenth position of the world ranking.
Slovenians Tina Mrak and Veronika Macarol, will fight to defend their continental title, fending off the attacks from Silvia Mas Depares and Patricia Cantero Reina from Spain, UK’s Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre and Benedetta Di Salle and Alessandra Dubbini from Italy, fresh from a bronze at the World Series in Genoa.
The 470 Europeans consist of a series of fleet races and a final medal race, if more than five qualifying races have been completed, for the top 10 teams in each fleet. The racing will be on windward/leeward or trapezoid courses.
The championship is open to non-Europeans crews, who can use it as a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but cannot compete for the title.
A taste of Antigua at the Royal Southern YC
The first of the Royal Southern Yacht Club Summer Series, which consists of four regattas, will be held on 18-19 May. The Antigua Sailing Week May Regatta is open to entry for non-members and members alike. The winner of the four regatta series will win an all-inclusive entry to the 2020 edition of the Caribbean's most famous yachting regatta.
The Royal Southern YC Antigua Sailing Week May Regatta is expected to feature approximately 70 sportsboats and keelboats, this year inviting entries from IRC, Club Class, Double Handed and Mixed Sportsboats as well as the J/88, HP30, J/70, Performance 40 and XOD classes. Competitors, family and friends, are welcome to the Royal Southern Yacht Club during the event to enjoy the view at Hamble River’s finest Yacht Club.
The prize for the overall winner of the 2019 Royal Southern YC Summer Series will receive a voucher from Antigua Sailing Week, which generously includes:
- Flights to Antigua, funded by Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority
- Bareboat Dream Yacht Charter
- Dockage in UNESCO designated Nelson’s Dockyard
and free entry to the 2020 edition of Antigua Sailing Week, April 25 - May 01, 2020.
Antigua Sailing Week will be launching this prize with a party on the Saturday night and will also be providing 5-year-old English Harbour Rum as prizes for the regatta itself.
The Antigua Sailing Week May Regatta will feature racing on two courses in the Solent. Black Group will have IRC Classes, J/88s, HP30, Double Handed, and Club Class while White Group will feature J/70s, Mixed Sports Boats and other classes such as XODs.
All of the Summer Series regattas will have social occasions including a Friday night welcome drinks reception, Saturday night bistro menu, entertainment, daily prizegiving and Crew Supper, and a Sunday Post-event Prize Giving. There will be daily spot prizes, as well as series prizes which are awarded at the RSrnYC Annual Prize Giving. All events will be held at the Royal Southern Yacht Club with superb modern facilities on the banks of the River Hamble. -- Louay Habib
www.royal-southern.co.uk/racing
Mega-schooner match race on the Bay of Naples
Photo by Blue Passion/ISA. Click on image to enlarge.
Out on a sunny but chilly Bay of Naples, there was a remarkably action-packed opening day of racing at the inaugural Capri Classica, with lead changes galore, a David v Goliath competition and an encounter with a Neapolitan fishing net best forgotten.
Organised by the Circolo Remo e Vela Italia, the Yacht Club Capri and the International Schooner Association with the support of the International Maxi Association the Capri Classica is an exclusive invitation-only event for large classic schooners.
Racing today got underway at 1300, an hour late as the race committee waited for the wind to settle off the north side of the Sorrento Peninsula. Eventually the four schooners cautiously set off with the smallest, the 85ft Orianda, first to tack at the heavily favoured committee boat end of the line.
However it was the heavyweight bout between the 138ft Herreshoff-designed Mariette of 1915 and the 128ft Naema that was most engaging. The two titans of Capri Classica were at each other’s throats from the outset in a match race reminiscent of a 19th century America’s Cup when schooners were the vessels of choice.
Ultimately Naema won the day overall, beating Mariette of 1915 by 15 minutes on corrected time.
There is much anticipation for racing on day two tomorrow when the wind is forecast to be 15-18 knots.
The competitors
Mariette of 1915 -138ft 1915 Nathanael Herreshoff schooner
Naema - 128ft built in 2012, inspired by the 1938 Alfred Mylne design Panda
Orianda -85ft 1937 Dahlstrom staysail schooner
Puritan -126ft 1930 Alden gaff schooner
internationalschoonerassociation.com
www.internationalmaxiassociation.com
Seahorse May 2019
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
(Truly) something else
Certain special boats can float quietly under the radar (see here page 57). We doubt this one will stay silent for long. Paul Bieker and Andres Suar
Throw it out there
That was the design philosophy that won the last America's Cup and the exact same approach is driving Nautor's Swan's spectacular new Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed ClubSwan 36
Immaculate pedigree
Ten years and seven international sail lofts later, Evolution Sails is no longer such a small story...
The new norm - Part I
Renaud Banuls tells the story of the birth of a new attitude to offshore multihull design
Paul Cayard - crash pad to launch pad
Or from the South Pole to South Beach
RORC news - Digital takeover
Eddie Warden-Owen
Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2
1yr Print Sub: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/
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Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.
IMOCA : What is at stake in the Bermudes 1000 Race
It will be at 1700hrs tomorrow (Thursday 9th May) that the Bermudes 1000 Race will start from Douarnenez. This is the first event on the Globe Series calendar in 2019. Postponed because of a violent low-pressure area, the start gun for this 2000 mile race will send the 17 solo sailors on their way to achieve their various ambitions.
On paper, four sailors appear to have what it takes to be referred to as the favourite. In the Guyader Grand Prix over the past few days, British sailor, Sam Davies was successfully able to try out her huge foils with a crew. If she manages to make good use of them when sailing solo, she will be a very serious contender.
Currently fourth in the Globe Series, Boris Herrmann can hope to take the lead in the championship in the absence of the three sailors ahead of him in the rankings (Paul Meilhat, Yann Elies and Alex Thomson). The German skipper has sailed a lot on his foiler.
Sebastien Simon is taking part in his very first solo IMOCA race with the Bermuda 1000 Race. However, he recently completed two transatlantic crossings (one sailing double-handed and one sailing solo), before winning the Guyader Grand Prix.
As for the experienced sailor, Yannick Bestaven, 2nd in the Guyader Grand Prix with his crew, he is also on the way up and really wants to perform well on his first solo race aboard his foiler.
Six sailors have not yet started clocking up the miles on their way to the 2020-2021 Vendee Globe: Maxime Sorel, Giancarlo Pedote, Clement Giraud, Miranda Merron, Denis Van Weynbergh and Pip Hare. All of them with the exception of Miranda Merron are sailing solo for the first time in the IMOCA circuit. For each of these competitors, the main goal will clearly be to find their feet and to complete the course.
The 17 skippers registered for the Bermuda 1000 Race:
- Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Art & Fenetres)
- Alexia Barrier (4myplanet)
- Yannick Bestaven (Maitre CoQ)
- Arnaud Boissieres (La Mie Caline-Artipole)
- Manuel Cousin (Groupe Setin)
- Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur)
- Clement Giraud (Envol)
- Pip Hare (Superbigou)
- Boris Herrmann (Malizia Yacht Club de Monaco)
- Ari Huusela (Ariel 2)
- Stephane Le Diraison (Time For Oceans)
- Miranda Merron (Campagne de France)
- Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian Group)
- Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil)
- Sebastien Simon (Arkea-Paprec)
- Maxime Sorel (V and B-Sailing Together)
- Denis Van Weynbergh (Eyesea.be)
Battling for basic needs at Tokyo 2020
The Tokyo Olympics are trying to cut spending, under pressure from the International Olympic Committee, but some of Tokyo’s cuts are aimed at the international sports federations that put on the Olympic show.
It is a little known fact that each sport provides the playbook on what is needed to conduct their events, but getting the host country and the IOC to fulfill promises remains the challenge.
For Sailing at the Rio 2016 Olympics, there was a failure in reducing the pollution at the venue of Guanabara Bay. For Tokyo 2020, there has been pains in working with the fishing fleets to provide the needed ocean space, but now basic infrastructure items are at risk.
“There is absolutely no question in the end that Tokyo will deliver a fantastic games,” said Andy Hunt, the head of World Sailing. “But decisions are being taken on cost savings at a high level in the organizing committee, which has flowed down without realizing the implications.”
It’s not for a lack of money these cuts are being made, as Tokyo appears well-funded with an operating budget twice as large as Rio’s. For Hunt, this isn’t about frills; it’s about basic needs.
“I don’t think we over-ask,” Hunt said. “If there was not enough medical provision and focus on safety - if something went wrong - you can be absolutely certain where the responsibility would sit.”
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The Last Word
One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die. -- Hunter S. Thompson re: Oscar Zeta Acosta
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