In This Issue
• Kiwi Spirit Pushes for the Line
• Is the Stage 3 La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro podium already set?
• Onwards - 52 Super Series
• Star World Championship: Two Italian Teams Are In The Lead
• National champions confirmed for 90 boat O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup regatta
• Dun Laoghaire Dingle
• Boris Herrmann registers for The Ocean Race 2021-22 and the Vendee Globe
• Bol d'Or Mirabaud: Great seamanship, in difficult conditions
• J/70 Relative Obscurity boat handling video
• Gary Burrell
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Fast Foot Sally - Gambler 40
• • Vismara Buzzii V60 Open
• • Mills 45 'Concubine'
• The Last Word: Hendrix Ian McCreary
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
Kiwi Spirit Pushes for the Line
At 1630 ADT Monday afternoon Kiwi Spirit, the Line Honors leader of the Marion Bermuda fleet, was 68 nautical miles from the finish line off St. David's Lighthouse, Bermuda.
According to 'Predict Wind' and YB tracking, Kiwi Spirit was sailing at 7+ kts in a 4.5 kt west-southwest breeze. They are expected to finish in about 10 hours if they average 6.5 kts for estimated arrival off St David's Lighthouse about 0200 Tuesday. They could be in as early as 0130 ADT.
Eugene Berardi's MachBuster, a Little Harbor 70, is neck and neck Abigail for second place line honors some 20 nautical miles behind the leader.
Abigail, Robert Buck's Aquidneck 52 from Marion MA, was a little further west than Kiwi Spiritand MachBuster.She has a broader angle to the finish. Abigail is still holding on as the predicted leader of Class A... at this time, according to the predicted data on the YB Tracking.
Handicap Adjustments
The Founders Division boats will be sailing under a new "anti-bias" version of the ORR handicapping system. The new system designed by race organizers in collaboration with the Offshore Racing Association (ORA) should remove the bias against faster boats by eliminating the "Parking Lot" effect.
The "Parking Lot" effect is the bias which occurs when faster boats loose time against slower boats in low or no-wind conditions usually experienced south of the Gulf Stream and north of Bermuda and often as evening falls on boats at the mouth of Buzzards Bay.
The "Parking Lot" adjustment will be applied as a time correction factor based on actual vs. predicted performance of the first three boats to finish. It will only be applied if conditions are appropriate according to how these boats perform. If the pace boats beat their predicted times, it is clear that they sailed fast and there was no 'Parking Lot" at all. In that case, no correction will be applied.
The 2019 race is the 22nd Marion Bermuda Race and the 42nd year for the 645-mile open ocean challenge for cruiser type yachts.
Is the Stage 3 La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro podium already set?
Less than 24 hours after the start of the 450-nautical mile third stage of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, Alex Loison, (Region Normandie), is currently leading a breakaway trio which has earned a cushion of 18 miles since they escaped through a key tidal gate off the north eastern tip of the Channel Islands.
Loison made a clear pass of the point at the Alderney lighthouse at around 1130hrs this morning, the light on the Channel island marking the west side of the notorious raz Blanchard as the French call the Alderney race, where the tide can run to 12 knots. Only Gildas Mahe, (Breizh Cola-EquiThe), and Anthony Marchand, (Groupe Royers-Secours Populaire), made it past with Loison who had led all the way from the dawn rounding of the Videcoq mark at Granville, in the south east corner of the bay of Saint Malo, early this morning.
As the three made their getaway at between five and seven knots, their stricken rivals tried all they could to wriggle free of the tidal currents grip. Some tried to sneak in and out of the rocks on the Alderney shore seeking relief from the fast flowing water. Others worked painstakingly to the north and east only to be sluiced back south again.
The international competitors, who are vying for the Vivi Trophy, are having a tough leg. At 1700hrs, Brit Will Harris, (Hive Energy), was the top ranked amongst them in 14th place with fellow countryman Alan Roberts, (Seacat Services) in 26th. Irishman Tom Dolan was 33rd after reportedly touching the rocks earlier this afternoon, while the others struggle in the currents to get out of the bottom 10.
Onwards - 52 Super Series
As a dress rehearsal for the start of the latest 52 Super Series there could have been no better event than the latest edition of PalmaVela. Ten of the 11 boats due to contest the first regatta of the season, Menorca 52 Super Series Sailing Week, turned out and gave no quarter. The 2019 race sails were on (at least for most days…), full sailing teams were stress tested and the Bay of Palma offered up an unusually varied menu of wind conditions including a couple of classic 20kt+ doses of champagne conditions (Cristal of course).
As what promises to be the most even, most open Super Series to date begins, the organisation and the owners also appear close to taking the plunge to go to South Africa in the early part of 2020 for one or possibly two new regattas. The initiative is being partially driven by two of the circuit's most recent recruits who are now based in the country - father and daughter Hasso and Tina Plattner campaign their two Phoenix TP52s in Europe and for training race Cape 31s in their local Cape Town fleet.
Certainly among a cross-section of owners there is a wave of enthusiasm for a longer, more varied season, one that is not just restricted to 90 per cent Mediterranean hotspots punctuated by occasional visits to Cascais, Puerto Sherry or Croatia. For owners, crews, circuit stakeholders and managers who are trying to look long term, one vision for 2020 and beyond includes South Africa and progress towards New Zealand during the 36th America's Cup in 2021. Others, however, are perfectly content with the status quo - more of the same - while a third contingent are basically happy to give their endorsement to whichever course the majority opt for.
Full article in the July issue of Seahorse
Star World Championship: Two Italian Teams Are In The Lead
Porto Cervo, Italy: The Star Class World Championship is off to a good start with today's race run as scheduled despite light breeze. The Championship, which has returned to Porto Cervo after thirty years, is organized by the YCCS in collaboration with the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association (ISCRYA) and the support of Main Partner Audi and Technical Partners Quantum Sails and Garmin Marine.
This morning at 12.00 sharp the 63 competing teams from 20 different nations were at the start, ready to race in the waters off Porto Cervo. Just as the Starting Procedures were getting underway a wind shift forced the Race Committee to hoist the AP flag and wait for the breeze to settle. After about an hour a northerly breeze from 7 to 9 knots kicked in and the Star fleet could begin their World Championship. The course was changed along the final leg when the breeze shifted to the northeast and dropped to 4/5 knots.
At the end of the day there are two Italian teams in the lead followed by a Spanish team. Enrico Chieffi, the Star Class World Champion in 1996, and his bowman Manlio Corsi captured the lead right from the start, rounding the first mark in first place and lengthening their lead right to the finish. The second placed team today is also Italian and sees Diego Negri - silver medallist at the 2016 Star European Championship - with Sergio Lambertenghi aboard. Thanks to a recovery along the last leg of today's race they finished ahead of the Spanish team with Roberto 'Chuny' Bermudez De Castro and Miguel Fernandez Castro aboard. Chuny is an oceanic sailor who has won the VOR and sailed for Spain in the Star Class at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Tomorrow, June 18th the first Warning Signal is scheduled for 12 noon. The forecast calls for westerly breeze at 7-10 knots.
2019worlds.starchampionships.org
National champions confirmed for 90 boat O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup regatta
With just ten days remaining to the starting-gun, a fleet of 90 boats including most of new Irish national champions has been confirmed for the O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup regatta at Kinsale Yacht Club (Wednesday 26th to Saturday 29th June 2019). Further entries are also being processed and the full entry could reach almost 100 boats.
The 13th edition of the biennial event combines racing in uncluttered waters with spectacular scenery and lively shoreside activities in one of Ireland's most hospitable towns.
The new national title-holders won their events at the recent ICRA championships in Dublin with the overall win taken by Anthony Gore-Grimes' Dux from Howth Yacht Club. The X302 is a regular visitor and competitor in Kinsale and could be a contender for the overall Sovereigns Cup that is decided on the international IRC rating system.
The O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup will also include the Irish Half-ton championships that will see the new Division 2 national champions in action. Michael and Darren Wrights' Mata from Howth Yacht Club leads a pack of contenders for the title with a repeat of the extremely close racing of the nationals likely to be repeated off the Old Head of Kinsale next week.
Amongst the one-designs, good turn-outs in both the 1720 Sportsboat and International Dragon classes are expected with the latter preparing for the Gold Cup to be hosted by Kinsale Yacht Club in September 2020.
For further information, please contact Regatta Director Bobby Nash:
Mobile: +353 87 9075986 or Email: regattadirector [AT] sovereignscup [DOT] com
Dun Laoghaire Dingle
June 2019's edition of the Volvo D2D was a step-up for the event in so many ways and had a number of significant firsts writes Race Chairman Adam Winkelmann.
Windfall - the biggest yacht to ever compete set a new record time. It was also the biggest fleet ever at 43. The race also had the largest number of finishers ever at 41 and the lowest number of retired yachts (2).
The youngest skipper Tom Shanahan at 19 years of age brought J109 Ruth home in fourth place overall with the first all amateur crew thereby winning the Dingle Peninsula Produce Hamper.
And in further youth sailing participation in the race, 17-year-old Diarmuid Desmond from Dingle Sailing Club sailed on Windfall and the County Kerry sailor was rewarded with a record time into his home port.
It was also the first time that the race was sailed on the RORC offshore calendar.
When Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) crossed the finish line it was the first time a yacht has retained the overall win in the Volvo D2D race.
The 2021 Race will start from the National Yacht Club on Wednesday 9th June 2021. This will be a limited entry event. Previous entrants will be offered early entry options and then the entry will be opened to others to allow up to a maximum of 50 yachts.
Boris Herrmann registers for The Ocean Race 2021-22 and the Vendee Globe
In November 2020 in Les Sables d'Olonne, France, Germany's most successful modern-day offshore sailor Boris Herrmann will start the legendary Vendee Globe, the famous solo non-stop race around the world. Since 1989's very first ever edition of sailing's pinnacle solo race no German sailor has made it to the start line, far less the finish line, some 22,500 miles and 75 or 80 days later in Les Sables d'Olonne.
But the 38-year-old from Hamburg has his sights set further than just the solo race which promises to the be one of the most competitive editions yet. Just one year later Herrmann is looking to be on the start line of The Ocean Race with a young German-flagged international team, set to take on this pinnacle fully crewed race round the world that was previously known as the Volvo Ocean Race and before that the Whitbread Round the World Race.
Herrmann has just registered with the organizers of The Ocean Race, formally signaling his intention to take on the multi-stage race on the highly optimized, cutting edge 60 foot, 18 metre foiling IMOCA Open 60 yacht "Malizia" on which he will compete among a capacity 30 strong field for the Vendee Globe.
During the four-year preparation for the Vendee Globe Herrmann is supported by the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM). His sailing friend Pierre Casiraghi, eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, is the YCM Vice President and founded the team. Compared to other top campaigns their budget is relatively modest, but they already hold second place in the Globe Series the IMOCA world ranking. The long-term support from the YCM is guaranteed but Team Malizia are looking for a strong partner from the business world who will participate in all the upcoming team's challenges from now on. With numerous stopovers The Ocean Race offers companies with a global operation access to unique hospitality opportunities and a widescale visibility for their brands in the most important markets.
Bol d'Or Mirabaud: Great seamanship, in difficult conditions
Meteo Suisse was forecasting it for 24 hours: a serious storm was going to descend on the Bol d'Or Mirabaud fleet around 17:00. This warning was precise and played out to the letter! After a start with light southwesterly breeze, followed by a pleasant afternoon, the sky fell on competitors' heads with gusts of 50 knots, hail, no visibility… the apocalypse! Meteo Suisse recorded peaks of 60 knots at the Bouveret: more than 110 km/h! The rest of the race was under light, irregular conditions, under beautiful sunshine and a nice thermal breeze for those finishing Sunday.
Everybody likes precise statistics: crew members overboard, broken masts, sunken boats… these statistics don't exist as sailors don't always report their problems, minor or major. Boats with broken masts don't always return to port yelling from the rooftops. What we know for certain is that there were 212 abandonments; rumors suggest 40 some broken masts and sailmakers can expect a lucrative season!
Several sailboats sunk, including Toucans Baloo and Ex-Psaros. Realtime, one of the race favorites lost its mast while five M2s capsized. Finally, the Libera Principessa flipped over and its crew recovered without injury.
Several crew members fell overboard. The safety teams, coordinated from the SNG and distributed over the lake, provided exceptional work and did all they could to assure crews' safety.
Participants in the Bol d'Or Mirabaud overall showed their great seamanship, explaining the limited number of "human" incidents.
Ladycat Powered by Spindrift Racing led for most of the race, crossing the halfway mark as a leader. Yann Guichard and his team mastered the storm despite a mainsail blocked at the masthead. They then controlled their opponents until the finish line, crossed after 10h 36' 21'' of racing. Second of the race, Ylliam Comptoir Immobilier, helmed by Bertrand Demole, finished in 10h 39' 38'', followed by Alinghi (Ernesto Bertarelli), in 10h 42' 35''
The Libera Raffica won a hard fight among monohulls after 15:33 of racing ahead of Psaros 40 Margherite Cashmere, helmed by Francois Bopp, and Francois Thorens' TBS.
Leading at the Bouveret barge, the spectacular but fickle Hungarian monohull handled the storm for better or for worse. The sailboat ran from the wind with no sails, effecting a large unplanned detour in order to resist the elements without capsizing. Although coming from behind, she was able to close the gap and achieve a more than deserved victory.
Full results of all classes: boldormirabaud.ch
J/70 Relative Obscurity boat handling video
J/70 Crew Work- Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY crew, which includes Bill Hardesty and Willem van Waay from San Diego and Will Felder, show you what it takes for team work to get a J/70 around the race track.
This is a very instructive video on boat-handling.
Gary Burrell
Gary Burrell, co-founder of Garmin Ltd, passed away last week at the age of 81. Burrell retired in 2002 and continued to serve as Garmin's co-chairman until 2004, when he was named chairman emeritus.
Burrell co-founded Garmin with Dr Min Kao in 1989 with the vision of creating products powered by an emerging technology known as the Global Positioning System, or GPS. Thirty years later, Garmin has grown from a handful of engineers into a global location and communication product powerhouse with more than 13,000 associates in 60 offices around the world.
In a career spanning 50 years, Burrell motivated and mentored thousands of employees. Among them was Garmin president and CEO Cliff Pemble, one of Burrell's first hires.
Prior to launching Garmin in 1989, Burrell held leadership positions at marine and aviation electronics companies including Lowrance Electronics, King Radio Corporation and AlliedSignal. He is widely regarded as one of the leading innovators of integrated avionics, having designed and developed the first successful NAV/COMM for the general aviation market.
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Blackjack should be one of the highest performing boats in her class, and is likely to be faster and lighter than both Gunboat and HH catamarans, weighing just 8 tonnes. She has a rotating mast, fully carbon cross structure & fins and NKE instrumentation.
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The Last Word
Your humble narrator is now a Grandfather.
Another one of life's milestones today. Almost to the day, 32 years after the birth of my first son (at 6:12 AM June 18, 1987)... my first grandchild entered the world.
Happy Birthday to Hendrix Ian McCreary!
Born at 6:34am June 17 2019, 21in long and weighing in at 7.4lbs
Hendrix and his mother doing well. My son is a bit steamrolled from lack of sleep. To which he subjected me and his mother that morning in 1987. The karmic wheel is turning.
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Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb [AT] beesonstone [DOT] com or see www.eurosailnews.com/advertise.html