In This Issue
• Laser Worlds
• Headwinds In the Channel as Transatlantic Race Leaders Approach
• Child's Play - Annalisa Sailing
• IRC National Championship
• UK Laser Masters
• Around mainland Britain in 15 days - in a Wayfarer
• Tour Voile Starts Friday
• Torqeedo issues battery safety warning
• Mini-Transat La Boulangere: 22 September
• Superyacht Young Designer Winner Announced
• Featured Brokerage:
• • 1944 Ciclon Sparkman & Stephens 52 Ft Sloop
• • 1996 Vismara Buzzi V60 Open
• • Fast Foot Sally - Gambler 40
• The Last Word: The Economist
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
Laser Worlds
After the first two races at the ILCA Laser Standard Men's World Championship in Japan, Filip Jurisic and George Gautrey top the leaderboard with four points.
Filip Jurisic of Croatia won his opening flight race and followed that with a third place to tie for the lead with New Zealand's George Gautrey who finished second in both his flight races.
In third place with 5 points is Jean-Baptiste Bernaz of France, in fourth on 8 points is Tonic Stipanovic of Croatia.
Best placed British competitor is Lorenzo Chiavarini (5, 6) in seventh place. Chiavarini is tied on 11 points with Benjamin Vadnai of Hungary and Jesper Stalheim of Sweden.
Other British positions: 15th Elliot Hanson (5, 13), 23rd Nick THompson (17, 4) and 30th Jack Wetherell (28, 1). -- Gerald New, SailWeb
Top ten after two races
1. Jurisic Filip, CRO, 4 points
2. Gautrey George, NZL, 4
3. Bernaz Jean-Baptiste, FRA, 5
4. Stipanovic Tonci, CRO, 8
5. Vadnai Benjamin, HUN, 11
6. Stalheim Jesper, SWE, 11
7. Chiavarini Lorenzo, GBR, 11
8. Gallo Marco, ITA, 12
9. Tomasgaard Hermann, NOR, 14
10. Barnard Christopher, USA, 14
Headwinds In the Channel as Transatlantic Race Leaders Approach
"Our morning opened with playing the Star Spangled Banner, followed by America the Beautiful over the VHF Intercom, music thoughtfully provided by Bob (Langstine) and his iPad," said Mark D'Arcy, navigator aboard Hiroshi Nakajima's Hiro Maru. "Chip (Adams) kindly distributed kazoo's and adorned the mast with both the U.S. and Japan national flags to celebrate the day."
For those waiting patiently in Cowes, however, all celebrations are currently on hold until the first boats arrive, sometime on Saturday morning. But who will it be? Will it be David and Peter Askew's plucky VO70 Wizard that has resolutely led the Transatlantic 2019 on the water since Day 2? Or will it be Lee Seng Huang's 100-foot maxi SHK Scallywag? With an extra 30 feet of length on the waterline SHK Scallywag should be faster, particularly if the two yachts have to beat up the English Channel.
Making predictions is all the harder due to the boats going involuntarily into "stealth mode." Both boats have had issues with their race trackers and while they are now appearing on AIS, their position updates can be separated by as much as an hour. At 1322 UTC, the last time their polling almost coincided, SHK Scallywag was marginally southeast of her arch-rival, finally nosing back into the lead. At 1500 UTC SHK Scallywag was in the southern Celtic Sea, making 12 knots with some 115 miles to sail to the Lizard gate.
Competing yachts are obliged to pass through this gate that extends 4 nautical miles south of Lizard Point lighthouse. The aim of this is to allow official record times to be obtained for competitors, although any chance of breaking the race's 6-day, 22-hour record passed last weekend. In fact, the leaders will be hard pressed to better the 12-day, 4-hour record set by Charlie Barr and the schooner Atlantic in the 1905 edition of this race. The forecast is for headwinds in the English Channel, and these are set to drop off overnight on Friday leaving the front runners at the mercy of the Channel's powerful tides.
Child's Play - Annalisa Sailing
The Annalisa team started with a plan to develop a real-time sailing performance system for a broad church of sailors, rather than just a handful of the most professional users
We are living in a complex digital world, with information coming at us fast all the time, both on and off the water. The developers at Annalisa are helping us to make sound decisions in the face of such an onslaught of information with their new system of real-time sailing performance software.
Among their unique challenges is sifting through the numerous inputs from instrument logs - boatspeed, heading, course over ground, speed over ground, wind speed and angle, heel angle, etc. - and filtering them for relevance and accuracy before calculations even start. Then using that data in calculations for producing the relevant information needed to characterise performance, doing this in an understandable and accessible format, in real time, and presenting it in a hostile environment of either bright sun or complete darkness, constant movement of the platform at all angles, and often doused in corrosive salt water.
Full article in the July issue of Seahorse
IRC National Championship
A strong line-up, ranging from TP52s, FAST40+s and Performance 40s, down to nimble HP30s and the cruiser-racers majority will take to the Solent this Friday for three days of intense competition at the Royal Ocean Racing Club's IRC National Championship. The event returns after a year's hiatus when the RORC hosted the IRC European Championship in the Solent.
Leading the charge around the race track this weekend in the four boat IRC 1 class will be the match racing 52s - Tony Langley's Gladiator and a boat new to the Solent this season. David Collins acquired the Botin IRC 52 Tala just prior to this year's RORC Caribbean 600. Formerly Interlodge/Steve Benjamin's Spookie, the boat is engineered to race offshore and was bought to do this, but can be remodelled for inshore racing,
Following IRC 1 are FAST40+ for whom this will be the third event of their 2019 championship. Six examples are competing with the form boat likely to be Peter Morton's Carkeek 40 Mk3 Girls on Film.
The most competitive class this weekend has to be IRC 2. At the top of the class will be a match race between Tor McLaren's Gallivanter and her MAT1180 sistership Leeloo of Dutchman Harold Vermeulen. Vermeulen raced at Cowes Week on his previous 48ft cruiser racer but this will be his first IRC Nationals and also his first time back on the Solent since acquiring a race boat.
The remainder of IRC 2 brings together the substantial Performance 40 class. The P40 class is open to boats with a TCC of 1.075-1.150 (plus 11.15m-14.1m length, 125-205 DLR and 2.7m max draft). The P40 class this year comprises of 17 boats and the IRC Nationals is the third event in their 2019 championship, where Christopher Daniel's J/122E Juno leads having won the first two events. -- James Boyd
UK Laser Masters
Torbay will host the 2019 UK Laser Masters, July 5 - July 7.
Age brackets:
33 to compete in the Apprentice Masters (Standard or Laser Radial). 45 to compete in the Masters (Standard or Laser Radial). 55 to compete in the Grand Masters (Standard or Laser Radial). 65 to compete in the Great Grand Masters (Standard or Laser Radial). * 75 to compete in the Legend category (Standard or Laser Radial).
* Your humble narrator's favorite Great Grand Master, John 'Robo' Roberson is in attendance.
Around mainland Britain in 15 days - in a Wayfarer
Two UK endurance adventurers have successfully circumnavigated the coastline of mainland Britain in just over 15 days.
Will Hodshon, 42, and Rich Mitchell, 44, set sail from Salcombe, Devon, on 15 June and arrived back in the same port "safe, but tired" on Monday.
They sailed the 1,390-nautical mile (2,237km) journey in a 60-year-old, 16ft-long open dinghy, the Nipegegi.
They said they hoped to have the record verified by Guinness World Records.
The pair sailed the vessel unaided, coming back into port at about 10:30 BST, completing the journey in 15 days and 4 hours.
Their team said the record for the outright fastest open sailing dinghy round mainland Britain was 28 days, set in 2006 by a multihull vessel.
For a monohull, the record for the fastest open dinghy sailing around mainland Britain was 32 days, set in 2014.
The team said the pair wanted to establish a record sailing both unassisted and non-stop around Britain, which the other two records "do not encompass".
Their trip was helping with fundraising for ocean-based charities.
Tour Voile Starts Friday
The 42nd edition of the Tour Voile starts Friday off Dunkirk in the northeat corner of France with 23 teams set to line up for the gruelling annual multi stop circuit. Racing spans 15 days of Diam 24 OD competition at seven towns and cities culminating in the Grand Final in Nice on 21st July when the 2019 champions will be crowned.
Dunkirk hosts the Grand Depart for the 33rd time in the history of the Tour. From the very first start gun to the final finish gun in Nice, the pressure on the crews and their support teams is relentless. Performing on the water needs to be complemented by smooth, accomplished logistics and perfect reliability across the entire duration of the Tour. Even just a couple of years ago one of the top seeds faltered on the opening weekend in Dunkirk, sustaining damage in one race which ultimately cost them the overall victory.
While the primary goal is to top the general classification, for the first time 2019 sees four different rankings, General, Jeune (youth), Mixed (mixed gender), and Amateur. Dunkirk's long, sandy Malo Les Bains beaches, popular with locals and visitors alike, is the perfect vantage to watch the close to
The pursuit of the overall title, won last year by Lorina Limonade skippered by Quentin Delapierre, is expected to be close. Neither Delapierre nor the team are back this year to defend the 2018 championship. Any one of four of five different teams have an equal chance of success. Cheminees Poujoulat is skippered by French Youth America's Cup sailor Robin Follin and contains several members of the Team Reseau Ixio which finished third last year. Team Beijaflore were second last year and return with Valentin Sipan and Guillaume Pirouelle - 470 youth world champions turned Youth America's Cup sailors - in charge. They have already won Sailing Arabia The Tour this year.
There are eight non French teams competing this year. The European team on Pink Lady - Pays de L'Or Sud De France return to race at a higher level that last year, aiming for a top five finish. Skippered by Gabriel Skocjek (FRA), the crew includes Belgian Pieter Tack, Germany's Joahann Kohlhoff and Italian Jacopo Rizzi.
The set of the 42nd edition of Tour Voile in figures
- 23 crews
- 4 rankings: General (9 crews), Young (7 crews), Mixed (4 crews), Amateur (3 crews)
42nd Tour Voile comprises
Act 1: Dunkirk (5-6-7 July)
Act 2: Fecamp (July 8-9)
Act 3: Jullouville (July 10-11)
Act 4: Les Sables d'Olonne (July 13-14)
Act 5: Port Barcares (16-17 July)
Act 6: Hyeres (July 18-19)
Act 7: Nice (20-21 July)
Torqeedo issues battery safety warning
Germany-based Torqeedo GmbH has issued a safety warning related to a potential fire risk involving rechargeable batteries used to power the company's Travel and Ultralight electric outboard motors.
According to the company, the fire risk relates to the possibility of leaks in the battery housing, allowing water penetration that can lead to internal chemical reactions. "If water penetrates into the housing, it may cause a chemical reaction inside the battery case under unfavourable conditions, resulting in fire and/or bursting of the battery housing," notes the advisory. "As a responsible manufacturer, Torqeedo wants to exclude the risk of injury and inform its customers."
Affected units can be identified by serial number. Torqeedo will perform and repair if required for Travel-series product beginning with serial numbers 1001 through 1752, and Ultralight-series product beginning with serial numbers 1117 through 1826. The company is requesting consumers who own models with these serial numbers to register via the company's website at www.torqeedo.com/safety. Following registration, the company will then arrange for a safety check through a local service centre.
"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and thank them in advance for their understanding of the implementation of this safety measure," said Torqeedo managing director, Christoph Ballin. "This approach is very important to us because we are committed to providing our customers with products of the highest quality and safety."
Mini-Transat La Boulangere: 22 September
To date, 69 women and men have officially registered for the 22nd edition of the Mini-Transat La Boulangere (52 on production boats and 17 on prototypes). Nineteen international skippers, from eleven countries, have signed up. This representation might well increase too, since four non-French sailors are on the waiting list and four other skippers have pre-registered. The international dynamic is synonymous with the history of the Mini-Transat, a race in which some 35 countries and 5 continents have been represented since the 1st edition in 1977.
Singlehanded offshore racing is a French speciality and the Mini-Transat La Boulangere is no exception to the phenomenon. That said, the event has always attracted skippers from elsewhere, with some solid results at times too. For example, in 2017, two international sailors finished on the podium in the prototype category, behind the untouchable Ian Lipinski: Jorg Riechers (GER 2nd) and Simon Koster (SUI 3rd).
19 sailors, 11 nationalities, 16 rookies, 3 'repeat offenders' and eight other applicants
As we go to press, there are 19 non-French entries in the Mini-Transat 2019 : four Italians, three Belgians, two Swiss, two Spanish, two Russians, one German, one Greek, one Czech, one Estonian, one Japanese and one representative of the United Arab Emirates.
Thirteen have signed up in the production boat category and six in the prototype category. Among these sailors, just three have already participated in the event: the Italian Ambrogio Beccaria, Estonian Jaanus Tamme and the Czech Pavel Roubal. The 16 others will be discovering the exercise for the very first time.
This international contingent might well be fleshed out further as two Spaniards, one Briton and one Italian are on the waiting list. Finally, two other Italians, one Pole and one Australian are pre-registered and have high hopes of taking the start on 22 September in La Rochelle. In this way, up to 14 nationalities could well be represented for this 22nd edition.
Superyacht Young Designer Winner Announced
James Shakespeare. Click on image to enlarge.
A transport design student from Staffordshire University has won the annual Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition 2019, sponsored by Marine Resources at The Superyacht Design Forum.
James Shakespeare beat nine other contenders in the competition which had a James Bond theme this year. His design was praised for its visual style and eco-friendly features.
On winning the competition, the only one of its kind in the UK, James said, "The environmental element of the brief was a good challenge and I learnt a lot from the talks at The Superyacht Design Forum."
"For my design, I created a unique hydrogen system that allows the boat to take hydrogen from the water it's travelling through and make energy from that," he added.
James will spend two weeks at the custom superyacht builder and refit specialist, Pendennis Shipyard, followed by an additional two weeks at yacht and superyacht design house, Olesinski Ltd.
Jeff Houlgrave, chairman of Superyacht UK, said it had been an excellent couple of days mentoring Britain's next generation of design talent. "This year it was particularly difficult to decide between the top four contestants, but we are thrilled to crown James 2019's Superyacht UK Young Designer.
"James was chosen as the winner because he provided the best all round package. He created a feasible and sound concept with quality design," he said.
Featured Brokerage
1944 Ciclon Sparkman & Stephens 52 Ft Sloop. 195,000 GBP. Located in Cyprus.
Launched in Cuba in 1944, Ciclon was rarely off the podium. Of course beautiful and fast, is it time now to reintroduce her to her sisters?
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Barney Sandeman
info [AT] sandemanyachtcompany [DOT] co [DOT] uk
+44 (0)1202 330077
33 High Street
Poole, Dorset
BH15 1AB
United Kingdom
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1996 Vismara Buzzi V60 Open. 150,000 EUR, Located in Sicily, Italy.
Quite possibly the most innovative and ground-breaking yacht ever to be launched. Employing much of the design and technology now regarded as cutting edge, but 20yrs ahead of her time. A totally unique opportunity.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
GRABAU INTERNATIONAL
Lead broker - Alex Grabau
Tel: +44 (0)1590 673715
Email: alex [AT] grabauinternational [DOT] com
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Fast Foot Sally - Gambler 40. 350,000 SKR.
Fantastic yacht with excellent racing results. Perfect also fo cruising with 8 full length berths. Interior handcrafted mahogany. Top condition. Professionally maintained. Extremely well equipped.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact owner:
carl [DOT] marnell [AT] gmail [DOT] com
Contact
MAIL [AT] MAIL [DOT] COM
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
France and America clash so often not because they are so irreconcilably different, but because they are so alike. -- The Economist
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