In This Issue
• Cowes Week Daily Round Up Day 6
• Offshore race progress at SSAB ORC European Championship 2019
• Antigua Sailing Week 2020
• Second day of the Youth Match Racing World Championship - new leaders
• Kinvara Rises Above the Weather for Fortieth Cruinniu na mBad
• Lessons for America's Cup AC75's from a gale-swept SailGP Cowes
• Winners named at another successful Airlie Beach Race Week
• Whats not to like - Caribbean Sailing Association
• Ready Steady Tokyo
• Industry News
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Brokerage:
• • X-Treme 32/ RP32
• • Class 40 - Concise 8
• • Pocock One Tonner
• The Last Word: Carl Sagan
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
Cowes Week Daily Round Up Day 6
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Today provided yet more high-adrenaline racing at Cowes Week that saw many competitors coming ashore sporting big grins. While it was a warm and mostly sunny day on land, it was a breezy one on the Solent, with powerful gusts to 25 knots that provided exhilaration at the same time as forcing a string of retirements.
Among these was the classic Nicholson 39 Conteza, competing in Cruiser Division C, that broke its rig close to the Thorn Channel. Andrew Haining's Rustler 33 Flute, also broke her mast and was seen motoring into Cowes with the three sections of the spar impressively neatly lashed on deck. Will Heritage's Flying 15 Freddie Flintoff, which had been leading the class with an unbroken run of race wins, also suffered the same fate.
Less thermal enhancement than predicted meant the wind was not dragged as far round to the west southwest as initially predicted. On shore spectators were treated to the classic Cowes Week spectacle of yachts running deep downwind to the finish in a difficult wind against tide chop.
The Quarter Ton class is renowned for thrills and spills in stronger winds. Today Sir Keith Mills' Cote led around much of the course, challenged initially by Oscar Strugstad's Dawn Raid, before the latter broke the spinnaker pole in a broach.
By the final beat Cote, Sam Laidlaw's BLT and Julian Metherell's Bullit were all in close contention, with BLT rounding the last mark just ahead of Bullit. The final leg was a long tight broad reach under spinnaker, from Elephant racing mark off the Island shore in the western Solent to the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line. Bullit rolled past BLT off Gurnard and went on to take the winner's cannon 17 seconds ahead of Laidlaw's marginally lower rated boat.
The new GRP Classics class may have a small number of entries this year, but it has attracted some very experienced crews, all of whom started the regatta hoping they had boats with bandit handicaps. The result has been a week of competitive racing with tight results in which podium places were decided by only a couple of minutes and the top three boats were tied on points at the start of today's racing.
Stephen Brookson's Swan 411 Kiswala again took line honours. However, she was not able to save her time on the pair of She 31s, also designed by Sparkman and Stephens. Tom and Matthew Richardson's Arctic Skua notched up her first victory of the week on corrected time, ahead of Leon Clifton and Stuart Greenfield's Sheba. -- Rupert Holmes
Offshore race progress at SSAB ORC European Championship 2019
Soto 40 Scamp 27 off to a fast start from the first mark. Photo by Felix Diemer. Click on image for photo gallery.
Oxelosund, Sweden: On Day Two of the SSAB ORC European Championship 2019 the fleet of 70 boats are enjoying a sunny Swedish summer day racing offshore in the open Baltic Sea on courses traversing back and forth along the rocky coast. Class A is racing 79.0 miles, Class B 68.2 miles and Class C 60.6 miles, and after a start at 10:00 this morning they are expected to start crossing the finish line in the harbor of Oxelosund starting at sundown.
While racing under handicap using Coastal/Long distance course ratings, and therefore exact standings are difficult to calculate, some early favorites are emerging as leaders in corrected time based on the AIS tracker data seen at www.sailracetoday.com/orc2019.
At 1700 local time Erik Berth's Swan 45 Tarok VII from Denmark has the lead over Bernhard Buchwald's XP 44 Xenia from Germany and Karalow Witold's Soto 40 Scamp 27 from Poland. Leading in elapsed time is One Sailing Finland's TP 52 Zer0emission.
Class B is much more contentious, with clusters of boats pushing each other around the course. The lead pack has three Swedish Farr 40's vying for the lead: C-J Marnell's Farr 40 Warpath, Jonas Andersson's Stormtrooper and Johan Ekroth's Hurrykanen, and at 1700 Warpath had the lead in both elapsed and corrected time. Next in line in corrected time looked like two Finnish teams: Power Reach's Sinergia 40 Adela, followed by Sakari Laulajainen's Salona 37 Ramdata.
And in Class C the racing in corrected time and in the main group is very tight, with Mathias Haufe's Esse 990 Finesse in the lead, followed by the elapsed time leader Holger Streckenbach's modified Melges 32 Old Jug, who currently is launched out well ahead of the pack and will likely beat everyone into the harbor finish. And in third in corrected time is another fast boat, Max Augustin's Farr 30 H.E.A.T.
Final results when they become available will be found at the event's scoring page
Inshore windward/leeward racing resumes tomorrow, with the first start of two planned races scheduled for 11:00 CET.
Three opportunities to win the trip of a lifetime to race at Antigua Sailing Week 2020
Throughout the summer, Antigua Sailing Week in conjunction with the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Dream Yacht Charter, English Harbour Rum and the National Parks Authority are offering three winning crews up to 7, flights, yacht charter with dockage at UNESCO Heritage site Nelson's Dockyard Marina and regatta entry fees during the 2020 event which takes place April 25 - May 1.
Participate in one of the below events to be eligible for this generous prize.
- The Royal Southern Yacht Club Summer Series, UK
- The Antigua and Barbuda Hamptons Challenge, USA
- The Antigua and Barbuda Interboot Trophy Challenge, GER
At the Royal Southern Yacht Club Summer Series invitational the prize will be awarded to overall winner of the series of 4 weekend regattas.
Even if you have missed the first two opportunities, there's time to register for the Land Union September Regatta on September 14 -15.
Visit the RYSC site for their notice of race and leaderboard to date.
The Antigua and Barbuda Hamptons Challenge (ABHC) is known for awarding the largest amateur sailing prize on the US East coast. Registrations are open for the second invitational on the Road to 2020, which takes place on Saturday, August 10 in Noyack Bay, New York, USA For more on how to register for the ABHC or for tickets to attend the fantastic after-party being held in Sag Harbour visit antiguabarbudahamptonschallenge.com
The Antigua and Barbuda Interboot Trophy Challenge
On the Saturday September 21, the 3rd invitational will be hosted by the Württembergischen Yacht Club, Friedrichshafen Germany. Winning crew of the days races on Lake Constance will be able to head to Antigua to participate in the 53rd edition of ASW. Following the races there will be a spectacular mini edition of Reggae in the Park - ASW's signature concert to celebrate the culmination of the Road to 2020.
To find out more about this final opportunity, visit www.wyc-fn.de/regatten/
Second day of the Youth Match Racing World Championship - new leaders
After two days the Australian team stays in the lead but new leaders appeared: Denmark and New Zealand teams are taking second and third places and the Polish team takes fourth. The 1st Round Robin is completed.
Summary of the 1st Round Robin finished today:
1. Tom Grimes, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Team (AUS) - 10 of 11
2. Jeppe Borch, Borch Racing Team (DEN) - 8 of 11
3. Nick Egnot-Johnson, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron / Team KNOTS (NZL) - 8 of 11
4. Igor Tarasiuk, HRM Racing Youth Team (POL) - 8 of 11
5. Jack Parkin, Riverside Yacht Club, Stanford Sailing Team (USA) - 7 of 11
6. Matt Whitfield, Penarth YC / Dragon Racing Team (GBR) - 7 of 11
7. Rocco Attili, RBYS Racing Team (ITA) - 5 of 11
8. Aurelien Pierroz, Societe des Regates du Havre Team (FRA) - 5 of 11
9. Mans Holmberg, Holmberg Racing Team (SWE) - 4 of 11
10. Mark Abdrakipov, MyWind Team (RUS) - 3 of 11
11. Jakub Halouzka, Team CZE Zdenek Dybal (CZE) - 1 of 11
12. Kodai Mutsuda, Kobe University Team (JPN) - 0 of 11
The 2nd Round Robin started right after the 1st one and Race committee managed to complete 2 flights. The crews of Australia, New Zealand and USA strengthened their positions, adding two more wins to their score. Races of the second round-robin will be continued on August 15th and 16th.
The Youth Match Racing World Championship is held in Gubernskiy Yacht Club KOMATEK, Ekaterinburg from 12th to 17th of August 2019.
Participants are from New Zealand, Great Britain, Sweden, Australia, France, Italy, Denmark, USA, Poland, Japan, Czech Republic and Russia
Kinvara Rises Above the Weather for Fortieth Cruinniu na mBad
Traditional boats of Connemara shaping up for racing at Kinvara. Photo by Pierce Purcell. Click on image to enlarge.
When the late Tony Moylan cajoled the notion of Cruinnui na mBad at Kinvara into being in 1979, times were different writes W M Nixon. The idea was to celebrate the Gathering of the Boats in the old days, when the traditional boats of Connemara on the great inlet's northwest shore sailed up Galway Bay as Autumn approached well laden with turf, one of the few commodities in which their area was naturally richer than the prosperous region around the southeast corner of the handsome bay.
This year, they celebrated the memory of Tony Moylan in the best possible way, by making Cruinniu na mBad bigger and better and more varied than ever for its Fortieth Anniversary. And though the weather was less than co-operative with a seemingly endless deluge on Saturday, for the big day - Sunday - conditions gradually relented, and Kinvara came colourfully to life in evening sunshine after the ancient craft with their black or tanned sails had experienced good racing.
With the many and varied rituals completed or at least set in train, Sunday brought the racing, as hard fought as ever. As anyone who has ever tried to report on Galway hooker racing - whether at Kinvara or one of the traditional events in Connemara itself - there will be as many different versions of what happened during the race as there are people involved, for at times it cannot even be agreed within crews as to what happened or didn't. Yet when they're eventually published, there's a finality about results which sets the story to rest, and we can do no more than publish them as they were - in due course - supplied to us.
Cruinniu na mBad 2019 Results:
Bad Mhora: 1st Tonai, skippered by Ronan O'Brien; 2nd Cailin, sk. Pat Folan; 3rd An Mhaghdean Mhara, sk. Jimmy Mac Donncha
Leath-Bhaid: 1st Norah, sk. Sean Mac Donncha; 2nd Colmcille, sk. Mairtin Thornton; 3rd Antain, sk. Joe Reaney
Gleiteog Mor: 1st Catherine, sk. Paraic Barrett; 2nd Ciarain, sk. John Flaherty; 3rd An Bhantra, sk. Daragh O Tuairisc
Gleiteog Beag: 1st Erin's Hope, sk. Pat Folan; 2nd Sianach, sk. Ciaran Mac Donncha, 3rd Nora Bheag, sk. Coilin Og Hernon.
The sport over, the sun appeared - and Kinvara partied.
WM Nixon's full article in Afloat
Lessons for America's Cup AC75's from a gale-swept SailGP Cowes
For those who missed it, England turned on a fresh Solent gale, and Day 1 was cancelled 24 hours out from its scheduled start.
Day 2, the final day of racing was completed in fresh winds, which were still sufficient to cause some damage and capsizes.
Running a two-day regatta is very weather dependent. Cowes could well have been a blow-out both days.
It would seem that the only real way to overcome the issue is for the regatta to be spread over two weekends as was the 2017 America's Cup Match.
The five-day gap also allows time for repairs and recovery - so in a situation where the home team is damaged on the first day - they will be back for the following weekend. Sudden death is all very well but doesn't work in a competition of this type. Teams should be eliminated by a competitive outcome and not a crash.
The seaworthiness of the race boats in SailGP has implications for the 36th America's Cup and the radical AC75 foiling monohulls.
Obviously, there are some very talented people involved in the 36th America's Cup, who will be able to come up with design changes that can be applied between now and the Match if there are issues with capsizing or nosediving.
Richard Gladwell's full article, as usual a must-read, in Sail-World.com
Winners named at another successful Airlie Beach Race Week
The 31st running of Airlie Beach Race Week has come to a close late this afternoon and all winners and placegetters will be feted at the official prize giving at Whitsunday Sailing Club this evening.
Marcus Blackmore (Hooligan, NSW) was too good in IRC Passage, taking the final race and regatta from regatta-long TP52 rival, Zen (Gordon Ketelbey, NSW). Ray Roberts sailed his Botin 40 to third place overall, sailing consistently throughout.
Gerrit Veenemans saved the best until last, steering his Fareast design 'Fareast 28R' to second place in the final race to claim the Performance Racing division. The Queenslander won the division on countback to Tim Cummings' Kraken, a Melges 24 from Lake Macquarie, which won the race.
Luke Ratcliff, his brother Paul, Paul's son William and Geoff Williams were able to maintain their winning streak today. Winning all three of yesterday's windward/leeward races with RE-Heat (NSW) gave the four the momentum to keep on keeping on - all the way to the top of the overall leaderboard.
Paul Mitchell skippered Ullman Sails to one final win at the Whitsunday Sailing Club's (WSC) 2019 Airlie Beach Race Week (ABRW) to claim the Australian Multihull Championship title; finishing 11 points clear of nearest rival, Julian Griffiths The Boat Works.
Ullman Sails, representing WSC, won an extraordinary five out of seven races, finished second in another and used its Race 2 fourth place as the drop.
It is the very first time four Extremes have raced together in Australia, and it happened here at Airlie Beach, much to the thrill of onlookers and fellow racers. -- Di Pearson
Full results: www.abrw.com.au
Whats not to like - Caribbean Sailing Association
J/24 to 240-footers the Caribbean winter circuit has come a long way in recent years... In 2020 something for everyone will be a great deal more just than a slogan
Wall to wall sunshine, sparkling clear waters and steady trade winds, the conditions alone have long been among the major attractions to racing in the Caribbean. Add to this the region's legendary reputation for outstanding parties, lay days, music and general fun ashore and it's easy to see why the Caribbean regatta circuit has been a key part of so many people's sailing season, for so many years.
But like many regattas around the world, even the most enticing events in this sailing paradise have previously struggled to maintain their momentum. The reasons for the change have been widespread and complex, but at the heart of the issue is the way that competitors themselves have changed how they work and play. Increasing day to day demands of work puts sailors under more pressure to play closer to home. Put simply, habits and holidays have changed.
Full article in the September issue of Seahorse
Ready Steady Tokyo
Taking place between 15-22 August 2019 at Enoshima Yacht Harbour, the official Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing venue, is Ready Steady Tokyo, the official test event for the Games in one year's time. And if the last two Olympic Games are anything to go by, this week will be a good indicator of how the medal challengers will fare in one year's time.
At Rio 2016, 13 sets of medallists at the test event went on to claim glory at the Games, with 18 replicating podium positions in 2011 and 2012 at the London Olympiad.
Out of those 21 individual sailors involved in 2015 and 2016, 17 of them will line up at Ready Steady Tokyo eyeing similar results, including six who achieved the impressive feat of winning gold at both.
Overall, 30 individual medallists from Rio 2016, as well as an additional 11 from London 2012, are amongst the 363 sailors competing at Ready Steady Tokyo. With only a small percentage already confirmed for next year's Games, the stakes are high on the road to Tokyo 2020, and this week's test event will play a big part in the decisions made before next year.
But it's not just the sailors using this week to test proceedings ahead of 2020. Ready Steady Tokyo will be a perfect opportunity for World Sailing and Tokyo 2020 to finalise their planning for the Olympic Games next year. It also provides a great opportunity for the race management team to test the field of play that will be used at the Games - and all of the Chief Officials appointed to Tokyo 2020 are here too.
The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will also use this week as preparation for their national officials and volunteers who will be assisting at the Games, with media operations and overall technology - such as tracking, scoring and communication flows - also put to the test.
Industry News
In a bid to generate greater interest in the broad spectrum of marine industry jobs, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) government is launching a two-phase marine industry training program, with hopes that a stronger marine industry will have a broader economic reach nationwide.
Back to the Sea Marine Training begins in September with an influx of money to "re-engage" various community colleges and other training providers, according to BVI Finance Minister, Premier Andrew Fahie.
"The Government will be assisting H.L Stoutt Community College with the necessary resources and needs to fulfill its mandate as the regional centre for excellence for marine studies," Fahie is quoted in the BVINews.com, adding "the government will be partnering with the stakeholders of the industry who will provide the opportunities for additional training, employment and business networking environments."
The second phase will launch after the New Year to include scholarships and support for students who go on to advanced training.
The Finance Minister cited the need for trained marine workers in the US, to fill good-paying jobs beyond "deckhands and captains."
Fahie emphasized that a trained marine infrastructure would have economic impact beyond the marine segment.
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Gurit (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) today reports net sales of CHF 284.7 million for the first six months of 2019. This represents a growth of 45.8% including acquisition effects against the prior-year period. The organic growth is 14.6% (currency-adjusted 16.5%) versus 1HY 2018. Operating profit amounted to CHF 27.5 million and the operating profit margin came in at 9.7% of net sales for the first half-year 2019. As for the continued operations the Operating Profit Margin improved from 10.8% in 1HY 2018 to 12.5% in 1HY 2019.
Composite Materials achieved net sales of CHF 122.2 million in the first half-year 2019 (1HY 2018: CHF 106.0 million). This represents an increase of 15.3% in reported Swiss francs and 17.1% on a currency-adjusted basis. Balsa wood operations are being overwhelmed by demand increases while raw material availability was restricted and raw material prices are significantly higher in 1HY 2019.
The discontinued Composite Components reported Net Sales of CHF 9.9 million for the first half-year 2019. This represents an increase of 56.2% (currency-adjusted: 61.1%) over net sales of CHF 6.3 million generated in the first half-year 2018. Sales to new programs and existing long-term volume programs increased during the first half-year. The UK site has been closed down and the related parts production has now been completely integrated into the Hungarian site. Gurit has made an additional impairment provision in respect to the ongoing divestment process.
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With the Brazilian economy heating up, local boatbuilders are targeting innovation in an attempt to deliver world-leading yachts that are different from the rest. This is the case with MCP Yachts, whose latest project is the 20m Global Exp 66 sailboat.
MCP says it is betting on the growth of the Brazilian market and believes the segment has matured to the point that it now seeks the concept of a "maintainable" yacht.
The full aluminium Global Exp 66 sailboat was developed by Team MCP and supported by engineers Damien Chaves and Manoel Chaves, two generations of sailors. They said the Brazilian market is proving to be very interested in the new model, with contracts already signed for delivery in Brazil.
The Global Exp 66 was designed for both national and international markets.
"We see a great future for the sailboat market in Brazil," says the company. "Sailboats will always be the most efficient hybrid-powered vessels on the planet, and today they are experiencing a new technological revolution with the development of lighter, faster and more resilient boats."
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Doyle Sails has welcomed America's Cup winning alumni David Armitage as the newest member of the Doyle Sails Design team, bringing added one design and performance racing expertise to the already strong team.
David's impressive career has seen him sail at all levels of the sport including Optimist, P-Class, Lasers and ultimately keel boats and match racing. David has competed at the international level in the Laser Masters class, as well as winning the America's Cup in 1995 with Team New Zealand. In 1999-2000 David served as the sail coordinator and mainsheet trimmer for the America's Cup team "America True" for the Louis Vuitton Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.
After moving to the USA in 1996, David joined Halsey-Lidgard Sailmakers in Connecticut where he designed sails for a range of projects from dinghies to America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race boats. In 2001 he then joined up with Quantum Sails Design Group where he worked as a sail designer and trimmer for several successful one design campaigns such as Farr 30's, Melges 32's, Farr 40's and TP52's.
Letters To The Editor - editor [AT] eurosailnews [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 Don Wood
I received this picture of Ganbare (click to enlarge) which I understand is from the One Ton Worlds in '73.
I wonder how many of your readers can identify ( name and position in pic ) the crew who went on to be such icons in the sport.
Sadly in the last couple of years 8 bells has been rung for several of them.
I'll offer up a magnum of champagne for the first complete correct answer (to be collected here in Cannes from Ganbare).
Answers to editor [AT] eurosailnews [DOT] com
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The Last Word
We are a way for the universe to know itself. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff. -- Carl Sagan
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