In This Issue
• Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
• Tough Conditions on Day 1 of the Vintage Gold Cup
• Future Fibres is Hiring
• KiteFoil World Series set to crown champions in dramatic finale in Sardinia
• Brest Atlantiques - One month to the start
• Mirabaud Sailing Video Award: Join the party!
• International Six Metre Class Launches Online Archive
• Pirate Ghosts and Phantom Ships of New England
• Very Tidy - Hall Spars
• 2020 ORC European Championship
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Reichel Pugh 60
• • Spirit Yachts 60DH
• • Swan 53-521 'Puffy'
• 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
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
The now legendary origin of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez is the Nioulargue, an event devised by a handful of seafaring gentlemen gathered around Patrice de Colmont, following what was a rather innocuous bet at the time between two yachts, the 12mR Ikra and the American Swan Pride. 20 years on from the revival of the event under her new name of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the course for this epic sprint to the Nioulargue mark was opened today within the context of the Club 55 Cup, by the very same Ikra, helmed by top French racer Nicolas Berenger, and another Swan, this one 53-feet, by the name of Solte. Victory went to the 12mR, at ease in the shifty breeze that coloured play on this beautiful summer’s day in the bay.
Keeping up the Nioulargue tradition, no fewer than sixty or so crews stepped up to the challenge on this historic course today. Among them were clashes between two generations of 12mR, French Kiss (Philippe Briand 1985) against France (Andre Mauric 1970). An adversary in the Epoque Marconi group, Emilia (Costaguta 1930) laid down the gauntlet to La Spina (Baglietto 1928) in an elegant and stylish face-off between Bermudan sloops in excess of 20 metres. More futuristic was the challenge between Ryokan 2, the Wally 80 and Lyra, a Wally 77, with almost identical potentials. Of the multi-yacht challenges with very different profiles was a clash between the Verdier design The Kid (JP 54) against Black Pepper, Black Legend, Tewa and Black Soul. Fjord III, the Frers Bermudan cutter challenged Jour de Fête, which boasted one Michel Desjoyeaux as crew (Paine-Burgess 1930). Equally appealing was Lorina against Wallyno by way of a dress rehearsal for the final for these two Maxis, an account due to be settled later this week within the context of Les Voiles!
Winning the Trophy twice before, in 2003 and 2004, the 12mR Ikra scored a hat-trick today in this 2019 edition. In the tumultuous sprint between Portalet, Nioulargue and Pampelonne, in a light breeze with a bracing chop, she gained the upper hand against her challenger, the Swan 53 Solte. Following this clash of the titans, the crews succumbed to tradition and cheerfully dined at Patrice de Colmont’s, at the Club 55, their heads beneath the tamarisks and their feet in the sand, delighting in the Provencal and Mediterranean fare.
At the instigation of the Yacht Club de Gstaad, some 25 centenarian yachts of all sizes and rig-types competed for this 9th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy. After 2 hours of sheer heaven out on the racetrack, Olympian, the William Gardner design P Class launched in 1913, bagged the Trophy, just a hair’s breadth ahead of Viola, which has hitherto been untouchable on the Mediterranean circuit this year, and Chips, the other P Class penned by Burgess.
Out on the race zone during today’s Challenge Day, the Italian 12mR La Spina is a Baglietto design dating back to 1928. She was the first Twelve in the Med and the only Italian one right up to 1983.
Programme
Modern Yachts
Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October: Inshore races, 1st start 11:00 hours
Classic Yachts
Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October: Inshore race, 1st start 12:00 hours
www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr
Tough Conditions On Day 1 Of The Vintage Gold Cup
The third annual Vintage Gold Cup kicked off today with very challenging conditions and a great first race of the regatta. The wind was about 6 knots at the start and it picked up to 15 with gusts up to 18 by the end of the only race, giving a hard time to the ‘old ladies’, and a lot of work to do for the shore team tonight. With the forecast calling for the breeze to build up with the progression of the day, the Committee decided to hoist the AP flag over A and send everyone ashore.
The Vintage Gold Cup features restored wooden Stars exclusively and even though the level of the competition is very high with teams hailing from seven different nations and seven Star World Champions in the fleet, the Committee has to play it safe on the 26-boat fleet, particularly on the first day of the series.
The first bullet goes to Lars Grael (BRA) with Arnis Baltins (USA), who overcame, by just few inches and right on the finish line, the reigning Vintage Gold Cup champions Paul and Danny Cayard (USA), who were in the lead from the leeward gate until the finish. It was so close that both Cayard and Grael thought the Americans had won it. Tomas Hornos and Jon Klerk (USA) finished third in a beautiful race that saw them rounding first at the first windward mark, they are the only non-Star World Champion among the first seven teams.
Sailing will resume Friday at 11am with three races scheduled for the colorful fleet of the 3rd Vintage Gold Cup.
Top 10 After Race 1
1. Lars Grael vArnis Baltins, BRA
2. Paul Cayard / Danny Cayard, USA
3. Tomas Hornos / Jon Klerk, USA
4. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin, NOR
5. Mark Reynolds / Hal Haenel, USA
6. John MacCausland / Rick Burgess, USA
7. Larry Whipple / Austin Sperry, USA
8. Joe Londrigan / John Wysokey, USA
9. Gregory Smith / Kelly Belco, USA
10. Mike Hecky / Michael Brundage, USA
Future Fibres is Hiring
Future Fibres, the world’s leading supplier of composite rigging, is hiring for a Sales Coordinator to reinforce their expanding Sales team.
The full time role will be based primarily in Valencia.
For more information and how to apply please see the job posting here
KiteFoil World Series set to crown champions in dramatic finale in Sardinia
The world’s fastest kitefoil racers are poised to battle for KiteFoil World Series championship titles on the spectacular Italian resort island of Sardinia in the final fourth act of the globe-trotting tour.
It is the third successive year that the Sardinian capital of Cagliari has hosted the series where intense battles in the cutting-edge kiteboarding discipline will again be fought out on the Gulf of Angels off the pristine Poetto Beach.
But the 2019 edition’s climactic finale over the five-day Sardinia Kiteboard Grand Slam, sponsored by Regione Sardegna tourism and the City of Cagliari, is set to be one of the hardest-fought after kiteboarding won inclusion in the line-up for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Slovenian teenager Toni Vodisek sits in pole position to lift the crown after dominating the the tour’s first three stops in the “open” discipline, with its minimal restrictions designed to foster continued development.
The 19-year-old exploded to the top of the rankings this season, proving untouchable in a broad range of conditions, firstly in Gizzeria, Italy, and then at back-to-back stops in China last month.
Britain’s Connor Bainbridge, Germany’s Florian Gruber and another Frenchman Theo de Ramecourt, will also be doing their utmost to ensure that whoever triumphs in Cagliari and lifts the 2019 IKA KiteFoil crown will have earned it.
The KiteFoil world title carries the added incentive that the winners will pick up a share of the total of €27,000 set aside from each tour stop purse, to be divided equally between the men and women.
Among the 24 women battling in the mixed fleet, the US’s reigning four-times Formula Kite world champion, Daniela Moroz, 18, proved as dominant as Vodisek, with a hat-trick of tour stop victories.
But she will also be up against reigning KiteFoil World Series title holder, Kirstyn O’Brien, (USA) and former Formula Kite world champion, Russia’s Elena Kalinina. -- Ian MacKinnon
Brest Atlantiques - One month to the start
Click on image to enlarge.
The Brest Atlantiques race, a 14,000 mile loop which will involve the four trimarans of the Ultim Class 32/33, will start on Sunday 3rd November at 13:02 in Brest. Here is all you need to know in the one month lead up to the great event of the season.
The start of the inaugural edition of Brest Atlantiques will take place on Sunday 3rd November at 13:02 on the 2 mile strait of Goulet de Brest, between the Saint-Mathieu point and the Toulinguet lighthouse (which will also act as the finish line). The 14,000 mile route which, to this day is the longest course ever organised by Ultim on the triangle Brest - Rio - Cape Town - Brest, is almost totally clear as there are only two geographical markers that the boats must leave to port, the chain of Cagarras Islands, in front of the famous Ipanema beach in the Bay of Rio and Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.
An unprecedented course, lined with several weather traps, especially along The Cape, a route almost never taken in offshore racing. “The first part is like a Jules Verne trophy or the record of a solo circumnavigation of the world, especially with the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which requires skillful movements, then the South Atlantic High which, if offset from its usual position offers various possibilities, especially for very fast boats. There is also the novelty of the crossing point between the Cagarras Islands which can slow the boats down and tighten up gaps in the race. The second part is unknown, with the route up the South Atlantic from The Cape which, if there are gaps, can give way to unusual strategic moves along the African coast from boats positioned behind. You also need to take the time into account, 30 days is a long time, a first for the trimarans of the Ultim Class 32/33” comments Jacques Caraes, the Race Director.
Four 32-meter-long trimarans each skippered by four fantastic pairs and accompanied by a media man (who is not allowed to take an active role in the performance of the boat) will participate in Brest Atlantiques. Actual leader: Yves Le Blevec/Alex Pella), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Franck Cammas/Charles Caudrelier), Trimaran Macif (Francois Gabart/Gwenole Gahinet) and Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville/Jean-Luc Nelias). The bar has been set very high as these eight sailors together hold a total of eleven wins in the Transat Jacques Vabre, five on the The Ocean Race (ex Volvo Ocean Race), four on the Route du Rhum, two on the Solitaire du Figaro and the Mini-Transat, one on the Vendee Globe, the Transat AG2R and the English Transat, while five of them hold or have held the Jules Verne Trophy, two hold the solo circumnavigation of the world records.
Mirabaud Sailing Video Award: Join the party!
You are a TV producer, a cameraman or an editor ?
You are a brand, an event, sponsor, team or venue involved in sailing ?
Make sure to submit a video for the Mirabaud Sailing Video Award.
MSVA is the world's only contest dedicated to the sport of sailing. It is a fun event aimed at celebrating the world's best TV, film and video producers and providing visibility to the brands who support sailing.
The Mirabaud Sailing Video Award is open to professional TV producers as well as sailors who film their achievements during regattas.
The videos are expected to represent the essence and excitement of the sport. They can feature any type of yachts, multihulls, dinghies, windsurf or kite boards, and can be filmed during training, before and after regattas, or in any way linked with sailing as a sport.
For more information and to submit your video: www.sailingvideoaward.com
The two winners last year:
Made By TV Pros
A Journey To Remember
Rob Dickinson / Orillo Films
Made By Sailors
The Greatest Race In The World
Stan Thuret
International Six Metre Class Launches Online Archive
London, England - .The International Six Metre Class Association (ISMA) is delighted to announce the launch of an online class archive at 6metrearchive.org.
The Six Metre Class has a long and illustrious history dating back to the introduction of the International Rule in 1907. That history encompasses inclusion in nine Olympic Games from 1908 to 1952, the heyday of the class in the 1920s and 30s when it was perhaps the largest and strongest class in the world and acting as a trial platform for 12 Metre America’s Cup developments from the late 1950s until the late 1980s. Even the very latest Six Metres continue to push the technical development envelope, and a review of Six Metre designs gives a fascinating insight into some of yacht racing’s most radical and important developments.
Recognising that they are the custodians of, and therefore responsible for, a great deal of valuable yachting history, the ISMA members agreed to develop a project to help celebrate and improve access to their heritage. Being an international class, the archive material documenting this rich history is spread all over the world and can be difficult to find. Some is also potentially vulnerable to becoming lost, damaged or forgotten.
In response to these concerns, work was begun at the beginning of 2018 to create the International Six Metre Online Archive. The class has now developed a brand-new website to gather together and digitally preserve these materials.
6metrearchive.org aims to a) locate and digitise the existing archives, b) bring the material together as one resource, c) make it accessible online to all and d) continue to update the archive long term to ensure it remains a current and viable resource.
We would encourage anyone familiar with the Six Metre fleet to visit 6metrearchive.org, and anyone with Six Metre documents, photographs, results, publications or stories is asked to submit them. Enquiries, corrections and constructive criticisms are also very much welcomed. All enquiries should be directed to ISMA Archivist Jenny Wittamore on archivist [AT] 6metrearchive [DOT] org
Pirate Ghosts and Phantom Ships of New England
Presented by Thomas D'Agostino and Arlene Nicholson at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.
New England is rich with stories and legends of ghost ships and pirates long dead. Blackbeard, Sandy Gordon, Captain Kidd and many more once called the region home... and still do!
Phantom ships continue to roam the waters of the New England coast. Some mysteriously abandoned while others vanished never to be seen again, in the physical form anyway. Learn why Marblehead dreads the Screeching Lady or who haunts the Isles of Shoals. Why does a phantom dory stalk the waters off New Hampshire, and what happened to the Sea Bird's crew? Visit a real life haunted ship and more.
About the Authors: Thomas D’Agostino and Arlene Nicholson have been extensively studying and investigating paranormal accounts for over 36 years with well over 1200 investigations to their credit. Creators of 13 books and counting, together they have penned and captured on film the best haunts and history New England has to offer.
Discover more of their work at tomdagostino.com or diningwiththedead1031.com
Buy Tickets
Reception begins at 6:00pm. Lecture begins at 7:00pm
Tickets are $15 for Members and $20 for Non-Members
Save $5 and support the Museum. Become a member today.
Very Tidy - Hall Spars
When looking around a modern performance yacht for some nice aesthetic details the furling boom is not usually the natural place to start... not any more however
Furling booms are not new to cruising, but modern performance cruisers can challenge even the cleverest spar designer. They demand not just ease of use, reliability and reasonable cost, but also low windage and weight, the ability to shape the furled sail effectively to suit the conditions and compatibility with existing spar systems. It’s a lot to ask but Hall Spars has the solution.
Hall Spars had already met this challenge with its range of high-end furling booms for yachts from 50 to 150ft but saw a hole in the market for the owners of mid-sized yachts who wanted a premium product without the premium price tag, which led to the development of the Legend Series booms.
The Legend Series took many of the components and systems that had been honed over many iterations in the superyacht world and shrunk it to suit the size and price point of yachts from 45 to 65ft.
Full article in the October issue of Seahorse
2020 ORC European Championship
Naples and Capri, Italy: Organizers from the Circolo Remo e Vela Italia (CRVI), Yacht Club Capri (YCC), Yacht Club Italiano (YCI) and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) are pleased to announce the 2020 ORC European Championship will be part of three events that comprise Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2020, with dates set for 15-23 May 2020.
These three events are the 66th edition of the Regata Dei Tre Golfi held over 16-18 May, the Capri Regatta that includes the Maxi Yacht Capri Trophy and Mylius Cup held over 19-23 May, as well as the ORC European Championship, with all regattas sailed on the Gulfs of Napoli, Salerno and Gaeta, in addition to around Capri island.
This unique arrangement of coincident events will attract a wide diversity of racing yachts from throughout Europe and beyond, with boat types ranging from Classics to Racer and Cruiser/Racer offshore keelboats to Maxis, arrayed in an impressive week-long festival of sail. In fact, there is an overlap in events since the 150-mile Tre Golfi race from Napoli to Santa Lucia is the first race of the ORC European Championship regatta, and the overall winner in ORC scoring will receive the Coppa Senatore Andrea Matarazzo perpetual trophy.
Also for the first time ORC will offer the new ORC Double Handed Olympic Certificate to all double-handed / double gender teams participating in the Tre Golfi race. This new format is in recognition of the new offshore medal discipline to start in the 2024 Olympic Games, with this special certificate type created by ORC at the request of World Sailing. ORC will also offer a special prize to the best performing mixed gender crew racing under this new certificate and the overall double-handed winner will receive the Coppa Beppe Knight perpetual trophy.
After the Tre Golfi race, teams enjoy a lay day on Tuesday, 19 May in Capri before inshore course racing starts on Wednesday, 20 May and continues daily until concluding on Friday 21 May. The Prizegiving ceremony for the Tre Golfi race will be on Thursday evening, 20 May, while awards for the ORC Europeans will be after racing on Friday evening 21 May.
Racing in the ORC European Championship will be in three classes, with three distinct sets of awards for Class A, Class B and Class C: the Rolex Trophy awarded to the winner of each class, with other trophies awarded to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers, a Corinthian Trophy for the highest-scoring all-amateur crew in each class, and ORC European Champion titles awarded to the top three European-based teams in each class.
Entry registration will open on 15 November 2019.
Featured Brokerage
2002/2018 Reichel Pugh 60. 630000 EUR Located in
Wild Joe was originally built as Wild Oats IX with full carbon/nomex construction. As times move on so has Wild Joe which is now fitted with a new DSS foil system installed early 2018. That coupled with her new Doyle Sails package and upgrades across the board, the boat is bang up to date once again.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
+442380 016582
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2012 Spirit Yachts 60DH. 1,600,000 EUR. Located in Port Grimaud, France.
Beyond beautiful, 100% hand-crafted, Spirit of Tradition short-handed performance deck house cruiser in sparkling condition with fantastic specification and 100% ready to go.
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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Swan 53-521 'Puffy'. 1,062,000 EUR. Located in New England, US.
Puffy is a fantastic example of the Swan 53. It has been specified with only the very best of everything available and has some very tasteful custom touches.
See listing details in Nautor's Swan Brokerage
Contact
Nautor's Swan Brokerage - Giorgio Passarella
brokerage [AT] nautorswan [DOT] com
Tel. +377 97 97 95 07
nautorswanbrokerage.com
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
It is the useless things that make life worth living and that make life dangerous too: wine, love, art, beauty. Without them life is safe, but not worth bothering with. -- Stephen Fry
Editorial and letter submissions to editor [AT] eurosailnews [DOT] com
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: gb [AT] beesonstone [DOT] com or see www.eurosailnews.com/advertise.html