In This Issue
• Eleventh Annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar Competition
• Transat Jacques Vabre: a high speed start for the IMOCAs
• Standing it up - Future Fibres - Rig Pro
• British Class 40 leader dismasted
• SailGP to return to San Francisco, New York in Season 2
• A Case for Change at the World Sailing 2019 Annual Conference
• World Sailing - Match Racing Subcommittee
• Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
• Winter Training: American Magic and INEOS Team UK
• M32 European Series 2020 to visit Italy, Netherlands and Sweden
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Bagliettto 64 Ft Marconi Cutter - EA
• • Botin 40- Black
• • Libertist 853
• The Last Word: George Best
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
Eleventh Annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar Competition
It's our 11th year! Once again we scour the world for the best sailor's bar. Sponsored by Wight Vodka, with support from Seahorse magazine and Latitude Kinsale, we welcome your input, tall tales, outlandish BS and drink recipes.
Submissions and stories are welcome through December 16 when we'll select the top ten. Voting begins December 12 and ends January 14, with our winner announced on Thursday January 16.
The top ten will be chosen based on: number of submissions, best stories about the bar and its staff, and original drink recipes conjured up at the bar.
The winner gets their name in history, a bottle of Wight Vodka, a plaque for the bar wall, and a beautiful work of map art from Latitude Kinsale. Pictured is at last year's winning bar, Cloggy's of Falmouth Antigua.
Send us your stories and recipes!
Transat Jacques Vabre: a high speed start for the IMOCAs
Since the start at 1215hrs UTC yesterday from Le Havre, the 29 IMOCAs have been sailing at high speed and quickly made their way out of the English Channel, even if three double-handed crews (Ruyant/Koch, Sorel/Le Brec and Joschke/Lagravière) suffered technical problems forcing them to carry out a pit stop. Already well across the Bay of Biscay, the leaders, led by Jeremie Beyou and Christopher Pratt on Charal, are keeping up a fast pace. At 1600hrs UTC this afternoon, the fleet at sea was already spread out over a distance of more than 140 miles.
Three boats have been forced to carry out pit stops. Thomas Ruyant and Antoine Koch stopped in Cherbourg to do some work on the autopilot rams on their IMOCA Advens for Cybersecurity. As laid down in the Notice of Race for the Transat Jacques Vabre, they had to remain there for four hours before getting back in the race.
Maxime Sorel and Guillaume Le Brec discovered a technical problem last night with the port outrigger cable.
As for Isabelle Joschke and Morgan Lagravière (MACSF), they too will be putting into Brest to repair the keel on their IMOCA, which was damaged when they ran aground off the cliffs of Etretat. Isabelle and Morgan hope to get back in the race as soon as possible.
Aboard Charal, Jeremie Beyou and Christopher Pratt have already confirmed that they are well prepared. In the 1600hrs rankings, they were leading the fleet ahead of Initiatives-Cœur (Sam Davies/Paul Meilhat), Apivia (Charlie Dalin/Yann Eliès) and 11th Hour Racing (Charlie Enright/Pascal Bidegorry).
We can see that three pairs of sailors on IMOCAs with straight daggerboards are doing particularly well, in spite of the fast start to this race, which tends to favour the foilers. Groupe Apicil (Damien Seguin/Yoann Richomme) is this evening in fifth place, Banque Populaire X (Clarisse Cremer/Armel Le Cleac’h) 7th and CORUM L’Epargne (Nicolas Troussel/Jean Le Cam) 9th.
Standing it up - Future Fibres - Rig Pro
It is perverse that one of the most critical areas of every sailing boat was also one of the last areas where appropriate attention was given to formalising maintenance schedules
From modest daysailiers and round-the- cans racers to the most sophisticated of superyachts, anyone who owns a yacht of any size - or manages one on behalf of someone else - will tell you the thing they value most is the peace of mind that their boat is safe and in good overall working order. That is where RigPro comes into the picture, with its worldwide RigPro Care programme.
While most people can organise maintenance programmes for the hull, engine, deck hardware, and all the other myriad ancillary items dotted around today's yachts, the mast and rigging require professional help from people with highly specific knowledge and expertise.
Full article in the November issue of Seahorse
British Class 40 leader dismasted
Hopes of a British victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre were dealt a cruel blow before sunrise on Monday morning when overnight leaders Luke Berry and his French co-skipper Tanguy Le Turquais suffered a dismast to their 40ft monohull, Lamotte - Module Creation.
Both skippers are safe and shepherded their boat to Roscoff, on the north coast of Brittany, where they arrived at 16:00 (French time).
The incident came just 18 hours after the start yesterday at 13:15 (French time) from Le Havre in what appeared not to be boat-breaking conditions.
“Around 07:00 (French time), before sunrise, we were downwind in an easterly wind under medium spinnaker with two reefs, we were not overloaded, and we were in manageable conditions,” the 33-year-old Berry said. “We pitched a few times before the last one…I was in the bunk, Tanguy (Le Turquais, co-skipper, 30) was at the helm. We don’t understand it, the conditions weren’t terrible. We recovered everything, we left nothing in the sea, the top of the mast went, then it broke in half. We managed to get everything back in the boat. We’re on our way to Roscoff. We ‘re really disappointed for everyone (involved in the project) especially since we were in the lead at that time.”
Like most of the 118 skippers, Berry had an emotional send off from the pontoons, saying goodbye to his wife Camille and their two and a half-year-old son, Charlie and six-month-old daughter, Lou. If racing is one test of sailing, good seamanship in a crisis is another and Berry and Le Turquais showed their mettle and craft by keeping their project alive and getting the whole boat to safety.
British hopes in the Class40 now rest solely on the shoulders of Sam Goodchild and his French co-skipper, Fabien Delahaye, on Leyton, who were leading at the 15:00 (UTC) ranking.
www.transatjacquesvabre.org/en/
SailGP to return to San Francisco, New York in Season 2
SailGP will return to two iconic U.S. shorelines in 2020, with Season 2 grand prix events set for San Francisco and New York. The U.S. leg of the global championship’s sophomore season will debut May 2-3 on San Francisco Bay, before the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline test SailGP’s national teams on June 12-13 at Brookfield Place. The American events will serve as the second and third stops of Season 2 for the league, following its inauguration in Sydney at the end of February. Tickets will go on sale for San Francisco SailGP in January 2020, with New York to follow.
Rome Kirby and his all-American squad will be looking to add to their first race win during the 2019 New York SailGP, as they once again take on SailGP Season 1 Champion Australia, as well China, France, Great Britain and Japan. The league plans to add at least one additional team during Season 2.
San Francisco Bay - widely regarded as one of the world’s top sailing venues due to its consistently strong sea breezes - will welcome SailGP back to the Marina neighborhood on the northern edge of the city, with the shoreline acting as the racecourse boundary for the intensely thrilling action. The weekend racing will again feature a grandstand on the Marina Yacht Club Peninsula just a couple hundred meters from the finish line for fans to witness what is expected to be the fastest racing to date. Last year’s first-ever U.S. event in the Bay sold out its land-based ticket offerings, attracting 22,000 spectators with an economic impact of $19 million to the city and total global audience of 327 million.
Just 40 days following the conclusion of San Francisco SailGP, the F50 catamarans will be unleashed on the lower Hudson River, as Brookfield Place in Battery Park City hosts its second edition of the supercharged racing event.
SailGP Season 1 featured five events around the globe - Sydney, San Francisco, New York, Cowes (UK) and Marseille (France). The Australians held the upper hand over the rival Japanese team and the rest of the fleet much of the season, which culminated with a single, 10-minute match race between the top two teams to determine the historic first-ever champion. Just over a month ago, Olympic and America’s Cup champion Tom Slingsby and his Australia SailGP Team earned the Season 1 title and a winner-takes-all prize of US$1 million with a victory over Japan in the Championship Final Race in Marseille.
The remainder of the Season 2 schedule will be announced in the coming months.
A Case for Change at the World Sailing 2019 Annual Conference
Caffari, the only woman to have sailed solo, non-stop, around the world in both directions and the first woman to sail non-stop around the world three times, opened the Gender Balance: A Case for Change forum.
Addressing the delegates, Caffari commented, "This report is for all of us in this room, male, female, young, old to defend our sport and take it forwards into the future appreciating society as a whole and making it safe and progressive for all. We need to collaborate and make a stand now to cohesively change sailing.
"We can no longer tick the box for the subjects of inclusion and diversity. Diversity is a given and inclusion is an act and from the evidence, we need to act. Action can start right here in Bermuda with the key decision makers here.
"If we want our sport to progress and move forwards, then we need to consider 50% of the population otherwise we are going to be left behind and we might not like to hear it but deep down we all know it."
Hannah Hoare, Head of Fundraising at the World Sailing Trust, then gave insight into how the strategic review came about and what the goals were before the Project Lead, Vicky Low, presented the key findings.
World Sailing - Match Racing Subcommittee
World Sailing owns numerous match racing events including the Women's World Championship, Youth World Championship, Blind World Championship and the Nations Cup. These events fall under the responsibility of the Match Racing Sub-committee and during their meeting, numerous reports on recent and upcoming events were received.
James Pleasance of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) reported to the committee on the direction of the tour. Late last year, the WMRT changed ownership and in July, World Sailing renewed the Special Event status of the WMRT.
The WMRT mission is to grow match racing, increase participation and accessibility as well as providing a career pathway.
Moving forward, all WMRT events will be Open Match Racing events and a mixed team format will be introduced. Throughout the WMRT tour events, points will be awarded at World Championship and World Tour events. The top 12 skippers following the penultimate World Championship event will then be invited to the final event which will have a points multiplier of 1.5. The skipper with the highest number of points will then be crowned official Match Racing World Champion.
Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
This month's nominees:
Takashi Okura (USA)
After many years of supporting the TP52 Super Series and steadily improving each year, something wild happened just before Takashi Okura's TP52 team arrived in Sardinia for the last round of 2019. Sled opened with a win and then three more good races. And then... and then they opened the taps and reeled off five wins in a row - never seen before in this fleet
China SAILGP
So how far will this run go (it's hardly started yet - ed). Race five of the Marseille SailGP regatta marked a turning point for the Chinese team led by Phil Robertson when they took their first win in this hyper-competitive fleet. That win moved them up to third in the 2019 series, ahead of Great Britain, France and the USA. Last year Chinese entry Dongfeng conquered the Volvo and, like Dongfeng in their first round the world race, the China SailGP team is all about moving forwards, steadily and relentlessly. 2020 could be good
Last Month's winner:
Stuart Childerley (GBR)
'Modern communicator, always gives us the maximum racing, happy customer' - Karl Jacob; 'Bloody good race officer' - Nick Cherry; 'Poacher turned gamekeeper and a very good one too' - Campbell Field; 'Great person, top sailor and the best PRO' - Jesús Renedo; 'Superb competitor and a team-mate for many years' - Sam Richmond; 'A great sailor and maybe an even better race officer' - Niklas Zennstrøm; 'Good to see such a good sailor change sides...' Jonathan Harley; 'A champion sailor and a great PRO who aims to see things from the competitor's viewpoint' - Jonty Sherwill; 'Brilliant' - Louise Morton.
View past winners of Sailor of the Month
Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Musto, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!
Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month
Winter Training: American Magic and INEOS Team UK
American Magic is on the way to their winter training base in Pensacola, Florida. Skipper Terry Hutchinson said that both AC75 Defiant and AM38, the Mule, will be sailing on Pensacola Bay until Defiant ships out for Italy at a springtime 2020 date. He said, "The local community here has been unbelievably supportive of what we are doing. Of any place we could have gone in the country, the only thing that happened here is that everyone says 'Yes'.... The bay is an untapped resource for sailing." Read more from Talbot Wilson here.
INEOS Team UK will train in Cagliari, Sardinia this winter. They set up their winter base not far from Luna Rossa, and will get to know the local conditions well, in preparation for the AC World Series in April 2020. The protocol prohibits "sailing or testing of AC75 Class Yachts in a coordinated manner with other Competitors." Emphasis mine. No doubt Luna Rossa and Ineos will be keeping a careful eye on each other.
Boat 2 launch? Teams are allowed to launch their second AC75 on 1 February 2020. Winter training camps and the six month delay for Boat 1 means it is unlikely either of these teams will launch Boat 2 before mid 2020. That is probably true for ETNZ and Luna Rossa as well. -- Jack Griffin in Cup Experience News
M32 European Series 2020 to visit Italy, Netherlands and Sweden
Competition will resume on the M32 European Series for the high performance one design catamarans in 2020 with a five event circuit straddling Italy and Sweden. The Series will have two warm-up/training events preceding it and will culminate in a European Championship on Lake Garda.
Between 8 and 12 boats are expected to compete at each event including teams visiting from the USA. Once again at each event the M32’s manufacturer Aston Harald Composite will be making available a demo boat to teams looking to join the M32 circuit, but who wish to experience its tough but friendly competition before committing.
For the first part of 2020 the M32 European fleet will be based in Sanremo, Italy close to the French border, within easy reach of Nice airport. This was the venue for this season’s warm-up. In 2020 teams will be visiting three times: The first two will be monthly warm-up events in March and April, before the 2020 M32 European Series kicks off at the Italian venue with its first scoring event towards the end of May.
From Sanremo, the M32s head north, returning in mid-June to the Netherlands, where the circuit has strong ties through former Olympic Finn sailor PJ Postma and M32 Class Association President Pieter Taselaar’s Bliksem team.
For 2020 there has been a change of venue, moving to Westeinder Lake, close to Amsterdam’s city centre and right next to Schipol airport.
No M32 European Series is complete without a visit to Sweden, birthplace of the M32. Mid-July, the third event will once again take place in Marstrand, the top holiday destination on the Scandinavian nation’s west coast. Here the M32 European Series line-up is likely to be boosted by some local Swedish entries.
A fourth event in mid-August will take place in a venue soon to be announced, before the M32 European Series concludes with an event doubling as the M32 European Championship, to be held in the multihull mecca of Riva del Garda, Italy in early September, hosted by the Fraglia Vela Riva.
Details of the participant line-up will be announced in due course.
2020 M32 European Series schedule
13-15 March - warm-up event Sanremo
17-19 April - warm-up event Sanremo
22-24 May M32 European Series Sanremo (event 1)
12-14 June M32 European Series Amsterdam (event 2)
10-12 July M32 European Series Marstrand (event 3)
7-9 Aug M32 European Series TBA (event 4)
4-6 Sep M32 European Championship Lake Garda (event 5)
16-22 Nov M32 World Championship, Miami, USA
Featured Brokerage
Bagliettto 64 Ft Marconi Cutter - EA
EA is at the same time both glamorous and functional – Vittorio Baglietto designed in EA a yacht that won the Giraglia Race 4 times and absolutely dominating Mediterranean racing during this period.
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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2013 Botin 40 - 'Black'. 380000 USD. Located in Kobe, Japan.
BLACK is one of the most competitive, 40 footers on the market today. Included in the package is a new 2016 rig from Hall Spars and a full 2018/19 North sails inventory. Lost of nice design features make this boat more offshore friendly than typical FAST 40 designs out there.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
+442380 016582
Sampearson [AT] ancasta [DOT] com
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2017 Libertist 853 - NEW BOAT
Libertist is freedom, speed, and sheer joy of sailing. It is of the best quality and innovative materials. Very light, equipped with minifoils, rotating carbon mast, and ample electronics. The trimaran has been created for demanding sailors who love their sport.
An 8.50 m trimaran designed by Erik Lerouge. Very light, equipped with permanent minifoils, a rotating carbon mast and ample electronics. A real cruiser-racer made of high quality materials in a renowned Polish shipyard. It guarantees great sailing satisfaction at a very competitive price.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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hello [AT] libertist [DOT] eu
+33 (0)2 51 51 46 45
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
It's a pleasure to be standing here. It's a pleasure to be standing up. -- George Best
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