In This Issue
• IMOCA: 8 miles separate six boats
• Harken at METS
• Alinghi on World Championship winning form at GC32 Oman Cup
• The final stretch: Francis Joyon expected to finish in Mauritius on Friday
• B&G HALO20 Radar
• Flying at over 30 knots off Gibraltar
• Melges IC37 fleet growth accelerating
• Carbon Masters
• Good Morning Vietnam
• The CA unveils The osCA
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • J/133 - Hephzibah
• • Alfred Mylne 54 ft Cutter - Irina VII
• • First 40 - Sailplane
• The Last Word: Johnny Carson
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
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IMOCA: 8 miles separate six boats
An easy Doldrums? Tell that to Jeremie Beyou and Christopher Pratt on Charal, who have watched their 100-mile lead turn into a 50-mile deficit after less than a day in the dreaded Doldrums. It was heartbreaking for Charal, but the air taken from them has breathed life into the podium race for the IMOCA in the 14thedition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre.
“We were 100 miles ahead and we are going lose them all, we have no wind, we can’t get out,” Beyou said in the early hour of the morning, echoing the words of sailors over the centuries after entering the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone. “We were on a good track and we caught a last squall this morning and after that, curtains.”
Eight hours later at the 11:00 UTC ranking, Apivia, had swept past 50 miles to the east of Charal, into a 48-mile lead. In the last 24 hours, Charal, the favourite and the most optimised and practised of the five latest generation foilers in the race, had made just 106 miles. Apivia had made 273. Sometimes Charalappeared to have stalled completely. It has been a stunning bouleversement to match anything in the previous 13 editions.
Beyou and Pratt will certainly have a different view on the confident predictions of Richard Silvani from Meteo France yesterday (Tuesday) and there were big changes throughout the fleet as they contracted. There was sympathy for them through the fleet – We will only know the true order when they emerge back into the trade winds.
Groupe Apicil was less than a third of a mile behind PRB with six boats separated by less than nine miles. That included 11thHour Racing, who chose this morning to take their penalty turn for breaking an engine seal.
* Hugo Boss headed to Cape Verde
Ross Daniel. Technical Director, Alex Thomson Racing:
“Alex and Neal are safe and making good progress onboard HUGO BOSS. They are now around 300 miles away from the Cape Verde Islands, sailing with caution at around 10 knots. They have both managed to get some sleep and are focused on getting safely to land.
“Members of the Alex Thomson Racing technical team have arrived in Cape Verde and are preparing for the boat’s arrival. Further members of the team will make the journey in the coming days in order to meet Alex and Neal, and to facilitate the boat’s safe arrival.
“Our current routing has the boat arriving by Friday morning. We are in regular communication with our skippers and are monitoring the boat’s progress around the clock, as we will continue to do until HUGO BOSS is safely into port”.
* New 24 hour Class40 record
Ian Lipinski and Adrien Hardy are really impressive on the Transat Jacques Vabre ! The Credit Mutuel duet is now at the head of the fleet and they also broke the record of the distance sailed in 24 hours in Class40.
They covered a distance of 415,86 nm between Tuesday November 5th at 3h30 (french time) and Wednesday November 6th (3h30) at the average speed of 17,3 knots.
The previous record had been held by V and B, skipped by Maxime Sorel and Antoine Carpentier on November 10, 2017. They covered 377.7 nm at the average speed of 15.7 knots during the 2017 Transat jacques Vabre.
This new Max40 launched few monthes ago proves, with this new record, that the new generation Class40s are very close to the old generation Imocas (2007) in perfomance.
Harken at METS
The annual Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) in Amsterdam is a great opportunity to see Harken’s newest thinking. This year, come see Harken’s PowerMeter Sprocket which advances the commitment from Harken’s grand prix customers to evermore data-driven continuous performance improvement.
The PowerMeter sprocket installs in the head of a winch pedestal, direct-linked to export data detailing the performance of grinders, to a database or real time display for teams and fans. Learn more.
Next, no retracting, flush-mounted winches offer the power-for-size ratio in last year’s DAME Category Award winning CLR (Compact Light Retractable) mooring winches. They require 40% less horizontal space below deck, less than 50% vertical space and weigh just 33% of competitive products--with comparable mechanical advantage. This year there will be five CLR winch sizes on display, appropriate for boats from 13.5 m - 76 m.
Ask about new developments in REFLEX™ furling, especially newly-proven webbed on applications for cable-less code sails. Then, dig into advancements in electric captive reel winches. So small, they’re becoming natural selections for ever-smaller racers and cruisers too.
You'll find Harken at Stand 12.227 & 12:327.
Alinghi on World Championship winning form at GC32 Oman Cup
With a light forecast, the opening day of the GC32 Oman Cup looked like it might be marginal. However in the end four out of the five scheduled races were sailed just north of the Al Mouj marina with a challenging set of wind conditions at times enabling the GC32s to fly fully, sometimes to hull fly only and at other times leaving the ultra-high performance catamarans with both hulls firmly ‘low-riding' in displacement mode.
Regardless of what the wind was doing, the only consistency on the water was shown by Alinghi, where a lifetime of competing in the fickle winds of Lake Geneva clearly paid dividends today. In the first three races, the Swiss two time America’s Cup winners seemed in a different league, starting well (but not too well - Argo were twice called OCS) with good boat speed and able to make most sense of the breeze.
After Alinghi comfortably won the first three races, a chink in the Swiss armour finally appeared in race four which Red Bull Sailing Team won. In this a one knot increase in wind speed demonstrated how it can transform GC32 racing, with the boats fully foiling in 8-9 knots, in what would be the windiest race of the day. A fifth race was started but abandoned as the wind fell apart.
Tomorrow racing is expected to get underway at 1300 local time, the forecasts showing slightly more wind.
The final stretch: Francis Joyon expected to finish in Mauritius on Friday
The gybe carried out yesterday evening by Francois Joyon to move away from the extraordinary low-pressure system that is typical of the Southern Ocean and which propelled him across the South Atlantic from west to east, means that he is now on a straight line almost due north towards the finish in Port Louis on the island of Mauritius. IDEC SPORT has changed weather systems, with very different winds and temperatures. He can put away the fleeces and foulies and forget the violent winds and astonishing speeds. It is time to feel the warmth, enjoy moderate winds and calmer sailing.
The heavy residual swell will remain for another few hours. The solo skipper, who has spent just over eighteen days and covered more than 10,000 miles out on the water, has not stopped trying to get the highest level of performance out of his boat. He is relieved to have managed to stick with the low which propelled him to the Cape of Good Hope for a week. He can now enjoy the final 700 miles of this Mauritius Route that he has so perfectly sailed.
It took five days to go from the East coast of South America to the Cape of Good Hope. Remaining hard at it all the time, the skipper of IDEC SPORT made the most of the downwind conditions, only leaving this powerful system late yesterday to take up another challenge. The latter is more subtle, as he needs to get around a high-pressure system below Madagascar. He has currently making his way through and will be crossing the transition zone separating him from another low, which should propel him smoothly towards Mauritius.
Finishing on Friday morning?
“I’m pleased to have kept up the right pace throughout this tricky week of sailing,” he admits. “I dealt well with the transitions and am especially pleased to have taken care of the boat, in spite of a nasty swell, which was still around thirty feet this morning. We were continually under the water. This means that there is now a thick layer of salt covering the boat… It’s really amazing! I can’t wait to spot the islands. I can see on the AIS that there is more and more shipping around. I’m expecting to smell the land soon and notice a change in colours, which will mean that land is not far away. I’m a bit tired.”
The final stretch on the starboard tack looks like smooth sailing. Already more than 1500 miles ahead of the record pace that he set back in 2009, Francis does not want to push his boat too hard. He is looking forward to finishing at first light on Friday morning.
B&G HALO20 Radar
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Better Situational Awareness, Collision Avoidance
HALO20 radar delivers a comprehensive range of features to enhance your situational awareness and on-water safety. Monitor selected collision hazards with MARPA target tracking, tracking up to 10 targets. Whether you’re navigating through crowded waterways or contending with poor visibility, HALO20 radar cuts through the clutter to give you a clear and current picture of your surroundings.
Flying at over 30 knots off Gibraltar
Thirty hours into racing and all four of the trimarans competing on the Brest Atlantiques race have already reached the latitudes of Gibraltar, most of them averaging around 30 knots with top speeds of at over 40. Ahead lies one gybe to be taken between the Azores and Madeira before a fast surf down to the equator.
The fleet has not been hanging around having set off cautiously on Tuesday in very rough seas, the four trimarans taking part in the "Brest Atlantiques" race have now built speed and let out reefs in their mainsail as well as raised headsails, taking advantage of favourable wind angles (north-west) and a gradually calming seas, conducive to very fast sailing.
Whilst all raced with care at the start up to the point that two of the four boats, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Franck Cammas/Charles Caudrelier) and Actual Leader (Yves Le Blevec/Alex Pella), chose inshore routes in the Bay of Biscay and a passage east of the DST (traffic separation zone) of Cape Finisterre, they have now all switched to full racing mode, particularly the leaders Trimaran Macif (Francois Gabart/Gwenole Gahinet) and Maxi Edmond de Rothschild who have been at full pelt throughout Wednesday afternoon averaging 28-29 knots of boat speed.
Just behind, sailing on a the latitude of Gibraltar (908 miles covered in all by the Trimaran Macif in the 4pm ranking), Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville/Jean-Luc Nelias) is not letting go of the leaders, just 54 miles from the leader, while Actual Leader, who slowed down passing Cape Finisterre in an area of lighter breeze, is now 162 miles away.
What happens next? Routing specialist Christian Dumard, who works with the race director, explains: "They are currently finishing rounding the Azores high from the south in a sea that has calmed down, this is what we call a seagull's wing, then they will gybe, probably at night, between Madeira and the Azores, and head south towards Rio. "Where the first are expected in about 7 days.”
Melges IC37 fleet growth accelerating
Since the first UK based Melges IC37 made an entrance onto the UK IRC yacht racing scene at Cowes Week, the order book for this highly competitive, one design, racing boat has burgeoned. The resultant community will have a social focus that has never been seen before in the UK. Winning races in a wide range of conditions against tough and experienced competition, the widespread appeal of this new design from Mark Mills is like nothing seen before at this size, performance level and budget.
Conceived as a strict one-design, the new boat has also achieved a remarkably dominant display under IRC. Owners will now have a unique luxury of choice in competitive yacht racing: either in a proven high-performance, strict one-design series or entering IRC events knowing the boat is competitive in all conditions.
2019 results so far
Cowes Week - 1st overall IRC 1 - 8 boats
Royal Southern September Regatta - 1st overall IRC 1 - 19 boats
IRC Autumn Championships - 2nd overall (by 1/2 point) IRC 1 - 15 boats
Hamble Big Boat Championships - 1st overall - 7 boats
The IC37 currently leads IRC1 in the Hamble Winter Series
Five events are confirmed for the 2020 UK IC37 Class championships, with an additional six events highlighted as potential training regattas for teams to hone their boat handling and speed calibration and ensure they are quick off the mark for the One Design circuit.
The schedule of events can be found at ancasta.com/ic37calendar
Carbon Masters
World renowned carbon expert Antonio Latini is leading the build team constructing the Neo570C, the new collaboration from Shaun Carkeek and Paolo Semeraro.
Good Morning Vietnam
Congrats to Joachim Isler and Drew Taylor for winning IRC Class 1 in the 673-mile Hong Kong to Vietnam Race, an epic downwind ride from Hong Kong to the Asian paradise of Nha Trang, Vietnam. AMBUSH won IRC Class 1 impressively in 2 days 7 hours. "Our UK Sailmakers A2+ was our secret weapon this race," said Taylor. Impressively, AMBUSH averaged 13.6 knots for the windy downwind race that started Oct. 16th. Taylor proudly set the boat's speed record for the race at 25.95 knots.
The CA unveils The osCA, sponsored by MS Amlin Boat Insurance
Click on image to enlarge.
Last month the Cruising Association (CA) announced the launch of a new video log (vlog) category in its annual Log competition for CA members and the CA is delighted to unveil the accompanying Trophy - The osCA, sponsored by MS Amlin Boat Insurance, previously known as Haven Knox-Johnston.
The CA also confirms that Mark Jardine, Managing Editor of YachtsandYachting.com and Sail-World.com and Vice-Chairman of the Yachting Journalists' Association (YJA), will be judging the 2019 entries.
The osCA will be awarded for the best video log (vlog) created by a CA member on a blog or website or channel on YouTube, Vimeo or similar. The osCA winner will also receive a GoPro HERO7 camera Silver Action Camera, courtesy of MS Amlin Boat Insurance.
The competition closes on 17th January 2020 and all the winners will be announced as part of the CA's popular Hanson Lecture evening on March 25th at CA House in London's Limehouse Basin, where the guest speaker has been confirmed as record-breaking offshore sailor Mike Golding OBE.
Featured Brokerage
2003 J/133 - HEPHZIBAH. 175000 GBP. Located in Lymington, UK.
A vinylester version of the popular fast cruising J/133. Well setup for coastal cruising and easily handled by two. Sensible spec and in the water, ready to sail.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Please Contact: Ben Cooper
Telephone: +44(0) 1590 679222
ben [DOT] cooper [AT] berthon [DOT] co [DOT] uk
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1935 Alfred Mylne 54 Ft Cutter - Irina. 625000 EUR. Located in France.
This beautiful Alfred Mylne designed Fife yard built cutter is pedigree indeed. At 54 ft with a Marconi rig to the original plans, she also has enough accommodation to cruise in comfort. IRINA VII seems to hit a sweet spot among vintage yachts; striking - indeed memorable whether seen under sail or alongside showing her characteristic Mylne forward sloping doghouse set in wide uncluttered decks. Both cruising and racing she is a yacht for the connoisseur most certainly.
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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First 40 - Sailplane 79,000 excl VAT GBP.
"Sailplane- The Solent’s top First 40 is now for sale
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Please call or email Rob Bottomley for further details & inspection.
07799696748
grebottomley [AT] gmail [DOT] com
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself. -- Johnny Carson
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