In This Issue
• Paris 2024 Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Equipment
• Bruce Kirby wins Laser court case verdict
• Extreme conditions and survival mode
• Make your website an 'installable' web app
• Giovanni Soldini and Maserati Multi 70 second overall in the Caribbean Multihull Challenge
• 40th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - CSA Rating Rule
• Issues emerge over Match Conditions, AC75 performance and latest ETNZ sponsor
• Island Sailing Club Launches The Windeler Cup
• Paolo Massarini 1961-2020
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Dufour 40 E Performance
• • SW110 Thalima
• • YYachts Y7
• The Last Word: P. J. O'Rourke
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
Paris 2024 Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Equipment
Following a request for information to allow for a Paris 2024 Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Equipment market assessment, World Sailing has received a positive industry response from Manufacturers and Class Associations. In December 2019, World Sailing issued a Request for Information (RFI) to engage manufacturers and classes in the discussions around the Equipment.
World Sailing received 12 responses from manufacturers and designers who provided information such as technical data including production capacity, handicap certificates, statements of suitability for double handed sailing, sailors endorsements and existing fleet sizes.
The following manufacturers and classes responded to the RFI:
Dehler 30 OD
Django 8s
FarEast 28 R
Figaro 3
J88
J99
J105
JPK1030
L30
Sunfast 3300
TEN2
Vector6.5
The Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition will, for the first time ever, feature a Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event that will test the mental resolve and physical attributes of the sailors competing.
At World Sailing's 2019 Annual Conference in Bermuda, World Sailing's Council, the main decision-making body of World Sailing, approved the decision-making process for the selection of Equipment for the Event.
The criteria for suitable Equipment for the Olympic Offshore Event will be published no later than 31 December 2020 and the Equipment will be selected no later 31 December 2023. With regards to the qualification events, a list of Equipment that meets the qualification criteria shall be published no later than 31 December 2020. It is expected that the criteria will give the widest possible choice of suitable equipment, giving many manufacturers the opportunity for their equipment to be selected.
Bruce Kirby wins Laser court case verdict
A District Court of Connecticut Jury has handed down a Verdict in favour of Bruce Kirby Inc, the designer of the ILCA Laser singlehander.
The decision was reached on Friday afternoon after seven year's of preliminaries. Only the form stating that the Jury found in favour of the Plaintiff has been posted in the US Courts system.
A damages award in excess of $6million is said to have been awarded, however as yet there is no Court document supporting this amount.
The action was taken by Bruce Kirby Inc against LaserPerformance Europe (Ltd) , the sole builder of the Laser dinghy in Europe and the dominant manufacturer of the class, until its licence was rescinded by the International Laser Class Association in 2019.
The Decision and Award is expected to be Appealed.
It is one of two cases running in the US Courts between the two parties. The second is expected to held in front of a Judge only trial.
Meanwhile the International Laser Class Association is proceeding with the selection and issuance of new Building Licences, and is working through a short list of Builders around the world.
Richard Gladwell has the documents and details in Sail-World.com
Extreme conditions and survival mode
Less than 900 miles from the finish line in London of the Tea Route record, the maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT continues to increase its lead over the title holder, the Italian crew of Giovanni's Maserati trimaran Soldini. Francis Joyon, Christophe Houdet, Bertrand Delesne, Antoine Blouet and Corentin Joyon align from the south of the Azores high averages, at nearly 27 knots in direct route towards the mouth of the English Channel. The advance on the record continues to swell hour by hour, to now exceed 700 miles.
The figures, however, mask extremely trying sailing conditions, "survival atmosphere" even emphasizes Francis, in heavy grains and with hollows of more than 6 meters caused by the recent passage of the numerous storms that have swept across northern Europe. A final strategic jibe will be triggered in the Irish Sea and the large red and white trimaran will approach the final phase of its immense voyage which began more than 30 days ago in Hong Kong.
Despite this somewhat tense atmosphere, the impatience to arrive took hold of Francis and his men. "We recognize our skies in Brittany", describes Francis. "Behind the grain lines, the sky clears up, with sumptuous lights all in contrasts. It reminds us that the house is not far away. We will go offshore to get a waypoint in the Irish Sea where we will trigger a last jibe before entering the English Channel. The wind will then be frankly to the West and we will have to knit a lot between English and French coasts to target the Pas de Calais. Arrival in the early hours of next Wednesday is possible after just over 31 days of racing. A time that satisfies us given the incredible succession of weather systems encountered. This Tea Route is really magnificent because of these meteorological contrasts.
Live tracking (with comparison against Masterati's record performance)
trimaran-idec.geovoile.com
Make your website an 'installable' web app
In 2020 it's all about the mobile experience for the web. Google engineers developed and released code for "Progressive Web Apps" that turn a website into a hybrid of mobile and app. Items get stored in your device for fast loading (even loading with no internet connection). Add an app icon to your home screen. No need to make separate apps for Apple and Android, the web again becomes the great equalizer. There's even support for laptop and desktop screens. Your website works exactly as before on older browsers or if not 'installed'.
We've developed code specifically for Wordpress and Joomla based sites. Some of our recent work:
Snipe Class
NYYC Foundation
JBoats
ILYA
WSSRC
The cost depends on the size of your site and a few other factors... but will be under 500 GBP. Interested? Contact David McCreary at editor [AT] eurosailnews [DOT] com or webmaster [AT] sailingsource [DOT] com
Giovanni Soldini and Maserati Multi 70 second overall in the Caribbean Multihull Challenge
The second edition of the Caribbean Multihull Challenge ended yesterday in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, the French-Dutch island in the Caribbean. In the final ranking of the ocean racing multihulls class Maserati Multi 70 is in second place, the American Argo is winner overall and the 63' Shockwave in third place.
The race, organized by the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and reserved for multihulls, was made up of three days of competitions around the island in the Caribbean. This edition attracted 20 entrants, divided in 5 classes. Maserati Multi 70 competed in the ocean racing class with the 70' trimaran Argo - skippered by Jason Carroll and for the first time in flying mode - and with the 63' Shockwave.
Aboard Maserati Multi 70, skipper Giovanni Soldini sailed with a 7-man crew: the Italians Nico Malingri, Matteo Soldini (both grinders and trimmers) and Gianluigi Ugolini (tactician), the Spanish Willy Altadill (trimmer), Carlos Hernandez Robayna (trimmer) and Oliver Herrera Perez (bowman) and the French Ronan Cointo (mainsail trimmer).
First race - February 14th
The first race, introduced this year for the first time, had a 60-mile long course, it started and finished in Simpson Bay, sailing around Saint Barthélemy.
The Italian Team had to retire: a few moments after crossing the starting line, Maserati Multi 70, hurled at 30 knots towards the offset mark, was hit by a fish trap that tangled around a rudder's wing, causing damages to the rudder quadrant.
Second race - February 15th
At 9.45 local time (13.45 UTC, 14.45 Italian time), the three competitors set sail drom Simpson Bay, with 20-25 knots of East-North-Easterly wind and gusts up to 30 knots. Shortly after the start, Shockwave was forced to retire from the race due to damages suffered to the boom, leaving the two 70's to compete for the first place. The race course, 38-mile long, was an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of Sint Maarten and a crossing of the Anguilla channel and the finish line was off Grand Case.
Argo crossed first the finish line, with 2 minutes and 29 seconds of advantage over the Italian Team, winning in corrected time as well.
Third race - February 16th
The third and last race of the ocean trimarans was held between Maserati Multi 70 and Argo: Shockwave wasn't able to participate because of the damages suffered the previous day.
Maserati Multi 70 won the race in corrected time as well (6 hours, 43 minutes and 31 seconds against Argo's corrected time of 6 hours, 48 minutes and 20 seconds).
Maserati Multi 70's Team is now getting ready for the next competition, the RORC Caribbean 600, which will start from Antigua on February 24th.The Italian Team will race against the two 70's already challenged in many occasions in the past years: the American Argo and the English PowerPlay.
40th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - CSA Rating Rule
From the earliest beginnings of yacht racing, one of the most controversial aspects has been the creation and implementation of rating rules. The idea behind rating rules is to "level the playing field" by handicapping the fleet so a wide variety of yachts can compete fairly and equitably with one another.
Elsewhere in the watery world, rating rules come and go. But not in the Caribbean, where the longstanding CSA Rule (so named for the Caribbean Sailing Association) has been in operation for decades. It's the rule under which the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is contested, and one of the reasons the close, tight racing has always been the reason it attracts so many dedicated competitive sailors. And it will once again be the rule of choice for the 40th edition of the regatta, which this year takes place from March 5-8.
"I am always fascinated looking at results in some races (under the CSA Rule) where a few boats come within seconds on a standard race," said naval architect and CSA Chief Measurer Bastien Pouthier. "The CSA Rule is actually a very old rule, I mean 60-plus years old. A retired British fighter pilot designed a mathematical formula to be able to race between friends fairly. Obviously, the rule has been developed and updated yearly, with a number of major revamps in between."
Pouthier said part of the reason for the CSA Rule's success is that it was especially developed for the ideal Caribbean weather, "and was optimized for the conditions we encounter here, steady 15-knot trade winds." He explained that the Rule was designed for displacement cruiser/racer-type yachts, the majority of Caribbean race boats, but also works well in varying breezes and with today's lighter displacement flyers. "I am convinced that the CSA Rule works the best for our Caribbean events like the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. We can get a new entry and within 2 hours of measuring and 15 minutes of inputting our software, we can get them racing. No other rule can deliver that."
There is a page on website that is informative: caribbean-sailing.com/csa-rules/get-a-csa-rating
You can also have a look at this overview here
Then, get in touch with the measurer present on your island. The regatta Organizing Authority and website lists the measurers on each island. The measurer will be able to advise you whether the boat must be emptied or can be measured in racing trim and will explain what these terms mean.
Issues emerge over Match Conditions, AC75 performance and latest ETNZ sponsor
It might be Valentine's Day but there is not too much love lost between Sailing Illustrated's host, Tom Ehman, and Sail-World's NZ Editor, Richard Gladwell as they cover the issues of the day 12 months out from the America's Cup in Auckland.
With Ehman based in San Francisco and Gladwell in Auckland, they have different perspectives on many of the issues - some of which were triggered by the surprise release of the Match Conditions on Friday (NZT).
- Has the Cup schedule been shaped to exclude the sole remaining Late Challenger Stars + Stripes USA? Ehman thinks they are toast, Gladwell says they are valid until they withdraw.
- How will the wind limits work? Ehman says they worked fine in San Francisco, Gladwell says they were nonsensical, and in Auckland, by subtracting the tidal factor they could create a lower limit that was valid to race but too low for the boats to foil.
- How will the requirement to submit a single measurement configuration before each series work? Ehman says the teams will find a way around the rules and will still mode the boats. Gladwell says new rules remove much of the opportunity and they will have to develop a single set of foils that will be fast right across the wind range.
- Should MacDonalds be a sponsor on the Emirates Team New Zealand boat? Ehman questions whether the Cup should be used to promote fast food. Gladwell says that is just virtue signalling and the Cup needs to get to those who don't currently follow sailing.
- Why are there so few Challengers? Ehman says the boat is too extreme and a more conservative boat would have encouraged more teams to enter. Gladwell says the AC75 are spectacular and will pull a mainstream audience, and the real culprit for the low entry is the years from 2007 to 2013, when the Cup was locked in a Court battle from which it has never recovered.
Full article in Sail-World.com
Island Sailing Club Launches The Windeler Cup
Announced today by the Island Sailing Club, the Windeler Cup is a new race for small keelboats that will run on the same day as the world-famous Round the Island Race, Saturday 30 May 2020. The race will allow boats which are too small to safely participate in the annual circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight to join in the excitement of the Round the Island Race weekend. Entries open on 1 March 2020.
Instead of sailing the full 50 mile course of the main race, boats from the Daring, Dragon, Etchells, Flying Fifteen, Mermaid, Redwing, Swallow, Sonar, Squib, RS Elite and XOD classes will compete in a 'Round the Solent' race for the new Windeler Cup. The race will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes, immediately after the main Round the Island fleet is underway, and will follow a course around the Western Solent, taking advantage of favourable tides to finish back on the RYS line in Cowes.
The race has been named the 'Windeler Cup' after Major Cyril Windeler, who created the Round the Island Race in 1931 as an opportunity for owners of smaller yachts to enjoy a 'bigger than usual' competition. It is in this spirit that the Island Sailing Club has introduced the new race and addressed the desires of smaller keelboats who would like to take part in the main race.
Rob Peace, the Island Sailing Club's Rear Commodore of Sailing said:
"We are often asked whether some smaller keelboat classes could once again participate in the Round the Island Race, as they did in the past. Unfortunately, with today's stringent safety restrictions, we're not able to accommodate these classes. However, we have come up with the idea of a new race, starting at 0830 hours after the last Round the Island start, that will allow the smaller keelboat classes to sail for their own prestigious trophy on a shorter course around the Western Solent.
Paolo Massarini 1961-2020
Photo by Andrea Carloni. Click to enlarge.
Big boat sailors everywhere mourns for the loss of Paolo Massarini, who passed away on February 16th after a harsh 2-year fight with cancer. The sport is losing one of its strongest players as a sailor and organizer of the game.
Born in Civitanova Marche in the early 1960's, he started sailing on dinghies, including 470's, and very soon moved on to offshore racers in the 1980's in the position of bowman. After a few years on Nello Mazzaferro's splendid 50-foot Nita he stepped on Brava contributing to the long stream of successes of Pasquale Landolfi's boats of this name, which included two One Ton Cups and one Admiral's Cup.
He also raced also on many different other high-level boats of all sizes, including the Maxi yacht Longobarda. Thanks to his dedication and organizational skills he soon became the project manager of several Brava programs and the General Secretary of the One Ton Class Association, founded in 1989 for the IOR One Tonners, and the first Class Association to be recognized by ORC.
With the advent of the IMS rule, he also managed the new ILC 40 Class and was one of the main drivers of the newly-born GP40 class. He project-managed many custom-build race boat projects, but also worked with X-Yachts to contribute to series-built projects as well.
With his multi-lingual and organizational skills acquired from many years in the game, Paolo was also for three years the Sailing Director at the prestigious YC Costa Smeralda, helping create and maintain the high standards of this elite club.
Later he became General Secretary of the Wally Class, and at the same time his position within ORC kept growing, becoming the coordinator of Grand Prix racing with the GP26, GP33 and GP42 classes, the latter he managed during its heydey as part of the Audi MedCup series. When Don Genitempo retired as Chair of the ORC Classes and Events Committee, Paolo stepped in to ably manage this role and contribute to the success of numerous annual ORC World, European and Sportboat events.
In the America's Cup arena he was Director of the shore team for the Mascalzone Latino Challenge in the 2007 America's Cup Valencia.
His last major achievement has been overseeing the implementation of the ORC SuperYacht Rule, which has helped enhance and popularize this new genre of racing.
His loss creates a big void within our organization, and his management will be deeply missed.
His wife Alessandra assisted him until the end, through very difficult medical treatments and we all join her sorrow.
Fair Winds Paolo
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The Last Word
There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. -- P. J. O'Rourke
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