In This Issue
• A turn of the screw
• Spirit Of Bermuda Charity Rally Off To A Great Start
• Marlow Ropes Introduce Bio-Based Dyneema® To Their Rope Ranges
• New Venues on the 2021 Calendar for the 52 SUPER SERIES
• World’s best sailors to compete in Oman in 2021
• Circumnavigation trail blazer Sir Robin Knox-Johnston joins Shirley Robertson
• Cobh People’s Regatta Cancelled For 2020
• Industry News
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Dehler 46 Competition
• • Swan 115-003 Highland Fling 15
• • HH55 - NEW BOAT
• The Last Word: Ringo Starr
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
A turn of the screw
Jeremie Beyou. Click on image to enlarge.
Jeremie Beyou (Charal) has snatched control of the fleet this Tuesday after skirting around the western edge of a low pressure system, which shook up the bulk of the fleet throughout the night. Committed to the same course, Charlie Dalin (Apivia) is 2nd, whilst previous race leader Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), doesn’t appear to have reaped the rewards of his gamble on an option due north. Further down the leaderboard now after being forced to make further repairs, Kevin Escoffier has lost some ground.
The second low pressure system, which the Vendee - Arctique - Les Sables d’Olonne fleet tackled yesterday, proved to be a tough nut to crack for some. Indeed, still the leader of the fleet on Monday, Thomas Ruyant believed the way out lay to the north in a passage coloured by breeze, speed and the likely negotiation of one tricky passage… A tempting option then. With a stormy night on the cards, Thomas Ruyant really thought his daring gamble would pay off. Alas, at the end of this breezy spell of 30-knot winds, gusting to 35, a ridge of high pressure sprawled across his route, dishing out heavy penalties.Meantime, Jeremie Beyou and Charlie Dalin played the comfort card in a very high-speed dash around the low pressure system and came out on top. This morning, the skipper of Charal had moved up to the front of the pack
Spirit Of Bermuda Charity Rally Off To A Great Start
Click on image to enlarge.
St George's, Bermuda - The cancellation of two major biennial yacht races to Bermuda this year - the Newport-Bermuda and Annapolis-Bermuda races - has not stopped the enthusiasm for 22 sailors to race to the Onion Patch anyway now that the island nation has become open for visitors in the inaugural Spirit of Bermuda Charity Rally organized by the East End Mini Yacht Club (EEMYC) of St George's and the Sailing Yacht Research Foundation (SYRF).
Today those teams started their offshore journeys at 1500 EDT, crossing two separate starting lines positioned in the Atlantic Ocean: one south of Newport, Rhode Island positioned for a 616-mile leg, and another east of the Chesapeake Bay for 603 miles, with both legs finishing just outside the harbor at St George's, Bermuda.
The two entries that started on the mile-long North line today at latitude 40° 12.0' N got a strong start beam reaching in a 10-12 knot easterly breeze. These teams were led by Hank Schmitt from Halesite, New York and his crew of five sailing the Swan 48 Avocation, and Alessandro Pagani from Lexington, Massachusetts sailing double-handed with Anthony Johnson on his Spirit 47 Luna.
For Pagani this race is personal, and he and Johnson are planning not to stop in St George's but to race around the island and its reefs to return to their start line.
The Rally is a fundraiser for the Bermuda Sloop Foundation's "Spirit of Bermuda," a 3-masted design based around an 1835 Bermuda sloop that was used to find and free slaves enroute to the US. The program has taken over 6,500 Bermudian teenagers for a week aboard to learn about the sea, sailing and teamwork.
Two more teams started the Rally east of the mouth of the Chesapeake, crossing a virtual start line positioned at 75° 30.0' W. Both are boats owned by Andy Schell of Leesport, Pennsylvania, although he is not aboard either. Like Schmitt, Schell operates a business named 59° North that gives opportunities for offshore passages, with his Swan 48 Isbjorn and Swan 59 Icebear entered in the Rally. Both also got a strong start on their leg beam reaching in a 12-knot southerly.
Isbjorn is being skippered by Vincent Mattiola with help from Ben Soofer, and has a crew of six. Icebear is being skippered by Sean Westoby with help from Emma Garschagen, and has a total crew of eight aboard. Both boats left their base in Annapolis on Saturday to head south towards the start with overnight anchoring stops in southern Maryland and Virginia.
For compliance to Bermuda's health precautions, crews can be tested and confirmed COVID-free, or remain quarantined on board while in Bermuda. Most plan to be tested because EEMYC has several events planned for their visitors at the end of this week and through the weekend.
Those interested in being a guest aboard a Goslings-catered catamaran accompanying the fleet on the circumnavigation of the island in the Triangle Race should sign up now - only 40 spots available: http://bit.ly/BermudaTriangleOffshoreRace.
An innovative approach to scoring is being used called the SYRF Offshore Scoring System, explained on SYRF's website at www.sailyachtresearch.org.
For more information on the Spirit of Bermuda Charity Rally and to follow the progress of entries in the race, visit the event website at spiritofbermudarally.org
Marlow Ropes Introduce Bio-Based Dyneema® To Their Rope Ranges
Marlow Ropes are proud to be using bio-based Dyneema. This new innovation reduces Dyneema’s reliance on fossil fuels and helps Marlow achieve our sustainability and carbon footprint reduction targets.
Bio-based Dyneema® has identical technical characteristics and performance as conventional Dyneema but uses waste from the pulp and timber industry as its primary raw-material.
Bio-based Dyneema® is ISCC certified as sustainable and renewable via “mass-balancing*”. This means that the Ethylene feedstock used to make Dyneema® is transitioned from conventional petrochemical sources to sustainable and renewable sources with no change to the manufacturing process or the quality and performance of the yarn!
Therefore, any a rope made with Bio-based Dyneema® by Marlow, directly contributes to reduced CO2 emissions and has a lower environmental impact.
Every tonne of Bio-based Dyneema® Marlow use, reduces carbon emissions by 5 tonnes compared with a tonne of conventional Dyneema®**. And the comparison with generic HMPE is even starker – 1 tonne of Bio-based Dyneema® produces 29 tonnes less CO2 than 1 tonne of generic HMPE**. That is equivalent to charging 3.7m Smart phones or the same CO2 offset by 480 seedlings grown for 10 years.
* www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
** calculated by DSM Internal Life-Cycle Assessment
New Venues on the 2021 Calendar for the 52 SUPER SERIES
Galicia in the wild and stunningly beautiful north of Spain, and chic and elegant Saint Tropez, two very different and contrasting venues, will both feature highly as the world’s leading grand prix monohull circuit, the 52 SUPER SERIES, bounces back for what promises to be an exciting and engaging 2021 season.
The five event 2021 circuit will open from May 3-8 in Saint Tropez, a jewel in the crown of the French Riviera. Most 52 SUPER SERIES sailors are well acquainted with the Golfe de Saint Tropez having raced there at different mixed fleet regattas, indeed many have raced TP52s at Autumn’s classic Les Voiles de Saint Tropez. Now the 52 SUPER SERIES are responding to the desire of owners and crews for a standalone circuit regatta there. It is a popular move, not least among the circuit’s French crews.
In early May the waters off Saint Tropez can offer everything from light gradient or sea breezes to the strong northerly Mistral.
Then from 5-10 June the circuit heads north to Baiona, a small but renowned coastal resort in Galicia’s Pontevedra region, to the SW of Vigo. A warm welcome is expected from the local hosts who have been campaigning for a number of years to bring the circuit to waters where so many top Spanish offshore and ocean racers cut their teeth.
In July, the third event of the year sees a welcome return to Cascais where the Rolex TP52 World Championship will take place from 12-17th July. It will be the second time that the Rolex TP52 World Championship has been hosted there and memories remain fresh of the fantastic, breezy, wavy conditions over the corresponding, same week in 2017 when Quantum Racing won by three points ahead of Azzurra.
And the love affair with the Bay of Palma continues as the fourth regatta sees a return to another favourite destination, from August 23-28 in Puerto Portals.
The venue for the fifth regatta of the season has yet to be confirmed and is under discussion with 52 SUPER SERIES management at the present time.
World’s best sailors to compete in Oman in 2021
The first global Olympic sailing class event post the 2020 Tokyo Games will be held in Oman, with Oman Sail selected to host next year’s 49er, 49erFX and Nacra World Championships at Al Mussanah Sports City.
Oman’s global event hosting capabilities has been given a huge endorsement, with Oman Sail selected to host the World Championships for three Olympic classes - 49er, 49erFX and Nacra - in 2021.
The 2021 World Championships will be a truly global event. Teams from all over the world will journey to the Sultanate to be hosted at the world-class Al Mussanah Sports City in November next year in a week-long festival of sailing.
The news that Oman will host the 2021 49er, 49erFX and Nacra World Championships has been applauded by the global sailing community. President of Asian Sailing Federation Malav Shroff said: “I was highly impressed with Oman Sail’s hosting capabilities during the 2019 International Asian and Oceanian Optimist Championships, which saw almost 200 of the world’s best young sailors compete at the Al Mussanah Sports City. It’s an Olympic standard sailing venue and the organisation was of the highest possible standard.
“The conditions were also perfect; the winter months in Oman, which are characterised by blue skies, warm weather, and a consistent windspeed of around 14 knots, are just made for sailing."
As well as showing the world the culture and rich history of Oman, the 2021 World Championships will be the first time for many people in Oman to see current Asian 49er Champions Musab Al Hadi and Waleed Al Kindi in action. The pair are currently in Australia competing at the World 49er Championship, their final event before they attempt to become the first Omani Sailors to qualify for the Olympic Games in Abu Dhabi next month.
Circumnavigation trail blazer Sir Robin Knox-Johnston joins Shirley Robertson
This month double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson sits down for a two part podcast chat with the first man ever to sail solo non-stop around the planet, Britain's Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
Sir Robin completed his ground breaking voyage in April 1969, after an astonishing 312 days alone at sea. having sailed his thirty two foot ketch 'Suhaili' thirty thousand miles around the planet. The voyage is one of the most documented in sailing, and was part of the famous Golden Globe race, initiated by the British newspaper, The Sunday Times. Nine entrants eventually left to compete in the Golden Globe, but Sir Robin was the only boat that finished, the physical and mental travails of the effort famously proving too much for many of the other entrants.
"The problem we had then was that there was very literature, you know. Who'd written a book about the Southern Ocean, the Smeatons, who'd been pitchpoled, Chichester's book wasn't out, so there was nothing you could read up except the Admiralty Manuals...so I read those up and thought 'OK, we can get big waves down here, so I've just got to deal with them as I can'. But I've got a well found boat, she's a nice shape, let's see how I can manage her down here, and I learned a lot, from my first few gales, I learned a lot about the boat ."
Robertson and Knox-Johnston then discuss how a trip with British mountaineer and expedition leader Sir Chris Bonnington inspired an idea that would become the 'open to all' crewed around the world adventure, The Clipper Race. It's a race that has been on going now for over twenty years, and is currently in it's twelfth, a fact that Sir Robin ranks as one of his greatest achievements.
This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast.
Cobh People’s Regatta Cancelled For 2020
Organisers of the Cobh People’s Regatta have announced the cancellation of the 2020 event.
The regatta had been due to take place from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 August in Cork Harbour, and its cancellation follows that of the Cork Harbour Festival which had been due to take place last month.
No date has been confirmed as yet for the 2021 regatta.
Industry News
Following the cancellation of the 2020 HISWA In-Water Boat Show, a group of Dutch yacht-builders have decided to organise a new small-scale event so that the best Netherlands-built boats can still be presented to the international water sports public.
The 1st Dutch Yachting Weekend will take place in Medemblik from September 4-6, with a range of boats from Contest Yachts, Saffier Yachts, Jachtwerf Heeg and Admirals Tender moored at quayside and accessible for all visitors. The 22 berths in front of Contest Yachts’ construction halls offer ample spread space for the yacht builders to dock their craft, and there will also be smaller trailerable boats on show on the quay.
In addition to the yacht builders, a number of well-known suppliers of navigation equipment, sails, mast and deck fittings, insurance services and upholstery will also exhibit, and there will be seminars and workshops too.
The Dutch Yachting Weekend will be organised entirely in accordance with the RIVM (Dutch National Institute for Public Health & Environment) guidelines. More information about the full and growing programme will be available from the beginning of August on www.dutchyachtingweekend.nl and on the websites of the participating shipyards.
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France’s new prime minister, Jean Castex, announced a Cabinet reshuffle on Monday which included a new Minister of the Sea.
A native of Saint-Malo, Annick Girardin started out in politics in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, a French archipelago located off the Canadian province of Newfoundland where she grew up.
Girardin had held the post of Minister of Overseas Territories in the French Government since May 2017.
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Cannes Yachting Festival, the first autumn show on the international calendar, will take place this September.
The Yachting Festival will welcome around 420 boats with the exhibitors - who include almost all the major players in the French and international nautical industry - divided between both ports in Cannes with the motor boats at the Vieux Port and the sailing boats in the sailing area at Port Canto.
“After many weeks of uncertainty in light of the context, intensive discussions with our clients, the City of Cannes, our partners and suppliers; and a great deal of work with local authorities, we are pleased to have reached the final stretch before the opening of the Festival,” explained Sylvie Ernoult, show manager.
In the unique context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the boats and stands have been installed in accordance with a General Health and Safety Plan (PGSS) drawn up by the festival and presented to the Prefecture, the City of Cannes and suppliers.
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The Cruising Association’s Regulations and Technical Services group (RATS) has welcomed the initiative taken by the Scottish government which came into force on 20 June making the marking of a string of creels (lobster or crab pots) with anything other than a buoy made for that purpose unlawful.
RATS has been vociferously campaigning for clearer marking of static fishing gear and lobster pot markers since 2017, and will be pressing for the rest of the UK to follow suit.
www.gov.scot/publications/creel-marking/
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Global maritime charity Sailors’ Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Baade as its new Chief Executive Officer, starting in September 2020.
Sara has a strong background in management and strategic policy and brings extensive experience in leading an international welfare charity from her current role as CEO of The Army Families Federation.
Her career also includes working as a senior civil servant for the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, a directorship at the charity UK Skills and substantial experience in investment banking.
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Featured Brokerage
2015 Dehler 46 Competition. 370000 EUR. Located in Palma de Mallorca.
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Swan 115-003 Highland Fling 15. 7,950,000 VAT Paid. Located in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
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HH55 - NEW BOAT
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The Last Word
So this is America. They must be out of their minds. -- Ringo Starr (Happy 80th birthday!)
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