In This Issue
• Melges 32 World Championship 2020 - Consistent leadership for Donino
• British Challengers Back to La Solitaire
• Ultimate Product - Reckmann
• 900th Boat Receives ORR-Ez Certificate
• Rolex Swan Cup - Cancelled
• World Sailing extends SSL Special Event agreement
• SailGP: Team Rockwool Racing Arrives In France
• METSTRADE 2020 Cancelled
• America's Cup: The lawyers have the power
• Kiwi sails through Canadian waters in breach of rules
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Swan 47-058 Lolita Senta
• • KUANKUN - Soto 48
• • Nautor's Swan 46 MkI
• The Last Word: Warren Buffett
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
Melges 32 World Championship 2020 - Consistent leadership for Donino
Villasimius, Sardinia: Started with a Westerly wind and continued with a breeze that finished too soon, races four and five of the Melges 32 World Championship underway at the Marina di Villasimius saw the Swiss Donino strengthen its pace in general raking: after five regattas in total, the crew of Luigi Giannattasio is first in the ranking, followed with a margin of 5 points by the 'yellow' Caipirinha, winner of the 2019 Melges World League.
The performance of Luigi Giannattasio's team was boosted by the two second places of today, both of which finished in front of Martin Reintjes' crew, now followed with a delay of 6 points by Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's G-Spot, in clear recovery from the opening day.
Homanit, best of the Corinthians, is confirmed in the top-five: the young crew strengthened his participation to this World Championship thanks to bullet obtained in the third regatta yesterday. The defending champions of La Pericolosa, led by Christian Schwoerer, also climbed the leaderboard up to fifth place, 8 points far from the podium.
The races will resume tomorrow at 11am. The Melges 32 World Championship can count on a maximum of ten races: there are still five more to be completed between Friday and Saturday, when it will not be possible to give any warning signal after 4pm.
Top five after five races:
1. Donino - Luigi Giannattasio, SUI, 13 points
2. Capirinha - Martin Reintjes, ITA, 18
3. G-Spot - Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio, MON, 24
4. Homanit - Jan Jasper Wagner - Maximilian Stein, GER, 29
5. La Pericolosa - Christian Schwoerer, GER, 32
British Challengers Back to La Solitaire
Eight of the 35 solo skippers who will start the 51st edition of La Solitaire du Figaro on the Bay of Saint Brieuc on Sunday are not French natives and so are eligible to compete for the Vivi Trophy which was inaugurated last year.
GBR fields Alan Roberts, 30 (Seacat Services) who starts his seventh La Solitaire, Sam Goodchild, 30, (Leyton) who is on his fifth race, and Phil Sharp, 39, (Ocean Lab) and Jack Boutell, 29, (Fromagerie Gillot) who is half Australian. Representing Ireland are Tom Dolan, 33, (Smurfit Kappa), on his third La Solitaire, and race rookie Kenneth Rumball, 33, (RL Sailing). Italy has Alberto Bona, 33, (Sebago) and race rookie Nils Palmieri, 33, carries Swiss colours.
The last ten years or so have seen high hopes of a British podium finish. But this second season of the new foil-assisted Figaro Beneteau 3 now sees strength and depth to the British challenge, one which is leant real credibility thanks to three GBR podium finishes in this season's races so far.
Nine years after his one and only La Solitaire du Figaro Phil Sharp is now armed with bucketloads of hard earned offshore experience, multiple successes and a real chance of the top ten overall finish which he is aiming for.
The 39 year old Jersey solo racer who is now based in La Rochelle, France and who won back-to-back World Championship titles in Class 40 stepped into the Figaro Beneteau 3 fleet at the start of this season looking to improve his level and to test himself in the toughest proving ground in solo racing. He has shown well in the early and middle stages of the races he has done, finishing 22nd in the Solo Concarneau Guy Cotton and 16th in the Solo Maitre Coq. With a limited background in the Figaro class he is very much back in the class to learn and improve from the intensity and a very different style of racing to what he has been used to.
Sharp joined the group in Lorient in the winter and then joined Saint Gilles training group near his home in La Rochelle where the best of that group is Xavier Macaire.
The Race starts Sunday 30th August.
* After nine years OceansLab skipper Phil Sharp returns to compete in the four-staged La Solitaire du Figaro event starting at 13:00 CEST this Sunday. Over four days the first of four races will take 35 single-handed sailors on a 642 mile voyage from Saint-Brieuc to Fastnet Rock and back.
Just one waypoint at Fastnet Rock has been assigned to this offshore course leaving strategy very open to the skippers from start to end. With a multitude of tactical possibilities available, success will rely on finding the right balance between a fast route maximising on different weather systems, whilst avoiding the traps of the Channel and Celtic Sea. Shipping lanes, restricted zones, rocks and currents are core navigational challenges the skippers will face to ensure a fast and safe strategy.
"Interestingly, this leg more resembles an offshore race than a typical coastal Figaro course, so it will be interesting to see the various routes the fleet adopt and where gains are made and lost.
"This first race will be especially tactical. Early on we will be faced with a difficult no-wind zone to cross in the Channel before breaking through into strong south westerly winds, which will carry us up to Ireland. What's more, we will pass the Scilly Islands twice, which brings added complexities of strong tides and variable winds." Commented OceansLab skipper Phil Sharp.
Ultimate Product - Reckmann
Reckmann have long been acknowledged as producers of the Porsche of sail furlers in terms of engineering and reliability. But maintaining this hard-won reputation means never standing still
Nearly all sailors know that the Reckmann brand is a guarantee of superlative build quality and rocksolid reliability. But to keep its enviable position at the top of a fiercely competitive market for four generations, this family-owned company has maintained a brisk pace of constant innovation, incrementally improving and evolving its product lines to stay ahead of the game in quality, functionality and long-term value for money.
That's why so many of the world's finest yachts have Reckmann furlers on their bows and in their booms. Strong, collaborative partnerships have been forged over the years with many shipyards. One of these is with Southern Wind Shipyard (SWS), the builder of high-performance, carbon composite superyachts.
Full article in the September issue of Seahorse
900th Boat Receives ORR-Ez Certificate
The milestone certificate was generated with the ORR's proprietary build-a-boat tool, providing a VPP-based rating for the Morris M36 Helene, owned by Peter Ellis of Chicago.
"I enjoy the existential aspects of sailing," says Peter Ellis, owner of the M36 Helene, which received the 900th ORR-Ez rating certificate last week. "Racing isn't my cup of tea, but I like to sail efficiently."
Despite his bias against racing, Ellis paid $100 for a certificate last week and has entered the new Thursday night races at Chicago Yacht Club organized by Rick Reed, a J/35 owner. These races are different from the traditional Wednesday night races: they are time-trial events with no race committee. Each entrant takes their own start time at the entrance of Monroe Harbor, sails the pre-set course, finishes where they started, and reports their time and wind conditions.
Reed, who has half a dozen boats registered for Thursday nights so far, chose ORR-Ez instead of PHRF because the rating system provided a fairer test and explains it this way:
"ORR-Ez has ratings for five types of courses and four wind strengths. We have one course using navigational aids—4.2 nautical miles out and back—so depending on the wind direction, that can either be a windward/leeward, or a reach/reach. ORR-Ez lets us pick that day's type of course and the observed wind speed, then takes these conditions into account and provides fair ratings to score a myriad of different type boats." -- John Burnham
Rolex Swan Cup - Cancelled
In light of the significant increase in the infection curve and several outbreaks in the Costa Smeralda area and in Porto Cervo in particular, in order to protect the safety and health of our guests, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has decided - with the support of Nautor's Swan and Rolex - to cancel the Rolex Swan Cup, scheduled from September 7th to 13th.
The public health situation in the area has considerably worsened and has rendered ineffectual the efforts made to make the event possible while safeguarding everyone's wellbeing.
World Sailing extends SSL Special Event agreement
World Sailing has extended for an additional three years the Special Events agreement with the SSL (Star Sailors League), the global inshore sailing circuit designed by Olympic athletes in 2012 to promote sailors and the inshore sailing, based on the world wide global ranking and on an innovative and simple competition format.
Special Event status ensures the world governing body formally recognises and sanctions the SSL events including SSL Finals and SSL Gold Cup. World Sailing Special Events include the America's Cup, SailGP, The Ocean Race, World Match Racing Tour, the Global Kitesports Association freestyle world tour and the SSL.
The SSL aims to showcase the annual global sailing scenario under one whole championship with its over 15'000 regattas determining and celebrating the world leaders in the sport of sailing and through this, promoting the inshore regattas to the global sport audience.
The three main components of the SSL Circuit are the SSL Ranking, SSL Finals and SSL Gold Cup. The innovative SSL Ranking, a wide and global ranking of over 100,000 leading athletes, thus highlighting the world's top inshore sailors. It is updated and published every Tuesday and available on the SSL website. Then there's the SSL Finals taking place every year around November-December, it's the annual final of the sailing season among the 25 best athletes of the ranking, some kind of play-off to crown the champion of champions of the season. The last piece of the the SSL puzzle is the SSL Gold Cup, the 'ultimate' championship of the circuit, the "football World Cup of sailing". It will see each nation's top sailing athletes' team together into a single crew and race against one another aboard high performance 47-foot-long one design monohulls to establish 'the world's best sailing nation', like it happens in most of the sports.
SailGP: Team Rockwool Racing Arrives In France
Team ROCKWOOL Racing arrived in France on Monday, as the Denmark SailGP Team athletes' intense summer of training and activity continues to take shape.
This week will see three of the Denmark SailGP Team athletes - helmsman Nicolai Sehested, flight controller Rasmus Køstner and grinder Hans-Christian Rosendahl - take to the water in Carnac, France to test their foiling skills in their debut Easy To Fly 26 event.
Amongst their rivals will be some familiar faces from the SailGP league - including France SailGP Team athletes Billy Besson, François Morvan and Mathieu Vandame.
It will be the first time that two SailGP helmsmen have gone head to head since Sydney SailGP in February 2020, when rookies Denmark SailGP Team finished sixth in the rankings despite clocking less than 20 hours of sailing onboard the F50.
"Competing in Easy To Fly 26 will provide us with a solid training platform to prepare for when Season 2 restarts in 2021," explains Nicolai Sehested, helmsman of Denmark SailGP Team.
"The boats are inspired by the F50, but smaller and more suited to a crew of three. Although they don't reach the same supercharged speeds as the real thing, we're relishing the opportunity to grow our foiling experience and go head-to-head against other teams in racing conditions."
In October, Team ROCKWOOL Racing will join the GC32 Racing Tour event in Riva del Garda, Italy, as preparation for SailGP Season 2 continues.
SailGP will return in April 2021, with the opening event of the season taking place in San Francisco on 17-18 April.
METSTRADE 2020 Cancelled
The organisers of METSTRADE, RAI Amsterdam, have announced "with great sadness" that the Marine Equipment Trade Show, scheduled to run from 17-19 November in Amsterdam, has been cancelled and issued the following statement.
"For more than 32 years, METSTRADE has been providing the most complete meeting place for the global marine industry. Due to the consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak, our mission cannot be accomplished successfully, therefore we believe it is the right decision to cancel this year's show."
The statement confirmed that METSTRADE 2021 will take place from 16-18 November 2021 at the RAI Amsterdam exhibition centre.
"RAI Amsterdam was ready to accommodate METSTRADE in a Covid-19 secure way, fully in line with all health and safety guidelines. The RAI has worked tirelessly to adapt all its facilities and protocols to enable events to be held in a safe, responsible and hospitable manner. However, given the uncertain worldwide situation we believe we cannot guarantee the high-quality show in 2020 with valuable face-to-face contacts with visitors which is expected from METSTRADE."
America's Cup: The lawyers have the power
The America's Cup Arbitration Panel is called on to settle off-the-water disputes between the sailing teams and so far the panel has issued decisions in 10 cases ahead of the 36th America's Cup to be held in Auckland next year.
But their latest decision could have landed the biggest blow yet.
Earlier this month the panel chaired by Australian lawyer David Tillett, with retired New Zealand lawyer Graham McKenzie and Switzerland-based lawyer Henry Peter, ruled that the constructed in country clause would prevent the cash-strapped Stars + Stripes Team USA from borrowing a boat from the other challengers or the defenders - Team New Zealand - to go racing.
StarS + Stripes has yet to officially withdraw from their pursuit of sport's oldest international trophy but without a boat of their own they are quickly running out of options.
Tillett would like to see all four challengers - including Italy's Luna Rossa, INEOS Team UK and American Magic - make the startline but he concedes after the latest ruling it is now unlikely. -- Felicity Reid
Full story in RNZ.co.nz: www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/
Kiwi sails through Canadian waters in breach of rules
A Kiwi is sailing through the Arctic on his custom yacht, in breach of Covid-19 water restrictions.
A professional boatbuilder, yachtsman and founding partner of Cavalier Yachts in the 1970s, Peter Smith's latest venture has found him in hot water with Canadian authorities.
The 72-year-old is sailing the Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago - against Covid restrictions.
Canadian authorities have prohibited pleasure craft from sailing in Arctic waters, in a bid to better protect Arctic communities from the spread of Covid-19.
And yet Smith's custom vessel, the Kiwi Roa, was spotted off the coast of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut on August 20, according to a social media post by a local observer with the Inuit Marine Monitoring Program.
Transport Canada warned Smith "to depart Canadian waters and not make landfall", a spokesperson told CBC News.
The Canadian Coast Guard would monitor the vessel's transit as it left Canadian waters.
But Smith told CBC that the wording of the original Transport Canada ban was "ambiguous", saying the incident is one of bureaucracy "out of control".
"I am a yacht, not a bloody cruise ship," he said.
Full story in the New Zealand Herald: www.nzherald.co.nz
Featured Brokerage
1982 Swan 47 MKII 'Lolita Senta'. 250,000 EUR VAT Paid. Located in La Spezia - Porto Lotti, IT.
Swan 47, an evergreen classic, designed by S&S and built as only Nautor can, "Lolita Senta" offers sparkling sailing together with build quality that is never to be repeated. Perfect for serious cruising, these yachts also shine in the Regatta circuit and are rare to the brokerage market.
Lolita Senta was launched in 1982.
Sandwich construction deck with solid teak ribs finish which has been totally rebuilt in 2015 (15-16 mm thickness wood selected/aged 25 years and installed by well-known professional specialists). Lead keel with inner centreboard adjustable from mechanical device located on deck. On 2014 the centreboard has been dismounted and overhauled.
2014 last anti-osmosis epoxy bottom treatment. Two companionways
See listing details in Nautor's Swan Brokerage
Contact
Stefano Leonardi
Nautor's Swan Brokerage
T. +39 0766 20602
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Soto 48 KUANKUN TOO
After building a first custom Soto 48 carbon boat cruiser-racer KUANKUN, the owner decided to build a new full racer custom Soto 48 KUAN KUN TOO. Perfectly maintained by a professional crew from launching, with a complete set of sails, she is ready to go racing and optimized for ORC.
KUANKUN TOO is a full racer boat built in carbon and Nomex, Pre-peg. Designed by Javier Soto-Acebak and built by Mboat (Argentina) with objective to race ORC. Won several years the Peruvian championship and participate to several international races. Mast Southern Spars with carbon Future Fibers rig, B&G H3000 electronic and large set of NS sails.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Please email for full details rgindre [AT] globe-sailing [DOT] com
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1983 Nautor's Swan 46 MkI. 157000 EUR. Located in Helsinki
Hull No.3 of 109 Swan 46’s built. Used exclusively in Baltic waters with the same owner for the past 17yrs. Recently refitted and benefitting from a newly fitted engine.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Jonas Renlund - Grabau international ( Scandinavia)
Tel: +358408098688
Email: enquiries [AT] grabauinternational [DOT] com
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
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