In This Issue
• 70th Bermuda Gold Cup Gets Green Light
• Macaire Holds Midpoint Lead At Fastnet on 51st La Solitaire du Figaro First Stage
• Nature's genius - Wessex Resins
• Youth America's Cup Cancelled Due To NZ Government Immigration Rules
• Finn Europeans opened in Gdynia
• Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image
• INEOS sports teams join forces to launch ZERO Days for schools
• Last Foiling Days in Cagliari
• Melges 24 Austrian Open Championship
• 2023 Flying Fifteen Worlds to be sailed at Weymouth & Portland, UK
• Featured Charter: GP42 - Phan
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Gunboat 68
• • Dehler 46 Competition
• • Swan 115-001 Solleone
• The Last Word: Captain Jack Sparrow
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
70th Bermuda Gold Cup Gets Green Light
Photo by Charles Anderson. Click on image to enlarge.
Hamilton, Bermuda: After months of careful consideration the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club confirmed last night that the 70th Bermuda Gold Cup for the King Edward VII trophy will take place Oct. 26-30 on Hamilton Harbour with a full 16-team lineup expected.
Originally scheduled in May the Bermuda Gold Cup, presented by Argo Group for the benefit of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) and an event of the World Match Racing Tour, was postponed in March due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which closed Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport to foreign visitors.
Bermuda's efforts were recognized last week by a leading global tourism group. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has designated Bermuda a "Safe Travels" destination under a program that recognizes governments, destinations and companies around the world that have adopted health and hygiene standards that meet protocols recommended by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. The designation follows an application to the WTTC by the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) and allows Bermuda the privilege of using the council's "Safe Travels" stamp—a globally recognized seal.
"We're still planning a 16-team event," said Oatley, "and to date we've got about 10 to 12 confirmations. It's up to the skipper and crew to decide if they feel it's safe enough to travel. A couple of the skippers have expressed concerns that it's too difficult to travel from where they are located and we would miss them if they don't attend, but this is a professional sporting event. The PGA Tour plans to hold its tournament in Bermuda in late October as well and we feel that is good precedent for hosting our regatta."
Included on the preliminary entrant list is the reigning event champion Ian Williams (Lymington, England), who won his second Bermuda Gold Cup title last year over Johnie Berntsson (Stenungsund, Sweden).
Macaire Holds Midpoint Lead At Fastnet on 51st La Solitaire du Figaro First Stage
French skipper Xavier Macaire (Groupe SNEF) led the 35 strong fleet round the Fastnet Rock at 1830hrs local time Ireland this Tuesday evening. The 39 year old skipper from the Team Vendee Formation, who has never won a stage, has been in the lead since very early yesterday morning. He passed the half way point of Stage 1 of the 51st La Solitaire du Figaro in a modest ten to 11 knot southwesterly breeze with a very slender lead.
As two times overall winner Armel Le Cleac'h (Banque Populaire) turned round the iconic rocky lighthouse within clear sigh of rival Macaire, half a mile behind, it marked the conclusion of a spectacular recovery, rising to chase the leader's stern at the turn, in the space of 24 hours coming back from 22nd and 20 miles behind the leader
Le Cleac'h - who takes weather strategy advice from Dutch ace Marcel Van Triest - as did last year's leg and overall winner Yoann Richomme - clawed back fully 10 miles and nine places as he took a more northerly route at the Scillies TSS, cutting inside the fleet on the corner entering the Celtic Sea.
For all the 35 skippers now the big challenge is managing themselves on a fast reach back to Saint Quay Portrieux where they left Sunday afternoon. The quick reaching will require long hours at the helm to maximise speed whilst still considering a light winds finish is forecast where the fleet is expected to compress significantly in the final miles to the line.
Britain's Sam Goodchild (Leyton) is still very much in the leading group in 13th place at 2.5 miles behind Macaire. Goodchild lost places on the final approach to the turn but gained back distance on the leader as the fleet compacted. His compatriot and long time Class 40 rival Phil Sharp (OceansLab) is 16th. Sharp is alongside Anthony Marchand (Groupe Royer-Secours Populaire) who won the first stage into Saint Quay in 2018. But this duo have a three miles gap to make up to the next boat.
Top five at 0403 FR
1. Xavier Macaire - Groupe SNEF, 316 nm to leg 1 finish
2. Armel Le Cleac'h - Banque Populaire, .69 nm to finish
3. Frederic Duthil - Technique Voile - Cabinet Bourhis Generali, 1.31
4. Corentin Douguet - NF Habitat, 1.67
5. Alexis Loison - Region Normandie, 1.68
Nature's genius - Wessex Resins
Timber is still perhaps the ultimate composite material... when used with the best of modern technology
Think of a colour that best represents advanced yacht construction and it is hard not to see black. But while carbon composite technology has dominated the sharp end of the sport for many years, when it comes to the range of resins that have been a part of that development, there's little that West System epoxy hasn't seen or been involved with in this field.
But it hasn't just been carbon that has allowed builders to push at the boundaries, some have been combining the latest composites with the oldest of building materials, wood.
As one of the UK's longest running users of West System epoxy, Spirit Yachts is a perfect example.
Full article in the September issue of Seahorse
Youth America's Cup Cancelled Due To NZ Government Immigration Rules
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) has today confirmed that next year's Youth America's Cup event has been cancelled due to New Zealand Government restrictions around immigration. Despite the event being an official part of the America's Cup and being fully funded through sponsorship and entry fees, as well as creating dozens of jobs for New Zealanders, it will not be given the same exemption status that other America's Cup teams have been granted.
The event was a collaboration between RNZYS, the China Sports Industry Group (CSIG) and Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ). The curtain raiser regatta was initially scheduled to run in China, and this was later changed to Auckland with the impact of COVID-19 in China. It would then have run across three weeks in early 2021, around the Prada Challenger Series and the 36th America's Cup period. With 19 entries from 13 nations confirmed it was set to be a huge event for New Zealand complementing the Prada Cup challenger series and America's Cup match superbly. It was estimated to generate more than 10 million dollars into the New Zealand economy, create jobs for New Zealanders and promote New Zealand internationally. Many of the international teams entered had indicated they would be arriving months in advance to train for the regatta.
"We are bitterly disappointed," says RNZYS Chief Executive, Hayden Porter. "The sailors, boat builders, sponsors plus everyone who has invested their time and passion into the Youth America's Cup event are all devastated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment's (MBIE) decision that this event cannot go ahead.
The reasons we were given for not getting the immigration clearance required were that MBIE has not invested directly into this event and that New Zealanders could perform the sailing roles for the international teams. We are struggling to understand how that is possible as it is an international event and teams have to represent their country. Furthermore, it came at no cost to the Government at a time where New Zealand needs this type of event and investment."
Finn Europeans opened in Gdynia
The 2020 U23, Open and Masters Finn European Championship has been opened in Gdynia, Poland. The final event in the Gdynia Sailing Days festival, it has attracted 70 entries from 27 countries for first and only major Finn event of the year.
Earlier in the day the practice race attracted a small fleet to the water for a foretaste of the week ahead which is predicted to have largely offshore, moderate winds. Many have been training here for the past week, some for just a few hours. But the competition is expected to be as tight and as challenging as ever with many former world and European championships in the fleet.
There is no doubt that the enthusiasm of the Polish Yachting Association and the sailors have made this event possible against the shadow of COVID-19. Strict regulations are in place around the boat park and race buildings, and the opening ceremony was no different, with a masked Piotr Kula, from Poland, who is also sailing in the event, compeering the short and poignant ceremony to masked sailors, with very brief speeches from the city, the PYA, the Polish Finn Association and the International Finn Association. It was all over in 10 minutes.
Racing is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 11.30, with a 10 race series to decide the 2020 European Champions.
* Giles Scott will aim to defend his European Finn title this week when Olympic class action resumes in Gdynia, Poland.
The reigning Olympic champion stormed to glory at the 2019 European championships, seeing off arch-rival Zsombor Berecz to claim his third title.
The last time the Finn class saw international competition was at the 2019 World Championships in Melbourne where Scott was forced to settle for fourth behind New Zealand's Josh Junior, Nicolas Heiner of the Netherlands and Hungary's Berecz.
Heiner and Berecz will be among a fleet of more than 40 sailors in Gdynia that also includes London 2012 bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert and 2017 world champion Max Salminen.
And after a seven-month break, Scott is eager to see how he holds up against those who will challenge him for the top spot at the rescheduled Games in 2021.
Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image
The deadline for participating in the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image of the Century photo contest and submitting your photo is October 6, 2020 at 11:59 PM (GMT).
Here is an extract of the most important rules:
- The photographs submitted must have been taken between January 1, 2000, and October 6, 2020.
- The purpose of this special prize is to celebrate the best images taken since the beginning of the Century and their authors.
- This is a special award valid in 2020 only.
- Photographers can submit one photograph each.
- The images submitted cannot have been previously submitted for the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award.
Three prizes will be awarded:
- The main prize, Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image, selected by the International Jury
- The Yacht Racing Forum Award, selected by the delegates of the Yacht Racing Forum
- The Public Award, based on the number of votes on Internet.
The 80 best images, selected by the International Jury, will be published on the event website on October 15, 2020 allowing the public to vote. The 20 best images will be exhibited at the Yacht Racing Forum, which will be held in Portsmouth (UK) on 23 and 24 November, in front of the sports leading personalities from all over the world.
INEOS sports teams join forces to launch ZERO Days for schools
A group of elite sports teams have come together to launch a unique education programme for schools, called ZERO Days. The unique programme aims to help get children back to school safely and help keep schools open in a COVID 19 world.
The programme has been developed by the elite INEOS sports teams, hygiene, education and behavioural change experts, alongside charity partner, the 1851 Trust. It features a range of resources for schools that aim to help reduce the transmission of COVID and other viruses and bacteria by adopting three key behaviours: prepare, protect and control.
View the ZERO Days resources here
ZERO Days is built on ten years of health and hygiene experience within elite sport. It offers free to use curriculum-based resources for secondary schools, which include assemblies, videos, and posters for all areas of schools, to help prevent COVID related school closures by creating a positive behaviour change in schools.
Last Foiling Days in Cagliari
The Luna Rossa sailing team is enjoying the last few days of sailing in Cagliari as they prepare to move to New Zealand, where the Prada Cup will get underway in just under five months.
The team has been located at the Molo Ichnusa in the city since 2018, the place where the AC75 Luna Rossa took shape thanks to a meticulous collective effort in which engineering and calculations were combined with the precision of artisan craftsmanship. Dozens of connections, hydraulic and electronic components, and complex on board systems were installed within the carbon hull, while the sailmakers assembled the sails with maniacal precision. It was an intense period and Cagliari proved to be the perfect city thanks to its warm and welcoming inhabitants, but also in terms of logistics, and above all the ever-perfect weather conditions which meant the team did not miss out on precious sailling days. From early September the team will begin the transfer to Auckland. Boat 1 will be loaded onto a cargo ship that will take about two months to arrive in New Zealand.
Boat 2, meanwhile, is being finalized. There were some physiological delays due to the lockdown period which slowed the process down, but the efforts of the entire team and the design department, coordinating remotely, made it possible to make up lost time. The second AC75 is set to leave the Persico Marine shipyard in early October and will immediately be loaded onto an Antonov, one of the largest cargo aircraft in existence, ready to sail in the Gulf of Hauraki in New Zealand by the end of October. Everyone is very happy with the new boat, which is the result of the multitude of data collected and studied over the past months, but also of the experience gained through countless hours of navigation on Boat 1, which was launched in October 2019 and on board which the team has continued to train in the waters of Cagliari up until now.
www.lunarossachallenge.com/en/home
Melges 24 Austrian Open Championship
Attersee, Austria - German Melges 24 team White Room dominated at the second event of the 2020 Melges 24 European Sailing Series, considered also as the Melges 24 Austrian Open Championship on Lake Attersee hosted by the Segelclub Kammersee on August 28-30. Six bullets from six sailed races the crew of Michael Tarabochia with Luis Tarabochia, Marco Tarabochia, Sebastian Bühler and Marvin Frisch defended the Melges 24 Austrian title at the event with 14 teams representing three nations - Austria, Germany and Italy.
From the Austrian inland waters, the Melges 24 fleet will head to nearby, where between 11 and 13 September, Portorož in Slovenia will host the third event of the European Sailing Series 2020. A welcome confirmation, from the renowned Slovenian venue, host for several season of really competitive events to the point of being chosen as the venue for the Europeans 2020, postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 emergency. The final stage of the series has been set for October 2-4 in Trieste, Italy - only a few kilometers away from the Slovenian location, where boats and trailers can calmly wait to be transferred to Italy.
Final top five
1. White Room - Luis Tarabochia, Michael Tarabochia, Marco Tarabochia, Sebastian Bühler, Marvin Frisch, GER, 5 points
2. Anna Luschan, Michael Luschan, Georg Stadler, Katharina Luschan, Marla Feichtenschlager, AUT, 14
3. ORCA - Helmut Gottwald, Christian Egger, Peter Hoffmann, Manfred Ferch, Renate Resenig, AUT, 20
4. Arkanoe by Montura - Sergio Caramel, Federico Gomiero, Margherita Zanuso, Filippo Orvieto, Michele Meotto, ITA, 20
5. Norbert Voith, Elsa Lovrek, Florian Kogard, Lukas Eigenstuhler, Matteo Feichtenschlager, AUT, 23
2023 Flying Fifteen Worlds to be sailed at Weymouth & Portland, UK
Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy. Click on image to enlarge.
Flying Fifteen International is pleased to announce Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy in the UK, has been selected as the venue for the 2023 FFI World Championship to be sailed between 12 - 25 August 2023.
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is a world class sailing venue based on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK. The location provides easy access to Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay, arguably some of the best sailing waters in the world.
WPNSA has operated on the waters of Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay for over 20 years and has been privileged to host multiple major international and national championships, for a wide variety of classes. The hosting of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing events were a significant milestone, the legacy from which has created a pool of highly experienced volunteers supported by the equally experienced professional staff of WPNSA.
The revised schedule of European and World Championships is as follows:
The deferred 2020 European Championship will be sailed at Ecole Navale, Lanveoc-Poulmic, Brest, France between 13 -15 May 2021.
The 2022 Flying Fifteen World Championship are to be sailed at Fremantle, Western Australia in February 2022, deferred from 2021 due to Covid-19.
2022 also sees the 75th Anniversary of the Flying Fifteen Class and will be celebrated between 20 - 26 August 2022 at Cowes Corinthian YC, Isle of Wight, UK. This regatta will also be a European Championship.
The 2023 Flying Fifteen World Championship to be sailed at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy in the UK, from 12 - 25 August 2023. -- Michael Clark, Secretary Flying Fifteen International
www.flying15.org/the-flying-fifteen/trial-sail
Featured Charter
GP42 - Phan.
The GP42 was designed to be a fast, truly competitive performance racing yacht and has had much success globally
Phan was designed by Botin & Carkeek and built by King Marine. The GP42 was designed to be a fast, truly competitive performance racing yacht and has had much success globally. Phan is in immaculate condition having been meticulously maintained her whole life. In 2018 she had some exciting modifications, including a new rudder and deeper keel. The new keel gives greater righting moment and more upwind power, and the new rudder will be larger and with different balance, to give more low speed manoeuvrability and lower load when high speed reaching.
See listing details in Seahorse Charters
Contact
Lucy Jackson - LV Yachting
Call: +44 2392 161272
Email: info [AT] lvyachting [DOT] com
See the the Seahorse charter collection
Featured Brokerage
Gunboat 68. POA EUR.
A dream team of designers have developed the platform to make the Gunboat 68 the greatest Gunboat ever built.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
sales [AT] gunboat [DOT] com
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2015 Dehler 46 Competition. 370000 EUR. Located in Palma de Mallorca.
Beautifully presented and professionally maintained high spec Dehler 46 ‘Competition’ with epoxy vacuum infused hull, T-keel, carbon rig, bowsprit, electric winches and 3-cabin, 2-heads interior layout. Spanish taxes paid.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Lead Broker: Lucio Pellegrini - Grabau International Palma (Spain)
Tel: +34 675 236 174
Email: lucio [AT] grabauinternational [DOT] com
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2015 Swan 115-001 Solleone. POA EUR. Located in Marina di Scarlino, Italy
Designed for comfort and performance, SOLLEONE is the first Swan 115 S Version, delivered by Nautor's Swan in Summer 2015. The magic combination of German Frers yacht design alongside a luxurious and elegant italian style interior designed by Nautor's Swan in house styling team and Michele Bònan.
See listing details in Nautor's Swan Brokerage
Contact
Nautor's Swan Brokerage - Lorenzo Bortolotti
brokerage [AT] nautorswan [DOT] com
Tel. +377 97 97 95 07
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
I’m dishonest and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly... stupid. -- Captain Jack Sparrow
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